Openness to psychological explanations and treatment among people with Fibromyalgia versus Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective: The classic perspective in the psychosomatic literature is that patients with medically unexplained syndromes do not acknowledge psychologically-based causes for their conditions and will not engage in psychological treatments. These assumptions were tested by contrasting the illness models and reported treatment experiences of individuals with fibromyalgia (FM), a syndrome with a currently unknown organic origin, with those of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a ‘legitimate’ (i.e. organic) condition.

Method: 193 patients with FM and 176 with RA completed measures assessing their views about the causes of their condition, the treatments they had used and their judged effectiveness.

Results: Contrary to prediction, compared to patients with RA, patients with FM were more likely to endorse psychological causes for their condition and reported having used more psychological management approaches. Moreover, patients with FM considered psychological approaches to be more effective than narcotics.

Conclusion: These findings indicate that patients with FM do not react defensively to the implication of psychogenic causes. Rather, as a group, they tend to acknowledge both the psychosocial influences on and the effectiveness of psychological management approaches for their condition.     

A unified approach to multiple‐set canonical correlation analysis and principal components analysis

Multiple‐set canonical correlation analysis and principal components analysis are popular data reduction techniques in various fields, including psychology. Both techniques aim to extract a series of weighted composites or components of observed variables for the purpose of data reduction. However, their objectives of performing data reduction are different. Multiple‐set canonical correlation analysis focuses on describing the association among several sets of variables through data reduction, whereas principal components analysis concentrates on explaining the maximum variance of a single set of variables. In this paper, we provide a unified framework that combines these seemingly incompatible techniques. The proposed approach embraces the two techniques as special cases. More importantly, it permits a compromise between the techniques in yielding solutions. For instance, we may obtain components in such a way that they maximize the association among multiple data sets, while also accounting for the variance of each data set. We develop a single optimization function for parameter estimation, which is a weighted sum of two criteria for multiple‐set canonical correlation analysis and principal components analysis. We minimize this function analytically. We conduct simulation studies to investigate the performance of the proposed approach based on synthetic data. We also apply the approach for the analysis of functional neuroimaging data to illustrate its empirical usefulness.     

The good,the bad and the uncertainty: Trainees' perceptions of the personal development group

Background: Views about the purpose and role of personal development groups (PD group) in the counsellor training process are varied. Some argue they enhance self‐awareness, self‐exploration, the ability to be congruent and, ultimately, that they make for better practitioners. Others argue there is no clear evidence for such benefits and that they can actually be damaging to trainees. Aims: This study aimed to explore the beliefs of 25 trainees enrolled on counselling diploma or counselling psychology doctoral courses. It looked in particular at their perceptions of the purpose of PD groups and their expectations regarding support, difficulties and the scope of their participation. Method: Data was collected using open‐ended questions in an anonymous survey and was subjected to a thematic analysis. Results: Trainees appeared to hold mixed – and sometimes conflicting – views about the PD group. For some it was a positive endeavour that facilitated learning about self and clients, and helped in the processes of developing counselling skills and keeping the training group healthy. For others it was a feared space, which could elicit negative emotional experiences, and impact negatively on both learning outside of the PD group and the health of the group itself. Still others were unclear about its purpose. Hope/idealisation (of the process, the facilitator and course tutors) were also evident in the trainees' responses. Implications: Implications of these findings for counselling training are discussed.     

Recording therapy sessions: What do clients and therapists really think?

Aims: Recording therapy sessions has become part of routine practice amongst trainee psychotherapists. To date most research has focused on the benefits of recording sessions to support clinical supervision. There are few data about the benefits or risks for clients. This study aimed to explore the views of clients who had had their therapy sessions recorded and therapists who had recorded sessions. Design: Five clients and 25 therapists completed a qualitative survey, the results of which were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: All clients and several therapists reported that the recording devices are soon forgotten. Both therapists and clients reported the benefits of recording as being purely for the therapist with none identified for clients. Conclusions: It was observed that clients perhaps did not always understand how recordings were used, suggesting the need for clearer practice guidance.     

Influence of Hostile Media Perception on Willingness to Engage in Discursive Activities: An Examination of Mediating Role of Media Indignation

This study examines the mediating role of media indignation, a set of negative emotional reactions to media coverage perceived to have partisan bias, between hostile media perception (HMP) and its consequences in behavioral willingness, more specifically, willingness to engage in discursive activities. It is examined together with a cognitive pathway through individuals' inference on opinion climate. Data from a web-based survey of university students (N = 696) on three controversial issues were analyzed. Findings showed that the degree of perceived partisan bias in mainstream media coverage on an issue was positively related to the intensity of media indignation and levels of incongruity between one's own opinion and perceived majority opinion. Media indignation in turn had a significant and positive effect on willingness to engage in discursive activities across all three issues, mediating the effect of HMP on behavioral willingness, whereas self-majority opinion incongruity did not. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Going Home Again: Transitioning Youth to Families After Group Care Placement

This paper presents results from the transitioning youth to families intervention, which aimed to promote family care for youth served in group care programs in the child welfare system. The intervention was conducted in two counties in a Mid-Atlantic state. The effort encompassed administrative case review and family involvement meetings. We assessed the effect of the intervention in promoting placement in family settings within 12 months. We also explored other effects of the intervention identified by participants. Using propensity score matching with administrative data to compare one-year placement settings for the intervention counties and non-intervention counties, a higher rate of family reunification was identified for youth in the treatment counties. To provide a richer contextual understanding of the effects of the intervention, thematic analysis of open-ended comments from youth and caregiver participants was conducted. These resulting themes provided further understanding of the value of the intervention especially in the areas of planning for the transition, improving youth insight about placement options, and the importance of family involvement. Participants also made recommendations for how to enhance the intervention and promote the transition of youth from group care to family settings. Overall, the effect of the intervention in transitioning youth to family settings was nominal; however unanticipated benefits of engaging youth and family in the transition process were noted. From this evaluation, we provide suggestions for future research and the development of effort to transition youth from group care settings.     

Transitioning from the Battlefield to Home: An Innovative Program for Israeli Soldiers

Soldiers moving from the army to civilian life encounter significant challenges during this time of transition, both in Israel and internationally. Identifying this period of time as a critical one, the Peace of Mind program is an innovative intervention designed specifically to address the issues occurring therein. This unique model focuses on mental health and normalization of responses, as well as on the processing of traumatic experiences. It is based on the considerable experience at the Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma in the fields of resilience building and trauma treatment. After reviewing the literature on returning soldiers, the model is described and several vignettes are presented.     

Why rejection hurts: a common neural alarm system for physical and social pain

Numerous languages characterize 'social pain', the feelings resulting from social estrangement, with words typically reserved for describing physical pain ('broken heart', 'broken bones') and perhaps for good reason. It has been suggested that, in mammalian species, the social-attachment system borrowed the computations of the pain system to prevent the potentially harmful consequences of social separation. Mounting evidence from the animal lesion and human neuroimaging literatures suggests that physical and social pain overlap in their underlying neural circuitry and computational processes. We review evidence suggesting that the anterior cingulate cortex plays a key role in the physical-social pain overlap. We also suggest that the physical-social pain circuitry might share components of a broader neural alarm system.     

Relationship of Attachment and Social Support to College Students' Adjustment Following a Relationship Breakup

Two constructs integral to adolescent development, continuing parental attachment and social support, were investigated to assess whether the constructs are differentially related to indices of adjustment following a romantic relationship breakup. Participants were 241 undergraduate students (M age = 20.62 years, 61% female, 39% male) with a relationship breakup within the last year. As hypothesized, hierarchical regression analyses showed that current attachment levels were related to the outcome variables. Indices of social support accounted for additional variance only when broadly conceptualized as perceived connection to the social environment, rather than perceived support from family and friends. Implications for counseling are discussed.