The Ecology of Intimate Partner Violence: Theorized Impacts on Women's Use of Violence

The aim of this paper is to describe the multiple factors associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) using the social-ecological framework developed by Heise (1998). This framework is used to categorize research findings from multiple disciplines according to the level of social organization at which they operate. Evidence-based strategies are then reviewed according to the sphere of influence in the social ecological model, as well as their place on the prevention continuum. Along the way, possible effects on women's use of IPV, and battered women's use of violence in particular, will be noted.     

Substance Abuse,Familial Factors,and Mental Health: Exploring Racial and Ethnic Group Differences Among African American,Caucasian, and Hispanic Juvenile Offenders

The present study examined racial, ethnic, and gender differences in family composition substance abuse, and mental health issues, such as depression and self-esteem among adjudicated juvenile offenders. Results revealed a negative relationship between depression and self-esteem among all ethnicities and family compositions. Caucasians reported greater incidence of substance abuse than did African American and Hispanic youth. Moreover, in reconstituted families, Caucasians had lower self-esteem scores than did other ethnicities. The findings illustrate the complexities of risk to substance use among high-risk populations, particularly as they relate to familial factors and the importance of intensive family therapy among this population.     

The Multigenerational Impact of Sibling Relationships

This study examined the impact that sibling relationship patterns in one generation have on the succeeding generation. In particular, it investigated whether calm and tense sibling interactions were similar across two generations and whether calm and tense sibling interactions in one generation would be similar to calm and tense parent-child interactions in the next generations. Statistical analyses were performed on the 220 successfully completed questionnaires. The results support the idea that sibling interactional patterns are transmitted across two generations and that the sibling relationship patterns in one generation appear to influence the parent-child relationships in the next generation.     

Multimodal Rehabilitation: A Mind-Body Family-Based Intervention for Children and Adolescents Impaired by Medically Unexplained Symptoms. Part 2: Case Studies and Outcomes

In Part 2, we describe three cases implementing our mind-body, family-based, multimodal rehabilitation approach for treating children and adolescents presenting with medically unexplained symptoms. For each child and family, treatment interventions were selected and implemented, simultaneously or sequentially. In a cohort of 100 consecutively referred children, 56 suffered from, and were treated for, significant physical or chronic school absenteeism. Thirty-five of these children (63%) recovered fully, 10 (18%) had a relapsing course, 7 (12.5%) had chronic symptoms, and 4 (7%) were lost to follow-up. These outcomes suggest that mind-body multimodal rehabilitation is a successful, cost-effective model of treatment.     

Group Work with Aggressive Men: Group Within a Group Within a Group

Psychodynamic group therapy offers many opportunities for members to identify, understand, and change the underlying problems, which lead to their aggressive behavior. In addition, group therapy can help to improve the members’ interpersonal relationships. The “Coping with Aggression” is comprised of three groups. A psychodynamic group of assaultive men made up the first group. The second group consisted of two leaders and a consultant whom the group members knew about but never actually met. The observers who sat outside the group made up the third group. Therapy contracts, boundaries, and leadership, and group process are discussed.     

The secure-base hypothesis: Global attachment, attachment to counselor, and session exploration in psychotherapy

This study explored J. Bowlby's (1988) secure-base hypothesis, which predicts that a client's secure attachment to the therapist, as well as the client's and the therapist's global attachment security, will facilitate in-session exploration. Volunteer clients (N = 59) and trainee counselors (N = 59) in short-term therapy completed the Experiences in Close Relationship Scale (K. A. Brennan, C. L. Clark, & P. R. Shaver, 1998) as a measure of adult global romantic and peer attachment orientations; the Client Attachment to Therapist Scale (B. Mallinckrodt, D. L. Gantt, & H. M. Coble, 1995) as a measure of attachment to counselor; the Working Alliance Inventory (A. O. Horvath & L. Greenberg, 1989) as a measure of working alliance; and the Session Evaluation Questionnaire-Depth Subscale (W. B. Stiles & J. S. Snow, 1984) as a measure of session depth. In line with Bowlby's hypothesis, the findings suggest that session depth is related to the client's experience of attachment security with the counselor and that counselor global attachment moderates the relationship between client global attachment and session exploration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).     

Effects of proactive interference on non-verbal working memory

Working memory (WM) is a cognitive system responsible for actively maintaining and processing relevant information and is central to successful cognition. A process critical to WM is the resolution of proactive interference (PI), which involves suppressing memory intrusions from prior memories that are no longer relevant. Most studies that have examined resistance to PI in a process-pure fashion used verbal material. By contrast, studies using non-verbal material are scarce, and it remains unclear whether the effect of PI is domain-general or whether it applies solely to the verbal domain. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of PI in visual WM using both objects with high and low nameability. Using a Directed-Forgetting paradigm, we varied discriminability between WM items on two dimensions, one verbal (high-nameability vs. low-nameability objects) and one perceptual (colored vs. gray objects). As in previous studies using verbal material, effects of PI were found with object stimuli, even after controlling for verbal labels being used (i.e., low-nameability condition). We also found that the addition of distinctive features (color, verbal label) increased performance in rejecting intrusion probes, most likely through an increase in discriminability between content–context bindings in WM.     

Trajectories of classroom externalizing behavior: Contributions of child characteristics, family characteristics, and the teacher-child relationship during the school transition

The unique and interactive contributions of past externalizing behavior, negative parenting, and teacher-child relationship quality to externalizing behavior trajectories after the transition to school were examined. In a sample of 283 children, random regression analyses indicated that conflict in the teacher-child relationship during the school transition contributed to faster rates of increase in externalizing behavior from kindergarten through third grade above and beyond negative parenting and initial levels of externalizing behavior. A significant interaction between teacher-child closeness and the externalizing behavior intercept indicated that decreases in externalizing behavior were associated with teacher-child closeness, especially for children with the highest levels of externalizing behavior upon school entry. Family socioeconomic status and initial levels of classroom externalizing behavior in kindergarten were also significant contributors to the prediction of externalizing behavior trajectories.     

Deriving childhood temperament measures from emotion-eliciting behavioral episodes: scale construction and initial validation

The authors describe the development and initial validation of a home-based version of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB), which was designed to assess childhood temperament with a comprehensive series of emotion-eliciting behavioral episodes. This article provides researchers with general guidelines for assessing specific behaviors using the Lab-TAB and for forming behavioral composites that correspond to commonly researched temperament dimensions. We used mother ratings and independent postvisit observer ratings to provide validity evidence in a community sample of 4.5-year-old children. 12 Lab-TAB behavioral episodes were employed, yielding 24 within-episode temperament components that collapsed into 9 higher level composites (Anger, Sadness, Fear, Shyness, Positive Expression, Approach, Active Engagement, Persistence, and Inhibitory Control). These dimensions of temperament are similar to those found in questionnaire-based assessments. Correlations among the 9 composites were low to moderate, suggesting relative independence. As expected, agreement between Lab-TAB measures and postvisit observer ratings was stronger than agreement between the Lab-TAB and mother questionnaire. However, for Active Engagement and Shyness, mother ratings did predict child behavior in the Lab-TAB quite well. Findings demonstrate the feasibility of emotion-eliciting temperament assessment methodologies, suggest appropriate methods for data aggregation into trait-level constructs and set some expectations for associations between Lab-TAB dimensions and the degree of cross-method convergence between the Lab-TAB and other commonly used temperament assessments.