Addressing the Person of the Therapist in Supervision: The Therapist's Inner Conversation Method

In this study a method of retrospective case supervision is presented aimed at helping the supervisee to become a better self‐supervisor. The method pays special attention to the therapist's self‐reflection and has the therapist's inner conversation as a central concept. The starting point of the method is an assignment in which the supervisee reflects on a case using a tape‐assisted recall procedure. The method helps trainees to develop experiential expertise to become more flexible and effective therapists. A case example of one training group of novice family therapists illustrates the use of the method.     

Attitude towards technology,social media usage and grade‐point average as predictors of global citizenship identification in Filipino University Students

We examine the influence of a positive attitude towards technology, number of social media network memberships and grade‐point average (GPA) on global citizenship identification antecedents and outcomes. Students (N = 3628) at a university in the Philippines completed a survey assessing the above constructs. The results showed that attitude towards technology, number of social network site memberships and GPA‐predicted global citizenship identification, and subsequent prosocial outcomes (e.g. intergroup helping, responsibility to act for the betterment of the world), through the perception that valued others prescribe a global citizen identity (normative environment) and perceived knowledge of the world and felt interconnectedness with others (global awareness). The results highlight the associations between technology and academic performance with a global identity and associated values.     

Teaching metaphorical extensions of private events through rival‐model observation to children with autism

The study evaluated the efficacy of observational learning using the rival‐model technique in teaching three children with autism to state metaphorical statements about emotions when provided a picture, as well as to intraverbally state an appropriate emotion when provided a scenario and corresponding metaphorical emotion. The results provide a preliminary evaluation of how an observational teaching strategy may be effective in teaching children with autism to correctly tact emotions when given metaphors.     

Health‐relevant personality is associated with sensitivity to sound (hyperacusis)

Hyperacusis, over‐sensitivity to sounds, causes distress and disability and the etiology is not fully understood. The study aims to explore possible associations between health‐relevant personality traits and hyperacusis. Hyperacusis was assessed using the Hyperacusis Questionnaire (HQ), and clinical uncomfortable loudness levels (ULL). Personality was measured with the Health‐relevant Personality (HP5i) Inventory. The study sample was 348 (140 men and 208 women; age 23–71 years). Moderate correlations were found between the personality trait negative affectivity (NA; a facet of neuroticism) and dimensions of the HQ and weak correlations were found with the ULLs. Hedonic capacity (a facet of extraversion) was significantly correlated with the HQ but not with the ULLs. Impulsivity (a facet of conscientiousness) was correlated with the HQ and the ULLs. A significant difference in mean values was found in all hyperacusis measures and different levels of NA – those with higher levels displayed more severe signs of hyperacusis. A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that higher levels of NA increases the odds of having hyperacusis on average 4.6 times for men and 2.4 times for women. These findings imply that health‐relevant personality traits should be considered in the diagnosis and treatment of hyperacusis.     

Depression Among Transgender Older Adults: General and Minority Stress

This study aims to (a) examine the direct and indirect effects internalized heterosexism, disclosure of gender identity, and perceived general stress in association with depression among transgender older adults; and (b) to assess the relative contribution of each relationship. Secondary analyses of data from a large community‐based study of older sexual and gender minorities were conducted utilizing structural equation modeling with a subsample (n = 174) of transgender adults aged 50 to 86‐years old. Disclosure of gender identity had no significant direct or indirect effects on either perceived general stress or depression. Internalized heterosexism did not have a direct effect on depression, but did have a significant indirect effect through perceived general stress. Finally, perceived general stress had an additional significant direct effect on depression, over and above internalized heterosexism. Total effect sizes appear to be considerable with standardized betas greater than 5.0. Perceived general stress and internalized heterosexism independently and cumulatively have significant direct and indirect effects on depression among transgender older adults. Implications for depression among transgender older adults and the role of community psychology are discussed.     

Personality predicts mortality risk: An integrative data analysis of 15 international longitudinal studies

This study examined the Big Five personality traits as predictors of mortality risk, and smoking as a mediator of that association. Replication was built into the fabric of our design: we used a Coordinated Analysis with 15 international datasets, representing 44,094 participants. We found that high neuroticism and low conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness were consistent predictors of mortality across studies. Smoking had a small mediating effect for neuroticism. Country and baseline age explained variation in effects: studies with older baseline age showed a pattern of protective effects (HR < 1.00) for openness, and U.S. studies showed a pattern of protective effects for extraversion. This study demonstrated coordinated analysis as a powerful approach to enhance replicability and reproducibility, especially for aging-related longitudinal research.     

Words Get in the Way: Linguistic Effects on Talker Discrimination

A speech perception experiment provides evidence that the linguistic relationship between words affects the discrimination of their talkers. Listeners discriminated two talkers' voices with various linguistic relationships between their spoken words. Listeners were asked whether two words were spoken by the same person or not. Word pairs varied with respect to the linguistic relationship between the component words, forming either: phonological rhymes, lexical compounds, reversed compounds, or unrelated pairs. The degree of linguistic relationship between the words affected talker discrimination in a graded fashion, revealing biases listeners have regarding the nature of words and the talkers that speak them. These results indicate that listeners expect a talker's words to be linguistically related, and more generally, indexical processing is affected by linguistic information in a top‐down fashion even when listeners are not told to attend to it.     

Changes in physical activity among coronary and hypertensive patients: A longitudinal study using the Health Action Process Approach

Objectives: Physical activity (PA) is a key factor in cardiovascular disease prevention. Through the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA), the present study investigated the process of change in PA in coronary patients (CPs) and hypertensive patients (HPs).

Design: Longitudinal survey study with two follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 months on 188 CPs and 169 HPs.

Main outcome measures: Intensity and frequency of PA.

Results: A multi-sample analysis indicated the equivalence of almost all the HAPA social cognitive patterns for both patient populations. A latent growth curve model showed strong interrelations among intercepts and slopes of PA, planning and maintenance self-efficacy, but change in planning was not associated with change in PA. Moreover, increase in PA was associated with the value of planning and maintenance self-efficacy reached at the last follow-up

Conclusions: These findings shed light on mechanisms often neglected by the HAPA literature, suggesting reciprocal relationships between PA and its predictors that could define a plausible virtuous circle within the HAPA volitional phase. Moreover, the HAPA social cognitive patterns are essentially identical for patients who had a coronary event (i.e. CPs) and individuals who are at high risk for a coronary event (i.e. HPs).