MMPI-2 as a predictor of change in PTSD symptom clusters: a further analysis of the Forbes et al. (2002) data set

In this study, we reanalyzed the Forbes et al. (2002) data set to examine the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2; Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) as a differential predictor of change across posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters following treatment in 141 Vietnam veterans. A series of partial correlation and linear multivariate regression analyses, controlling for initial symptom severity, identified several scales predictive of symptom change. None of the MMPI-2 scales, however, emerged as predictors of change in reexperiencing symptoms. Social alienation and marital distress were the most potent predictors for avoidance symptoms. Anger, alcohol use, and hypomania were the most potent predictors for the hyperarousal symptoms. Of the personality disorders, borderline personality was the strongest predictor of change in the avoidance and hyperarousal clusters. Further replication of the findings of this article and those reported by Forbes et al. (2002) is required.     

Multidimensional Assessment of Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating in Korean and US College Women: A Comparative Study

Body dissatisfaction was studied in 139 Korean and 102 US college women. Because tumultuous social change has produced marked conflicts between traditional Confucian values and a modern industrial society in which women hold increasing social, political, and economic power, it was hypothesized that Korean college women would have greater body dissatisfaction and more behaviors associated with disordered eating than US college women. As hypothesized, when body size (BMI) was controlled the Korean sample exhibited greater body dissatisfaction than the US sample as measured by the discrepancy between actual and ideal BMI, discrepancies between the participants’ bodies and three ideal bodies on the Figural Rating Scale (Stunkard, Sorenson, & Schulsinger, The genetics of neurological and psychiatric disorders, Raven Press, New York, pp. 115–120, 1983), all three measures from the Body Esteem Scale (Franzoi & Shields, Journal of Personality Assessment, 48:173–178, 1984), and all three measures from the Body-Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (Mendelson, Mendelson, & White, Concordia University Research Bulletin, 16:1–12, 1997). Although the Korean sample had more behaviors characteristic of disordered eating on the Eating Disorders Inventory (Garner, Olmstead, & Polivy, International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2:15–31, 1983) Bulimia Scale, no differences were found between samples on scores on the Drive for Thinness Scale.     

Linguistic signatures of regulatory focus: how abstraction fits promotion more than prevention

In 3 experiments, the authors investigated how strategic inclinations associated with promotion versus prevention orientations--that is, eager approach versus vigilant avoidance, respectively--affect the use of language. It is hypothesized that eager promotion strategies used to attain desired end states entail using more abstract language than used with vigilant prevention strategies. This is shown to hold for experimentally induced relationship goals (Experiment 1) and communication goals (Experiment 2). In the 3rd experiment, the authors examined the impact of abstractly and concretely worded messages upon the behavioral intentions of chronically prevention- and promotion-oriented individuals and found support for the hypothesis that behavioral intentions to engage in specific activities are stronger when there is a fit between message wording and chronic orientation than when there is no fit. The broader implications of these findings are discussed.     

The MMPI-2 as a predictor of symptom change following treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder

This study sought to examine the impact of personality factors on symptom change following treatment for 141 Vietnam veterans with chronic combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989). A series of partial correlation and linear multivariate regression analyses identified social alienation, associated with anger and substance use, as the most potent negative predictor of symptom change. Of the scales assessing personality disorder, Borderline Personality was identified as the strongest negative predictor of outcome. Regression analyses examining the most salient scales identified 5 items that contributed 14% of the variance in the prediction of change scores independently of the 21% accounted for by pretreatment PTSD severity.     

How talking therapists experience working with adult clients who have autism

This research aims to gain new insight by exploring the thoughts, feelings and experiences of therapists working with clients who have autism. Three professional talking therapists participated in the study. Unstructured interviews were conducted and analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Six main themes and 13 sub-themes were found which include therapists’ validation of autism, how therapists integrated autism when addressing mental health problems, how their personal experiences of autism impacted on their work and how they experienced the situation in which autism emerges during the therapy. Helpful suggestions are made for clinicians, namely, to zoom-in and zoom-out of autism, hold the knowledge that people with autism process information differently, incorporate working with trauma, consider disclosing a personal connection to autism and consider carefully whether, or not, to tell a client that they may have autism.     

Adolescents’ neural response to social reward and real-world emotional closeness and positive affect

Feeling emotionally close to others during social interactions is a ubiquitous and meaningful experience that can elicit positive affect. The present study integrates functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to investigate whether neural response to social reward (1) is related to the experience of emotional closeness and (2) moderates the association between emotional closeness and positive affect during and following social interactions. In this study, 34 typically developing adolescents (ages 14–18 years) completed a social-reward fMRI task, a monetary-reward fMRI task, and a 2-week EMA protocol regarding their social and affective experiences. Adolescents with greater right posterior superior temporal sulcus/temporoparietal junction (pSTS/TPJ) response to social reward reported greater mean momentary emotional closeness. Neural response to social reward in the right pSTS/TPJ moderated how strongly momentary emotional closeness was associated with both concurrent positive affect and future peak happiness, but in different ways. Although emotional closeness had a significant positive association with concurrent positive affect among adolescents at both high and low right pSTS/TPJ response based on a follow-up simple slopes test, this association was stronger for adolescents with low right pSTS/TPJ response. In contrast, emotional closeness had a significant positive association with future peak happiness among adolescents with high right pSTS/TPJ response, but not among those with low right pSTS/TPJ response. These findings demonstrate the importance of neural response to social reward in key social processing regions for everyday experiences of emotional closeness and positive affect in the context of social interactions.     

Pubertal development and behavior: Hormonal activation of social and motivational tendencies

Adolescence is a time of dramatic changes including rapid physical growth, the onset of sexual maturation, the activation of new drives and motivations, and a wide array of social and affective changes and challenges. This review focuses on behavioral changes in this interval and is organized by the claim that a key set of these adolescent changes are part of a more general re-orientation of social behavior. More specifically we hypothesize that pubertal maturation is associated with the activation of social and motivational tendencies, which in turn influence behavior and emotion in adolescence depending upon interactions with social context. We focus on evidence for two examples of these motivational changes: (1) increases in sensation-seeking (motivational tendency to want to experience high-intensity, exciting experiences) and (2) stronger natural interest in—and pursuit of—contact with peers and potential romantic partners. We consider how these motivational changes contribute to the broader social re-orientation of adolescence, including exploration of social experiences, development of skills and knowledge relevant to taking on adult social roles, individuation from family, and establishment of an individual identity, all of which represent core developmental tasks during this period in the life span ( 9, 16 and 62). The paper also emphasizes the importance of investigating and understanding the direct influences of puberty on behavior and disentangling these from the broader set of changes during adolescent development.