Does a Marriage Ideal Exist? Using Q-Sort Methodology to Compare Young Adults’ and Professional Educators’ Views on Healthy Marriages

This study sought to understand whether young adults and family educators share beliefs about the components of a successful relationship. Young adults viewed successful relationships as having partners who agree on most issues. Educators characterized successful partners as exhibiting positive communication patterns and using relationship maintenance strategies. A third prototype included young adults and educators who described successful relationships in terms of agreement and problem solving behaviors. Implications for researchers and practitioners conclude the article.     

Long-term effects from a randomized trial of two public health preventive interventions for parental depression.

This article presents long-term effects of a randomized trial evaluating 2 standardized, manual-based prevention strategies for families with parental mood disorder: informational lectures and a brief, clinician-based approach including child assessment and a family meeting. A sample of 105 families, in which at least 1 parent suffered from a mood disorder and at least 1 nondepressed child was within the 8- to 15-year age range, was recruited. Parents and children were assessed separately at baseline and every 9 to 12 months thereafter on behavioral functioning, psychopathology, and response to intervention. Both interventions produced sustained effects through the 6th assessment point, approximately 4.5 years after enrollment, with relatively small sample loss of families (<14%). Clinician-based families had significantly more gains in parental child-related behaviors and attitudes and in child-reported understanding of parental disorder. Child and parent family functioning increased for both groups and internalizing symptoms decreased for both groups, with no significant group differences. These findings demonstrate that brief, family-centered preventive interventions for parental depression may contribute to long-term, sustained improvements in family functioning.     

Postidentification feedback affects real eyewitnesses

Many studies of simulated eyewitness situations have shown that under certain laboratory conditions, people's confidence about their identifications predicts their accuracy, but that their reported confidence can be affected by telling them that they chose the suspect. In this study, eyewitnesses (n= 134) to real crimes took part in lineups at an identification suite in the United Kingdom and were asked questions about their memory both before and after they were told whether they had identified the suspect or a filler. Before the eyewitnesses were told whether they had identified the suspect or a filler, their responses to several questions reliably differentiated between those who identified the suspect and those who identified a filler. In addition, responses to the memory questions were affected by telling the eyewitnesses whether or not they had identified the suspect. These results show that postidentification feedback affects real eyewitnesses and highlight the importance of recording meta-memory variables before an eyewitness discovers whether he or she has identified the suspect.     

‘Does class count?’ Social class and counselling

This article explores the importance attached to social class by experienced practitioners taking part in a co‐operative inquiry group. A review of the literature from the last thirty years indicates that there is very little research on class in relation to counselling and psychotherapy reported in the UK. Both authors position themselves as coming from working class origins. Nine co‐researchers from both middle and working class origins joined the group. Eight meetings took place over a period of nine months. Extracts from the group's discussions are represented and integrated with ‘presentational knowing’ drawn from contemporary culture, including poetry and popular music. This study suggests that social class is a neglected aspect of diversity in the counselling field. Implications of the study have relevance for the language of counselling and psychotherapy and class based values; social class and its impact on initial education; and ongoing counselling practice and access to therapy for working class people.     

Increased use of safety-seeking behaviors in chronic back pain patients with high health anxiety

Many patients with chronic pain also exhibit elevated levels of health anxiety. This study examined the effect of health anxiety on the use of safety-seeking behaviors (SSBs) in pain-provoking situations. Participants were 20 chronic back pain patients with high health anxiety (Group H), 20 with low health anxiety (Group L) and 20 pain-free controls (Group C). Two physical tasks were video recorded, and compared both for overt pain behavior (identified by blind observers following a standardized procedure) and for the occurrence of SSB (identified by showing the participants video playback and asking them to specify motivation for all actions/behaviors displayed during the tasks). While there were no differences in the display of overt pain behaviors, Group H deployed a greater number of SSBs than Groups L and C. This finding held true for both tasks and remained significant when concurrent pain and mood ratings were statistically controlled for. SSB was correlated with catastrophizing thoughts but not pain intensity; pain intensity was correlated with overt pain behavior but not catastrophizing. Taken together, these findings suggest that SSB is distinct from overt pain behavior and may be a defining characteristic of chronic pain patients reporting high levels of health anxiety.     

Toward a psychopathology of self-control theory: the importance of narcissistic traits

Research on self-control and related constructs is central to individual-level explanations of antisocial behavior. However, less research attention has been paid to the psychopathological underpinnings of self-control. The current study explores relationships between self-control and psychiatric symptoms, head injury, trauma history, substance use, guiltlessness and narcissistic traits in a statewide population of juvenile offenders. Results support the importance of these variables, in particular narcissistic traits, in better explicating theories of self-control. Implications for research on the psychopathological underpinnings of self-control are highlighted.     

ANGRY AND AFRAID: WOMEN'S APPRAISAL OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT DURING LITIGATION

The purpose of this study was to examine primary appraisal of sexual harassment, that is, a victim's cognitive evaluation of the harassment and the factors that influence this appraisal. The perspectives of 72 female plaintiffs were investigated by measuring their primary appraisal of the event, examining the structure of this appraisal, and assessing the influence of stimulus and individual factors on appraisal. Cluster analysis revealed four distinct emotion clusters: demoralization, anxious arousal, fear, and self-blame. Significant correlations suggest that these four appraisal clusters are differentially related to certain stimulus (e.g., intensity) and individual (e.g., self-esteem, previous victimization, feminist attitudes, and attributions) factors. Theoretical and practical implications for the role of primary appraisal are discussed.