Collected Stories: Play in Four Acts

This article evolved from a group process where members of a psychoanalytic institute were faced with planning workshops for a professional weekend around the theme of “play.” The workshop that evolved consisted of four vignettes of play taking place in the therapeutic sessions of a child, an adolescent, an adult, and an elderly woman. The discussion of these vignettes that began at the conference and then was developed for this article focuses on tracing the development of play from childhood into adulthood (Mayes & Cohen, 1996; Russ, 2004) and on the relationship between play and the development of reflective functioning (Fonagy & Target, 1996). One area of particular interest that was focused upon was the use of play with adults who are described as “concrete,” people who function, at times, at a level of differentiation more typical of a young child. Play is described as being particularly helpful in facilitating a more differentiated and, thus, more reflective mode of psychic functioning for this group of individuals as well as for people at all levels of development.     

Logit Model to Predict Outcomes of Litigated Employee Obesity Cases

Purpose  

Given that there are no specific legal protections for obese employees, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the litigated case characteristics and case outcomes when an employee is subjected to negative consequences in the workplace and subsequently sues the employer.     

Prejudice,polyculturalism, and the influence of contact and moral exclusion: A comparison of responses toward LGBI,TI, and refugee groups

Prejudice toward marginalized groups is recognized as a complex and harmful social issue. The present study investigates the role of polyculturalism in undermining prejudice toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people and refugees. A pilot study (N = 76) compared participants' prejudice, contact, and moral exclusion toward lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) and transgender or intersex (TI) people. There were differences for three out of four variables; thus, LGB and TI variables were separated in the study proper (N = 154). In this study, we investigated moral exclusion and contact (quantity and quality) relating to LGB, TI, and refugee groups as simultaneous mediators of the relationship between polyculturalism and prejudice, while taking into account openness as per previous research. Structural equation modeling indicated that moral exclusion and contact quality acted as mediators between polyculturalism and prejudice for LGB people, TI people, and refugees.     

Contextual memory and skill transfer in category search

In three experiments, we examined transfer and contextual memory in a category search task. Each experiment included two phases (training and test), during which participants searched through category and exemplar menus for targets. In Experiment 1, the targets were from one of two domains during training (grocery store or department store); the domain was either the same or changed at test. Also, the categories were organized in one of two ways (alphabetically or semantically); the organization either remained the same or changed at test. In Experiments 2 and 3, domain and organization were held constant; however, categories or exemplars were the same, partially replaced, or entirely replaced across phases in order to simulate the dynamic nature of category search in everyday situations. Transfer occurred at test when the category organization or domain was maintained and when the categories or exemplars matched (partially or entirely) those at training. These results demonstrate that transfer is facilitated by overlap in training and testing contexts.     

Exploring specificity of speeded aiming movements: Examining different measures of transfer

Participants were trained and tested to move a mouse cursor from a start position to targets on a circular display in a perceptual-motor reversal condition, with horizontal, but not vertical, reversals. During training, some participants (experimental) moved to two targets either along a single diagonal axis (D1) or along both axes (D2). For D2, return movements from the targets were in the same direction as instructed movements to unpracticed targets. Others (control) trained on all targets. Testing always involved all targets. At test, movement times (to reach the target after leaving the start position) were shorter on trained than on untrained targets, especially for the D1 condition, documenting training specificity. However, movement times in the experimental conditions to new targets during testing were shorter than those in the control condition during training, documenting transfer of learning, with more transfer for D2 than for D1. Initiation times (to leave the start position after target onset) showed no transfer. The results provide evidence that specificity and transfer are not mutually exclusive and depend on the measure used to assess performance.     

Interactions between anxious mothers and their infants: An integration of theory and research findings

Children of highly anxious mothers are at risk for developmental difficulties including anxiety disorders, and “anxious maternal behavior” and disturbed mother–infant interactions have been implicated in the transmission of risk. In this article, we describe interactions between mothers who are highly anxious and their young infant, based on the few directly relevant observation studies that are available. For more detail, we draw on a broader literature including studies of depressed mothers and developmental theory. Our goal is to describe how the interactions between anxious mothers and infants look to an outside observer and how they may feel to mothers and infants. We also discuss possible bases for their disturbed interactive behavior, the impact that the disturbances can have on both mothers and infants, buffers and risk factors, and routes to short‐term intervention. Finally, we suggest directions for future research on maternal anxiety and anxious maternal behavior and the significance of such research for clinicians and researchers.     

The Ecology of Experiences for African American Women in Clinical Doctoral Programs

African American women must navigate higher education, in particular, clinical doctoral programs, as a gendered racial minority. These women often endure multiple levels of discrimination to obtain their degree. Findings of this study highlight these experiences and suggest the importance of increasing supports for African American women in clinical doctoral programs. Practices and supports should be put in place so that students of color are not marginalized because of their race. Las mujeres afroamericanas tienen que pasar por la educación superior, y particularmente en programas de doctorado clínico, como una minoría racial y de sexo. Estas mujeres sufren con frecuencia múltiples niveles de discriminación para poder obtener su titulación. Los hallazgos de este estudio destacan estas experiencias y sugieren la importancia de incrementar los apoyos para mujeres afroamericanas en programas de doctorado clínico. Deberían implementarse prácticas y apoyos para que las estudiantes de color no sean marginadas por su raza.     

Subtyping children and adolescents with loss of control eating by negative affect and dietary restraint

OBJECTIVE: Research suggests that subtyping adults with binge eating disorders by dietary restraint and negative affect predicts comorbid psychopathology, binge eating severity, and treatment outcome. Little research has explored the validity and clinical utility of subtyping youth along these dimensions. METHOD: Children (aged 8-18 years) reporting loss of control eating (n=159) were characterized based upon measures of dietary restraint and negative affect using cluster analysis, and then compared regarding disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, and parent-reported behavior problems. RESULTS: Robust subtypes characterized by dietary restraint (n=114; 71.7%) and dietary restraint/high negative affect (n=45; 28.3%) emerged. Compared to the former group, the dietary restraint/high negative affect subtype evidenced increased shape and weight concerns, more frequent binge eating episodes, and higher rates of parent-reported problems (all ps<0.05). CONCLUSION: Similar to findings from the adult literature, the presence of negative affect may mark a more severe variant of loss of control eating in youth. Future research should explore the impact of dietary restraint/negative affect subtypes on psychiatric functioning, body weight, and treatment outcome.     

Children At-Risk for Borderline Personality Disorder

Adult patients who have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) have provided valuable information about events and family dynamics that are frequently associated with BPD. Clinicians who work with children are frequently aware of family or individual characteristics that may put a child at risk for developing BPD. Such situations frequently involve attachment issues with the child's caregivers and can include sexual abuse, divorce, alcoholism/substance use, illness/ death, and neglect. Child characteristics such as learning difficulties and temperament may also predict BPD. Yet, many children are resilient and seemingly unaffected by these events or situations, especially when early intervention may prevent development of BPD.