Research in Counseling: A 10‐Year Review to Inform Practice

This study reviewed 4,457 articles from 1998 to 2007 in American Counseling Association division‐affiliated journals to identify research articles published in counseling; 1,139 articles (25.6%) were quantitatively research based. The authors provide details related to quantitative research publications, including individual journal contribution to the research base, focus areas for research, and independent and dependent variables highlighted by researchers. One summary finding was that only 6% of counseling research articles explored effectiveness of counseling interventions.     

Psychometric Properties and Administration Measurement Invariance of Social Phobia Symptom Measures: Paper-Pencil vs. Internet Administrations

The psychometric properties of the online versions of assessment instruments for phobias and related symptoms were compared to those of paper-pencil versions. The examined measures were the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and Social Phobia Scale (SPS). Students (n = 514) completed the instruments either in a paper-pencil in lab condition or an online at home condition. Means of the measures were largely equivalent between the two groups. Factor structures of the measures support construct validity of the two versions of the questionnaires. The coefficient alphas for the measures were reasonably high, ranging between .91 and .93 for both groups. Correlations between the measures were similar across groups. Overall, adequate psychometric properties of the online versions of the instruments were demonstrated, however, neither of the social phobia measures demonstrated measurement invariance between the two assessment modalities.     

New Sexism in Couple Therapy: A Discursive Analysis

The persistence of gender inequality in postindustrial societies is puzzling in light of a plethora of changes that destabilize it, including shifts in economy, legislation, and the proliferation of feminist politics. In family relations, such persistence manifests as a disconnect between couples aspiring to be more egalitarian yet continuing to enact traditional gender roles and hierarchies. There is an emerging consensus that gender inequality persists because of people's continued reliance on sexist ideology or gendered assumptions that constitute women as innately distinct from and inferior to men. Sexist ideology changes its form to accommodate to changing socio‐economic conditions. Contemporary forms of sexism are old ways of legitimizing male power articulated in new and creative ways, often by incorporating feminist arguments. To effectively recognize and address “new sexism,” scholars and practitioners require new, innovative research frameworks. Our objective in writing this article is two‐fold. First, we seek to advance discursive (i.e., focused on language in use) approaches to the study of sexism. Second, we present the results of a discursive analysis of “new” sexist discourse in the context of couple therapy. The study provides preliminary evidence that, despite endorsing egalitarian norms, couples studied continue to rely on gender binaries and remain entrenched in old‐fashioned patterns of gender inequality. Implications of these results for the practice of couple therapy and for future research are discussed.     

Marked: Tattoo as an Expression of Psyche

Tattoo is a practice that is thousands of years old, appearing in virtually every corner of the world. Since the rise and expansion of organized nation states, it has often been subject to negative judgments, identified with a primitive cultural level, low social status, or even criminality. This article provides a brief overview of the history of tattoo, identifying associated cultural complexes and considering factors in the contemporary resurgence of tattoo's popularity. Against this backdrop, a qualitative study of a group of contemporary tattoo wearers is presented. Selected tattoos are reproduced and examined in detail from a psychological perspective, along with the wearers' own accounts of their motivations and experiences. From these accounts emerge five basic themes: self-empowerment, identification with a group, memorialization, “a message to oneself,” and the transformation of pain into beauty. Broader consideration is then given to different levels of meaning that a tattoo may carry for the wearer, working from examples of a particular motif often chosen: that of birds. Previous authors have pathologized wearers as masochistic, due to the pain involved in receiving a tattoo. Others tend to view tattoo as purely ornamental in function. The purpose of this article is to balance the picture by remaining open to tattoo as an expression of psyche. The emerging story is one in which choosing, receiving, and wearing a tattoo can be part of living a symbolic life.     

Neighborhood Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence: A Theory‐Informed Analysis Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling

Due to high prevalence rates and deleterious effects on individuals, families, and communities, intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health problem. Because IPV occurs in the context of communities and neighborhoods, research must examine the broader environment in addition to individual‐level factors to successfully facilitate behavior change. Drawing from the Social Determinants of Health framework and Social Disorganization Theory, neighborhood predictors of IPV were tested using hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicated that concentrated disadvantage and female‐to‐male partner violence were robust predictors of women's IPV victimization. Implications for theory, practice, and policy, and future research are discussed.     

Heightened sensitivity to emotional expressions in generalised anxiety disorder,compared to social anxiety disorder,and controls

Few studies have examined potential differences between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) in the sensitivity to detect emotional expressions. The present study aims to compare the detection of emotional expressions in SAD and GAD. Participants with a primary diagnosis of GAD (n?=?46), SAD (n?=?70), and controls (n?=?118) completed a morph movies task. The task presented faces expressing increasing degrees of emotional intensity, slowly changing from a neutral to a full-intensity happy, sad, or angry expressions. Participants used a slide bar to view the movie frames from left to right, and to stop at the first frame where they perceived an emotion. The frame selected thus indicated the intensity of emotion required to identify the facial expression. Participants with GAD detected the onset of facial emotions at lower intensity of emotion than participants with SAD (p?=?0.002) and controls (p?=?0.039). In a multiple regression analysis controlling for age, race, and depressive symptom severity, lower frame at which the emotion was detected was independently associated and GAD diagnosis (B?=?–5.73, SE?=?1.74, p?相似文献   

The two sides of adversity: the effect of distant versus recent adversity on updating emotional content in working memory

Previous research suggests that adversity can have both adaptive and maladaptive effects, yet the emotional and working memory processes that contribute to more or less adaptive outcomes are unclear. The present study sought to investigate how updating emotional content differs in adolescents who have experienced past, recent, or no adversity. Participants who had experienced distant adversity (N?=?53), no adversity (N?=?58), or recent adversity only (N?=?20) performed an emotion n-back task with emotional facial expressions. Results revealed that the distant adversity group exhibited significantly faster reaction times (RTs) than the no adversity and recent adversity only groups. In contrast, the recent adversity only group exhibited significantly slower RTs and more errors than the distant adversity and no adversity groups. These results suggest an emotion and executive control pathway by which both the benefits and negative effects of adversity may be conferred. Results also highlight the importance of time in assessing the impact of adversity.