Coping with threats to self-esteem: the differing patterns of subjects with high versus low trait self-esteem in first-person accounts

Based on retrospective self-reports, strategies of coping with threats to self-esteem in close relationships were investigated in a sample of 412 adults in south-west Germany. Results indicate that self-esteem was negatively associated with experiencing failure or criticism as a threat to self-esteem. There was a positive association between participants' self-esteem and their self-reported tendency to approach the problem optimistically and act in a rational manner. Self-esteem was negatively associated with feeling dependent on the partner and with treating the partner in a hostile way. As far as women were concerned, self-esteem was also positively related to coping effectiveness. In the case of men the results were less clear. It is suggested that the self-defeating coping style associated with low self-esteem may be self-perpetuating. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of treatment seeking compulsive buyers in Germany and the United States

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this pilot study was to compare a German (Bavaria) and an American (North Dakota) sample of women suffering from compulsive buying. METHOD: Thirty-eight German and 39 American female compulsive buyers were screened with the Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS), and the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale-Shopping Version (Y-BOCS-SV) prior to entering a group treatment study. Psychiatric co-morbidity was assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders (SCID). RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between the German sample and the American sample with regard to age (mean 43.7 and 45 years, respectively), and with regard to the scores on the CBS and the Y-BOCS-SV. A high lifetime co-morbidity rate with Axis I disorders, especially mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, OCD, and binge eating disorder was detected in both samples. Almost all participants met criteria for at least one lifetime Axis I disorder. However, German compulsive buyers showed significantly higher current prevalence rates of any affective disorder, and higher current and lifetime prevalence rates of any anxiety disorder and somatoform disorder. In addition, German compulsive buyers were significantly more likely to have more than one Axis I disorder. CONCLUSION: The groups did not differ with regard to age and with regard to the severity of compulsive buying and showed a high co-morbidity with Axis I disorders. However, the German compulsive buying sample presented with significantly more psychiatric co-morbidity compared to the American sample. Further research is needed to provide a better understanding of this disorder in general and cross-culturally.     

??Hier bin ich Mensch, hier darf ich??s sein!????Partaking in the Nanoworld

Images from the nanoworld are not at all disorienting or bewildering, as one might expect from contemplating the strange and surprising features that arise where classical physics comes to an end and quantum effects begin to appear. Instead, we see the traces of explorers in a world that appears to be infinitely malleable. The paper shows that the capability to visualize processes and phenomena at the nanoscale is a matter not only of research technologies and the advancement of observational techniques, but also a matter of developing a visual setting that exhibits knowledge and practice, surprise and control. The surface is such a stage and so is the landscape: they invite us to become immersed and move around like someone who goes for a walk. In order to appreciate this pictorial, as well as discursive, setting we turn to “strollology” as a method of reconstructing the world that is experienced in the manner of walking. With the notion of imagescape this method is applied to the modes of partaking in the nanoworld and its specific features. Rather than articulate theoretical or metaphysical presuppositions these nanoscapes serve to validate the very idea of nanotechnology.     

An antisymmetric psychometric function on a logarithmic scale

This very brief report introduces a psychometric function, very suitable for psychophysical data that displays Weber-like behaviour, because it is antisymmetric on a logarithmic scale.     

Psychotherapeutische Kurzintervention bei somatisierenden Patienten im Krankenhaus

The manual describes the psychotherapeutic procedure for somatizing patients who are admitted to hospital for diagnostics and therapy of unclear physical complaints. An essential goal of the psychotherapeutic interventions is to achieve an understanding for the disease, in which body, psyche and social relationships are experienced as interrelated. By addressing the health fears and subjective concepts about the onset and maintenance of his physical complaints, the patient feels that he is being taken seriously and understood. Connections between physical symptoms and the suppression of undesirable affects like anger, rage and disappointment are verbalized and understood in greater depth, based on body perception exercises and a symptom diary. The positive experience of understanding and symptom relief obtained in the psychotherapeutic sessions is used for the main goal of the intervention: to motivate the (out- and in-)patient for a regular psychotherapy. Experience up to now has shown that three to five sequential sessions of about 45–60 minutes suffice to attain this therapy goal. Implementation is most successful within an established consultant or liaison service in close cooperation with the ward doctors.     

Destruktivit?t in Paarbeziehungen Paartherapeutische Behandlungsm?glichkeiten

Streitende Paare, die in destruktiven Kommunikationsmustern gefangen sind lösen oft schwierige Situationen in einer Paartherapie aus. Die Kommunikationsmuster reichen von verbalen Entwertungen und Beschimpfungen bis hin zu gewalttätigen Auseinandersetzungen. Damit der Therapeut bzw. die Therapeutin handlungsfähig bleiben, müssen sie über Erklärungsmodelle zur Entstehung und Aufrechterhaltung destruktiver Interaktionszirkel verfügen. Darüber hinaus benötigen sie Handwerkszeug und konkrete Interventionsmöglichkeiten zur Deeskalation bzw. zur Unterbrechung dieser destruktiven Muster.     

The multifactor offender readiness model

There has been a resurgence of interest in the rehabilitation of offenders. Research has consistently shown that rehabilitation programs for offenders, when they adhere to general principles of program design and delivery, will achieve significant reductions in recidivism. In this paper, we suggest that even greater reductions in recidivism can be achieved when readiness is addressed at the level of the individual offender, the program, and the context. A comprehensive understanding of readiness allows for fuller engagement in treatment, thus increasing probability of good treatment outcomes. We describe person, program, and context factors in a model of offender treatment readiness and discuss implications of the model for both assessment of offenders and for modification of low readiness.     

The influence of presession factors in the assessment of deviant arousal

Three adult male sex offenders with developmental disabilities participated in an evaluation of presession factors that may influence levels of sexual arousal measured with a penile plethysmograph. We evaluated the effects of presession masturbation (1 participant) and arousal-suppression strategies (2 participants). Results showed that presession masturbation lowered arousal levels and both participants suppressed arousal to varying degrees. These outcomes suggest the potential for consideration and manipulation of presession factors as treatment components for sex offenders with developmental disabilities.     

Panel: What could be Jungian about Human Rights work?

The question of whether Jungian analysts should move beyond the consulting room to engage with mental health issues that pertain to the collective is the focus of this paper. Two narratives are presented: one from the view point of a psychiatrist in Occupied Palestine, the other from the conflicted situation which faces an Israeli analyst. Despite the strong ambivalence that is experienced on both sides, there is a willingness to meet and to take a standpoint without necessarily coming to a resolution. A third position is offered by describing experiences from the South African perspective. The African notion of Ubuntu is offered as a moral entry point that states that community goes beyond one's own; from this point of view, Jungian analysts can do no other than to act.     

Modelling relations between sensory processing, speech perception, orthographic and phonological ability, and literacy achievement

The general magnocellular theory postulates that dyslexia is the consequence of a multimodal deficit in the processing of transient and dynamic stimuli. In the auditory modality, this deficit has been hypothesized to interfere with accurate speech perception, and subsequently disrupt the development of phonological and later reading and spelling skills. In the visual modality, an analogous problem might interfere with literacy development by affecting orthographic skills. In this prospective longitudinal study, we tested dynamic auditory and visual processing, speech-in-noise perception, phonological ability and orthographic ability in 62 five-year-old preschool children. Predictive relations towards first grade reading and spelling measures were explored and the validity of the global magnocellular model was evaluated using causal path analysis. In particular, we demonstrated that dynamic auditory processing was related to speech perception, which itself was related to phonological awareness. Similarly, dynamic visual processing was related to orthographic ability. Subsequently, phonological awareness, orthographic ability and verbal short-term memory were unique predictors of reading and spelling development.