The DAPP–SF as a Screener for Personality Disorder in a Forensic Setting

Studies on the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology–Short Form (DAPP–SF) have shown its ability to identify treatment-seeking patients with personality disorders. This study focuses on its screening potential for personality disorder in 89 criminal suspects (77 men, 12 women; M age = 37.0 years) undergoing residential pretrial psychological assessments in a high-security setting. It was expected that Structured Interview for DSM–IV Personality (SIDP–IV) criteria met for personality disorder(s) would be associated with higher DAPP–SF scores. A floor effect was found in DAPP–SF scores: The forensic population reported less personality pathology than the general population. Only moderate associations between DAPP–SF and SIDP–IV outcome were found. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that some DAPP–SF subscales did not exceed chance level in their ability to screen for personality disorders. It is concluded that the DAPP–SF has limited usefulness as a screener for personality disorders in a forensic pretrial setting. Alternative forensic screening instruments are presented.     

Autonomy support and motivational responses across training and competition in individual and team sports

This study examined: (a) whether athletes’ (N = 348) perceived autonomy support (i.e., showing interest in athletes’ input and praising autonomous behavior) differs across contexts (training vs. competition) and sport types (individual vs. team sports), and (b) whether the relationships between autonomy support and effort, enjoyment, and anxiety are affected by context and sport type. Perceived autonomy support did not vary across contexts, but interest in athletes’ input was higher in individual than in team sports. Praise for autonomous behavior was associated positively with effort only when interest in input was high, and this effect was stronger in training than in competition. Finally, praise for autonomous behavior was also positively related to enjoyment in training, while interest in input was positively associated with anxiety in individual sports.     

Chronic Pain,Chronic Demoralization,and the Role of Psychotherapy

This article discusses demoralization in patients with chronic pain and the role of psychotherapy at combating chronic demoralization associated with chronic pain. The advantages of the biopsychosocial conceptual framework for the understanding of chronic pain are highlighted. Demoralization may be viewed as a combination of distress and subjective incompetence. While the distress experienced by the patient may be understandable and commensurate to the predicament, the co-occurrence of subjective incompetence (the polar opposite of resilience) and its escalation to helplessness, and hopelessness may result in suicidal attempts, demands for euthanasia, or death by suicide. The complexity of chronic pain and its relationship to demoralization may be examined from multiple perspectives. Biological, psychological, social and cultural variables play varying roles depending on the observer’s perspective and the context of the observation. The role of psychotherapy in chronic pain may be viewed in terms of multiple pathways through which language, cognitive style, behavior, relationships, attitude towards pain, and awareness of the body modify the relative influences of top-down and bottom-up processing of information within the pain neuromatrix. Various psychotherapeutic interventions developed for patients with chronic pain are reviewed and recommendations are made for future research.