MFT trainee adjustment to program lifestyle stress: The TAPS scale

The 30-item Trainee Adjustment to Program Stress (TAPS) scale was developed to measure lifestyle stress of family therapy trainees. Initially, 70 items were generated from propositional statements based on four constructs. Following pilot testing, 329 out of 900 (37%) student members of the American Association for Mariage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) returned TAPS questionnaires. Internal consistency reliability analyses and principal components and factor analyses produced a final 30 item TAPS scale appropriate for use in family therapy training programs. Reliability and validity measures are reported.     

Violent behavior in adolescents and young adults: A person and environment model

We explore a model that examines how personal and environmental variables explain violent behavior by adolescents. Repeated interviews with youths from 1984–1992 from 10 cities across the United States provided the data. These interviews first occurred with 2,787 youths when they were adolescents (1984–85 and 1986–87) and the interviews were repeated on a subsample of 602 youths when they were young adults (1989–90 and 1991–92). Longitudinal multivariate analyses showed that almost a third of the variance in adolescent violent behaviors was predicted by a combination of personal variables (gender, substance misuse) and environmental variables (history of child abuse, stressful events, traumatic events, and city rates of unemployment). Further, almost a third of the variance in change in violent behaviors from year to year was predicted by prior violent behavior and a combination of personal variables (gender, suicidality, and substance misuse) and environmental variables (stressful events).     

Social desirability,perceived stress,and PACT ratings in lung transplant candidates: A preliminary investigation

Some aspect of psychosocial criteria is commonly utilized by most transplant programs in assessing candidates' acceptability for transplantation. However, regardless of the assessment methodology, information obtained in pretransplant assessments may be limited given the evaluative nature of the assessment as well as the sensitive nature of the contents. Indeed, transplant candidates may present themselves in a favorable fashion, minimizing any negative traits or psychological dysfunction which they perceive might prevent transplantation. Unfortunately, there are limited data addressing the extent to which transplant candidates may present themselves in an overly positive light. This investigation surveys the prevalence of social desirability in lung transplant candidates as well as its association with self-reports of perceived stress. Further, the relationship between social desirability and interviewer ratings of transplant candidacy is examined. Subjects included 24 patients in end-stage organ failure being evaluated for lung transplant candidacy. Subjects completed the Perceived Stress Scale and a brief version of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Additionally, subjects were interviewer-rated on the Psychosocial Assessment of Candidates for Transplantation. Results indicate social desirability is a prevalent phenomenon in lung transplant candidates, with more than half of the sample scoring at or above the 84th percentile on the social desirability measure. Further, self-reports of perceived stress are moderately and inversely associated with social desirability (r=–.55,p .01). Social desirability was unrelated to interviewer-ratings of transplant candidates acceptability (r=.13,p .56). Future research might include larger samples of subjects, other organ transplant candidates, and more detailed assessments of symptom distress.     

Stress,coping resources,and injury risk

Over the last two and a half decades, researchers have tried to determine if psychological variables predispose or buffer athletes from injury. They have found that sport participants who experience many recent stressors, and who do not have the resources and skills to cope with the stress, seem most at risk for injury. This article reviews that research as well as efforts to identify mechanisms that might explain why the stress-injury relationship occurs and interventions that will hopefully reduce the injury risk. Because the multicomponent stress-injury model of Andersen and Williams (1988) helped provide the impetus and theoretical base for much of that research, it serves as the foundation for organizing and summarizing the findings. Although the research has focused largely on sport injuries, the findings have relevance for understanding and potentially preventing many accidents and injuries that occur outside the realm of sport participation.     

A biopsychosocial therapeutic approach in a private outpatient clinic in Portugal

Patients with chronic stress and ambiguous symptoms are likely to be more frequent in primary care. Somatizers represent 75.8% of the patients in this study and executives 56% of the sample. Job stressors were present in 78.3% of executive men. This scenario suggests that the primary care physician has to be academically better prepared to fully understand and deal with stress problems in daily clinical practice. The physician must have skills to deal with stress at a curative and preventive level, extending those skills to the workplace.     

Childhood stress: Perceptions of children and professionals

An assessment instrument was developed to measure children's perceptions of stressors in their lives, as well as their experiences and emotional reactions to these stressors. Two approaches from the adult literature, major life events and daily hassles, were compared for children. In addition, a comparison between children's and professionals' ratings of the severity of various stressors was made, as well as an examination of the relationship of experience and self-reported reaction to children's ratings. Results indicate that children's ratings of the severity of stressors do differ from adults', particularly when children have experienced the stressor. Further investigation in the study of childhood stress incorporating children's perceptions is proposed.     

Effects of stress and retesting on role play tests of social skill

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of stress in performance on role play tests of social skill. Chronic psychiatric patients were tested in a formal videotape studio or in an informal consulting room setting. Motoric and physiological measures were secured. In addition, one-half of the subjects were retested one week later. In contrast to previous studies, results indicated that the assessment was not stressful. The two groups were not different on any measure, and the mean heart rates ranged from only 80 to 84 b.p.m. The effects of retesting were difficult to interpret. There were reductions in motoric indices of anxiety (speech disruptions) but not on physiological indices. Overall, testretest reliability was quite high. The results raise several questions which affect interpretation of many social skills studies in the literature.     

Are Individuals Always Aware of Their Trauma-Related Intrusive Thoughts? A Study of Meta-Awareness

Individuals are not always aware of their mental content. We tested whether lack of awareness occurs in those who have experienced trauma, with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We also examined the role of proposed cognitive mechanisms (working memory and inhibition) in explaining unnoticed intrusions. Individuals with PTSD (n = 44), and varying levels of symptoms (high posttraumatic stress [PTS]: n = 24; low PTS: n = 37) reported on intrusive thoughts throughout a reading task. Intermittently, participants responded to probes about whether their thoughts were trauma related. Participants were “caught” engaging in unreported trauma-related thoughts (unnoticed intrusions) for between 24 and 27% of the probes in the PTSD and high PTS groups, compared with 15% of occasions in the low PTS group. For trauma-related intrusions only, participants lacked meta-awareness for almost 40% of probes in the PTSD group, which was significantly less than that observed in the other groups (～60%). Contrary to predictions, working memory and response inhibition did not predict unnoticed intrusions. The results suggest that individuals who have experienced significant trauma can lack awareness about the frequency of their trauma-related thoughts. Further research is warranted to identify the mechanisms underpinning the occurrence of unnoticed intrusions.     

Interactive effects of social network centrality and social identification on stress

The present study aimed to integrate the social identity approach to health and well-being with social network analysis. Previous research on the effects of social network centrality on stress has yielded mixed results. Building on the social identity approach, we argued that these mixed results can be explained, in part, by taking into account the degree to which individuals identify with the social network. We hence hypothesized that the effects of social network centrality on stress are moderated by social identification. Using a full roster method, we assessed the social network of first-year psychology students right after the start of their study programme and three months later. The effects of network centrality (betweenness, closeness, eigenvector centrality) and social identification on stress were examined using structural equation models. As predicted, our results revealed a significant interaction between network centrality and social identification on stress: For weakly or moderately identified students, network centrality was positively related to stress. By contrast, for strongly identified students, network centrality was unrelated to stress. In conclusion, our results point to the perils of being well-connected yet not feeling like one belongs to a group.     

Trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress symptoms among Syrian refugee youth in Jordan: Social support and gender as moderators

This study assessed relations between exposure to trauma and post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, and whether perceived social support from family and friends and gender moderated these associations. Syrian refugee youth (N = 418, 55.0% female) attending public schools in Jordan participated. Boys reported more age-adjusted PTS symptoms than girls. Analyses revealed that family support and gender moderated the association of trauma on PTS symptoms. For males, the benefits of family support were most evident under conditions of high traumatic stress exposure, while for females, benefits of family support were evident when no loss or injury to family members had been reported. Support from friends was not helpful for either gender. School- or family-based interventions designed to treat PTS symptoms need to consider the different needs of boys and girls, particularly within the Syrian Muslim cultural context.