Self-injurious behavior: gene-brain-behavior relationships

This paper summarizes a conference held at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development on December 6-7, 1999, on self-injurious behavior [SIB] in developmental disabilities. Twenty-six of the top researchers in the U.S. from this field representing 13 different disciplines discussed environmental mechanisms, epidemiology, behavioral and pharmacological intervention strategies, neurochemical substrates, genetic syndromes in which SIB is a prominent behavioral phenotype, neurobiological and neurodevelopmental factors affecting SIB in humans as well as a variety of animal models of SIB. Findings over the last decade, especially new discoveries since 1995, were emphasized. SIB is a rapidly growing area of scientific interest to both basic and applied researchers. In many respects it is a model for the study of gene-brain-behavior relationships in developmental disabilities.     

Posttraumatic stress disorder in a national sample of female and male Vietnam veterans: risk factors, war-zone stressors, and resilience-recovery variables

Relationships among pretrauma risk factors (e.g., family instability, childhood antisocial behavior), war-zone stressors (e.g., combat, perceived threat), posttrauma resilience-recovery variables (e.g., hardiness, social support), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity were examined. Data from a national sample of 432 female and 1,200 male veterans were analyzed using structural equation modeling. For both genders, direct links to PTSD from pretrauma, war-zone, and posttrauma variable categories were found; several direct associations between pretrauma and posttrauma variables were documented. Although war-zone stressors appeared preeminent for PTSD in men, posttrauma resilience-recovery variables were more salient for women. Researchers, policymakers, and clinicians are urged to take a broad view on trauma and its sequelae, especially regarding possible multiple exposures over time and the depletion and availability of important resources.     

The impact on pastoral care of structural, organisational and statutory changes in schooling: Some empirical evidence and a discussion

Against the historical background of institutionalised pastoral care in schools, the results are reported of a questionnaire survey of 159 members of the National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE) with regard to the impact of post-1988 changes on pastoral care and personal and social education (PSE). Five hypotheses are generated concerning the likely effects of the 1988 Education Reform Act, the National Curriculum and associated developments in educational policy and management. The data reveal that, for the sample surveyed, the importance, time and resources given to pastoral care and PSE are considered not to have declined in the way predicted. Respondents were also more positive than expected about the impact of a range of related changes, including school-centred initial teacher training, teacher mentoring, the introduction of statutory training days, National Curriculum cross-curricular elements, and SCAA and OFSTED guidance. However, there were some developments which were considered to have had a negative effect. These included the National Curriculum programmes of study and key-stage assessments, published league tables and collective acts of worship. Respondents were divided as to the impact of other developments, including the advent of local financial management (LMS), grant-maintained status and OFSTED inspections. There was little visible effect on the role structures in schools, with traditional 'horizontal' arrangements of years and schools-within-schools predominating. In sum, the picture as regards the impact on pastoral care and PSE of a decade of educational policy change is more optimistic than might have been supposed.     

Reflective judgment: Concepts of justification and their relationship to age and education

This paper describes a seven-stage model of post-adolescent reasoning styles, the most advanced of which is called “Reflective Judgment.” The model outlines a sequence of increasingly complex methods of justification of beliefs. This model demonstrates how people's conceptions of the nature of knowledge, the nature of reality, and their concepts of justification change over age/educational levels. Sixty subjects from three age/educational levels (high school, college, and graduate school) were administered the Reflective Judgment Interview. In addition, subjects were tested on four other factors hypothesized to affect reflective judgment scores. Two were competing theoretical constructs: verbal ability (using Terman's Concept Mastery Test) and Piagetian formal operations (chemicals and pendulum tasks); and two were potentially confounding factors: socio-economic status (using Hollingshead's two-factor index) and verbal fluency (number of words spoken during the interview). Highly significant differences (p < .001) were found on reflective judgment level between the three age/educational groups, and could not be statistically accounted for by scores earned on measures of the other four factors. Whereas verbal ability was found to be closely related to reflective judgment level, the differences between groups on reflective judgment could not be solely attributed to this factor.     

Book Reviews

K erenyi , K. and H illman , J. Oedipus Variations: Studies in Literature and Psychoanalysis
C hodorow , J. Dance Therapy and Depth Psychology: The Moving Imagination
L oomis , M. E. Dancing the Wheel of Psychological Types
G rinberg , L. The Goals of Psychoanalysis: Identification, Identity and Supervision     

Hierarchical model of vulnerabilities for anxiety: replication and extension with a clinical sample

This study served to replicate and extend our previously obtained hierarchical model of the relationships among general anxiety vulnerabilities, specific anxiety vulnerabilities and specific anxiety manifestations including panic symptoms, health anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and worry. Questionnaires assessing these variables, as well as positive affectivity and depressiveness, were administered to 125 outpatients seeking treatment for panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder. The results, using a clinical sample, were highly consistent with the hierarchical model obtained in the previous study using a student sample. A more elaborate model, based on published theoretical and empirical evidence, was identified and tested, and similar results were obtained. Negative affectivity had expected direct positive effects on all of the specific anxiety and depression manifestations, with the exception of health anxiety, which showed a negative relationship, and OCD symptoms, which showed no relationship. Positive affectivity was found to be a specific risk factor for depression, while intolerance of uncertainty was found to be a specific risk factor for worry and depression. Finally, anxiety sensitivity appears to be a significant risk factor for panic and health anxiety.     

Positive affect, meaning in life, and future time perspective: an application of socioemotional selectivity theory

Four studies tested the prediction that positive affect (PA) would relate more strongly to meaning in life (MIL) as a function of perceived time limitations. In Study 1 (N = 360), adults completed measures of PA and MIL. As predicted, PA related more strongly to MIL for older, compared to younger, participants. In Studies 2 and 3, adults (N = 514) indicated their current position in their life span, and rated their MIL. PA, whether naturally occurring (Study 2) or induced (Study 3), was a stronger predictor of MIL for individuals who perceived themselves as having a limited amount of time left to live. Finally, in Study 4 (N = 98) students completed a measure of PA, MIL, and future time perspective (FTP). Results showed that PA was more strongly linked to MIL for those who believed they had fewer opportunities left to pursue their goals. Overall, these findings suggest that the experience of PA becomes increasingly associated with the experience of MIL as the perception of future time becomes limited. The contribution of age related processes to judgments of well-being are discussed.