Childhood parental warmth and heart rate variability in midlife: Implications for health

The current study investigated high‐frequency heart rate variability (HF‐HRV) as a potential mediator between childhood parental warmth and later health and mortality outcomes. Participants were 1,255 adults (56.9% female). Childhood parental warmth was reported retrospectively at mean age 46; resting HF‐HRV was measured at mean age 57; cardiovascular health and self‐evaluated health were assessed at mean ages 57 and 63, and mortality records extracted at mean age 63. Results revealed a positive association between childhood parental warmth and resting HF‐HRV, as well as associations between higher HF‐HRV and reduced risk of having a later cardiovascular health problem and of mortality by age 63. Mediation analyses revealed a small significant indirect effect of parental warmth, through HF‐HRV, on cardiovascular health.     

The Future of Psychotherapy: Visions and Recommendations

Using a roundtable discussion format, the editor and new members of the editorial board for the Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy exchange ideas about how they envision the future of psychotherapy, anticipate likely positive and negative outcomes, identify key issues to be confronted today in order to maximize future success, and clarify the role of the individual psychotherapist in protecting psychotherapy as a viable field of study and practice. The discussion closes with recommendations for the next generation of psychotherapists and general conclusions about the future of psychotherapy.     

An Ethical Imperative: Effectively Reducing SGM Disparities Utilizing a Multi-Level Intervention Approach

Health disparities for sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations are well documented and manifest systemically. Mental health professionals have begun working to address these disparities, demonstrating efforts to more effectively define and increase competency in SGM health and by adapting existing evidence-based interventions to more effectively target the unique needs of the SGM community. While such efforts are necessary, they inadequately address the systemic nature of the problem, placing an unnecessary burden on SGM individuals to tolerate systemic discrimination, injustice, and inequality. The current special series attempts to address this gap by featuring papers that describe multilevel (e.g., micro, mezzo, macro) intervention approaches to reduce SGM health disparities. We argue that advocacy is inherent to the work, and we hope that this special series will empower mental health professionals to engage in multilevel, systemic interventions as an ethical imperative.     

Development of a borderline personality disorder-relevant picture stimulus set

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) report erratic and poorly regulated emotional behavior. However, these abnormalities have not been confirmed in laboratory studies. This may be because the emotional stimuli employed have not been sufficiently relevant or evocative of psychological themes germane to BPD (e.g., threats to attachment). The aim of this study was to develop a picture stimulus set relevant to BPD that could be employed in research to examine emotion dysregulation thought to be central to BPD. Ninety pictures were initially selected from the International Affective Picture System that had putative interpersonal and social content across a range of pleasantness and intensity. The set was then rated by 19 clinical BPD research experts on two dimensions: How self-referential the picture would be to someone with BPD and the extent to which the picture represented an ideal-other to a prototypic BPD case. Two sets of pictures were generated for future research with BPD participants.     

THE VIEW FROM DOWN HERE

In this article, graduate students and one faculty member respond to the innovative methods presented in this issue. We identify three theoretical and methodological tensions that shape our interest in and willingness to work with these methods. The first questions whether the strengths of doing qualitative research outweigh the limitations. The second involves feminist research ideals and how attainable they are. The third explores epistemological tensions between qualitative and quantitative research. Although intrigued by the data these methods generated and by their underlying epistemology, we question the status of certain qualitative research in psychology. We contend that the criteria by which qualitative research is evaluated must be made more explicitly before quantitatively trained researchers will incorporate these methods into their own work.     

Training respite care providers for families with handicapped children: Experimental analysis and validation of an instructional package

We conducted four experiments to evaluate a respite care training package. In Experiment 1, we assessed the effectiveness of an instructional manual on the acquisition of respite care skills and compared the relative effects of three different manual on the acquisition of respite care skills and compared the relative effects of three different manual presentation formats. Results showed that performance during simulated (role-played) respite care situations improved substantially for all six trainees following presentation of the instructional manual (with no significant differences between presentation formats) although some remedial training was necessary to achieve mastery criterion. In Experiment 2, we evaluated the effects of the manual presented as a whole with a larger group of trainees and compared it to a workshop training approach. Results showed that both the instructional manual and workshop training approaches were effective, but that the former appeared to be more cost-effective. In both experiments, correct responding generalized to a respite care situation with a multiply handicapped child. In addition, several measures of social validity were obtained. In Experiment 3, we evaluated a simplified training and assessment package that could be conducted using the resources typically available to respite care agencies, and in Experiment 4, we demonstrated that respite care agency personnel could successfully implement this program.     

UNDERSTANDING BEHAVIOR IN CONDITIONS OF ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DEPENDENCY

The complex determinants of individual and group behaviour in ‘developing’ societies present social scientists with a most difficult problem. They must simultaneously employ concepts developed for the analysis of individual behavior and for the comprehension of social structures. With the aim of understanding dependency behavior and personal control in Third World societies, this article outlines a synthesis of principles of social learning theory with critical sociological concepts. The practical implications of this theoretical synthesis are briefly discussed.