Spitting,kicking and stripping: technical difficulties encountered in the treatment of deprived children

The technical difficulties posed for the child psychotherapist working with children who have themselves experienced violence and abuse are addressed. A distinction is drawn between violence in the service of communicating about such experiences and violence that arises from more perverse aspects of the patient. The therapist's need to pay close attention to his counter-transference is emphasized. From an example of a single session we see the therapist's struggle to receive the communicative aspects of extreme acting-out behaviour at the same time as creating a safe setting in which thinking can take place.     

Emotional and behavioural features of preschool children born by Caesarean deliveries at maternal request

Background: Caesarean deliveries at maternal request (CDMRs) are becoming increasingly common. There is still lack of evidence on potential postponed effect(s) of CDMRs on children's emotional and behavioural features, although such a possibility has been repeatedly postulated. This study aimed at evaluation of the emotional and behavioural characteristics in preschool children born from CDMRs. Methods: The study involved apparently healthy 5-year-old children from the community setting (40 born from CDMRs and 40 age and sex matched vaginally born controls). Inclusion criteria were: first-born singletons, delivery at term, the only children in families, married parents, and appropriate household conditions, absence of any inborn abnormalities, disabilities, chronic and progressive diseases. Children attended preschool day-care centres at the time of the study. The mothers were also presented with the Child Behaviour Checklist for Ages 1.5–5 years (CBCL1.5/5) aimed at assessing children's emotional and behavioural characteristics. Results: Children born from CDMRs presented with significantly higher values (more problems) on the following empirically based scales: anxiety/depression, withdrawal and sleep problems. They had statistically significantly higher values on so-called internalizing problems, both in girls and in boys. Associations remained significant after adjustment for major potential confounders. Conclusion: Children born from CDMRs may face more emotional disturbances and sleep problems at preschool age.     

A Dual Process Model of Attitudes towards Immigration: Person × Residential Area Effects in a National Sample

This research took a person × situation approach to predicting prejudice by looking at how social worldviews interact with real‐world environmental factors to predict how people respond to immigrants within their local area. Taking a Dual Process Motivational approach, we hypothesized that a higher proportion of immigrants in the local community would be associated with negative attitudes toward immigration for respondents high in dangerous world beliefs. Conversely, we hypothesized that living in a highly affluent (as opposed to socioeconomically deprived) community would be associated with negative attitudes toward immigration for respondents high in competitive world beliefs. Both hypotheses were supported using regional information derived from national census data combined with representative survey data from a large telephone sample conducted in New Zealand (N = 6,489). These findings support the proposition that individual differences interact with specific features of the environment to predict people's levels of prejudice in distinct ways.     

An open trial of cognitive therapy for chronic insomnia

We describe the development of a cognitive therapy intervention for chronic insomnia. The therapy is based on a cognitive model which suggests that the processes that maintain insomnia include: (1) worry and rumination, (2) attentional bias and monitoring for sleep-related threat, (3) unhelpful beliefs about sleep, (4) misperception of sleep and daytime deficits and (5) the use of safety behaviors that maintain unhelpful beliefs. The aim of cognitive therapy for insomnia is to reverse all five maintaining processes during both the night and the day. In an open trial 19 patients meeting diagnostic criteria for primary insomnia were treated with cognitive therapy for insomnia. Assessments were completed pretreatment, posttreatment and at 3-, 6- and 12-month followup. The significant improvement in both nighttime and daytime impairment evident at the posttreatment assessment was retained up to the 12 month followup.