Mass traumatic terror in Oklahoma City and the phases of adaptational coping,part I: Possible effects of intentional injury/harm on victims' post-traumatic responses

The bombing in Oklahoma City shook the entire nation from “sea to shining sea.” This tremendous collective sensation was made even worse when available evidence revealed that this act of terrorism had not been committed by some terrorist from the Middle East but one from Middle America. The blast stunned the nation's sense of collective safety, while it raised serious questions about our ability as a nation to manage violence, and the profound feelings of discontent and narcissistic injuries among distressed Americans. Was it this failure to address chronic discontents that led to this tragedy of mass violence? These larger sociocultural and political issues are being debated in public and private forums throughout the nation, an activity that is likely to continue for some time to come. As these issues are debated in the public arena, victims' levels of psychological distress are expected to rise, as they attempt to process the traumatic shock in their minds and bodies. Specifically, this article has two parts and focuses on acute and post-acute psychophysiological traumatic stress responses in victims, as well as issues pertaining to assessment, prevention, and treatment. Part I addresses the nature of disasters, with a special emphasis on the victim's subjective evaluation (meaning) of the reality of a catastrophe caused by intentional human strategy. The article, additionally, discusses issues of epidemiology of stress reactions, post-traumatic stress disorder, co-morbidity, risk factors, and assessment and diagnostic considerations. Part II, to be published in the next of issue of the Journal, will focus on issues of prevention as well as post-disaster intervention. Prevention of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder after the Oklahoma City bombing is a critical objective by debriefers and mental health professionals. A proposed four-phase model called “self-efficacy adaptational coping” will be presented in Phase II as well. The present article is probably the first major discussion on the traumatic effects of the blast on individuals, families, and the communities of Oklahoma City, and the first to offer some broad guidelines to intervention. Since it predates future empirical studies, the author relies on his almost 20 years of experience in the field of traumatic stress, and on a review and integration of pertinent disaster outcome studies in the national and international literature.     

A standardized behavioral group treatment program for obsessive-compulsive disorder: preliminary outcomes

This paper provides outcome data about the efficacy of a behavioral group therapy program for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Thirty-six patients completed a 7-week outpatient treatment program which provides: (1) education about OCD and its treatment, (2) instruction in a cognitive and behavioral approach to the self-treatment of OCD and (3) guided behavioral treatment. Significant improvement in obsession, compulsion, and depression scores were observed at completion of the group and at 3 month follow-up. Significant improvement in obsessions and compulsions was observed for both patients taking anti-obsessional medications and those who did not.     

Analysis of variances and covariances is misleading as a guide to a common factor model

The “factor” analyses published by Schultz, Kaye, and Hoyer (1980) confused component and factor analysis and led in this case as in many others to unwarranted conclusions. They used component analysis to develop factor models that were subjected to restricted (confirmatory) maximum likelihood analysis, but the final models for which good fits with the observed correlations were obtained were not common factor models. They were, however, discussed as such and conclusions drawn accordingly. When their correlation matrices are analyzed by the principal factors method, two factors are sufficient to account for the intercorrelations. These two factors generally support the a priori expectation of a difference between intelligence tasks and spontaneous flexibility tasks. They are also quite similar in younger and older subjects, when similarity is judged in terms of factor pattern. Factor loadings for the younger subjects, however, are much smaller than expectations based on the respective ranges of talent in the two groups of subjects or on past experience with similar tests in undergraduate student populations.     

Binocular depth discrimination depends on orientation

Using both the method of adjustment and forced-choice techniques, it was found that binocular depth thresholds depend on the orientation of the test targets, which in these experiments consisted of long, thin rods. Stereoacuity is greatest with vertical rods and decreases progressively as the angle of orientation approaches horizontal. The relationship between stereoacuity and orientation is governed by the orientation of the images of the targets on the retina, and is predicted fairly well by the sine of the angle of orientation, suggesting an equivalence between angular rotation and reductions in rod length.