The Role of Temperament in the Etiology of Child Psychopathology

A substantial proportion of children and adolescents come to suffer from psychological disorders. This article focuses on the temperament factors that are involved in the pathogenesis of child psychopathology. It is argued that besides the reactive temperament factor of emotionality/neuroticism, the regulative process of effortful control also plays an important role in the etiology and maintenance of internalizing and externalizing problems in youths. More specifically, vulnerability to child psychopathology is determined by a temperament that is characterized by high levels of emotionality/neuroticism and low levels of effortful control. Models are hypothesized in which reactive and regulative temperament factors either have interactive or additive effects on the development of psychological disorders in children, and conceptualized in terms of a developmental psychopathology perspective. Directions for future research and clinical implications of this temperamental view on psychopathology are discussed.     

基于QQ空间的社交网站使用对青少年抑郁的影响:上行社会比较和自尊的序列中介作用

为探讨社交网站(QQ空间)使用对青少年抑郁的影响及其作用机制,在社会比较和抑郁易感性模型的视角下,采用社交网站使用强度问卷、上行社会比较问卷、自尊量表和抑郁量表,对964名中学生进行调查。结果表明:(1)在控制了性别、年龄以及社交网站使用年限后,社交网站使用对抑郁和社交网站中的上行社会比较都有显著的正向预测作用;(2)社交网站使用能通过社交网站中的上行社会比较和自尊的中介作用对抑郁产生影响,且该中介作用包含了两条路径——上行社会比较的单独中介作用以及上行社会比较-自尊的链式中介作用。本研究揭示了社交网站使用与抑郁的关系及其作用机制,深化了社交网站使用对个体影响的研究。     

Interpersonal Psychotherapy—Adolescent Skills Training With Youth From Asian American and Immigrant Families: Cultural Considerations and Intervention Process

Although research has identified effective evidence-based depression prevention interventions for diverse youth, little is known about how the intervention process unfolds with immigrant family youth. This study utilized a qualitative approach to explore cultural and clinical differences in the implementation of Interpersonal Psychotherapy–Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST) in two schools, one serving youth from primarily immigrant, Asian American families and the second, youth from mostly nonimmigrant, non-Hispanic White families. A total of 131 IPT–AST sessions were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded for presence and patterns of cultural and clinical constructs. Results revealed that sessions with immigrant family youth were more likely to contain discussions of interpersonal problems characterized by estrangement, goals of spending time together with important others, mentions of emotion suppression and academic achievement expectations, conversations about acculturation, differences in value orientation, and discomfort with implementing new intervention skills. Dialogue from interventionist and youth exchanges is presented to illustrate how these themes emerged and were addressed by interventionists in a culturally responsive manner. The study highlights how IPT–AST with immigrant family and Asian American youth may unfold differently compared to youth from nonimmigrant families. Implications of findings for providers are discussed.     

Factorial validation and measurement invariance of the French version of the multidimensional competitive orientation inventory (FVMCOI) in the sport field

IntroductionLittle is known about the importance of the adaptive, maladaptive and neutral facets of competitive orientations among French athletes.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to test the factorial validation and measurement invariance of the French version of the multidimensional competitive orientation inventory (FVMCOI) from the original version (MCOI, Orosz et al., 2018), which included 12 items and four factors (i.e., hypercompetitive orientation, self-developmental competitive orientation, anxiety-driven competition avoidance, and lack of interest toward competition).MethodA series of three complementary studies was carried out with a total sample of 891 competitors.ResultsFollowing cross-cultural validation methods a preliminary version of the FVMCOI was constructed and the clarity of its items was established (study 1). Then, exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) confirmed that the four-factor model for the FVMCOI was factorially valid, and consistent with the model of the original version. As such, the multiple-group invariance tests showed that the FVMCOI was partially invariant across both age and gender and fully invariant across type of sport, level of competition and over time (study 2). Finally, the concurrent validity of the FVMCOI was demonstrated through its expected relationships with achievement goals, competitive aggressiveness and anger in sport (study 3).ConclusionThe establishment of the FVMCOI extends the research in sport psychology by allowing an extensive psychometric study of the MCOI in the sport domain and providing deeper insights into the healthy, unhealthy, and neutral nature of competitive orientation in this context. The FVMCOI's potential practical applications in sport context, with some limitations and perspectives of this study, are also discussed.     

Mother-Adolescent Relationship Quality and Autonomy as Predictors of Psychosocial Adjustment Among African American Adolescents

This study investigated the role of mother-adolescent relationship quality and autonomy in the psychosocial outcomes in a sample of African American adolescents drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The results indicated that positive mother-adolescent relationship quality and greater autonomy were associated with higher self-esteem, fewer depressive symptoms, and less delinquent behavior. Moreover, adolescents who were older, female, or from households with less income reported more depressive symptoms. In addition, adolescents who were younger or female reported fewer delinquent behaviors. Being male was associated with higher self-esteem. Adolescents’ age, family income, and mother-adolescent relationship quality did not moderate relations between autonomy and the outcome variables.     

Growing Up Can Be Painful: A Case Report of the Bat Mitzvah and Chronic Pain

Among a subgroup of adolescents with chronic pain syndromes, anxiety about “growing up” appears common and may be exacerbated by developmental transitions. Using the bat mitzvah ceremony as one example of a developmental rite of passage, we present two cases in which adolescent girls facing this transition developed new chronic musculoskeletal pain syndromes or experienced recurrences of pain symptoms. In both cases, the transition to adulthood, symbolized by the bat mitzvah, was associated with anxiety in adolescents who were unusually focused on the negative aspects of becoming independent adults. The aims of this case report are (1) to highlight the role of developmental transitions as a possible factor in the biopsychosocial model of pediatric pain; (2) to illustrate how to address emotional and cognitive responses to these transitions in the context of cognitive-behavioral treatment for pain; and (3) to suggest systematic approaches to investigating this clinically-observed phenomenon in future research.     

Gender Role Orientation and Anxiety Symptoms Among African American Adolescents

The present study evaluated gender role theory as an explanation for the observed gender differences in anxiety symptoms among adolescents. Specifically, the relation between gender, gender role orientation (i.e., masculinity and femininity), self-esteem, and anxiety symptoms was examined in a community sample of 114 African Americans aged 14 to 19 (mean age 15.77; 57 girls). Results revealed that masculinity was negatively associated with anxiety symptoms whereas femininity was positively associated with anxiety symptoms. Gender role orientation accounted for unique variance in anxiety scores above biological gender and self-esteem, and self-esteem moderated the relation between femininity (but not masculinity) and overall anxiety symptoms. Consistent with research on children and Caucasians, findings supported gender role theory as a partial explanation for the observed gender disparity in anxiety symptoms among African American adolescents.     

DSM-defined anxiety disorders symptoms in South African youths: Their assessment and relationship with perceived parental rearing behaviors

This study investigated DSM-defined anxiety symptoms in South African youths. Children and adolescents (N = 701) from various cultural groups completed the SCARED and a questionnaire measuring perceived parental rearing behaviors. Results indicated that the psychometric properties of the SCARED were satisfactory in the total sample of South African youths, and acceptable in colored and black children and adolescents. Further, colored and black youths displayed higher SCARED scores than white youths, and there were also differences in the perceived parental rearing behaviors of the cultural groups. White youths generally rated their parents' rearing behaviors as less anxious, overprotective, and rejective, but more emotionally warm than colored and black youths. Finally, positive correlations were found between anxious rearing, overprotection, and rejection and anxiety symptoms. The clinical and research implications of these findings are briefly discussed.     

The effect of psychologists’ disclosure of personal religious background on prospective clients

The present study explored the relation of religious coping and spirituality to adjustment and psychological distress in urban early adolescents. The participants were 76 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students attending Catholic day schools in the New York City area. They completed a set of self-report measures assessing religious coping, daily spiritual experiences, positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, and psychological distress. Correlational and regression analyses found positive religious coping and daily spiritual experiences to be associated with positive affect and life satisfaction, while negative religious coping was associated with negative affect and psychological distress. The relations generally were more robust among males, and their overall robustness decreased with age. Implications of the findings for research and clinical practice are offered to address the gap (compared to adults) in the literature on youth religious coping.     

The Vatican and Europe: Political Theology and Ecclesiology in Papal Statements from Pius XII to Benedict XVI

The article examines the origins and evolution of the Vatican's political theology and ecclesiology for Europe from Pius XII (especially after the Second World War) and including the pontificates of John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. It seeks to examine the continuities of the ‘Idea of Europe’ in papal thought against a background of changing political context – the end of the Second World War, the Cold War, the fall of the communist state system, the emergence of a united but diverse Europe after 1989. The political structures of the continent now include within its geographic sweep Western and Eastern Christian churches which, divided by tradition and modern history, find their relationship a key marker in the contemporary religious identity of Europe. This reality is a significant framework for Vatican thinking on Europe especially for John Paul II and Benedict XVI.