Counseling Intimate Partner Abuse Survivors: Effective and Ineffective Interventions

This study obtained feedback from intimate partner abuse survivors (N = 104) regarding helpful and unhelpful aspects of therapy. The survivors’ narrative accounts and answers to quantitative questions were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analysis. Results suggest that survivors sought therapy to understand themselves and the abuse they endured. Clinicians’ diagnoses of codependency or assertions that survivors chose the relationship weakened the therapeutic alliance and reduced the perceived helpfulness of therapy.     

Perspectives of people with mental health problems at hot spots: Attitudes and perceptions of safety,crime, and the police

People who live in places with high levels of crime and disorder are more likely to experience mental illness compared with those who do not live in these types of place (Weisburd et al., 2018; Weisburd & White, 2019). The increased police presence on high crime streets may also increase the likelihood that these individuals will encounter law enforcement. There is a strong body of literature focused on the relationship between neighborhoods and the physical and mental health of residents (e.g. Arcaya et al., 2016; Duncan & Kawachi, 2018; Leventhal & Brooks‐Gunn, 2003), but there are very few studies that look at the perceptions of people with mental illness directly, particularly as they relate to the environment of the street on which they live and attitudes toward the police. In turn, existing studies generally look at the most serious mental health problems (e.g. schizophrenia), ignoring more common mental health concerns such as post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. This paper uses self‐report data from a large in‐person survey of people who live on crime hot spot and non‐hot spot streets in order to assess attitudes among a broader group of persons with mental health problems. Furthermore, we examine the interaction between living in crime hot spots and non‐hot spots and perceptions of these residents. Our findings in this broader sample confirm earlier studies that identify greater fear and less trust of the police among persons with mental illnesses. At the same time, our findings suggest that fear of crime and perceptions of police are moderated by living in a crime hot spot.     

Attention bias for social threat in youth with tic disorders: Links with tic severity and social anxiety

Many individuals with Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorders (TS/CTDs) report poor social functioning and comorbid social anxiety. Yet limited research has investigated the role of cognitive factors that highlight social threats in youth with TS/CTD, and whether these biases underlie tic severity and co-occurring social anxiety. This study examined whether selective attention to social threat is enhanced young people with TS/CTDs compared to healthy controls, and whether attention biases are associated with tic severity and social anxiety. Twenty seven young people with TS/CTDs and 25 matched control participants completed an experimental measure of attention bias toward/away from threat stimuli. A clinician-rated interview measuring tic severity/impairment (YGTSS Total Score) and questionnaire measures of social anxiety were completed by participants and their parents. Young people with TS/CTD showed an attention bias to social threat words (relative to benign words) compared to controls but no such bias for social threat faces. Attention bias for social threat words was associated with increasing YGTSS Total Score and parent-reported social anxiety in the TS/CTDs group. Mediation analysis revealed a significant indirect path between YGTSS Total Score and social anxiety, via attention to social threat. Tentatively, these associations appeared to be driven by impairment rather than tic severity scores. Preliminary data suggests that youth with TS/CTD have enhanced attention to threat, compared to controls, and this is associated with impairment and social anxiety. Attention to threat could offer a cognitive mechanism connecting impairment and social anxiety, and so be a valuable trans-diagnostic treatment target.     

Ingroup identification as a moderator of positive–negative asymmetry in social discrimination

Group members typically favour ingroups over outgroups, particularly when distributing positive rather than negative resources. The present investigation examined whether the positive–negative discrimination asymmetry in the minimal group paradigm varies as a function of ingroup identification. After being categorized into arbitrary groups, participants expressing low to high ingroup identification allocated positive, neutral, or negative outcomes on the basis of group membership (i.e. ingroup versus outgroup recipients). The interaction between ingroup identification and outcome valence revealed that identification influenced the magnitude of discrimination asymmetry. Specifically, increases in identification led to discrimination in favour of the ingroup for positive but not negative outcomes. The implications for intergroup behaviour more generally are considered. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The cultural grounding of personal relationship: Friendship in North American and West African worlds

This study considers how different constructions of self and social reality influence the experience of relationship. Reflecting the relational interdependence of West African worlds, the authors hypothesized and observed that Ghanaian participants were significantly more likely than U.S.A. participants (ns = 50 each) to advocate caution toward friends and to emphasize practical assistance in friendship. Reflecting the atomistic independence of North American worlds, the authors hypothesized and observed that U.S.A. participants were significantly more likely than Ghanaian participants to indicate a large friendship network; to emphasize companionship, particularly relative to Ghanaian women; and to emphasize emotional support, particularly relative to Ghanaian nonstudents. Results suggest that friendship is not a universal form; instead, it takes different forms in different cultural worlds.     

Eye remember you: the effects of gaze direction on face recognition in children and adults

Children and adults were tested on a forced‐choice face recognition task in which the direction of eye gaze was manipulated over the course of the initial presentation and subsequent test phase of the experiment. To establish the effects of gaze direction on the encoding process, participants were presented with to‐be‐studied faces displaying either direct or deviated gaze (i.e. encoding manipulation). At test, all the faces depicted persons with their eyes closed. To investigate the effects of gaze direction on the efficiency of the retrieval process, a second condition (i.e. retrieval manipulation) was run in which target faces were presented initially with eyes closed and tested with either direct or deviated gaze. The results revealed the encoding advantages enjoyed by faces with direct gaze was present for both children and adults. Faces with direct gaze were also recognized better than faces with deviated gaze at retrieval, although this effect was most pronounced for adults. Finally, the advantage for direct gaze over deviated gaze at encoding was greater than the advantage for direct gaze over deviated gaze at retrieval. We consider the theoretical implications of these findings.     

Self‐Injurious Behaviors: Assessment and Diagnosis

This article examines the diagnosis and assessment of self‐injurious behaviors. A classification model for conceptualizing self‐injury is discussed, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text revision; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) diagnoses associated with self‐injury are addressed. Assessment questions and issues to consider when assessing clients who self‐injure are provided.     

A Gender Analysis of Theories of Coping with Stress

In this article, various feminist theories are used to critique selected psychological theories of coping with stress, a reformulated coping theory is outlined, and recommendations for future research are made. To date, theories of coping often portray women as less able copers than the samples of men with whom they are compared. A reformulated theory, based on different women's experiences, explicitly examines the role of social forces (sexism, racism) and access to power as variables in the coping process rather than solely focusing on the individual. Selected examples of research that contribute to such a revision are given. Revised theories and methodologies will encourage the more accurate appraisal of women's coping abilities and generate information vital to the creation of more inclusive and representative theories of coping.     

Effects of collimation on perceived layout in 3-D scenes.

The effect of varying information for overall depth in a simulated 3-D scene on the perceived layout of objects in the scene was investigated in two experiments. Subjects were presented with displays simulating textured surfaces receded in depth. Pairs of markers were positioned at equal intervals within the scenes. The subject's task was to judge the depth between the intervals. Overall scene depth was varied by viewing through either a collimating lens or a glass disk. Judged depth for equal depth intervals decreased with increasing distance of the interval from the front of the scene. Judged depth was greater for collimated than for non-collimated viewing. Interestingly, collimated viewing resulted in a uniform rescaling of the perceived depth intervals.