Panic disorder and depression: A psychodynamic exploration of comorbidity

Eight of twenty-one patients presenting for treatment in an open trial of brief psychodynamic psychotherapy for panic disorder also carried the diagnosis of major depression. For the patients who completed the study, depression remitted as well as panic disorder. The authors highlight psychodynamic factors that they hypothesize may contribute to the significant overlap between panic disorder and depression, and describe three videotaped cases to illustrate these points.     

Schizotypy, taxometrics, and disconfirming theories in soft science: Comment on

Among the most consistently replicated findings in literature addressing the latent structure of psychopathology is evidence for a discrete latent class of individuals who are vulnerable to schizophrenia (schizotypes). Rawlings, Williams, Haslam, and Claridge (2008) challenge these findings by subjecting schizotypy scale scores to taxometric analysis, using a data simulation technique to accommodate variable skew. The authors conclude that schizotypy reflects a latent dimension, and that evidence for discrete latent structure from previous studies is likely an artifact of skewed variables. In this comment, we discuss (a) the philosophical implications of disconfirming well replicated findings in soft science with a single study, (b) important considerations when defining the schizotypy construct, (c) intricacies in executing and interpreting a taxometric analysis, and (d) problems with drawing strong conclusions from null results. Considerable evidence suggests that schizotypy is a discrete latent class, a conclusion that is unlikely the result of skewed variables.     

Aging, body image, and body shape

Participants were 25 older men (M age = 72 years, SD = 10 years) and 27 older women (M age = 71 years, SD = 8 years) who examined multiple line-drawing figures of babies, children, young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults. Participants picked a number on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very thin) to 9 (very obese) in response to questions including "Which is the most attractive?" and "Which figure would you most like to look like?" They also completed questionnaires about their body image and body shape. In response to the age-specific line drawings (e.g., those depicting older men and older women), older women endorsed thinner figures (e.g., picked smaller numbers) than did men. Likewise, older women reported thinking more about their body shape and appearance than did men and perceived their body image as "a little too big" in comparison with the older men who perceived their body image as "just the right size." However, a breakdown of normal and overweight women in this sample revealed that for some overweight elderly women, obesity could become a satisfactory way of life. Much as with college-aged women, the endorsement of a thinner body image by many of the older adult female participants appeared to persist into late adulthood and suggests that research into body image issues with older adults is relevant and necessary.     

Ordinal judgments of symbolic stimuli by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta): the effects of differential and nondifferential reward

Ordinal learning was investigated in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). In Experiment 1, both species were presented with pairings of the Arabic numerals 0 to 9. Some monkeys were given food rewards equal to the value of the numeral selected and some were rewarded with a single pellet only for choosing the higher numeral within the pair. Both species learned to select the larger numeral, but only rhesus monkeys that were differentially rewarded performed above chance levels when presented with novel probe pairings. In Experiment 2, the monkeys were first presented with arrays of 5 familiar numerals (from the range 0 to 9) and then arrays of 5 novel letters (from the range A to J) with the same reward outcomes in place as in Experiment 1. Both species performed better with the numerals, suggesting that an ordinal sequence of all stimuli had been learned during Experiment 1, rather than a matrix of two-choice discriminations.     

The Effectiveness of Individual Wellness Counseling on the Wellness of Law Enforcement Officers

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the effectiveness of wellness counseling on increasing wellness among law enforcement officers. The study also examined whether position in the Transtheoretical Model (J. O. Prochaska & C. C. DiClemente, 1982) and self‐efficacy influenced the effectiveness of counseling on wellness. These findings indicate that counseling may increase wellness among law enforcement officers.     

Symptom reduction and termination: client change and therapist identified reasons for saying goodbye

Empirical efforts have focused on predicting whether or not clients prematurely terminate therapy, with nonattendance of last session equated to premature termination. However, this fails to explore the relationship between clients’ distress reduction and reasons for termination. With this study, we aimed to understand how clients’ distress change relates to premature termination and examine clients’ distress change in conjunction with therapists’ perceptions of termination reasons. We collected data from 797 clients who prematurely terminated or attended termination but completed therapy a minimum of three individual sessions provided by 38 therapists. Clients completed an assessment of psychological symptoms before each session. At the end of treatment, therapists identified the reasons they believed termination occurred for all clients in the sample. Results demonstrate that total sessions attended and missed predict premature termination, whereas distress change does not. Additionally, clients who were believed to accomplish goals do show greater change. However, therapists’ indicated that over half of clients did not reach goals at termination and they did not perceive nonattendance at last session to equate to drop out in all cases. Implications are discussed with respect to understanding why clients’ terminate, therapeutic goal conceptualization, and review of goals during termination in time-limited psychotherapy.     

Nexus aliquis: in pursuit of efficacy, resilience, and full potential

This work examines the integral nexus of teacher and student, suggesting that efforts, resources, and human resource functions can and should intentionally focus on the relationship as paramount. Other aspects of learning potential are de minimus if teacher-student interaction is not efficient and affective. School leadership, learning paradigms, and hiring should focus on student-centered approaches that require collective efficacy, teachers becoming significant others in their student's lives, and development of resiliency in student intellectual attitudes. Reframing of the human resource function to recruit and retain life-enhancing educators who initiate rigorous and relevant learning, facilitate mastery, and incite intellectual curiosity for its own sake within students is called for. A suggested administrative interview and training examples are provided.