An Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Affective Control Scale in an Undergraduate Sample

A considerable amount of clinical research interest has recently developed regarding emotion dysregulation and psychopathology. Many have suggested that distinct affective management deficits may characterize anxiety and mood pathology. Despite increased research attention, efforts to validate and sufficiently investigate the psychometric properties of many self-report measures of affect regulation have been lacking. The current study examined the response behavior of 1566 undergraduate participants who completed the Affective Control Scale (ACS). The ACS assesses fear of intense emotion, and it is frequently used in empirical research. The present investigation examined the structural qualities of the measure using exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic techniques. Findings suggest the original four rationally-derived subscales do not adequately fit the observed response patterns. Rather, results indicated that a five-factor solution that included a subscale measuring emotion mismanagement better represented response behavior. Additional normative data and bivariate correlations with other measures of emotion regulation and affect are presented.     

Path analytic examination of a cognitive model of PTSD

Ehlers and Clark (2000) developed a cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom maintenance which implicated the role of posttraumatic cognitions and aspects of the trauma memory in maintaining symptoms via an increased sense of current threat. The aim of the current study was to empirically test a variant of this model using path analysis. Participants in the current study were 514 undergraduates at a midwestern university who reported experiencing at least one traumatic event. Path analyses examined various models of the possible relationships between one’s posttraumatic cognitions and the centrality of the traumatic event to the sense of self (considered an aspect of memory integration) in predicting current level of PTSD symptoms. Results indicate that both event centrality and posttraumatic cognitions are unique and independent predictors of current symptom level. Overall, the results of this study support aspects of Ehlers and Clark’s cognitive model of PTSD; cognitive appraisals of the self and centrality of the event were highly related to levels of distress. However, the current study suggests that overly integrated trauma memories may lead to greater distress and not poorly integrated ones as suggested by Ehlers and Clark.     

University psychology clinics in Australia: Their place in professional training

Abstract: There is universal recognition of the need for developmentally appropriate supervised clinical experience in professional psychology training. University clinics were established to provide a bridging function for postgraduate clinical psychology students, assisting the integration of psychological theory and research into real‐world clinical applications and professional identity development. The aim of training in university clinics is to provide opportunities for clinical practice and high‐quality supervision to monitor and shape clinical skills. The experiences gained in external practicum settings complement this initial training but cannot replace it. The recent introduction of Medicare rebates for psychology services has threatened the survival of university clinics because low‐cost psychological treatment is now available from experienced practitioners. This paper provides data on Australian university clinics collected before the introduction of Medicare. Concerted efforts are needed to protect university clinics in order to maintain standards required for accreditation of clinical psychology training programs. The potential impact of the loss of university training clinics is discussed and strategies to ensure their survival are suggested.     

Effects of a 6-week aerobic dance intervention on body image and physical self-perceptions in adolescent girls

Research examining the impact of physical activity on body image dissatisfaction and physical self-perceptions has been both limited and equivocal. The current research investigated the effects of 6-week aerobic dance on these variables with 50 British schoolgirls aged 13–14 years. A cross-over design was used with two equivalent groups taught normal physical education and aerobic dance in a different order. The Body Attitude Questionnaire (BAQ) and Children and Youth Physical Self-Perception Profile (CY-PSPP) were administered as pre, mid and post-test to each participant in each group before the first intervention, at the change over and after 12 weeks. The results of this study revealed that participation in 6 weeks of aerobic dance significantly reduced body image dissatisfaction (Attractiveness, Feeling Fat, Salience and Strength and Fitness) and enhanced physical self-perceptions (Body Attractiveness and Physical Self-Worth), although these improvements were not sustained. The implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Forgivingness, vengeful rumination, and affective traits

Trait forgivingness is the disposition to forgive interpersonal transgressions over time and across situations. We define forgiveness as the replacement of negative unforgiving emotions with positive, other-oriented emotions. Rumination has been suggested as a mediator between forgivingness and emotional outcomes; however, we suggest that different content of rumination leads to different outcomes after transgressions. In four studies of 179, 233, 80, and 66 undergraduate students, trait forgivingness was negatively correlated with trait anger, hostility, neuroticism, fear, and vengeful rumination and was positively correlated with agreeableness, extraversion, and trait empathy. The disposition to ruminate vengefully mediated the relationship between trait forgivingness and (1) anger-related traits and (2) both revenge motivations and state anger following a specific recent transgression, but it did not mediate between forgivingness and (1) fearfulness and (2) avoidance motivations following a specific transgression. Self-hate statements, a proxy for depressive rumination, mediated the relationship between forgivingness and both depression and fearfulness but not the relationship between forgivingness and trait anger. Future research should distinguish the contents of mental rumination following interpersonal transgressions.     

Estimation of the correlation coefficient in contingency tables with possibly nonmetrical characters

A method of estimating the product moment correlation from the polychoric series is developed. This method is shown to be a generalization of the method which uses the tetrachoric series to obtain the tetrachoric correlation. Although this new method involves more computational labor, it is shown to be superior to older methods for data grouped into a small number of classes.     

Imaginative role-playing,need for achievement,and perceived outcome in relation to occupational status

Forty-four male and 44 female subjects, divided on the basis of their need for achievement scores, responded to three short verbal cues in which the central character was either male or female. The three cues (store clerk, social worker, and author) were chosen in order to maximize status differences and to minimize masculinity-femininity differences. In responding to each cue, subjects had to imagine themselves in each role. subjects rated each character on semantic differential scales to provide impressions of personality. Ratings were found to be a function of sex of the subject and need for achievement level, as well as status of the occupation. However, no significant effects were associated with the sex of the role.     

An exploratory investigation of the origin and maintenance of phobias

Phobies were asked to relate past events which they believed caused or contributed to their fear, and to describe cognitive events experienced while imagining phobic interactions. Approximately half the subjects were able to recall relevant learning experiences, with direct experiences far more common than vicarious experiences or learning based on verbal instruction. Almost all of the subjects reported self-verbalizations while imagining the phobic situation, in every case phobic relevant. However, in a minority of instances were the verbalizations ‘catastrophic’ in nature. In only about half the cases did the phobies report that, in vivo, thoughts preceeded fear in the phobic situation (in contrast to a comparison group of less fearful subjects for which thoughts did preceed fear to a significant degree). Results are discussed in terms of possible limitations of a cognitive interpretation of phobic behavior.