Monitoring the effects of adult psychotherapy in routine practice in Switzerland: A feasibility trial

Background: Several studies have been published on the effects of psychotherapy in routine practice. Complementing traditional views summarised as ‘dose‐effect models’, Stiles et al. put forward data consistent with the responsive regulation model underlining the importance of the client's active participant role in defining length of treatment. One may ask what level of change reached by a patient is considered to be the ‘good enough level’ (GEL) and if it is related to the duration of psychotherapy. Aims: The main objective of the present feasibility trial was to monitor the patient's session‐by‐session evolution using a self‐report questionnaire in order to define the GEL, i.e. the number of sessions necessary for the patient to reach significant change. Method: A total of N=13 patients undergoing psychotherapy in routine practice participated in the study, completing the Outcome Questionnaire – 45.2 (OQ‐45), which assesses the symptom level, interpersonal relationships and social role after every psychotherapy session. The data was analysed using multi‐level analyses (HLMs). Results: High feasibility of fine‐grained assessment of effects of psychotherapy in routine practice in Switzerland was shown; response rates being acceptable; however, detailed analysis of the GEL was not feasible within the short study time‐frame. Conclusions: Reflections on the political context of monitoring in the specific case of routine psychiatric practice in Switzerland are discussed.     

Coping with traumatic stress in journalism: a critical ethnographic study

Journalists who witness trauma and disaster events are at risk for physical, emotional, and psychological injury. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a critical ethnographic study among 31 Canadian journalists and photojournalists with regard to coping strategies used to buffer the effects of being exposed to trauma and disaster events and work-related stress. The findings are the result of in-depth individual interviews and six workplace observations with journalists across Canada. The most commonly reported coping strategies were: avoidance strategies at work, use of black humor, controlling one's emotions and memories, exercise and other physical activities, focusing on the technical aspects, and using substances. Recommendations for addressing the effects of work-related stress within this population are provided.     

Perceived autonomy support, friendship maintenance, and happiness

Decades of empirical research have shown that perceived autonomy support in close relationships is an essential correlate of happiness. However, what might account for the relationship between the 2? For this article, 4 studies (total N=1325) investigated friendship maintenance as a mediator of the association between friendship autonomy support and happiness. The first 3 studies supported the model for the best friendship of the individual when happiness was assessed with 3 different measures. The 4th study extended the findings by showing that the model was generalizable to the other close friendship of the individual. Overall, the results supported the idea that engaging in routine and strategic behaviors to maintain friendships explains how perceived autonomy support in friendships is associated with happiness. The theoretical and applied implications of the findings were discussed and suggestions for future research were made.     

TIES that BIND: an introduction to domain mapping as a visualization tool for virtual rehabilitation.

The application of virtual reality (VR) to rehabilitation is a young, interdisciplinary field where clinical implementation very rapidly follows scientific discovery and technological advancement. Implementation is often so rapid that demonstration of intervention efficacy by investigators, and establishment of research and development priorities by funding bodies tend to be more reactive than proactive. An examination of the dynamic unfolding of the history of our young discipline may help us recognize the facilitators of current practice and identify the barriers that limit greater progress. This paper presents a first step towards the examination of the past and future growth of VR-based rehabilitation by presenting the use of concept maps to explore the publication history of application of VR to rehabilitation.     

Changes in Clients' Images of God Over the Course of Outpatient Therapy

The authors examined the impact of outpatient counseling on clients' psychological symptoms and on their image of God. Thirty participants in a counseling treatment group and 68 participants in a no‐treatment control group completed the Brief Symptom Inventory and the Adjective Checklist at 2 separate times. Counseled participants experienced significant reductions of psychological symptoms over the course of treatment whereas the control group showed no changes. Furthermore, ratings of God's agreeableness significantly increased (toward compassion) for clients in the treatment group, whereas no such changes were noted for the control group.     

平等与民主

当我们思考公共空间和语言时,会发现有一种不可忽视的关联似乎将它们连结在一起,倘若我们同意从民主角度来看待它们。汉娜·阿伦特告诉我们,在基督教贬低古代之后,现代革命是与古希腊人重新获得联系的一种方式,在古希腊人看来,政治平等是参与的平等以及被统治者和统治者之间没有分歧、共同生活的能力。但是,新的情况是公共领域不再为一小部分不为生活必需品所累的人保留。     

Entitlement as a response to I–II–III scepticism

In this paper, Crispin Wright’s unified strategy against scepticism is put under pressure through an examination of the concept of entitlement. Wright’s characterisation of a generalised form of scepticism is first described, followed by an examination of the concept of entitlement and of the role played by presuppositions in his strategy. This will make manifest the transcendental structure of this response to scepticism. The paper ends with a discussion of the effectiveness of this transcendental strategy in providing a satisfying response to scepticism.     

How accurate are time-use reports? Effects of cognitive enhancement and cultural differences on recall accuracy

In order to assess the accuracy of time-use reports, 80 young adults were observed for 2-hour periods, and were interviewed about their activities by a different person the following day. Two experiments were performed. In the first, three different levels of cognitive enhancement were used to improve recall accuracy. Subjects were 60 California college students, 20 per group. In the second study the maximum enhancement condition was replicated with 20 Guatemalan subjects, similar in age, sex and level of education to the California subjects. Both the accuracy of their recall of specific activities, and the accuracy of their time-duration estimates were calculated. Results indicated that the enhancement conditions in Study 1 significantly increased both the number of activities recalled accurately (from 40 to 63 per cent) and the amount of time accurately recalled (from 58 to 70 per cent). In Study 2 the Guatemalans recalled 60 per cent of their activities accurately, and recalled as much time accurately as the Californians. The Guatemalans were significantly more likely to underestimate their time. In other words, when they made errors, these were almost always underestimations. Most of the recall error could be accounted for by forgetting an activity altogether, rather than by estimating its time inaccurately.     

Factors related to the self-concept of institutionalized, white, male, adolescent drug abusers

The main purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between selected drug-related, familial, and demographic variables and the self-concepts of institutionalized, white, male, adolescent drug abusers in a large midwestern city. In addition, the self-concepts of the subjects in the study were compared with the self-concepts of Pulliam et al.'s (1971) non-drug using adolescent sample. The TSCS, a family questionnaire, an index of socioeconomic status, and an interview were used to collect data from 140 subjects. The mean self-concept score of this sample was significantly lower than the mean self-concept score of Pulliam et al.'s sample. Results of a stepwise multiple regression yielded four statistically significant predictors of the subjects' self-concepts: both mother/adolescent relationship and father/adolescent relationship when the adolescent was between age thirteen and his present age; the number of the subject's prior status offenses and the subject's preference for non-depressant drugs. These variables were positively correlated with the subjects' self-concepts. This study demonstrated the importance of differentiating among institutionalized adolescents' self-concepts based on type of drug abused, prior criminal record, and parent/adolescent relationships.     

Constructing comparative sentences: Linguistic marking and affect

Past research has demonstrated a greater naturalness of comparative constructions with the unmarked adjective. Not only do subjects typically create sentences of the form A is longer than B more frequently than B is shorter than A, but such constructions are also more quickly verified. One explanation for this preference is in terms of Linguistic Marking (e.g., Clark, 1969a, b). Because the semantic featural coding hypothesized for unmarked adjectives is simpler than that of marked adjectives, the observed facilitation effects would be expected. However, an equally viable explanation is in terms of the greater positive affect of the unmarked adjective (see Osgood et al., 1957). Since linguistic marking and affect are typically confounded in past research (the unmarked adjective is also the most affectively positive), the present experiment discriminates between these two interpretations by providing also contexts in which linguistic marking and affect are not confounded. Here, analysis of the comparatives constructed by 96 subjects revealed the preference for the unmarked adjective only where it was also the most affectively positive. Where the marked was the more positive, the reverse was observed, as predicted by Osgood (et al., 1957).