Outpatient group psychotherapy following day treatment for patients with personality disorders

This prospective, naturalistic study evaluated the practice and effectiveness of an outpatient group therapy program following day treatment for patients with personality disorders (PDs). One hundred and eighty-seven patients (86% patients with PDs and 14% with no PDs), were treated in outpatient psychodynamic group therapy. Outcome was assessed by Global Assessment of Functioning, Symptom Check List 90-R, and Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex, short version, at admission and discharge from day treatment, and at the end of outpatient group therapy. Average length of outpatient therapy was 24 months. Forty-three percent terminated in an irregular manner. Outcome of the continuation therapy was satisfactory for patients without PDs. For PD patients, the improvement from the day treatment was maintained during outpatient therapy, but further improvements were modest for symptoms and interpersonal distress, somewhat better for global functioning. Implications for further treatment development are discussed.     

Surface construal and the mental representation of scenes

What distinguishes scenes from nonscenes? Photographs of objects on both naturalistic and blank backgrounds yielded boundary extension (BE: memory for unseen spatial expanse outside the picture's boundaries). However, line-drawn objects on blank backgrounds did not (Experiment 1). Perhaps the blank background was construed as depicting a real-world surface in the photograph condition but was construed as depicting nothing in the line-drawn condition. To change background construal, the authors used objects cut out of photographs; these were placed on blank backgrounds while viewers watched (Experiments 2 and 3). BE was eliminated. The authors propose that amodal continuation is a fundamental aspect of scene perception. However, not all pictures are scenes--only pictures construed as depicting a truncated view of a continuous world.     

The drug‐crime nexus among adolescents and their peers

The purpose of this paper is to determine the nature of the drug‐crime relationship by exploring the influence of friend behaviors on both adolescent delinquent and substance using behavior. The sample consists of 1381 adolescents evenly divided by gender into three age groups (12, 15 and 18 years old). In general, there is an increase in intensity of substance use from the youngest to the oldest age level with male and female levels being similar within each age group. There are both age and gender differences when examining delinquent behavior. There is a relationship between adolescent drug use and crime (especially among males), however this relationship is relatively modest. In addition, while friends’ behavior is a very strong predictor of the same type of behavior in subjects, there are no strong crossover relationships. Thus, the hypothesis that both types of behavior are part of a specific deviant peer subculture is not confirmed.     

An Analysis of the Results Obtained by Retesting Juvenile Delinquents

Sixty first-year college student in a state university were administered three problems to ascertain their level of logical thinking. Successful solution of the problems required the elaboration of hypotheses and methods of proof. Seventeen percent of the randomly selected Ss scored at the concrete level, 63% at the lower formal level, and 20% at the upper formal level. Logical thinking was found to have almost no relationship to college selection criteria (high school rank and SAT scores) for men and a low relationship for women in this sample whose range of scores on these criteria was restricted. Differences between the sexes were found to be substantial and significant, favoring the men.     

Radical Otherness: Sociological and Theological Approaches

Abstract

This article reports two studies on the development of the Embodied Spirituality Scale (ESS), an instrument designed to measure the level of integration between one's experience of sexuality and spirituality. Both studies were limited to specifically Christian samples. Study 1 reports the initial construction of the ESS. Participants in Study 1 consisted of 128 women and 64 men (ages 16 to 75, M = 22.7 years). Study 2 reports a validation study of the ESS. Participants in Study 2 consisted of 125 female (46.5 per cent) and 142 male (52.8 per cent) adults between the ages of 18 and 78 (M = 47; SD = 10.9). The results offer empirical support for the concept of embodied spirituality as an integral relationship between sexuality and spirituality. The results also suggest that, as a measure of embodied awareness, the ESS may offer clues to the nature of the ‘active ingredient’ in the relationship between spirituality and health.     

Existential themes in the treatment of people at suicide risk. Understandings and practices of specialist healthcare professionals

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study focuses on the ways in which existential themes were understood and addressed in therapeutic relationships with patients who had attempted suicide. Health care professionals (HCP) from Norway specialist healthcare participated in focus groups. The interviews were transcribed and analysed by systematic text-condensation through a four-step procedure. We found that the HCPs emphasised the context-specific functions of their departments. They considered these conversations essential but demanding. They indicated existential themes of hope/hopelessness, loneliness, meaning, life/death, shame, religion and suicide. The HCPs’ understandings of themes deemed to be existential and how they should be addressed were primarily based on clinical experience. This appeared to exacerbate the pressure on their personal involvement, leading to the question of whether patients’ existential needs are tackled or instead disappear into a conversational vacuum. The study suggests that HCPs' professional competence of existential themes pertaining to patients at suicide risk needs to be strengthened.     

The Factor Structure and Reliability of a Six-Item Sense of Coherence Measure

The study investigated the factor structure and reliability of a six-item sense of coherence (SOC) measure. Participants were a South African white collar employee sample (n=7185) purposively selected from over 300 different companies across various business sectors. The sample constituted 34% male and 66% female and 34% Black, 18% Coloured, 11% Indian and 37% White employees. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used for the structural analysis. The reliability of the scores was also estimated. A unidimensional structure seemed to best represent the six-item SOC measure. The internal reliability of the scores from the measure was high.     

Proposed Revisions of the By-Laws of the American Group Psychotherapy Association,Inc.

Abstract

The social constructs of the group, the group self of an individual member, and the moral order of the group as a whole are described as basic, interrelated concepts essential to our understanding of scapegoating. Two patterns of scapegoating are then introduced: one concerns antagonistic, the other, agonistic relations of scapegoat to scapegoaters. A series of case examples are presented, one involves an advocacy group of socio-cultural “outsiders;” the other three pertain to scapegoating in therapy group settings. The case materials illustrate the meaning and usefulness of an intersubjective/social constructivist perspective on the problem of scapegoating.     

Whether a religious group membership is shared and salient influences perceived similarity,political support,and helping intention toward refugees,but not charitable donation

This research investigates the ways in which (un)shared religious group memberships contribute to individual helping responses through perceived similarity in the context of a refugee emergency. Across three studies (N = 762), we examined religious sub-groups of British people's helping responses to religious subgroups of Syrian refugees, in quasi-experimental and experimental designs. Overall findings suggest that sharing a religious group membership with refugee targets increases perceived similarity, political support, and helping intention, but not charitable donation—regardless of shared group membership being subtle or salient. However, when refugee targets' religious identity is that of a salient unshared group membership, not sharing a religious group membership reduces perceived similarity, political support, and helping intention, among those who are religious—with again charitable donation remaining unchanged. These results provide critical insights into developing more effective and unique strategies to promote and mobilize support for refugees among different groups of potential helpers.