Face to Face

In “Face to Face,” I explore my work as a Jewish analyst with a Lebanese woman, Ara, who is strongly identified with the Palestinian cause. As the work unfolded I find myself thrust into a psychic and social space I had not wanted to inhabit, into the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the turmoil of Jewish identity. Ara and I were in the midst of ghosts of historical traumas, intersecting and interweaving history and identity between us. It was her history and my history and the history of nations, of broken bonds and damaged victims suddenly all present in the room. I will hold together, in tension, the micro and the macro, the intrapsychic and social, the drama of the encounter between Ara and me and between Palestinians and Jews. I ask what it takes to find one's way into an understanding of the other, a recognition of the other and the legitimacy of their suffering when one's own history is suffused with the trauma of centuries of victimhood. “Face to Face” is an exploration of how to inhabit the Other, how to negotiate difference, moving beyond the dynamics of victim and victimizer, beyond that of oppressor and oppressed to what Emmanuel Levinas refers to as a welcoming of the stranger, a transcendent experience.     

Test-retest reliability of the state-trait personality inventory and the anger expression scale

Abstract

The State-Trait Personality Inventory and the Anger Expression Scale have been attracting increasing attention in research involving personality assessment, but no data regarding the test-retest reliability of these instruments have been published. The 14-day test-retest correlation coefficients for the subscales of these instruments reflect appropriately low stability for the state scales of the STPI and moderate stability for the STPI trait scales as well as the AX subscales.     

Factors Associated with Non-Reimbursable Activity on an Inpatient Pediatric Consultation–Liaison Service

The aim of this study was to identify factors contributing to clinician time spent in non-reimbursable activity on an inpatient pediatric consultation–liaison (C–L) service. A retrospective study was conducted using inpatient C–L service data on 1,246 consecutive referrals. For this patient population, the strongest predictor of level of non-reimbursable clinical activity was illness chronicity and the number of contacts with C–L service clinicians during their hospital stay. Patients with acute life-threatening illnesses required the highest mean amount of non-reimbursable service activity. On average, 28 % of total clinician time in completing a hospital consultation was spent in non-reimbursable activity. Effective C–L services require a proportion of time spent in non-reimbursable clinical activity, such as liaison and coordinating care with other providers. Identifying referral and systemic factors contributing to non-reimbursable activity can provide insight into budgeting/negotiating for institutional support for essential clinical and non-clinical functions in providing competent quality patient care.     

LIQUID TO BABY FOOD FADING IN THE TREATMENT OF FOOD REFUSAL

In the current investigation, we identified two young children who consistently consumed liquids, but not baby food, after treatment with positive reinforcement for mouth clean (an indirect measure of swallowing) and physical guidance with re‐presentation of food. We examined the effects of an 11‐step stimulus fading procedure that involved gradually altering the concentration of liquid by adding baby food to the liquid. High levels of mouth clean were maintained in both children throughout fading, and increased mouth clean during probes of 100% baby food was obtained after conducting all 11 fading steps with one child and 6 of 11 fading steps with the second child. Negative vocalizations decreased during probes of 100% baby food after conducting the remaining fading steps with the second child. Gram intake of 100% baby food increased with both children after we completed all fading steps. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation as a Method for Theological and Philosophical Inquiry

Abstract

In this paper we make the case that simulation provides an important and relatively novel tool for confronting and possibly even surmounting various epistemological hurdles. To support the claim that simulation has particular merit for approaching certain theological and philosophical problems, we suggest a number of advantages, evaluate possible objections, and make the case in a specific domain by illustrating how an actual simulation system can be used to this end.     

Obstructing the cascade: motivational system coactivation dampening defensive reactions to threat and disgust

ABSTRACT

This study uses the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP; Lang, 2006) as a framework to study coactivation of fundamental motivational systems elicited by common message features in antismoking public service announcements (PSAs): the appetitive system (elicited by smoking cues) and aversive system (elicited by perceived threat and disgust). Specific predictions were made for smoking cues’ ability to provide cognitive resources for message encoding when simultaneous message elements are so highly aversive they begin to deplete resources (i.e., during a defensive cascade). The results showed that greater resources were expended on encoding headlines as indicated by increased attention (i.e., gaze duration and frequency of fixation) and better free recall, but not noncue pictorial elements when smoking cues were present in PSAs high in perceived disgust. Although the inclusion of smoking cues was effective in highly aversive PSAs, results indicated that the inclusion of smoking cues reduced attention and free recall for moderately and low-aversive PSAs. Theoretical advances include the use of motivational coactivation to reduce defensive reactions and the differential allocation impact on text versus visual message elements. Applied implications highlight the importance of formative production research to ensure aversive activation is high enough to offset urges associated with smoking cues.     

Maternal Emotional Distress,Abuse Risk,and Children's Symptoms: Child Gender as a Moderator of Parent Sensitivity as a Mediator

Mothers' distress is a correlate of their children's elevated behaviour problems and symptoms. Parenting practices have been shown to mediate these associations, but few studies have observed parenting or focused on parents at risk of child abuse. In this study of 269 high‐risk mothers and their young children (M = 4.2 years), structural equation modelling was used to test associations between mothers' distress and child externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Associations were expected to be partly indirect via mothers' observed low sensitivity, and child gender was expected to moderate associations. Also, mothers' child abuse risk was examined as a unique correlate of sensitivity and children's symptoms, and a moderator of associations of distress with sensitivity and symptoms. Associations showed a pattern of gender‐moderated mediation with the link between mothers' distress and internalizing mostly direct for boys, and equally direct and indirect via sensitivity for girls. The association of mothers' distress with externalizing was mostly direct for boys and girls. Mothers' child abuse risk was not uniquely associated with sensitivity or symptoms and did not moderate any associations. There were no differences in model paths between mothers referred from child welfare/mental health compared with other sources or self‐referred. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predictors of Externalizing Behavior Problems in Early Elementary-Aged Children: The Role of Family and Home Environments

As children enter elementary school they display behavioral orientations that reveal potential developmental trajectories. Developmental transitions offer unique opportunities for examining developmental pathways and the factors that influence emerging pathways. The primary goal of this investigation was to examine characteristics of family and home contexts in predicting externalizing behavior problems among children transitioning into elementary school. Dimensions of the family and home environments of maltreated and nonmaltreated children (N = 177) were examined and used to predict externalizing behavior problems. Maltreatment was assessed using case file information, characteristics of the family and home environment were rated by interviewers, and externalizing behavior was assessed by mother's ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist. Relative to nonmaltreated children, the family environments of physically abused children were characterized by higher levels of negative social interactions. Also, in comparison to nonmaltreated children, the home environments of children who experienced neglect were characterized as less organized and clean. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that physical abuse was the strongest predictor of externalizing behavior. After controlling for the contribution of physical abuse, mother's negative behavior toward the focal child, aggression between siblings, and the lack of an organized and clean home were each predictive of externalizing behavior.