Deuten aus der Perspektive der strukturalen Psychoanalyse Lacans

“Beware of understanding!” Lacan’s structural analysis: theory and practice of interpretation. This paper investigates the relationship of understanding and countertransference analysis in the process of analytical interpretation. Here self-image of the analyst is crucial concerning the direction of the analysis. As field and function of speech are pivotal, they will be briefly sketched to clarify the structural-analytic starting point of the following arguments. The basis of the ideas is a definition of the unconscious as what is not conscious available. Should the analyst see himself as the “knowing” one, as his patient also assumes, a false assurance will result and the analysis will lead nowhere. This is typical of a “forced” transference analysis in the here and now. The alternative is a strategy of hints, whose premise is, that we do not know. This assumption makes it unnecessary to rely on countertransference analysis. Instead, the spoken word and its contradictions are in the focus. This analytical attitude makes listening to the “subject of the unconscious” possible by means of the analyst and his hints.     

Anxiety in Children and Adolescents Rated by Patients,Parents, and Teachers: Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of an ICD-10 and DSM-IV-based Rating Scale in a Large Clinical Sample

This study examined the psychometric properties of the German Self-Report and Parent Report Rating Scale for Anxiety Disorders (SRS-AD and PRS-AD), and a shortened teacher version of the PRS-AD (TRS-AD) in a large clinical sample. Data were collected from 585 children, adolescents and young adults with psychiatric disorders (aged 6–21 years), 821 parents and 378 teachers. Factorial validity, reliability and discriminating validity of the scales were examined and the agreement between different informants was assessed. Analyses were performed in the complete sample including a wide range of different psychiatric disorders as well as in a subsample of children, adolescents and young adults with anxiety disorders. Confirmatory factor analyses mostly supported a model with first-order factors according to the subscales and a second-order overall anxiety factor. Only for the SRS-AD analysed in the sample of participants with anxiety disorders, the results did not clearly favour a first-order solution with correlated factors according to the subscales or the second-order solution adopted for the other questionnaires. Internal consistencies for the total scale and subscales were mostly satisfactory. Significant mean differences between anxious and non-anxious participants were found for the mean total scores of the SRS-AD and PRS-AD, but not for the TRS-AD. The informant agreement was low-to-moderate. We concluded that the SRS-AD, PRS-AD and TRS-AD demonstrate satisfactory psychometric properties for use with clinically-referred children and adolescents.     

Degenerative Lendenwirbelsäulenerkrankungen

psychopraxis. neuropraxis - Die Literatur bestätigt, dass Operationen bei degenerativen Lendenwirbelsäulen(LWS)-Erkrankungen besser sind als ihr Ruf. Getragen wurde diese Entwicklung...     

Alcohol use affects sleep duration among military couples

Alcohol misuse and sleep disorders are highly comorbid, prevalent among service members and their romantic partners, and affected by relationship interdependence. As most military health research focuses on either service members or their spouses, the current study examined dyadic effects of alcohol use on sleep cycle duration in dating and married military couples (N = 149 dyads), using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Person-level results from a series of multilevel path models showed partial support for our focal hypothesis implicating high alcohol use in shortened average sleep duration for the service members and their romantic partners. Specifically, partners of service members who drank more regularly had shorter average sleep durations, as did female service members who drank more alcohol per drinking occasion. At the couple-level, a partner effect indicated that service members’ lower depressive symptoms were associated with their partner’s shorter average sleep durations. In addition, when service members reported relatively high alcohol-related problems, their partner tended to have a shorter average sleep duration. In contrast, when service members’ partners reported relatively high alcohol-related problems, they had a longer average sleep duration. This suggests the consequences of problematic alcohol use for service members’ partners depended on each dyad member’s drinking patterns. Taken together, these findings underscore the importance of viewing military couples as a dyadic unit in research studies and clinical interventions.     

How Implicit–Explicit Consistency of the Intelligence Self‐Concept Moderates Reactions to Performance Feedback

At present, it is not well understood which individual characteristics determine whether individuals will benefit or suffer from feedback about suboptimal performance. Three separate studies tested the idea that individuals' reactions to (neutral versus negative; positive versus negative) feedback as either improving or deteriorating performance in intelligence tests depended on their explicit and implicit self‐concept of intelligence (eSCI and iSCI). In all studies (Study 1, N = 177; Study 2, N = 165; Study 3, N = 132), persons with low eSCI/high iSCI showed a boost in performance after negative feedback, whereas persons with any other combination showed a decline in performance. The studies also provide an explanation for these effects in terms of mediating mechanisms. Whereas the performance boost of individuals with low eSCI/high iSCI can be best explained by achievement‐related reactance (Studies 2 and 3) and decrease in ruminative thinking (Study 3), the performance declines in the other configurations were mediated by decreased achievement motivation, increased frustration and increased outrage (Study 3). All these mediating mechanisms proved independent and incremental in a bootstrapping‐based moderated meditation analysis. The results are discussed in light of the construct validity of our Implicit Association Test (IAT) and IATs in general. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the Road to the Unconscious Self: Understanding when People Gain Self‐knowledge of Implicit Disgust Sensitivity from Behavioural Cues

On the basis of an integration of dual‐process models of information processing and the lens model framework of person perception, we conducted two studies to investigate whether self‐perceivers could detect their implicit disposition from video feedback of behavioural cues and whether these cues were used for explicit dispositional inferences under conditions that maximized the presumed self‐perception process. Using an approach that differed from previous research, we used the following: (i) a more detailed and stepwise self‐perception procedure; (ii) a specific explicit measure compared with a global explicit measure; and (iii) disgust sensitivity as a domain with clear, unambiguous cues and an assumed low self‐presentation bias. The results from two studies (N = 117 and N = 130) on disgust sensitivity provide the first evidence for the assumed process with regard to bodily reaction cues but not with regard to facial expression cues. These novel findings suggest that people can get to know their unconscious selves better if supporting conditions are met and the right behavioural cues are attended to. Additional boundary conditions of this self‐perception process were investigated using display rules and need for closure in Study 2. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rasch analysis of a simplified Beck Depression Inventory

Depression is one of the most clinically relevant mood disorders, and many assessment instruments have been developed to measure it. Probably the most frequently used instrument is Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI). The simplified BDI (BDI-S) is a more efficient version of the BDI that has been shown to be no less reliable or valid. As the BDI-S has not yet been subjected to rigorous tests of Item Response Theory, it is the aim of the present paper to conduct such an analysis using the Rasch model. This study subjected a simplified version of the BDI consisting of 20 items (BDI-S20) to a Rasch analysis in a sample of N = 5,035 participants. The scale, minus one misfitting item (BDI-S19), yielded a good approximation to Rasch assumptions. Moderate differential item functioning (DIF) was present. It is concluded that the BDI-S19 is an internally valid instrument for assessing depression, although some room for improvement exists.     

Short- and Long-Term Effects of Inpatient Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Adolescents With Anxious-Depressed School Absenteeism: A Within-Subject Comparison of Changes

The effects of inpatient treatment, including manual-guided cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT), were examined for 36 adolescents (12–18 years) with chronic school absenteeism and mental health problems. Using a within-subject control group design, no changes were noted during the untreated waiting period, whereas there was a strong, statistically significant reduction in school absence rates and mental health problems from the start to the end of inpatient treatment. At discharge, 88.9% of adolescents attended school regularly or were employed (86.1 and 63.9% at 2- and 9-months follow-up, respectively). Self- and parent-reported mental health problems were significantly reduced during treatment and remained stable during follow-up.     

Secular IQ increases by epigenesis? The hypothesis of cognitive genotype optimization

The short timescale of massive secular IQ gains ("Flynn Effect") is inconsistent with positive selection of a recent gene mutation, but other genetic mechanisms are possible. Principles of evolutionary psychology, combined with secular trends, suggest an epigenetic explanation: the Cognitive Genome Optimization Hypothesis. Per life-history theory, favorable secular trends may change the phenotypic expression of the genotype which controls the neurophysiology of problem solving. The hypothesis posits two intermediate steps between reliable nutrition (the starting point) and higher IQs (ending point): (1) Earlier cognitive maturation and (2) further calibration of cognitive function by reliable social resources (cultural complexity, mandatory education). Unlike earlier generations, more resources can be deployed to cognitive maturation than to physical survival, and more time is available to calibrate cognitive processing into the upper end of the trait value range for intelligence. The secular trend of earlier puberty timing is critical: data show an association between puberty and higher IQ.     

A misleading review of response bias: comment on McGrath, Mitchell, Kim, and Hough (2010)

In the May 2010 issue of Psychological Bulletin, R. E. McGrath, M. Mitchell, B. H. Kim, and L. Hough published an article entitled "Evidence for Response Bias as a Source of Error Variance in Applied Assessment" (pp. 450-470). They argued that response bias indicators used in a variety of settings typically have insufficient data to support such use in everyday clinical practice. Furthermore, they claimed that despite 100 years of research into the use of response bias indicators, "a sufficient justification for [their] use… in applied settings remains elusive" (p. 450). We disagree with McGrath et al.'s conclusions. In fact, we assert that the relevant and voluminous literature that has addressed the issues of response bias substantiates validity of these indicators. In addition, we believe that response bias measures should be used in clinical and research settings on a regular basis. Finally, the empirical evidence for the use of response bias measures is strongest in clinical neuropsychology. We argue that McGrath et al.'s erroneous perspective on response bias measures is a result of 3 errors in their research methodology: (a) inclusion criteria for relevant studies that are too narrow; (b) errors in interpreting results of the empirical research they did include; (c) evidence of a confirmatory bias in selectively citing the literature, as evidence of moderation appears to have been overlooked. Finally, their acknowledging experts in the field who might have highlighted these errors prior to publication may have prevented critiques during the review process.