A SCATTER PLOT FOR IDENTIFYING STIMULUS CONTROL OF PROBLEM BEHAVIOR

Line graphs that average response frequency over long periods obscure the major rate changes that indicate sources of behavioral control. A scatter plot can make patterns of responding identifiable and, in turn, suggest environmental features that occasion undesirable behavior. Use of scatter diagrams is illustrated in three cases.     

THE USE OF WRIST WEIGHTS TO REDUCE SELF-INJURY MAINTAINED BY SENSORY REINFORCEMENT

The participant in this study was a boy with a long history of self-injurious face slapping. Following a functional analysis indicating that face slapping was maintained by sensory consequences, the participant was given soft wrist weights to wear for progressively longer periods. Data on the frequency of face slapping were collected 5 min before the weights were put on, while the weights were on, and 5 min after the weights were removed. At all other times a protective helmet was placed on the participant's head for 30 min contingent on face slaps. When weights were worn for 30 min each day, face slapping decreased during 5-min observation periods before and after wearing the weights. The use of protective headgear was eliminated by the end of the study. Face slapping did not occur during a follow-up check conducted 5 months after completion of the study.     

Emotion Differentiation as a Protective Factor Against Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Borderline Personality Disorder

Evidence that nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) serves a maladaptive emotion regulation function in borderline personality disorder (BPD) has drawn attention to processes that may increase risk for NSSI by exacerbating negative emotion, such as rumination. However, more adaptive forms of emotion processing, including differentiating broad emotional experiences into nuanced emotion categories, might serve as a protective factor against NSSI. Using an experience-sampling diary, the present study tested whether differentiation of negative emotion was associated with lower frequency of NSSI acts and urges in 38 individuals with BPD who reported histories of NSSI. Participants completed a dispositional measure of rumination and a 21-day experience-sampling diary, which yielded an index of negative emotion differentiation and frequency of NSSI acts and urges. A significant rumination by negative emotion differentiation interaction revealed that rumination predicted higher rates of NSSI acts and urges in participants with difficulty differentiating their negative emotions. The results extend research on emotion differentiation into the clinical literature and provide empirical support for clinical theories that suggest emotion identification and labeling underlie strategies for adaptive self-regulation and decreased NSSI risk in BPD.     

父母“低头族”对青少年自伤行为的影响:基于体验回避模型的视角

本研究基于自伤的体验回避模型,考察父母“低头族”对青少年自伤行为的影响,并检验焦虑和体验回避的序列中介作用。以808名中学生为被试,采用父母低头族量表、抑郁-焦虑-压力简版量表、接纳与行动问卷第二版和青少年自我伤害行为问卷进行测试,结果发现：（1）父母“低头族”与青少年焦虑、体验回避、自伤行为呈显著正相关;焦虑、体验回避与自伤行为呈显著正相关;（2）焦虑和体验回避在父母“低头族”和青少年自伤行为之间均起部分中介作用;（3）焦虑和体验回避在父母“低头族”和青少年自伤行为之间构成序列中介,即父母“低头族”通过增加青少年的焦虑,从而提高体验回避倾向,进而增加青少年自伤行为。研究从情绪和应对手段角度来考察父母“低头族”对青少年自伤行为的作用机制,对青少年自伤行为的预防和干预具有启示意义。     

自我批评与青少年自伤:有调节的中介效应

采用情绪调节量表、自我批评量表、心理痛苦量表和自伤行为量表对914名中学生进行测查,从中筛选出311名有自伤行为的青少年进行统计分析,探讨自我批评与青少年自伤行为的关系,并在此基础上提出一个有调节的中介模型,考察心理痛苦的中介作用和认知重评的调节作用。结果表明:(1)在控制了性别和是否独生子女的影响后,自我批评可以显著正向预测青少年的自伤行为,心理痛苦在二者之间起中介作用;(2)自我批评通过心理痛苦对自伤行为的间接效应受到认知重评的调节,认知重评可以减弱自我批评对自伤行为的间接影响。     

基因-脑-行为视角下的自伤行为产生机制

自伤是遗传与环境共同作用的结果。目前对于自伤行为的探讨已深入到基因及神经系统层面，基因-脑-行为的综合视角为客观揭示自伤产生机制提供了一条有效途径。本文将在已有研究的基础上，结合分子遗传学和神经生物学的最新成果，对自伤候选基因多态性及其可能的脑机制进行系统阐述，并提出今后应在基因多态性的交互作用及其脑机制、积极环境下自伤行为研究、自伤青少年的追踪研究以及自伤行为的系统性探讨等方面进一步深化。