Complex Trauma Symptoms in Former Ugandan Child Soldiers

Children exposed to repeated interpersonal trauma often develop symptoms that exceed those documented in criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are better described with the emerging concept of developmental trauma disorder (DTD). This study examines complex trauma symptoms in a sample of 330 former Ugandan child soldiers (age 11–17 years, 49% female). Prevalence rates were 33.0% for PTSD, 36.4% for depression, and 78.2% for DTD. Whereas PTSD symptoms were significantly related to traumatic war experiences and depression, DTD symptoms were significantly associated with experiences of domestic violence, community violence, social support, and depression. Assessment tools and tailored interventions for DTD are urgently needed.     

Where the Whole Thing Fell Apart

Abstract

This article examines the intersection of societal prejudice and psychological trauma. In an instrumental case study created through a layered narrative analysis, the author highlights the potentially traumatic effects of racism and discrimination, while also exploring the phenomenon of resilience in a complex ecological system. The findings suggest that the enduring and continual strain of racial prejudice may cause significant psychological distress, particularly when those experiences reinforce early negative experiences within a family; and that assessments of resilience need to consider the contribution of ecological context to psychological outcomes as well as to an individual's ability to mobilize personal resources when such a context finally shifts.     

A Longitudinal Analysis of Loneliness Among Older People in Great Britain

Longitudinal studies of loneliness among older people are comparatively rare. At 8 years after the initial survey in 1999–2000, we followed up on the 999 people aged 65+ years who were living in the community in the United Kingdom. We found that 583 participants were still alive, and 287 (58%) participated in the follow-up survey. The overall prevalence of loneliness at both time points was very similar, with 9% reporting severe loneliness; 30% reporting that they were sometimes lonely, and 61% reporting that they were never lonely. We developed a 12-category typology to describe changes in loneliness across the follow-up period and report that 60% of participants had a stable loneliness rating, with 40–50% rating themselves as never lonely, and 20–25% rating themselves as persistently lonely; 25% demonstrated decreased loneliness, and approximately 15% demonstrated worse loneliness. Changes in loneliness were linked with changes in marital status, living arrangements, social networks, and physical health. Importantly improvements in physical health and improved social relationships were linked to reduced levels of loneliness. This result suggests that strategies to combat loneliness are not confined to the arena of social interventions such as befriending services, which aim to build and support social embeddedness, but may also result from the treatment of chronic and long-term health conditions.     

Personality Change in Middle Adulthood: With Focus on Differential Susceptibility

Abstract

Little attention has been paid to middle adulthood in research on personality stability and change. In addition, previous research on individual differences in personality change has not fully explained its variability. This study focused on the differential susceptibility model, which suggests that individual susceptibility interacts with environmental factors and produces variability in outcomes, and investigated individual differences in personality change with a middle adult sample. A total of 1051 Japanese middle adults (M?=?41.61?years; SD = 5.31; range 30–50?years; 534 females) participated in this two-wave short-term longitudinal study. Latent change score model analyses revealed substantial mean-level declines in Agreeableness and Honesty–Humility. Moreover, the results showed that the influences of some life events on personality change are moderated for better and for worse by individual susceptibility to one’s environment. These findings suggest that the trends of personality development may differ between Western and non-Western countries and that differential susceptibility model may play an important role in deriving individual differences in personality stability and change.     

The Effects of Initial Habit Strength Differences Upon Performance in a Coaction Situation

The present investigation examined the effects of initial habit strength differences upon performance in a coaction situation. During a training session, a habit-strength hierarchy was developed in each of three groups through the establishment of a differential response expectancy for each of four alternative responses. In a subsequent test session, both performance and consistency of performance were affected by the pretraining on the correct habit. However, there was no statistical support for the hypothesis that coaction would interact with the habit-strength condition resulting in an improvement in the coaction/habit-correct group and a decrement in the coaction/habit-incorrect group. Similarly, no differences were found between the coaction and alone conditions.     

Adolescent predictors and associates of psychosocial functioning in young men and women: 11 year follow‐up findings from the Nord‐Trøndelag Health Study

The aim of this paper was to investigate whether psychosocial functioning in adulthood (e.g., friends support, cohabitation, community connectedness and work satisfaction) could be predicted by mental health, subjective well‐being, social relations and behavior problems in adolescence, and whether gender was a moderator in these associations. Data were obtained from a major population‐based Norwegian study, the Nord‐Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), in which 517 men and 819 women completed an extensive self‐report questionnaires at baseline (mean age 14.4 years) and at follow‐up (mean age 26.9 years). Community connectedness as well as work satisfaction were predicted by subjective well‐being. Cohabitation was predicted by male gender and frequency of meeting friends in adolescence, and friends support was predicted by frequency of meeting friends. Gender had a minor effect as a moderator. Frequency of meeting friends and subjective well‐being seemed to be the strongest adolescent predictors of psychosocial functioning in young adulthood. These findings may have implications both for prevention and intervention in adolescence, as well as for future research.     

A Microanalytic Case Study of the Utilization of ‘Solution-Focused Problem Talk’ in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Abstract

Solution-focused therapy (SFBT) is a popular therapeutic approach among family therapists. However, disputes about SFBT still arise, especially on problems. This study examines the function of problem talk in SFBT by using a microanalytic case study method. As a result, three categories were found: Eliciting, clarifying, and acknowledging problems. The problem talks initiated by the SF therapist showed a pattern associated with the solution talk and served as preliminary steps to be connected to the following solution talks. The results indicate that solution building is constructed not only through solution talk, but also through ‘solution-focused problem talk.’     

Using Interdependent Group Contingencies with Randomly Selected Criteria and Paired Reading to Enhance Class-Wide Reading Performance

ABSTRACT

An intact second-grade class of 13 African-American students had completed few chapter-book reading assignments. A consultant worked with their teacher to develop an intervention that consisted of paired readings and two interdependent group contingencies. Following the implementation of the program, all students began reading chapter-books and the number of chapter-book quizzes passed increased from an average of less than 0.70 per week during baseline to 7.5 per week during the intervention phase. Discussion focuses on using interdependent group contingencies when targeting academic performance.     

Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy for Obsessive–Compulsive Checking: Preliminary Findings

Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy (DIRT) is a cognitive treatment package developed in the mid-1990s to treat obsessive–compulsive (OC) washing. DIRT is solely directed at decreasing threat expectancies and does not involve direct or indirect exposure. The effectiveness of the DIRT package for OC washers has been examined, and to date a number of publications, including two randomised controlled trials, support its efficacy. Recently, the DIRT package was modified to treat people with the OC checking subtype. In the current study, three adult OC checkers received DIRT in 12 to 14 individual 1-hr sessions conducted by a clinical psychologist. At posttreatment, substantial and clinically significant reductions in scores on a range of standardized outcome measures of obsessive–compulsive disorder symptom severity were apparent for all three participants. Crucially, these improvements were maintained at 4-month follow-up. Although further research is clearly warranted, these preliminary findings suggest that DIRT for checkers may prove as effective as DIRT for OC washers.