A Historical and Theoretical Review of Cognitive Behavioral Therapies: From Structural Self-Knowledge to Functional Processes

This paper critically examines the historical conceptualization of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy approaches (CBT) as a direct clinical counterpart of the cognitive revolution. The main “second wave” cognitive psychotherapies, either standard cognitive therapy (CT) or constructivist, in spite of their differences, share a common conceptualization of psychopathological factors as superordinate structural cognitive content belonging to the self: self-beliefs, self-schemata, personality organizations and so on. On the other hand, rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is an exception given that in REBT self-knowledge is not the core psychopathological tenet, being rather a derivate mechanism. Moreover, in non clinical cognitive science cognition is conceived as a regulatory function that operates retroactively and not in a hierarchically super- ordered fashion centered on the self. A historical review suggests that in both CT and constructivist model the structuralistic model of self-centered cognition may have emerged for both cultural and scientific reasons: self-centered cognitive models may be more readily understandable to clinicians as they allow for a straightforward identification of operationalizable self-beliefs. The emergence of new “third wave” process-centered CBT approaches may represent a comeback to functionalism, where cognition is considered again a regulatory function and not a structure. In addition, REBT’s interest in dysfunctional evaluations not focused on the self presaged this clinical and scientific turning point toward functionalism.     

Sensory Modulation for People with Anxiety in a Community Mental Health Setting

Anxiety is a common mental health issue involving cognitive and physiological hypersensitivity to threat. It negatively affects occupational participation. Sensory modulation intervention aims to use calming sensory input to manage the hypersensitivity and physiological arousal associated with anxiety. The empirical evidence for using sensory interventions for anxiety, however, is limited. This mixed methods single subject case design explored the effectiveness of a 6-week sensory modulation intervention for reducing anxiety and improving occupational participation. Results showed significant reduction in anxiety and improved participation, providing further evidence that sensory modulation is an effective approach for the self-management of anxiety.     

How Does the Neighborhood “Come through the Door?” Concentrated Disadvantage,Residential Instability,and the Home Environment for Preschoolers

Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood is associated with heightened risk for poor school readiness and health outcomes in early childhood, and the home environment is thought to be a primary mechanism by which neighborhood context impacts preschoolers. This study examined the effects of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and neighborhood residential instability on the home physical environment and home learning environment for preschoolers in economically disadvantaged families (N = 187). Using structural equation modeling, mothers' perceived neighborhood disorder and depressive symptoms were examined as mechanisms by which neighborhood context “comes through the door.” Mothers' neighborhood social embeddedness was also explored as a protective factor. Results showed that concentrated disadvantage was negatively associated with the quality of the home physical environment, and residential instability was negatively associated with the quality of the home learning environment. Concentrated disadvantage had an indirect effect on the home learning environment through mothers' perceived neighborhood disorder and depressive symptoms. The effects of concentrated disadvantage on the home environment were buffered by mothers' neighborhood social embeddedness. Study findings advance understanding of socioeconomic‐ and place‐based disparities in developmental outcomes and identify potential targets for interventions aimed at lessening effects of neighborhood disadvantage on families with young children.     

Examining changes in procedural justice and their influence on problem‐solving court outcomes

The number of problem‐solving courts has grown substantially since the mid‐1990s. Research consistently indicates that participation in these courts lowers recidivism, which is often attributed to defendants’ increased perceptions of procedural justice in these programs. Yet, prior studies are limited in their focus, often examining interactions with the judge in a single court or examining defendant perceptions and outcomes at a single time point. In the present study, we investigate defendant perceptions of procedural justice with judges and case managers across multiple problem‐solving courts over time. Findings indicate that procedural justice varies across court actors and over time. Procedural justice is lower among judges than among case managers; however, changes in perceptions of procedural justice with the judge are associated with improved court outcomes. We suggest that defendant perceptions are variable and complex but important in explaining variations in outcomes.     

Parental Knowledge/Monitoring and Depressive Symptoms During Adolescence: Protective Factor or Spurious Association?

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Parental knowledge/monitoring is negatively associated with adolescents’ depressive symptoms, suggesting monitoring could be a target for...     

Executive functions,math anxiety and math performance in middle school students

Previous studies mainly investigated working memory (WM) and math anxiety (MA) leaving almost unexplored other aspects of executive functions (EFs) in middle school period. Filling the gap in the literature, the aims of this study were: (1) to better examine the relationship between MA and math performance, (2) to better examine the relationship between EFs and math performance and (3) to investigate the interplay between EFs and MA on math performances. This study confirmed a significant and negative relationship between MA and math performance, indicates a significant and positive relationship between visuospatial WM and math performance, shifting and math performance and highlight a scarcely investigated indirect influence of MA through the measure of shifting on math performance. Our findings shed further light on the mediating role of EFs between MA and math performance and underline some future perspectives.     

Parenting and Adolescents’ Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Goal Engagement and Disengagement

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Prior research has investigated parental behavior and students’ motivation separately as predictors of adolescents’ academic achievement. The...     

Seeking congruity for communal and agentic goals: a longitudinal examination of U.S. college women’s persistence in STEM

Social Psychology of Education - An abundance of literature has examined barriers to women’s equitable representation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, with many...     

Taking an elemental approach to the conceptualization and measurement of Machiavellianism,narcissism, and psychopathy

The study of aversive or ‘dark’ personality traits (e.g., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) is afflicted by three types of issues. Measures of aversive traits that are meant to assess the same traits often capture different content—an issue of jingle. Measures that are meant to assess different traits often capture near-identical content—an issue of jangle. Finally, disagreement over what unites aversive personality traits leads to different conclusions about what is and is not an aversive personality trait—an issue of conceptual centrality. This study outlines how decomposing personality traits into smaller elements can address these three issues. It also provides a primer on the history and assessment of these traits and sets an agenda for future research.