The validity of DSM-IV passive-aggressive (negativistic) personality disorder

Passive-Aggressive (Negativistic) Personality Disorder (NEGPD), listed in Appendix B of the DSM-IV, is not an officially recognized personality disorder. Its future as a discrete disorder is uncertain (Widiger, 2003). Yet, NEGPD occupies a role in some theoretical formulations of personality pathology (Millon & Davis, 1996), and many clinicians believe that passive-aggressive traits are not adequately represented by other PDs (Westen, 1997). In this study, 1158 psychiatric outpatients were assessed for Axis I and Axis II disorders. Thirty-five (3.02%) met criteria for NEGPD. Participants with NEGPD did not differ significantly from those without NEGPD on demographic variables. The internal consistency of the DSM-IV's seven NEGPD items was 0.50. Corrected item- total correlations for the 7 criteria averaged 0.27. Participants with NEGPD had higher rates of lifetime anxiety disorders, and almost 90% had an additional PD. An exploratory factor analysis suggested a two- factor solution that accounted for 43.4% of the variance. The first factor reflected the belief that life is unfair, while the second factor seemed to reflect modes of anger expression. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that the two-factor model fit the data better than a unidimensional model. We discuss implications of these results for the future of the NEGPD diagnosis.     

The adaptive value of personality differences revealed by small island population dynamics

Whether differences in personality among populations really exist and, if so, whether they are only due to cultural and linguistic differences or have a genetically selected adaptive value, is a controversial issue. In this research, we compared three Italian populations living on three small archipelagos in the Tyrrhenian Sea (n = 993), with their corresponding neighbouring mainlanders (n = 598), i.e. sharing the same geographical origin, culture and language. We used an adjective‐based Big Five questionnaire in order to measure personality traits in four categories of individuals for each archipelago/mainland population: (1) original islanders; (2) non‐original islanders; (3) mainlanders and (4) immigrants to the islands. We further analysed original and non‐original islanders who had or had not emigrated from the islands. We found that islanders had different personality traits from mainlanders, the former being more conscientious and emotionally stable and less extraverted and open to experience. We also found that the subgroup of islanders whose ancestors had inhabited their island for about 20 generations in isolation (original islanders, n = 624) were less extraverted and open to experience than immigrants (n = 193). In contrast, immigrants retained the typical personality profile of the mainland populations. Lastly, emigrants from the islands (n = 209) were significantly more extraverted and open to experience than original and non‐original islanders who had never left their island (n = 741). We hypothesise that population differences in extraversion and openness to experience are more probably related to genetic differences which evolved rapidly, presumably through an active gene flow produced by selective emigration from the islands. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationships between anger, symptoms, and cognitive factors in OCD checkers

The purpose of this study was to examine whether individuals diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with primary checking compulsions report higher levels of trait anger and anger expression compared with a student control group, and whether trait anger and anger expression are correlated with specific beliefs and interpretations that are common among individuals who compulsively check. A group of individuals with OCD reporting significant checking compulsions (n=33) and a group of undergraduate students (n=143) completed a questionnaire package that included measures of trait anger and anger expression, as well as measures of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and beliefs. The compulsive checking group reported greater trait anger, though not greater anger expression, than the student control group. Furthermore, beliefs concerning perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty were positively correlated with anger expression and trait anger among compulsive checkers but not among the student control group. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of cognitive-behavioural treatments for and models of compulsive checking in OCD.     

Us and them: Memory advantages in perceptually ambiguous groups

Ingroup advantages and outgroup deficits in perception and memory are well-established in research on race, gender, and other ostensibly identifiable social categories. The present study extended this research to a social category that is not as perceptually apparent: male sexual orientation. Consistent with hypotheses, an interaction of participant sexual orientation and image sexual orientation revealed an ingroup enhancement and outgroup deficit for memory of faces that participants perceived—both accurately and inaccurately—as belonging to either their ingroup or outgroup in a subsequent task. Additionally, parallel effects were found for the accurate identification of sexual orientation—a finding consistent with previous literature. The present data highlight the importance of social categorization for subsequent memory and suggest that the underlying cognitive machinery responsible for the recognition of groups may be co-opted for other relevant social applications.     

Show-That-I-Can (Homework) in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxious Youth: Individualizing Homework for Robert

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been reviewed and described as an empirically supported treatment for anxious youth. One component of CBT is the use of out-of-session “Show That I Can” tasks (STIC; i.e., homework tasks). STIC tasks vary in content and are to be completed between sessions. We discuss homework in CBT for Robert, a 13-year-old boy with social anxiety. Robert experienced distressing anxiety participating in and giving presentations at school and was fearful of open-ended questions. Robert had difficulty maintaining conversations with peers and reported being preoccupied with a concern that he would say something “weird” or “stupid.” Robert avoided numerous situations, and his social anxiety affected his grades, social interactions, family, and quality of life. Robert’s initial homework tasks entailed (a) journaling and self-monitoring anxious feelings and thoughts, and (b) practicing relaxation skills. During the second half of treatment, Robert’s STIC assignments were exposure tasks, including (a) opinion discussion assignments, (b) participating in class, and (c) initiating conversations with children at the bus stop. The present discussion focuses on how homework was individualized and presented so that it was palatable and sensitive. Issues regarding out-of-session exposure tasks that elicit sufficient anxiety, resistance to high-level exposure tasks, and parent involvement are explored.     

Mattering in the Later Years: Older Adults' Experiences of Mattering to Others,Purpose in Life,Depression, and Wellness

The relationships among mattering, purpose in life, depression, and wellness among older adults were explored. Mattering, purpose in life, and depression accounted for 78% of the wellness variance. Older adults perceived that they mattered most to their children and friends. The importance of mattering when counseling older adults is discussed.     

Authenticity and the Analytic Process

In this paper we first make a differentiation between phenomena that can be defined as spontaneous and others that can be defined as authentic. We then attempt to present authenticity as a process rather than an outcome. Finally, we try to understand the location of authentic phenomena in the sensorial and pre-symbolic communicative register. We situate authentic phenomena in the register of sensorial and pre-symbolic communication. The authentic process becomes manifest, step by step in the analytic process (Borgogno, 1999), through the vivid iconic and sensorial elements that happen to cross the analytic field. Through two brief clinical vignettes, we seek to document the progression of the analytic process, in one case through the analyst's capacity for rêverie (Bion, 1962; Ogden, 1994, 1997; Ferro, 2002, 2007), and in the other through the sensorial elements with which analyst and patient are able to tune in to each other.     

A Program to Select Sentences with a Strong Psychological Impact

This article presents a program based on the Elementary Pragmatic Model and on the administration of a test consisting of 90 sentences with a strong psychological impact interactively presented to participants. Data emerging from this procedure are calculated according to four coordinates and 16 relational functions processed on a grid defined by a table of 256 possible interactions. From these interactions three final states were found to constitute essentially the bottom line of the human mind. The program indicates how certain sentences could be selected systematically to lead initially deviant participants toward more statistically average patterns, in terms of coordinates, functions, interactions, and final states.     

Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Trajectories in Child Sexual Abuse Victims: An Analysis of Sex Differences Using the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being

Very few studies have prospectively examined sex differences in posttraumatic stress symptoms and symptom trajectories in youth victimized by childhood sexual abuse. This study addresses that question in a relatively large sample of children, drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, who were between the ages of 8–16 years and who were reported to Child Protective Services for alleged sexual abuse. Sex differences were examined using t tests, logistic regression, and latent trajectory modeling. Results revealed that there were not sex differences in victims’ posttraumatic stress symptoms or trajectories. Whereas caseworkers substantiated girls’ abuse at higher rates than boys’ abuse and rated girls significantly higher than boys on level of harm, there were not sex differences in three more objective measures of abuse severity characteristics. Overall, higher caseworker ratings of harm predicted higher initial posttraumatic stress symptom levels, and substantiation status predicted shallower decreases in trauma symptoms over time. Implications for theory and intervention are discussed.