Operationalisierte Psychodynamische Diagnostik des Kindes- und Jugendalters

There are only a few studies focusing on the mental structure and its change in children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders. This study aimed at investigating change in the mental structure of children and adolescents over time. At intake 60 inpatients were interviewed with the operationalized psychodynamic diagnostic interview for children and adolescents (OPD-CA). After an average of 27 months 25 patients agreed on participating in the follow-up study. The OPD-CA was conducted again and the Kiddie-Sads present and lifetime version (Kiddie-Sads-PL) as well as parent-based ratings child behaviour checklist (CBCL) and strength and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) were applied. A consensus rating of the OPD-CA was attained by three researchers well experienced with the use of the OPD-CA. The level of structural integration improved significantly, in particular in the dimensions “control” and “communication skills”. There were no significant changes in the dimension “self-perception/object-perception”. The improvement was also observable in parent-report questionnaires. This study makes a contribution to the idea that changes in the mental structure of children and adolescents can be shown and measured with the OPD-CA.     

Human Embryos and Human Dignity: Differing Presuppositions in Human Embryo Research in Germany and Great Britain*

This article notes differences in legislation in Germany and Great Britain regarding human embryo research and looks for an explanation in their divergent intellectual traditions. Whereas the German Stem Cell Act invokes an anthropological concept of human dignity to ground its ban on using embryos for research, there is no definition of what it means to be human in either the British Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act or in the advisory Warnock‐Report. After studying the differences and providing some philosophical background, the essay distinguishes two notions that are significant for understanding human dignity. It then proposes from a theological point of view a basic understanding within a relational anthropology, and comes to the conclusion that because of continuity in development and their relational constitution, humans embryos should be accepted as human from the moment of conception.     

Anticipatory nausea in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: Classical conditioning etiology and therapeutical implications

The delivery of cytotoxic drugs in cancer treatment is often accompanied by posttreatment side effects (e.g., nausea). Moreover, there is evidence that cancer patients are at risk to develop these side effects in anticipation of chemotherapy (i.e., anticipatory nausea [AN]). AN can be explained as the result of a classical conditioning process with the cytotoxic drug as the unconditioned stimulus (US). Stimuli paired with the US (e.g., smells, tastes) can become conditioned stimuli (CSs) eliciting AN as the conditioned response (CR). The present study was conducted to test whether AN shows characteristics of a CR. Fifty-five ambulatory cancer patients were asked to record nine kinds of physical symptoms (e.g., nausea, vomiting, sweating) on time-scheduled symptom lists: after an infusion (indicating posttreatment symptoms) and prior to their next infusion (indicating anticipatory symptoms). Each measurement period covered a maximum of 48 hours. AN was reported by ten patients (18.08%). Data revealed (a) a statistically significant association between posttreatment nausea and vomiting, respectively, and AN; (b) the occurrence of AN increased with drug emetogenity (i.e., US-intensity); and (c) the duration of AN increased with temporal proximity to the infusion. The results support the conditioning model. Thus, it is proposed to prevent AN by classical conditioning techniques (e.g., overshadowing).     

Doing as if: The histrionic self-presentation style

The histrionic self-presentation style is introduced as a concept that describes specific individual differences in self-presentation, namely, performing explicit As-If-behaviors in everyday interactions. The As-If-Scale (AIS), a trait measure of histrionic self-presentation, shows good internal consistency and test–retest reliability as well as convergent and discriminant validity in several samples. Construct validation involved determining relations between the AIS and the Big Five, histrionic role concepts, motives, competencies, humor and ambivalence. Furthermore, the AIS yielded incremental validity in predicting behaviors related to histrionic self-presentation over and above the self-monitoring construct. The possible impact of the histrionic style for research on self-presentation and other fields is discussed. It is argued that histrionic phenomena are pervasive within many facets of our western culture and therefore deserve further examination.     

The Role of Co-Workers’ Solidarity as an Antecedent of Incivility and Deviant Behavior in Organizations

Drawing on the social exchange theory this study assesses the relationship between co-workers’ solidarity as an antecedent of incivility and deviant behavior. More specifically we hypothesize that reduced co-workers’ solidarity will increase not only incivility but also deviant behaviors of employees. An additional hypothesis predicts that incivility will enhance co-workers’ deviant behavior. Data was collected in 15 organizations of various types using an online questionnaire in 2014. We analyze the data using structural equation modeling. Our findings reveal interrelationships between all three variables. Co-workers’ solidarity reduces uncivil and deviant behaviors of employees, whereas incivility increases organizational deviance. Moreover, we found that the explained variance of property deviance by incivility was twice as high compared to production deviance.     

The relationships between processing facial identity,emotional expression,facial speech,and gaze direction during development

Four experiments were conducted with 5- to 11-year-olds and adults to investigate whether facial identity, facial speech, emotional expression, and gaze direction are processed independently of or in interaction with one another. In a computer-based, speeded sorting task, participants sorted faces according to facial identity while disregarding facial speech, emotional expression, and gaze direction or, alternatively, according to facial speech, emotional expression, and gaze direction while disregarding facial identity. Reaction times showed that children and adults were able to direct their attention selectively to facial identity despite variations of other kinds of face information, but when sorting according to facial speech and emotional expression, they were unable to ignore facial identity. In contrast, gaze direction could be processed independently of facial identity in all age groups. Apart from shorter reaction times and fewer classification errors, no substantial change in processing facial information was found to be correlated with age. We conclude that adult-like face processing routes are employed from 5 years of age onward.     

A Monte Carlo method for comparing generalized estimating equations to conventional statistical techniques for discounting data

Discounting is the process by which outcomes lose value. Much of discounting research has focused on differences in the degree of discounting across various groups. This research has relied heavily on conventional null hypothesis significance tests that are familiar to psychologists, such as t‐tests and ANOVAs. As discounting research questions have become more complex by simultaneously focusing on within‐subject and between‐group differences, conventional statistical testing is often not appropriate for the obtained data. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) are one type of mixed‐effects model that are designed to handle autocorrelated data, such as within‐subject repeated‐measures data, and are therefore more appropriate for discounting data. To determine if GEE provides similar results as conventional statistical tests, we compared the techniques across 2,000 simulated data sets. The data sets were created using a Monte Carlo method based on an existing data set. Across the simulated data sets, the GEE and the conventional statistical tests generally provided similar patterns of results. As the GEE and more conventional statistical tests provide the same pattern of result, we suggest researchers use the GEE because it was designed to handle data that has the structure that is typical of discounting data.