Attachment‐based intervention for substance‐using mothers: A preliminary test of the proposed mechanisms of change

Although randomized controlled trials examining the efficacy of attachment‐based interventions have been increasing in recent years, adequate measurement of treatment integrity, integrity–outcome associations, and mechanisms of change has been rare. The aim of this investigation was to conduct a rigorous test of proposed mechanisms of change in the Mothers and Toddlers Program (MTP) treatment model, a 12‐session, attachment‐based individual therapy for substance‐using mothers of children birth to 3 years of age. The MTP aims to improve maternal reflective functioning (RF) and representation quality (RQ) to bring about second‐order change in maternal caregiving behavior. Following guidelines from M.K. Nock ( 2007 ), it was hypothesized that (a) therapist adherence to unique MTP treatment components would uniquely predict improvement in RF and RQ and that (b) improvement in RF and RQ would function as unique mechanisms of change (when compared with other potential mechanisms—reduction in depression and increase in abstinence from drug use) in the improvement of caregiving behavior. Findings supported each hypothesis, confirming the proposed mechanisms of the treatment model. However, improvement in maternal depression also uniquely predicted improvement in caregiving behavior. Results underscore the potential value of attachment‐based parenting interventions for improving mother–child relations and the importance of providing these interventions in clinic settings where mothers have access to comprehensive care (e.g., psychiatric services).     

Examining process constructs of narrative career counselling: an exploratory case study

The present article examines how the five process constructs of reflection, connectedness, meaning making, learning and agency are operationalised in a constructivist approach to career counselling, specifically a storytelling approach. This article reports on an exploratory case study of a Black South African female university student. The case study provides examples of how a career counsellor enacts these constructs and facilitates their development in a client, as well as examples of how they are evident in client dialogue and action. Insight into the process of a storytelling approach to narrative career counselling is demonstrated, from which tentative suggestions are made about how to facilitate the process constructs of reflection, connectedness, meaning making, learning and agency.     

Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Child Social Preference During the Early School Years: Mediation by Maternal Warmth and Child Emotion Regulation

This longitudinal study examined processes that mediate the association between maternal depressive symptoms and peer social preference during the early school years. Three hundred and fifty six kindergarten children (182 boys) and their mothers participated in the study. During kindergarten, mothers reported their level of depressive symptomatology. In first grade, teachers rated children’s emotion regulation at school and observers rated the affective quality of mother-child interactions. During second grade, children’s social preference was assessed by peer nomination. Results indicated that mothers’ level of depressive symptomatology negatively predicted their child’s social preference 2 years later, controlling for the family SES and teacher-rated social preference during kindergarten. Among European American families, the association between maternal depressive symptoms and social preference was partially mediated by maternal warmth and the child’s emotion regulation. Although the relation between maternal depressive symptoms and children peer preference was stronger among African American families than Europrean American families, its mediation by the maternal warmth and child’s emotion regulation was not found in African American families.     

Better than ever? Employee reactions to ethical failures in organizations,and the ethical recovery paradox

This research examines organizational attempts to recover internally from ethical failures witnessed by employees. Drawing on research on service failure recovery, relationship repair, and behavioral ethics, we investigate how witnessing unethical acts in an organization impacts employees and their relationship with their organization. In two studies—one in the lab and one in the field—we examine the extent to which it is possible for organizations to recover fully from these ethical lapses. Results reveal an ethical recovery paradox, in which exemplary organizational efforts to recover internally from ethical failure may enhance employee perceptions of the organization to a more positive level than if no ethical failure had occurred.     

Changes in Problematic Anger,Shame, and Disgust in Anxious and Depressed Adults Undergoing Treatment for Emotion Dysregulation

Emotion dysregulation, the pervasive difficulty managing negative emotions, is a core problem across mood and anxiety disorders. Anger, shame, and disgust are particularly problematic emotions, impacting both disorder severity and treatment outcome. We previously found that a 16-week dialectical behavior therapy skills training group (DBT-ST) was superior to an activities-based support group (ASG) in decreasing emotion dysregulation in 44 adults with high emotion dysregulation who met diagnostic criteria for an anxiety or depressive disorder. We presently examine these participants’ changes in anger, shame, disgust, and distress using self-reports collected over 6 months during and after treatment. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses show that DBT-ST was superior to ASG in decreasing anger suppression (d = 0.93) and distress (d = 1.04). Both conditions significantly reduced shame, disgust propensity, and disgust sensitivity, but neither was superior for these outcomes. The treatments did not significantly reduce anger expression. Mediation analyses suggest that condition indirectly influenced 4-month anger suppression, shame, and distress through its effect on 2-month emotion dysregulation. These findings suggest that DBT-ST is efficacious for certain problematic emotions and distress in depressed and anxious adults and that common factors may account for some, but not all, of its benefits.     

Intact attentional control of working memory encoding in schizophrenia

This study reports evidence that individuals with schizophrenia (SC) demonstrate intact attentional selection for visual working memory (WM) storage. A group of 62 participants with SC and 55 control participants without SC were studied in a series of 5 experiments that examined the ability to use top-down and bottom-up cues to guide WM encoding, as well as the ability to spontaneously select a subset of representations for storage. Participants with SC exhibited a consistent and robust ability to use selective attention in the control of WM in all 5 experiments, demonstrating a remarkable island of preserved functioning given the broad spectrum of impairments of attention and WM that have been widely reported in those with SC. These findings indicate that attention is not globally impaired in SC and make it possible to delineate more precisely the nature of the specific impairment of attention in this disorder.