Office-based vs home-based behavioral treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder: a preliminary study

The current study investigated whether exposure with response prevention (ERP) for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is more effective when administered in a participant's home or other natural environments where symptoms tend to occur, than in a therapist's office. Twenty-eight outpatients with a principal diagnosis of OCD were randomly assigned to receive ERP in their therapist's office vs. wherever their symptoms usually occur (e.g., at home, at work, in public places, in the car, etc.). Participants received 14, 90-min sessions of ERP with an individual therapist. Participants were assessed at pretreatment, post-treatment, and at 3- and 6-month follow-up. Assessments included both self-report as well as clinician-rated indicators of OCD symptom severity, depression, and functional impairment. Results suggested that participants improved significantly, regardless of where treatment occurred. There were no differences in efficacy between the home-based and office-based treatment for OCD. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Interaction Effects in the Theory of Planned Behavior: The Interplay of Self-Identity and Past Behavior

This research used a revised theory of planned behavior (TPB) model, which incorporated self-identity and past behavior—and the interaction between these constructs—in order to improve the model's predictive power in relation to consumer behavior (purchasing one's preferred beer). At Time 1, respondents ( N  = 108) completed measures of attitudes, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, self-identity, past behavior, and intentions. Behavior was assessed 1 week later. All predictors were positively related to intentions. Self-identity and past behavior interacted to influence intentions: Self-identity had a stronger influence on intentions at low, rather than high, levels of past behavior. Intentions and past behavior were predictive of Time 2 behavior. These findings emphasize the need to consider identity issues in the TPB.     

ANGRY AND AFRAID: WOMEN'S APPRAISAL OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT DURING LITIGATION

The purpose of this study was to examine primary appraisal of sexual harassment, that is, a victim's cognitive evaluation of the harassment and the factors that influence this appraisal. The perspectives of 72 female plaintiffs were investigated by measuring their primary appraisal of the event, examining the structure of this appraisal, and assessing the influence of stimulus and individual factors on appraisal. Cluster analysis revealed four distinct emotion clusters: demoralization, anxious arousal, fear, and self-blame. Significant correlations suggest that these four appraisal clusters are differentially related to certain stimulus (e.g., intensity) and individual (e.g., self-esteem, previous victimization, feminist attitudes, and attributions) factors. Theoretical and practical implications for the role of primary appraisal are discussed.     

Teacher,parent and student perceptions of the motives of cyberbullies

Understanding the motivation of students who cyberbully is important for both prevention and intervention efforts for this insidious form of bullying. This qualitative exploratory study used focus groups to examine the views of teachers, parents and students as to the motivation of students who cyberbully and who bully in other traditional forms. In addition, these groups were asked to explain their understanding of what defines bullying and cyberbullying. The results suggested that not only were there differences in definitions of cyberbullying and bullying between the three groups, but also that there were differences in perceptions of what motivates some youth to cyberbully. The implications of these results are discussed for both prevention and intervention strategies.     

Why Brains Are Not Computers,Why Behaviorism Is Not Satanism,and Why Dolphins Are Not Aquatic Apes

Modern psychology has, to all intents and purposes, become synonymous with cognitive psychology, with an emphasis on the idea that the brain is a form of computer, whose job is to take in sensory input, process information, and produce motor output. This places the brain at a remove from both the body and environment and denies the intimate connection that exists between them. As a result, a great injustice is done to both human and nonhuman animals: On the one hand, we fail to recognize the distinctive nature of nonhuman cognition, and on the other hand, we continue to promote a somewhat misleading view of human psychological capacities. Here, I suggest a more mutualistic, embodied, enactive view might allow us to ask more interesting questions about how animals of all kinds come to know their worlds, in ways that avoid the (inevitable) anthropocentric baggage of the cognitivist viewpoint.     

Predicting sun-protective intentions and behaviours using the theory of planned behaviour: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To synthesise theory of planned behaviour (TPB) relationships, using meta-analysis, and test the predictive utility of the model for sun protection behaviour.

Design: Thirty-eight samples were identified via database/manual searches and academic society posts based on the criteria: measuring sun-protective intentions and/or prospective behaviour; using the TPB/theory of reasoned action as a basis of measurement; and providing bivariate correlations for at least one relevant TPB association.

Main outcome measures: Sun-protective intentions and behaviours.

Results: The sample-weighted average effects were moderate-to-strong with attitudes showing the strongest association with intention (r+ = 0.494), followed by perceived behavioural control (PBC; r+ = 0.451), and subjective norm (r+ = 0.419). Intentions showed a stronger association with prospective behaviour (r+ = 0.486) compared to PBC (r+ = 0.314). A total of 39% of variance in intentions and 25% of variance in behaviour were explained. Publication bias was not evident. Moderator analyses showed that TPB associations were stronger when measures specified the Target, Action, Context and Time; in non-student samples; and when follow-up exceeded two weeks.

Conclusion: Despite recent criticism, this review shows that the TPB explains a large amount of variance in sun protection and that TPB associations are robust across different populations.