Experience of a Lifetime: Study Abroad,Trauma, and Institutional Betrayal

This study is the first to expand the investigation of study-abroad risks to include a range of traumatic experiences for male and female students and to examine effects of institutional betrayal (i.e., an institution’s failure to prevent trauma or support survivors). In an online survey of 173 university students who had studied abroad, many respondents (45.44%, n = 79) reported exposure to at least 1 traumatic experience while abroad, most frequently natural disasters, sexual assault, and unwanted sexual experiences. Of students exposed to potentially traumatic events, more than one third (35.44%, n = 28) also reported at least 1 form of related institutional betrayal, which uniquely correlated with posttraumatic distress in some participants, when controlling for lifetime trauma history.     

Coping self-efficacy and psychosocial well-being of marginalised South African youth

The aim of this study was to investigate coping self-efficacy and aspects of psychosocial well-being amongst youth from marginalised backgrounds. A total of 794 black South African marginalised youth (males = 54%, females = 46%, age range between 18 and 30 years) voluntarily participated in this cross-sectional study. The participants completed surveys of coping self-efficacy, mental health, and mood disorder. Structural equation modelling was applied to construct an explanatory model for coping self-efficacy and psychosocial well-being among the marginalised youth. The resulting structural model showed that coping self-efficacy significantly and positively predicted the emotional and psychological dimensions of psychosocial well-being among the youth. Psychosocial well-being was associated with of a lower risk for symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in these marginalised young people.     

Alexithymia Predicts Posttraumatic Growth and Distress After Trauma

The present study sought to investigate how alexithymia (a deficit in identifying and describing emotions) may hinder the development of posttraumatic growth (PTG) and contribute to ongoing distress. Participants were 250 undergraduate college students who had experienced a highly stressful event in the past six months. Regression analyses were conducted to examine how alexithymia contributes to PTG and distress in addition to other known predictors. Analyses revealed that alexithymia was a significant negative predictor of PTG, and a significant positive predictor of distress. It was also found that Difficulty in Identifying Feelings was the alexithymia component that best predicted PTG and distress.     

An Examination of Alcohol Use Disorder Symptoms and Neighborhood Disorganization from Age 21 to 39

Living in disorganized neighborhoods characterized by high levels of poverty, crime, violence, and deteriorating buildings has been associated with increased alcohol consumption and mental health problems. Data drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project (N = 790), a theory‐driven longitudinal study originating in Seattle, WA, were used to estimate trajectories of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) symptoms from age 21 to 39. Time‐varying measures of neighborhood disorganization, psychological distress, and sociodemographic factors were associated with deviations from average AUD symptoms at each wave. Results indicated that, on average, AUD symptoms decreased as individuals got older. Living in more disorganized neighborhoods and experiencing psychological distress was associated with increased AUD symptoms after accounting for average reductions from AUD symptoms over time and time‐varying measures of relevant sociodemographic factors. Results of mediation analysis suggested that psychological distress is a mechanism by which disorganized neighborhoods increased risk of AUD from age 21 to 39.     

The BDNFval66met polymorphism and individual differences in temperament in 4-month-old infants: A pilot study

Individual differences in infants’ temperament are under genetic control. We investigated the association between brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor (BDNF_val66met) polymorphism and temperament in 63 full-term infants. Met-carriers (N = 25) had lower Regulatory capacities compared to val-homozygotes (N = 38). These findings suggest that the BDNF polymorphism affects early temperament individual differences.     

共同冗思的概念、测量和理论解释

共同冗思指个体在双向关系中过度讨论个人问题的行为。共同冗思对个体产生适应权衡效应,即它不仅与积极的友谊属性有关,还与抑郁和焦虑等内化问题相关。以往研究主要分析共同冗思的性别差异、发展特点及其在不同亲密关系中的表现。结果发现共同冗思的适应权衡效应在女性群体中比在男性群体中更为突出,在青少年群体中比在儿童群体中更为突出。研究者主要从同伴传染、压力生成、共情痛苦以及生理机制等角度解释共同冗思与内化问题的关系。友谊等亲密关系中的共同冗思对个体适应的负面影响难以察觉,它可以作为个体抑郁和焦虑等内化问题的危险信号。后续研究可以从考察共同冗思的人格以及环境影响因素等角度深化对该主题的理解。     

Variations on the concept of traumatism: Traumatism,traumatic, trauma1

In this paper, the author outlines Freud's fundamental hypotheses concerning the concept of traumatism, then goes on to differentiate three notions (French being a particularly apposite language for such a venture): ‘traumatism’, ‘traumatic’ (in a substantive sense) and ‘trauma’. These three terms correspond to the three turning points in Freud's theory with respect to the concept of traumatism (1895‐97, 1920, 1938). The author evokes also the developments that are due to Ferenczi, particularly in his later writings (1928‐33), where he defi ned and discussed the question of ‘trauma’ in contemporary clinical practice; the author goes on to explore the different variations on this theme as regards mental functioning. He then defi nes, from a metapsychological point of view, the differences between ‘traumatisms’ that have been ‘worked over by secondary processes’, organised and governed by the pleasure‐unpleasure principle (‘traumatism’) and ‘early’ or ‘primary traumatisms’, which interfere with the process of binding the instinctual drives (‘trauma’); states of mind infl uenced by a traumatic imprint (‘traumatic’) are looked upon as belonging to both categories of the above mentioned traumatisms. The author illustrates his hypotheses with a clinical example.     

Psychosocial Predictors of Psychological Distress in Taiwanese Secondary School Boys and Girls

This study was designed to investigate predictors of psychological distress in secondary school boys (n =779) and girls (n = 893) in Taiwan. Participants completed anxiety and depression scales as part of a larger study. Gender, GPA, parenting practices, self-esteem, and personality/satisfaction were significantly correlated with psychological distress. Significant gender differences were found in students' psychological distress, GPA, stereotyped thinking, academic self-expectations, parental expectations, parenting practices, and mother's education level. Stepwise regressions revealed that self-esteem was the only significant predictor for boys; it accounted for 40.9% of the variance in their psychological distress. GPA, family income, self-esteem, and parenting practices were significant predictors for girls; they accounted for 42.6% of the variance in girls' psychological distress. Research recommendations and educational implications are discussed.     

Young men's coping with androgenetic alopecia: acceptance counts when hair gets thinner

The present study examined how young men cope with balding (androgenetic alopecia). The sample consisted of 160 university students (18–30 years) with varying degrees of hair loss (stages II–VII on the Norwood–Hamilton Scale). Three ways of coping were distinguished: compensation, avoidance, and acceptance. Psychological distress due to hair loss depended neither on the age of participants nor on the stage of balding. Since compensation and avoidance were associated with high levels of distress, their functional value might be questioned. Acceptance, however, was negatively related to distress – even, or rather, especially when stage of hair loss was advanced. Furthermore, acceptance had a direct negative effect on medical consultation about hair loss. By contrast, compensation and avoidance had a positive distress-mediated effect on medical consultation. Taken together, this study underlines the adaptive role of acceptance when confronted with irreversible changes such as androgenetic alopecia.