Therapeutic work with refugees living in exile: Observations on clinical practice

Asylum seekers and refugees fleeing to Britain or other host countries face a range of dilemmas, which are qualitatively different from those facing any other client group. Refugees find themselves in an entirely different country, having often fled at short notice without making preparations. They may have suffered multiple practical and psychological losses. Significant numbers of refugees will have been subject to organised violence in their country of origin. Responding clinically to the needs of some of those becoming refugees has many implications and challenges for existing models of therapeutic intervention. This paper draws upon the author's clinical work in Britain and abroad, it details some observations on therapeutic practice and highlights the challenges and rewards of working with this client group.     

Encouraging counsellor reflection

The evolution of an 'attributes checklist' tool for assisting counsellor development is described. The attributes relate to characteristics of case-notes that indicate evidence of counsellor reflection and consideration of the counselling process. The checklist was initially tested among a sample of 19 counsellors employed by an organisational EAP and was subsequently refined. The final checklist tool was found to be both usable and useful in differentiating 'process' from 'content' notes. The purpose of the checklist tool is not to enable quantitative assessment of counsellor notes, but rather to facilitate counsellor development within a professional supervisory relationship. The findings of the study are discussed, and suggestions for future research in this area are made.     

Alcohol Consumption and the Theory of Planned Behavior: An Examination of the Cognitive Mediation of Past Behaviorid

This study examined the predictive power of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in explaining alcohol consumption in 3 prospective samples of students ( Ns = 178. 176. and 159). Generally, the TPB performed well. with attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (PBC) explaining between 28% and 46% of the variability in intentions. Intentions and PBC explained between 12% and 50% of the variability in behavior. Measures of self-identity as a "drinker" and past behavior contributed to predictions of intentions over and above the contribution of attitudes. subjective norms. and PBC. Measures of past behavior but not self-identity consistently contributed to predictions of behavior over and above the contributions from intentions and PBC. The direct relationship between past behavior and intention and between past behavior and behavior (independent of the TPB variables or self-identity) could not be attributed to common method variance.     

The Associations between Mothers’ and Grandmothers’ Depressive Symptoms,Parenting Stress,and Relationship with Children: An Actor–Partner Interdependence Mediation Model

Three-generation households that include parents and grandparents raising children together have become increasingly common in China. This study examined the relations among depressive symptoms, parenting stress, and caregiver–child relationships in the mother–grandmother dyadic context. Participants were mothers and grandmothers from 136 three-generation households. Results from Actor–Partner Interdependence Mediation Modeling indicated that mothers’ depressive symptoms were indirectly related to mother–child conflict/closeness through own parenting stress; grandmothers’ depressive symptoms were indirectly related to grandmother–child conflict through own parenting stress. Mothers’ depressive symptoms were indirectly related to grandmothers’ conflict with children through grandmothers’ parenting stress, and grandmothers’ depressive symptoms were indirectly related to mothers’ conflict/closeness with children through mothers’ parenting stress. The relation between mothers’ parenting stress and mother–child closeness was stronger than the relation between grandmothers’ parenting stress and grandmother–child closeness. Findings highlight the implications of using a family system perspective and the dyadic approach in understanding and improving family functioning in Chinese three-generation households.     

Intoxicated Witnesses: Testing the Validity of the Alcohol Myopia Theory

In an assessment of the Alcohol Myopia Theory (AMT), the effects of alcohol on an eyewitness's recall of high‐salience and low‐salience details were investigated. In a laboratory, Study 1 participants watched a staged videoed theft whilst either sober (control or placebo), above (M_BAC = 0.09%) or below (M_BAC = 0.06%) the UK drink‐drive limit. A week later, a free recall and recognition tests were completed. Intoxication was not found to reduce recall accuracy using either recall task. In Study 2, whilst on a night out, participants watched the videoed theft with high (M_BAC = 0.14%) or low (M_BAC = 0.05%) blood alcohol concentrations (BACs). A week later, the free recall and recognition tests were attempted. High BACs were seen to impair recall when memory was assessed through free recall but not with the recognition test. Neither study found the attention narrowing predicted by AMT using either recall technique, although poor recall for low‐salience details in all groups may have contributed to this result. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

父母心理控制与小学生的欺负行为:敌意归因和冷酷无情的作用检验

采用班级整群抽样法选取1847名3~6年级小学生（男生987名;平均年龄10.73±1.16岁）及其家长为被试,采用问卷法考察父母心理控制与小学生欺负行为的关系,同时探讨敌意归因和冷酷无情的中介作用。结果发现：（1）父母心理控制显著正向预测小学生的欺负行为;（2）冷酷无情在父母心理控制与小学生欺负行为间的关系中存在中介作用,敌意归因不发挥中介作用;（3）父母心理控制对小学生欺负行为影响的中介机制不存在显著的性别差异和学段差异。本研究结果表明,冷酷无情是父母心理控制影响小学生欺负行为的重要机制,但敌意归因不是。研究者和实践者应注重对欺负者情感加工能力的关注和干预。     

两岁儿童对母亲的依恋类型

本研究采用实验室观察法,考察122名21-27个月龄的儿童对母亲的依恋类型,实验室程序包括儿童的自由活动、与陌生人的交往、在多种压力情境下的行为表现,与母亲的分离-重聚等.结果发现(1)本研究中使用的实验室观察程序能够有效地测查两岁儿童对母亲的依恋行为.(2)中国两岁儿童对母亲的依恋有四种类型淡漠型依恋、安全型依恋、缠人型依恋、混乱型依恋,分布比例分别为11%,73%,7%,9%.其中安全型和混乱型依恋的表现与国外研究者描述的美国、日本等国家儿童的行为大体相同,但淡漠型和缠人型依恋为我国儿童所特有,其表现特点与国外研究者描述的焦虑-回避型不安全依恋及焦虑-矛盾型不安全依恋有明显区别.     

Anxiety-related bias in the classification of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions

High- and low-trait socially anxious individuals classified the emotional expressions of photographic quality continua of interpolated ("morphed") facial images that were derived from combining 6 basic prototype emotional expressions to various degrees, with the 2 adjacent emotions arranged in an emotion hexagon. When fear was 1 of the 2 component emotions, the high-trait group displayed enhanced sensitivity for fear. In a 2nd experiment where a mood manipulation was incorporated, again, the high-trait group exhibited enhanced sensitivity for fear. The low-trait group was sensitive for happiness in the control condition. The mood-manipulated group had increased sensitivity for anger expressions, and trait anxiety did not moderate these effects. Interpretations of the results related to the classification of fearful expressions are discussed.