Psychotherapy across languages: beliefs,attitudes and practices of monolingual and multilingual therapists with their multilingual patients

Aims: The present study investigates beliefs, attitudes and practices of 101 monolingual and multilingual therapists in their interactions with multilingual patients. Method: A mixed‐method approach was adopted using an online questionnaire with closed questions, and informed questions in interviews with one monolingual and two multilingual therapists. Results: A principal component analysis yielded a four‐factor solution accounting for 41% of the variance. The first dimension, which explained 17% of variance, reflects therapists' attunement towards their bilingual patients (attunement versus collusion). Further analysis showed that the 18 monolingual therapists differed significantly from their 83 bi‐ or multilingual peers on this dimension. The follow‐up interviews confirmed this result. Discussion: Recommendations based on these findings are made for psychotherapy training and supervision.     

Investigating Maternal Touch and Infants' Self‐Regulatory Behaviours during a Modified Face‐to‐Face Still‐Face with Touch Procedure

Maternal touch and infants' self‐regulatory behaviours were examined during a modified Still‐Face with Touch (SF + T) procedure. Mothers and their 5½‐month‐old infants participated in one period of Normal interaction followed by three SF + T periods. Maternal functions of touch, and infants' self‐regulatory behaviour, affect, and attention were evaluated. Contrary to a typical SF procedure, the amount of smiling remained high while fretting remained low. High levels of maternal touching and variations in the functions of maternal touch were observed across periods. Playful touch remained high while there was an increase in nurturing touch and a decrease in attention‐getting touch from the Normal to all SF + T periods. Similar amounts of self‐regulatory behaviours were observed across periods with the exception of a decrease in bidirectional exchanges during the SF + T periods. Finally, across periods, maternal touch and infants' self‐regulatory behaviours were found to be temporally organized with infants' affect and attention. Examining how mothers use touch when other forms of communication are absent increased our understanding of the role of touch in infants' emotion regulation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

公益组织课外辅导对流动儿童领悟社会支持的影响

通过对选自北京市打工子弟小学的159名流动儿童进行问卷调查,探讨公益组织的社会干预对流动儿童领悟社会支持能力及情绪情感的影响。结果表明:(1)在公益组织实施课外团体辅导后,干预组流动儿童领悟社会支持得分与积极情感得分均显著高于对照组流动儿童。(2)在消极情感得分上,干预组与对照组不存在显著差异。(3)领悟社会支持与积极情感存在显著正相关,与消极情感存在负相关。这表明,通过公益组织实施课外辅导方式进行的社会干预能够有效提高流动儿童的领悟社会支持水平。     

Positive psychotherapy for smoking cessation: Treatment development,feasibility, and preliminary results

Low positive and high negative affect (NA) predict low rates of smoking abstinence among smokers making a quit attempt. Positive psychotherapy can both increase positive affect (PA) and decrease NA and, therefore, may be a useful adjunct to behavioral smoking counseling. The purpose of the present study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a positive psychotherapy for smoking cessation (PPT-S) intervention that integrates standard smoking cessation counseling with nicotine patch and a package of positive psychology interventions. We delivered PPT-S to 19 smokers who were low in PA at baseline. Rates of session attendance and satisfaction with treatment were high, and most participants reported using and benefiting from the positive psychology interventions. Almost one-third of the participants (31.6%) sustained smoking abstinence for six months after their quit date. Future studies to assess the relative efficacy of PPT-S compared to standard smoking cessation treatment are warranted.     

Trait anxiety reduces affective fading for both positive and negative autobiographical memories

The affect associated with negative events fades faster than the affect associated with positive events (the Fading Affect Bias; the FAB). The research that we report examined the relation between trait anxiety and the FAB. Study 1 assessed anxiety using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale; Studies 2 and 3 used the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Studies 1 and 2 used retrospective procedures to probe positive event memories and negative event memories while Study 3 used a diary procedure. The results of all 3 studies showed that increased anxiety was associated with both a lowered FAB and lower overall affect fading for both positive events and negative events. These results suggest that for people free of trait anxiety, the FAB reflects the operation of a healthy coping mechanism in autobiographical memory that is disrupted by trait anxiety.     

The ADH gene cluster SNP rs1789891 and temperamental dimensions in patients with alcohol dependence and affective disorders

This study had three objectives: (1) to assess the relationship between the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1789891 in the alcohol dehydrogenase gene cluster and alcohol dependence and affective disorders; (2) to assess the differences in the Regulative Theory of Temperament (RTT) traits between an alcohol dependent group, an affective disorders group, and a healthy group; and (3) to assess the relationship between rs1789891 and temperament traits in a healthy group, taking into account the interaction of genotype and sex. The SNP rs1789891 was genotyped in a group of 194 alcohol dependent men, aged 21 to 71 years; 137 patients with affective disorders, including 51 males and 86 females, aged 19 to 85 years; and a group of 207 healthy individuals, including 89 males and 118 females, aged 18 to 71 years. Temperament traits (briskness, perseveration, sensory sensitivity, emotional reactivity, endurance, and activity) were assessed in all groups using the Formal Characteristics of Behaviour‐Temperament Inventory. The comparative analysis of genotypic frequencies showed no significant differences between patients with alcoholism or affective disorders and those in the control group. Alcohol dependent men and the affective disorder group were characterised by higher levels of emotional reactivity (p‐value 1.4e‐5 and 9.84e‐7, respectively) and lower levels of briskness, sensory sensitivity, endurance, and activity (p‐value from 3.76e‐8 to 0.012) when compared to the healthy group. The rs1789891 polymorphism was associated with briskness (p = 0.02), sensory sensitivity (p = 0.036), and activity (p = 0.049). None of the results were statistically significant after Bonferroni correction.     

Exploring career decision-making styles across three European countries

Career decisions are amongst the most important we make. Unsurprisingly, much published research exists on this particular aspect of career behaviour. However, the overwhelming majority of studies have been carried out on young people making initial career decisions. This paper extends our understanding by examining how mid-career adults in three European countries (Denmark, France and Italy) actually make career decisions. Characteristic patterns of behaviour recur when individuals approach points of transition or of crisis; each of these transitioning styles is illustrated by an iconic case. Emergent findings support the growing body of evidence that challenges the dominant policy and practice orthodoxy, which places rationality at the centre of the process, by recognising the importance of emotion and context.