The Predictive Utility of Narcissism among Childrenand Adolescents: Evidence for a Distinction betweenAdaptive and Maladaptive Narcissism

We examined the predictive utility of narcissism among a community sample of children and adolescents (N=98) longitudinally. Analyses focused on the differential utility between maladaptive and adaptive narcissism for predicting later delinquency. Maladaptive narcissism significantly predicted self-reported delinquency at one-, two-, and three-year follow-ups. This pattern held even when considering other intrapersonal risk factors for conduct problems (i.e., callous-unemotional traits, impulsivity), parenting practices, and when controlling for earlier conduct problems. In addition, adaptive narcissism was predictive of delinquency in the absence of positive parenting practices, with maladaptive narcissism being particularly predictive of delinquency in the presence of negative parenting. The implications for understanding delinquency in terms of the social and motivational characteristics that are the hallmark of maladaptive narcissism are discussed.     

Parent Beliefs about Treatment Credibility and Effectiveness: Assessment and Relation to Subsequent Treatment Participation

We assessed parents’ beliefs about treatment credibility and effectiveness and examined the influence of these beliefs on subsequent treatment participation. Seventy-six parents completed the Credibility/Expectancies Questionnaire—Parent Version (CEQ-P), and subsequently participated in treatment for their child's clinically referred conduct problems. The key findings were that: (a) the CEQ-P is composed of two components that measure parents’ treatment credibility and expectancies; (b) the total scale and each component are internally consistent and have strong test-retest reliability; (c) scores on the CEQ-P are significantly associated with scores on a measure of parent motivation for treatment, supporting the construct validity of this measure; and (d) scores on the CEQ-P at the first clinic visit significantly predict subsequent adherence to treatment procedures above and beyond demographic variables and parent motivation for treatment. This study provides an efficient and psychometrically sound measure of parent beliefs about treatment and demonstrates the importance of such beliefs for subsequent treatment adherence.     

初中生依恋与主观幸福感:自尊的中介作用

为了探讨初中生亲子依恋、同伴依恋对其主观幸福感的影响以及集体自尊和个体自尊在两者之间所起的中介作用,本研究采用问卷调查的方法对两所初中学校的857名初一至初三的学生进行了调查.主要结果如下:(1)总体而言,男生的父子依恋水平、集体自尊水平和生活满意度更高,女生的同伴依恋水平和消极情绪更高;(2)男女生表现出不同的年级发展特点,女生在亲子依恋、集体自尊和消极情绪,男生在集体自尊上表现出明显的初二现象;(3)亲子依恋、同伴依恋水平越高,初中生的集体自尊和个体自尊水平越高,其主观幸福感程度也越强;(4)母子依恋、同伴依恋、个体自尊和父子依恋依次显著正向预测初中生的生活满意度,并依次负向预测初中生的消极情绪;同伴依恋、个体自尊、母子依恋和集体自尊依次显著正向预测初中生的积极情绪;(5)亲子、同伴依恋不仅能直接影响初中生的主观幸福感,而且通过两种途径(依恋→集体自尊→主观幸福感;依恋→集体自尊→个体自尊→主观幸福感)间接对其产生影响.     

My Mentor,My Self: Antecedents and Outcomes of Perceived Similarity in Mentoring Relationships

This study examines the antecedents and outcomes of perceived similarity in mentoring relationships in a sample of 82 matched mentor-protégé dyads. Polynomial regression analyses were used to examine the association between actual and perceived similarity. Protégés were more likely to see themselves as similar to their mentors when they and their mentors shared either higher or lower levels of attachment security. However, sharing similar levels of relational self-construal was unrelated to protégés perceptions of similarity with their mentors. Path analyses revealed that protégés reported more organizational and professional commitment when they saw themselves as similar to their mentors, and that these associations were mediated by protégés’ reports of their mentors providing role modeling functions. These findings suggest that the effects of actual mentor-protégé similarity on perceptions of similarity may depend on the shared attribute, and provide further evidence of the importance of perceived similarity to not only mentoring relationships, but also to organizations.     

Treatment Effectiveness of PMTO for Children's Behavior Problems in Iceland: Child Outcomes in a Nationwide Randomized Controlled Trial

Well‐documented treatment methods must be tested following their implementation in community service agencies and across different cultures to ensure continuing effectiveness. This study was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Parent Management Training—the Oregon model (PMTO), conducted within a nationwide implementation in Iceland. Families of 102 clinically referred children with behavior problems were recruited from five municipalities throughout Iceland. Child age ranged from 5 to 12; 73% were boys. Families were randomly assigned to either PMTO or services usually offered in the communities (SAU). Child adjustment was measured with a latent construct based on parent, child, and teacher reports of externalizing and internalizing problems and social skills. Prepost intent‐to‐treat analyses showed that PMTO treatment led to greater reductions in child adjustment problems relative to the comparison group, obtaining a modest to medium effect size based on the construct score. Only one indicator (parent‐rated Social Skills) showed significant change independently and information on amount and kind of treatment in the SAU was limited. Overall, findings indicate that PMTO is an effective method to treat children's behavior problems in a Northern European culture and supply evidence for the method's successful implementation in community settings in Iceland. This is one of few nationwide implementation studies of PMTO outside the United States and the first RCT in Iceland to test a treatment model for children's behavior problems.     

Decomposing coronary-prone behavior: Dimensions of type a behavior in the Videotaped Structured Interview

This study examined the factorial structure of data generated in the Videotaped Structured Interview for assessment of Type A behavior. Based on the literature, it was argued that there are at least three distinct concepts of Type A behavior, focused on competitiveness and pressured drive, speech characteristics, and hostility, respectively. These three concepts were clearly represented among the factors from factor analyses based on data from 282 subjects. Three factors represented speech and psychomotor characteristics, where the first reflected interactions between subject and interviewer (e.g., response latency, interruptions), the second tempo of speech (accelerating, dysrhythmic and rapid speech), and the third oral gestures (e.g., expiratory sighs). Hostility was reflected in two factors, one defined by emotional intensity (e.g., anger when recalling paat event) and the other hostility expressed towards the interviewer. Pressured drive dominated a content factor reflecting self-awareness of Type A behavior. Finally, there was one factor related to psychomotor tension. Through further factor and item analyses, it was possible to combine these factors into three homogeneous and moderately intercorrelated subscales of Type A behavior reflecting Hostility, Speech Characteristics, and Self-Awareness of Type A behavior. These scales showed good interrater agreement and stability over two years. The Self-Awareness Scale was highly correlated with self-report measures of Type A behavior. The Hostility Scale, on the other hand, was moderately related to measures of Type A behavior, anger and hostility, but was unrelated to anxiety. The Speech Characteristic Scale, finally, was virtually unrelated to psychometric measures.     

Multivariate modelling and personality organization: A comparative study of the Defense Mechanism Test and linguistic expressions

The main aim of the study is to establish an empirical connection between perceptual defences as measured by the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT)–a projective percept-genetic method–and manifest linguistic expressions based on word pattern analyses. The subjects were 25 psychiatric patients with the diagnoses neurotic personality organization (NPO), borderline personality organization (BPO) and psychotic personality organization (PPO) in accordance with Kernberg's theory. A set of 130 DMT variables and 40 linguistic variables were analyzed by means of partial least squares (PLS) discriminant analysis separately and then pooled together. The overall hypothesis was that it would be possible to define the personality organization of the patients in terms of an amalgam of perceptual defences and word patterns, and that these two kinds of data would confirm each other. The result of the combined PLS analysis revealed a very good separation between the diagnostic groups as measured by the pooled variable sets. Among other things, it was shown that NPO patients are principally characterized by linguistic variables, whereas BPO and PPO patients are better defined by perceptual defences as measured by the DMT method.     

Behavioral determinants of mothers' safety measures to prevent injuries of pre-school children

Home-related injuries are a major threat to pre-school children in the western world. In this study the behavioral determinants of 18 parental safety measures were assessed. To select behavioral determinants, the Attitude-Social influence-Self-efficacy/barriers model was used with the inclusion of variables from the Health Belief Model and the Protection Motivation Theory. A written questionnaire was completed by 1129 Dutch mothers of pre-school children. Most safety measures were explained (rather) well by the same set of determinants. Main determinants for adopting or not adopting a safety measure were the mother's belief in the necessity of the safety measure according to the child's age, her belief about her partner's opinion on the necessity and her belief about the success of taking the measure. Subsequent important determinants were the mother's belief about the inconvenience and instrumentality of the safety measure; the perceived susceptibility had a minor or moderate influence on most measures. This study did not indicate that more highly educated mothers were more knowledgeable about safety-related subjects. The theoretical implications of this study are discussed.     

The treatment of youthful sexual offenders

Approximately 20% of all rapes and between 30% and 50% of child molestations are perpetrated by adolescent males. These statistics underscore the need for improved understanding of youthful sexual offending so that effective prevention measures may be utilized for those adolescents at risk of offending and effective treatments may be utilized with those adolescents who have already committed sexual offenses. In this article we review the current knowledge of the characteristics of youthful offenders, proposed etiologies of youthful offending, proposed typologies of, assessment protocols, and treatments for youthful offenders. Finally we discuss the need for further research in the area of youthful sex offending.