The mediating role of optimism in the relations between sense of coherence,subjective and psychological well-being among late adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine whether optimism is a mediator between sense of coherence, subjective well-being and psychological well-being among late adolescents. Two hundred and eleven participants completed the Sense of Coherence Scale, the Life Orientation Test-Revised, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Psychological Well-Being Scale. Results of path analysis revealed both direct and indirect effects of sense of coherence on subjective and psychological well-being measures, suggesting that optimism served as a partial mediator. The mediating role of optimism may be more fully understood within the framework of the self-concordance model. Consistent with the model, individuals who have formed meaningful goals tend to experience more positive affective states, which in turn enhances well-being. The findings also suggest that sense of coherence should not be interpreted as an autonomous resource contributing to a favorable development of late adolescents’ well-being, but as a factor that works in connection with dispositional optimism.     

Expressions of vernacular psychoanalysis

The present paper examines the clinical integration of theory and experience from the perspective of clinicians’ subjective shaping of inquiry. The author suggests that the historical, conceptual development of clinical psychoanalysis parallels the progressive articulations of consensual understanding within the clinical hour. He suggests that the clinician's utilization of vernacular elements, derivative of direct experience as well as of reference to the wider range of psychoanalytic thinking, addresses gaps and disconnections within the abstract understanding of the clinical psychoanalytic process. Providing examples from psychoanalytic history, he concludes with a contemporary example of psychoanalytic papers, reflecting vernacular elements that are of use to practicing clinicians.     

International Doctoral Students in Counselor Education: Coping Strategies in Supervision Training

This study explores 8 international doctoral students' perceptions of coping strategies used in supervision training in counselor education programs. Using human agency as a conceptual framework, the authors found 3 categories: (a) personal and professional self‐directed strategies as personal agency, (b) support and care from mentors as proxy agency, and (c) networking among international doctoral students and/or graduates as collective agency. Implications for counselor educators are discussed. Este estudio explora las percepciones de 8 estudiantes internacionales de doctorado sobre las estrategias de afrontamiento usadas en la capacitación de supervisión en programas de educación para consejeros. Usando la agencia humana como marco conceptual, se hallaron 3 categorías: (a) estrategias autodirigidas personales y profesionales como agencia personal, (b) apoyo y cuidados recibidos de mentores como agencia delegada y (c) creación de redes de contactos entre estudiantes internacionales de doctorado y/o doctores como agencia colectiva. Se discuten las implicaciones para educadores de consejeros.     

Ethics in Supervision: Consideration of the Supervisory Alliance and Countertransference Management of Psychology Doctoral Students

Clinical supervision provides the foundation for cultivating ethical practice and professionalism for mental health trainees. Exploration and management of a supervisee’s personal reactivity or countertransference (CT) is a critical component of supervision and has clear ethical implications for clinical management and the development of clinical competence. This article discusses supervision practice and presents the results of a study that investigated the influence of supervisor–supervisee relationship on clinical and counseling doctoral students’ CT disclosures. Respondents completed the Working Alliance Inventory–Supervisee form and the Personal Reaction Disclosure Questionnaire, which assessed respondents’ comfort and likelihood of reporting CT reactions to hypothetical clinical interactions. Results of this analogue study demonstrated positive associations between supervisory alliance and reported comfort and likelihood of CT disclosures, highlighting the importance of the alliance and drawing attention to supervisors their responsibility to particularly attend to the bond dimension of the relationship.     

The “Good” Psychologist, “Good” Torture,and “Good” Reputation—Response to O’Donohue,Snipes, Dalto,Soto, Maragakis,and Im (2014) “The Ethics of Enhanced Interrogations and Torture”

O’Donohue et al. (2014) sought to derive, from classical ethical theories, the ethical obligation of psychologists to assist “enhanced interrogations and torture” (EIT) in national defense scenarios under strict EIT criteria. They asked the American Psychological Association to adopt an ethics code obligating psychologists to assist such EIT and to uphold the reputation of EIT psychologists. We contest the authors’ ethical analyses as supports for psychologists’ forays into torture interrogation when (if ever) the EIT criteria obtain. We also contend that the authors’ application of these ethical analyses violates the Geneva Conventions, contravenes military doctrine and operations, and undermines psychology as a profession. We conclude that “good” public reputation is not owed to, or expected by, “good” intelligence professionals, and collaborating operational psychologists must share their providence.     

Paranoia predicts out-group prejudice: preliminary experimental data

This article examines the relationships between exposure to terrorism news and state social paranoia, death anxiety and Islamophobia. In two experiments we show that, contrary to previous research in this area, the terrorism news condition did not significantly increase state social paranoia, death anxiety and prejudice towards Muslims, but that paranoid thinking was the sole predictor of Islamophobia. Trait paranoia is associated with both poor well-being and with negative perceptions of Muslim competitive players – a form of inter-relational prejudice. Results indicated that the frequency of paranoid thoughts mediates the relationship between death anxiety and anti-Muslim prejudice and trait paranoia is the main predictor of the negative perceptions of a Muslim competing player. This study elucidates new pathways to understanding terror management theory, by including paranoia as a type of thinking that predisposes individuals to be suspicious of salient out-groups.     

Hemodynamic responses to active and passive coping tasks and the prediction of future blood pressure in Thai participants: A preliminary prospective cohort study

Cardiovascular responses to mental stress tests have been related to future blood pressure (BP) levels. However, most studies have been completed in North America and Europe; only one study has been conducted in Asia. Therefore, the study explored whether cardiovascular responses to mental stress predict future resting BP in Thailand. Hemodynamic measures were obtained from 101 healthy adults before, during and after mental arithmetic, a speech task, and a cold pressor task. A follow‐up assessment of resting BP was undertaken 1 year later. Results showed that Thais responded to standardized mental stress tasks with large and significant cardiovascular reactivity. Regression analyses indicated that, after adjustment for baseline BP and traditional risk factors, heightened systolic blood pressure (SBP) responses to mental arithmetic were associated with increased future SBP (ΔR² = .045). These findings suggest that BP reactivity predicts future BP and may play a role in the development of hypertension. In addition, Thais displayed large cardiovascular responses to standardized mental stress tasks, of a similar magnitude to previous studies of North Americans and Europeans.     

Doctors,Patients, and Nudging in the Clinical Context—Four Views on Nudging and Informed Consent

In an analysis of recent work on nudging we distinguish three positions on the relationship between nudging founded in libertarian paternalism and the protection of personal autonomy through informed consent. We argue that all three positions fail to provide adequate protection of personal autonomy in the clinical context. Acknowledging that nudging may be beneficial, we suggest a fourth position according to which nudging and informed consent are valuable in different domains of interaction.