Social Anxiety Disorder and Social Support Behavior in Friendships

Relationship quality is a strong predictor of health outcomes, and individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) report increased interpersonal impairment. However, there are few studies testing the effect of SAD on friendships and it is thus unclear whether there are behavioral differences that distinguish friendships in which a target individual has SAD from friendships in which the target individual does not have SAD. We tested for differences in the provision and receipt of support behaviors as a function of having a SAD diagnosis and accounting for comorbid depressive symptoms. Participants with SAD (n = 90) and their friends engaged in support conversations that were coded using the Social Support Interaction Coding System. Structural equation modeling revealed some differences between participants and friends when accounting for depression. Specifically, friends of participants with SAD and comorbid depression engaged in fewer positive helper behaviors than the friends of participants who did not have SAD or comorbid depression. Additionally, dyads in which the primary participant had SAD engaged in more off-task behaviors. Results suggest that SAD does not result in global interpersonal impairment, but that receipt of positive support behaviors from friends may differ as a function of SAD and comorbid depression. Interpersonal interventions aimed at increasing adaptive friendships and aspects of CBT that target subtle avoidance (e.g., safety behaviors) may be useful in facilitating more satisfactory relationships for these individuals.     

Unrealistic optimism and genetic risk

The study examined whether life stress moderated the effects of a physical activity intervention. Women (n = 184) and 154 men (61% non-Hispanic white, average age 24 years) from an urban university participated. Data were analyzed separately for men and women using a 2 × 2 ANCOVA adjusting for baseline physical activity (intervention vs. control × high life stress vs. low stress) with total physical activity at one-year and two-year assessments as dependent variables. No significant main effect for stress or condition was found. The interaction was significant (p = 0.015) for men at one-year, indicating that men in the intervention group with high stress were more active than low stress intervention men. Instruction received in the intervention group on the stress-relieving properties of physical activity may have helped men with high stress to adopt or maintain physical activity.     

Rorschach Anatomy Response Correlates in Rehabilitation Failure Subjects

Studies have linked rehabilitation failure to personality factors and psychological test findings, including the Rorschach Anatomy Response. Objective psychological tests were administered to 112 PMRS patients who met the criterion of over 30% anatomy on the Rorschach. Test scores and demographic variables were statistically analyzed in an intercorrelational design using medical success—failure judgements as criterion. Outcomes were judged 100% failure and the group resembled somatization and hysterical reactions, with positive comparisons to passive-dependency and delayed recovery from disease. Inspection of the intercorrelations suggested two patterns: an open psychopathology configuration and a control-defensive personality organization. Discussion focused upon the value of anatomy percentage as a failure predictor, the type of personality involved, and the need for more specific research.     

Self-Actualization and the Human Tendency for Varied Experience

This study examined whether self-actualization may be conceptualized as an expression of the human need for varied stimulation. Self-report assessment was made of Ss' level of self-actualization and preferences for kinds (cognitions, sensations) and sources (interoceptive, exteroceptive) of varied stimulation. Self-actualizing Ss differed from non-self-actualizing Ss in the amount of total stimulus-seeking behavior but not in their preference for source or kind of stimulation. Discussion of results focused upon an active-passive aspect of the need for varied experience.     

Treatment of sexual dysfunction

Abstract

This study is based on a statistical analysis of 240 client records. The task of the study was to determine the variables inherent to women with diagnosed sexual problems. Data were secured for 93 variables in four classifications—sociological, sexological, psychological, and counseling. Frequency distributions revealed sociological characteristics which were representative of young, middle-class, well-educated women, except for a greater incidence of divorce and separation. Typical sexual experiences included extramarital relationships, oral and anal intercourse, masturbation, and childhood sexual contacts with adult males who were either a member or friend of the family. Compared to other reports of sexual experience, clients showed greater frequencies of intercourse, homosexual and extramarital experience, and childhood sexual contacts with adult males, but less frequency of orgasm. In addition, mean T-scores were moderately elevated (60–69) for eight of 13 MMPI scales.     

Early family context and development of adolescent ruminative style: Moderation by temperament

We know very little about the development of rumination, the tendency to passively brood about negative feelings. Because rumination is a risk factor for many forms of psychopathology, especially depression, such knowledge could prove important for preventing negative mental health outcomes in youth. This study examined developmental origins of rumination in a longitudinal sample (N=337; 51% girls) studied in preschool (ages 3½ and 4½ years) and early adolescence (ages 13 and 15 years). Results indicated that family context and child temperament, assessed during the preschool period, were risk factors for a ruminative style in adolescence. Specifically, early family contexts characterised by over-controlling parenting and a family style of negative-submissive expressivity predicted higher levels of later rumination. These associations were moderated by children's temperamental characteristics of negative affect and effortful control. Further, the interaction of these temperament factors exerted an additional influence on later rumination. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.     

Parental Bullying,Aggression, and Assertion: A Philosophical and Psychoanalytic Revisioning of Frank Summers' Case of Anna

Historically, psychoanalysis has failed to differentiate adequately between aggression and assertion. It is uncontroversial to state that bullying is a form of aggression. However, if aggression and assertion are not adequately distinguished, bullying could also be viewed as a form of assertion. Some psychoanalysts have attempted to resolve this by using the terms aggression and assertion as synonyms but introducing the notion of nondestructive aggression. Bullying, then, is understood to be hostile aggression or hostile assertion. In this article, I aim to prepare psychoanalytic and philosophical groundwork for a meaningful differentiation between aggression and assertion, and, at the same time, to shed light on the nature of bullying, parental bullying in particular. To achieve these aims, I critique an aspect of the case material presented by Frank Summers in his (2005) Summers, F. 2005. Self Creation: Psychoanalytic Therapy and the Art of the Possible, Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.  [Google Scholar] book, Self Creation: Psychoanalytic Therapy and the Art of the Possible. I also critique Parens' (2008) Parens, H. 2008. The Development of Aggression in Early Childhood, Lanham, MD: Jason Aronson.  [Google Scholar] notion of nondestructive aggression as used by him and by Summers. Additionally, I discuss some of the philosophical notions Summers introduces and discusses relevant to a critique of his notion of the analyst's vision of the patient's development in its relevance to his case of Anna.     

Sleep facilitates consolidation of positive emotional memory in healthy older adults

ABSTRACT

Evidence has demonstrated that sleep-related memory consolidation declines in ageing. However, little is known about age-related changes to sleep-related emotional memory consolidation, especially when considering the positivity effect observed in older adults. In the present study, we sought to explore whether there is a positive emotional bias in sleep-related memory consolidation among healthy older adults. Young and older adults were randomly assigned either into a sleep or wake condition. All participants encoded positive, negative, and neutral stimuli and underwent recognition tests immediately (test 1), after a 12-hour sleep/wake interval (test 2), and 3 days after test 2 (test 3). Results showed that age-related differences of sleep beneficial effect were modulated by emotion valence. In particular, sleep selectively enhanced positive memory in older adults, while in young adults sleep beneficial effect was manifested in neutral memory. Moreover, the sleep beneficial effect can be maintained at least 3 days in both young and older adults. These findings suggest that older adults had preserved but positive bias of sleep-related memory consolidation, which could be one of the underlying mechanisms for their generally better emotional well-being in daily life. These findings highlight the dynamic interplay among sleep and emotional memory in older adults.     

Conditional teaching and mindful learning

Abstract:

Most people can draw on vast categories of stored information when explicitly asked to do so. The spontaneous, creative, mindful use of previously learned information, however, tends to be atypical. Three studies were designed to assess whether the manner in which information is initially presented affects how such information will subsequently be used, that is, in a mindful or mindless way. More specifically, two experiments (one with children, the other with college students) were conducted to compare the effects of a conditional versus absolute form of teaching upon creativity. Results revealed that instruction presented in an absolute manner resulted in mindless use of the information for both age groups. In contrast, subjects who were taught in a conditional way were better able to creatively deal with the information. For the college students, this finding was obtained even when the absolute learning condition was concerned with theoretical (i.e., conditional) information. In a third experiment, student teachers were taught conditionally or unconditionally in a confident or unconfident manner. Results indicated that confident but conditional instruction was most effective in provoking subsequent mindfulness.     

A Role for Cognitive Rehabilitation in Increasing the Effectiveness of Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorders

Neurocognitive impairments are prevalent in persons seeking treatment for alcohol use disorders (AUDs). These impairments and their physical, social, psychological and occupational consequences vary in severity across persons, much like those resulting from traumatic brain injury; however, due to their slower course of onset, alcohol-related cognitive impairments are often overlooked both within and outside of the treatment setting. Evidence suggests that cognitive impairments can impede treatment goals through their effects on treatment processes. Although some recovery of alcohol-related cognitive impairments often occurs after cessation of drinking (time-dependent recovery), the rate and extent of recovery is variable across cognitive domains and individuals. Following a long hiatus in scientific interest, a new generation of research aims to facilitate treatment process and improve AUD treatment outcomes by directly promoting cognitive recovery (experience-dependent recovery). This review updates knowledge about the nature and course of cognitive and brain impairments associated with AUD, including cognitive effects of adolescent AUD. We summarize current evidence for indirect and moderating relationships of cognitive impairment to treatment outcome, and discuss how advances in conceptual frameworks of brain-behavior relationships are fueling the development of novel AUD interventions that include techniques for cognitive remediation. Emerging evidence suggests that such interventions can be effective in promoting cognitive recovery in persons with AUD and other substance use disorders, and potentially increasing the efficacy of AUD treatments. Finally, translational approaches based on cognitive science, neurophysiology, and neuroscience research are considered as promising future directions for effective treatment development that includes cognitive rehabilitation.