Mechanisms in Self-Determined Exercise Motivation: Effects of a Theory Informed Pilot Intervention

The purpose was to examine the effects of an exercise pilot intervention informed by Self-determination theory. The 64 participants were randomized into experimental and control group. The main questions were whether the intervention would influence (a) exercise level, (b) motivation quality, and (c) autonomy and competence need satisfaction. We also examined the indirect effects of self-determined motivation on exercise. Significant intervention effects were found regarding exercise level and motivation quality. Also, intervention effect on exercise was found to be mediated by motivation quality and identified regulation. The results provide interesting information about the underlying mechanisms involved in exercise behaviour change.     

社会学的现状与任务

社会学要摆脱目前面临的危机,成为把握全部社会性事物及其复杂性的普遍性理论,也必须将理论自身当作对象,这就是说,具有普遍性要求的社会学理论必须是差别的理论、自我参照的理论.因而,社会学必须与其他的、交叉学科的富有成果的理论相联系,并为此选择出一个自我参照的、"自我塑成的"系统的理论.运用这一理论,不确定的复杂性被转化为能够确定的、在科学意义上有价值的复杂性,从而简化复杂性.《社会诸系统》正是本着这样一种思路做出的在一个被设想为没有中心的世界和一个被设想为没有中心的社会中发展出一个多中心的(因而也是多语境)理论的尝试.     

Ethics and Intuitions: A Reply to Singer

In a recent paper, Peter Singer suggests that some interesting new findings in experimental moral psychology support what he has contended all along—namely that intuitions should play little or no role in adequate justifications of normative ethical positions. Not only this but, according to Singer, these findings point to a central flaw in the method (or epistemological theory) of reflective equilibrium used by many contemporary moral philosophers. In this paper, we try to defend reflective equilibrium from Singer’s attack and, in part, we do this by discussing Singer’s own favoured moral methodology as outlined in his Practical Ethics. Although basing ethics solely on (certain kinds of) intuitions certainly is problematic, we argue, basing it solely on ‘reason’ gives rise to similar problems. The best solution would arguably be one which could strike a balance between the two—but, we suggest, this is precisely what reflective equilibrium is all about.     

Acceptance and commitment therapy versus tinnitus retraining therapy in the treatment of tinnitus: a randomised controlled trial

The study compared the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) on tinnitus impact in a randomised controlled trial. Sixty-four normal hearing subjects with tinnitus were randomised to one of the active treatments or a wait-list control (WLC). The ACT treatment consisted of 10 weekly 60 min sessions. The TRT treatment consisted of one 150 min session, one 30 min follow-up and continued daily use of wearable sound generators for a recommended period of at least 8 h/day for 18 months. Assessments were made at baseline, 10 weeks, 6 months and 18 months. At 10 weeks, results showed a superior effect of ACT in comparison with the WLC regarding tinnitus impact (Cohen’s d = 1.04), problems with sleep and anxiety. The results were mediated by tinnitus acceptance. A comparison between the active treatments, including all assessment points, revealed significant differences in favour of ACT regarding tinnitus impact (Cohen’s d = 0.75) and problems with sleep. At 6 months, reliable improvement on the main outcome measure was found for 54.5% in the ACT condition and 20% in the TRT condition. The results suggest that ACT can reduce tinnitus distress and impact in a group of normal hearing tinnitus patients.     

Relieved after GP's consultation? Change in the complaint-related worry of young adult patients

Patients tend to get relieved during a general practitioner's (GP's) consultation, but some patients remain worried. This study aimed to explore the change in worry and to identify factors associated with non-worry, relief and persistent worry by interviewing GPs' patients before and after a consultation. Patients aged 18-39 years consulting their doctor because of a somatic complaint were interviewed about their complaint-related worry, complaint characteristics and their expectations and experiences concerning the consultation. They completed questionnaires about general illness worry (IWS) and psychiatric symptoms (SCL-90). The GPs assessed the medical severity of each complaint and reported whether the complaint was medically explained. Persistently worried patients reported more anxiety and thoughts that something was seriously wrong in their body. They expected more often medical examinations, were less certain about what was wrong with them and considered their complaint more severe than the other patients, even though its medical severity did not differ from that of the other patients.     

Impulsivity as a predictor of newly-diagnosed peptic ulcer disease: A prospective cohort study

We examined the role of impulsivity in the development of peptic ulcer disease (PUD). The subjects were initially healthy 4636 hospital employees aged 19–62 who responded to a questionnaire on personality, health habits, mental health, and PUD in 1998 and 2000. We used multivariate logistic analyses to determine the relationship between impulsivity and newly-diagnosed PUD among those employees who did not have PUD at baseline. Impulsivity was assessed with the Karolinska Scale of Personality. High level of impulsivity was associated with increased 2-year incidence of doctor-diagnosed PUD after adjustment of age, gender, education and shift work (odds ratio = 2.42, 95% confidence interval = 1.21–4.82). Additional adjustment for the effects of smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI, physical activity, minor psychiatric morbidity and diagnosed depression and other psychiatric disease had little effect on this relationship. The present study suggests that impulsivity may be a risk factor for the development of PUD.     

The Experiences of Guilt and Shame: A Phenomenological–Psychological Study

This study aims at discovering the essential constituents involved in the experiences of guilt and shame. Guilt concerns a subject’s action or omission of action and has a clear temporal unfolding entailing a moment in which the subject lives in a care-free way. Afterwards, this moment undergoes a reconstruction, in the moment of guilt, which constitutes the moment of negligence. The reconstruction is a comprehensive transformation of one’s attitude with respect to one’s ego; one’s action; the object of guilt and the temporal-existential experience. The main constituents concerning shame are its anchorage in the situation to which it refers; its public side involving the experience of being perceptually objectified; the exclusion of social community; the bodily experience; the revelation of an undesired self; and the genesis of shame in terms of a history of frozen now-ness. The article ends with a comparison between guilt and shame.     

Interactive effect of long-term mental stress and cardiac stress reactivity on carotid intima-media thickness: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study

The present study examined the interaction between vital exhaustion and cardiac reactivity and recovery on preclinical atherosclerosis assessed by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in young men and women. We measured heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and pre-ejection period (PEP) in response to mental arithmetic and speech tasks. Vital exhaustion and carotid IMT were also measured. Significant associations were observed for men aged 28-37 years, but not for men aged 22-25 years, nor for women in these age groups. It was shown that, among highly exhausted men in the older age group, lower HR reactivity was related to greater IMT. Our results also imply that, among non-exhausted men in this age group, slow HR and RSA recovery after acute stress predicted higher IMT. These results suggest that long-term stress as assessed by vital exhaustion is a risk only if it has resulted in ineffective cardiac stress reactivity. Autonomic imbalance resulting from chronic stress may be the common mechanism linking vital exhaustion and cardiac responsiveness to an increased risk of atherosclerosis.     

Siblings in family therapy

The participation of siblings in family therapy was studied from case records in 76 consecutive cases attending a child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinic. Siblings took part in family therapy in two thirds of the cases. Of these, 76 per cent attended only one or two sessions. A sub-sample of nine families with children below 13 years of age was interviewed. Seven out of 10 evaluated siblings had psychiatric symptoms of some severity at the onset of therapy compared to two after, and all had fewer symptoms after therapy compared to before (p<0.01). Most families thought it relevant for both parents and siblings to take discussing their children's behaviour in front of them and wanted the opportunity of also talking to the therapist without the children being present.