The effects of a critical television viewing curriculum on the behavior and viewing skills of emotionally disturbed adolescents in residential treatment

This study investigated the effects of training critical TV viewing skills on the subsequent attitudes and behaviors of emotionally disturbed adolescents in residential treatment. In order to test these effects, 48 institutionalized adolescents ranging from 12–18 in age, served as subjects. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Pre- and posttests utilized three measures of television knowledge and attitudes. Eighteen variables comprising three dependent measures were analyzed utilizing a 2 × 2 split-plots design. Training in the technical aspects of viewing proved successful in reducing susceptibility to the negative effects of the medium and provided skills that were effective in dealing with generalized aggressive behavor.     

Prediction of symptoms of emotional distress by mood regulation expectancies and affective traits

Three studies examined negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE) and affective traits as independent predictors of self‐reported symptoms of emotional distress. NMRE represent individuals' beliefs that they can alleviate unpleasant emotional states. Stronger NMRE are associated with more adaptive coping, more positive cognition during negative moods, more effective responses under stress and less emotional distress. Affective traits represent long‐term tendencies toward particular affective experiences; they confer risk for specific symptoms of emotional distress. In Study 1, NMRE, trait negative affect (TNA) and trait positive affect (TPA) were all independently associated with depression among students and staff of a German university. In Study 2, in prospective analyses among U.S. college students traits exhibited hypothesised relationships with anxiety and depressive symptoms, and NMRE uniquely predicted anhedonic depression. Study 3 revealed independent prediction of change in symptoms over time by NMRE among U.S. college students, whereas traits were not associated with change in distress, anxiety and depression symptoms. Results suggest independent roles for NMRE and traits in the development of depression and anxiety symptoms and highlight the importance of NMRE as a potential target of therapeutic intervention in the process of symptom change.     

Adopting Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy to Treat Narcissistic Personality Disorder with Somatization

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is characterized by an intellectualizing narrative style, poor metacognition, maladaptive interpersonal schemas, a restricted set of states of mind, impaired agency and perfectionism. Metacognitive Interpersonal therapy targets these dysfunctions with a series of formalized procedures aimed at first forming a shared formulation of functioning which patients and therapists can then use to plan change. We describe here the core NPD pathology and illustrate the therapy process of a patient with NPD and a somatization disorder. Implications for treatment of NPD are discussed together with a call for empirical testing of therapies for this severe condition.     

The Psychometric Properties of the Italian Translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity: A Study among Catholic Adolescents

The Italian translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity was developed and tested among a sample of 575 young people between 16 and 17?years of age attending secular secondary schools in Rome, Italy. The data supported the unidimensionality, internal consistency reliability and construct validity of this instrument and commend it for further use in contributing to comparative empirical research within the psychology of religion.     

Susceptibility to the rubber hand illusion does not tell the whole body-awareness story

The rubber hand illusion (RHI) is an enigmatic illusion that creates a feeling of owning an artificial limb. Enthusiasts of this paradigm assert that it operationalizes bodily self-awareness, but there are reasons to doubt such a clear link. Because little is known about other functional contributions to the RHI, including effects of context-dependent visual processing and cognitive control or the ability to resolve intermodal conflict, we carried out two complementary experiments. In the first, we examined the relationships between the RHI and (1) body awareness, as assessed by the Body Perception Questionnaire (BPQ); (2) context-dependent visual processing, as assessed by the rod-and-frame test (RFT); and (3) conflict resolution, as assessed by the Stroop test. We found a significant positive correlation between the RHI-associated proprioceptive drift and context-dependent visual processing on the RFT, but not between the RHI and body awareness on the BPQ. In the second experiment, we examined the RHI in advanced yoga practitioners with an embodied lifestyle and a heightened sense of their own body in space. They succumbed to the illusion just as much as did yoga-naïve control participants, despite significantly greater body awareness on the BPQ. These findings suggest that susceptibility to the RHI and awareness of one’s own body are at least partially independent processes.     

Hardiness Promotes Work Engagement,Prevents Burnout,and Moderates Their Relationship

We examined the relationships between hardiness, work engagement, and burnout. Participants were Belgian service members involved in the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) operation. They completed a questionnaire containing hardiness items from the revised Norwegian Hardiness Scale, items concerning vigor and dedication from the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and those tapping cynicism and emotional exhaustion from the Utrecht Burnout Scale. Results showed that hardiness was positively related to dedication and vigor, and negatively to cynicism and emotional exhaustion. Our results further suggest that work engagement and burnout are the opposite ends of a continuum. However, analyses concerning the moderation effect of hardiness suggest that individual differences could imply different processes in the relationship between work engagement and burnout.     

Exploring Race Based Differences in Patterns of Life-Course Criminality

A persistent issue facing criminologists is the challenge of developing theoretical models that provide comprehensive explanations of the onset and persistence of criminality. One promising theory to develop over the last 30 years has been life-course theory. Using multivariate analysis of variance the main question posed in this research, do elements of social development shape the trajectory of persistent offending in a race-neutral fashion, or are the dynamics shaping life-course criminality unique for people of color, was examined. The results provide a number of useful insights into the relationship between race, life-course transition factors, and longitudinal patterns of criminality.     

Understanding the Role of Emotion in Sense-making. A Semiotic Psychoanalytic Oriented Perspective

We propose a model of emotion grounded on Ignacio Matte Blanco’s theory of the unconscious. According to this conceptualization, emotion is a generalized representation of the social context actors are involved in. We discuss how this model can help to better understand the sensemaking processes. For this purpose we present a hierarchical model of sensemaking based on the distinction between significance—the content of the sign—and sense—the psychological value of the act of producing the sign in the given contingence of the social exchange. According to this model, emotion categorization produces the frame of sense regulating the interpretation of the sense of the signs, therefore creating the psychological value of the sensemaking.

Testing social cognitive interest and choice hypotheses across Holland types in Italian high school students

Several hypotheses emanating from social cognitive career theory (SCCT) were tested. Participants (796 Italian high school students) completed measures of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, social supports and barriers, and choice consideration related to occupations representing Holland’s (1997) six RIASEC types. Findings indicated general support, across Holland types, for the hypotheses that self-efficacy and outcome expectations jointly predict interests, and that interests mediate the relations of self-efficacy and outcome expectations to choice consideration. However, the specific nature of the mediation effect (i.e., full versus partial) varied somewhat across the RIASEC types. In addition, contrary to SCCT’s predictions, social supports and barriers related to choice consideration mostly indirectly (through self-efficacy) rather than directly. We consider the implications of these findings for further research on SCCT’s choice and environmental hypotheses.