Battered women's coping strategies and psychological distress: differences by immigration status

People are rarely passive, and battered women are no exception. This study investigated the types of coping strategies women of Japanese descent (both Japan-born and U.S.-born) chose and their perceived effectiveness in dealing with their partners' violence. Japan-born respondents were significantly less likely to use active strategies and perceived them to be less effective than did U.S.-born respondents. For the Japan-born, the more effective they perceived active strategies, the higher their psychological distress, whereas the more effective they perceived passive strategies, the lower their psychological distress. In contrast, for the U.S.-born, the higher the perceived effectiveness of active strategies, the lower their psychological distress, and the perceived effectiveness of passive strategies had little effect on their psychological distress. The complex relationship between individuals' country of birth, the choice and perceived effectiveness of coping strategies, and psychological distress calls for increased attention to the role of culture in studies of coping and domestic violence.     

The Use of Multitrait–Multimethod Data for Detecting Nonlinear Relationships: The Case of Psychological Climate and Job Satisfaction

Previous monomethod research has found mixed support for nonlinear effects between certain job characteristics (e.g., job autonomy, job complexity) and outcome variables (e.g., job performance). We hypothesized that these weak nonlinear findings may be due to the prevalence of monomethod research that can lead to a lack of complete measurement and/or introduce common methods variance, either of which may mask the true shape of relationships. Using hierarchical regression analyses and a multitrait–multimethod (MTMM) research design, we found strikingly different results between monomethod and MTMM data when considering the relationships between three psychological climate variables and job satisfaction. While the monomethod results mirrored earlier inconclusive findings, the MTMM data indicated that nonlinear equations explained significantly more of the relationship between all three climate dimensions and job satisfaction. These results suggest that the use of MTMM data allows one to more effectively test for nonlinear effects. Furthermore, these nonlinear results suggest that the format of employee questionnaires should probably change from asking how much an employee has of certain constructs to asking does the employee want more or less of these constructs.     

Partner Violence, Social Support, and Distress Among Inner-City African American Women

This study examined the role of social support in the partner violence–psychological distress relation in a sample of African American women seeking medical care at a large, urban hospital (n = 138). Results from bivariate correlational analyses revealed that partner violence was related to lower perceived social support and greater psychological distress, and lower social support was related to more distress. Furthermore, findings based on path analysis indicated that low levels of social support helped account for battered women's increased distress. Findings point to the need for service providers to screen for partner violence in nontraditional sites, such as hospital emergency rooms, and to address the role of social support resources in preventive interventions with African American battered women.     

The Process of Family Reconstruction after DNA Testing for Huntington Disease

The needs of families to reconstruct their relationships in response to the DNA testing for Huntington disease of one or more of their asymptomatic members are presented. Data were collected from family interviews with 18 families, and from their responses on a post interview questionnaire. Findings are that families need to (a) address unfinished business associated with the decision for testing; (b) bring family members, peripheral in the decision for testing, into the loop; (c) reorganize patterns of communication and roles altered by the testing and heal ruptures in family membership; and (d) revise family stories about illness to provide a meaning for HD and explain the test results in a way that leaves them with a sense of mastery. Findings suggest that families should be more involved in the initial decision for testing of a member and that protocols should be established to provide help for their ongoing adjustment.     

“The Dead”

Gabriel Conroy, central to James Joyce's novella, The Dead, keys the reader's experience of the evening portrayed. A third-person narration allows for distance, but Gabriel's closely depicted thought processes and actions, and his insistent self-consciousness, shape the story. As such they invite psychoanalytic interpretation and reward it. Gabriel's shocking discovery and reaction to it can be seen to be informed by rendered psychodynamics and a credible internalized past. Joyce and Freud, actual contemporaries, can be seen as contemporaneous in imagination as well.     

The Therapeutic Factors Inventory: Development of a Scale

Although Yalom's (1995) framework of the therapeutic factors facilitating outcome in group has been accepted by group specialists, no empirically based instrument assesses all of these factors. The Therapeutic Factors Inventory (TFI), with 11 scales based on the therapeutic factors, has been designed to fill this gap. This article summarizes the development and preliminary reliability testing of the TFI. Each scale of the instrument demonstrated high internal consistency; however, one scale obtained unacceptably low test-retest reliability. Further validity testing is needed. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Predictive Genetic Testing for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Psychological Distress and Illness Representations 1 Year Following Disclosure

This prospective study evaluates emotional functioning and illness representations in 68 unaffected women (34 carriers/34 noncarriers) 1 year after predictive testing for BRCA1/2 mutations when offered within a multidisciplinary approach. Carriers had higher subjective risk perception of breast cancer than noncarriers. Carriers who did not have prophylactic oophorectomy had the highest risk perception of ovarian cancer. No differences were found between carriers and noncarriers regarding perceived seriousness and perceived control of breast and ovarian cancer. Mean levels of distress were within normal ranges. Only few women showed an overall pattern of clinically elevated distress. Cancer-specific distress and state-anxiety significantly decreased in noncarriers from pre- to posttest while general distress remained about the same. There were no significant changes in distress in the group of carriers except for ovarian cancer distress which significantly decreased from pre- to posttest. Our study did not reveal adverse effects of predictive testing when offered in the context of a multidisciplinary approach.     

Evaluating Genetic Counseling: Client Expectations,Psychological Adjustment and Satisfaction with Service

Periodic evaluations of genetic counseling services are useful for determining the effectiveness of counseling in meetings its psycho-educational aims, as well as identifying where improvements to the service may be made. This study aimed to evaluate the genetic counseling services provided by Genetic Services of Western Australia (GSWA) to determine the impact of counseling on client expectations, satisfaction with the service, and psychological adjustment, defined as wellbeing and perceived personal control (PPC). A total of 122 clients participated in a self-administered survey conducted pre- and post-counseling. Client expectations of the service as a means of providing information were met, and opportunities for counselors to meet client’s expectations of psychological support were identified. Furthermore, counseling was found to maintain and enhance psychological wellbeing of clients. The role of counseling in facilitating the development of PPC was a key contributor to a high sense of satisfaction in clients.     

Preadolescent Clues to Understanding Depression in Girls

Between the ages of 10 and 15, increases in depression among girls result in a rate that is twice as high as the rate of depression in boys. This sex difference remains throughout early and middle adulthood. Prior to early adolescence, there is essentially no sex difference in the rate of depression. The aim of the present review is to examine whether the preadolescent period is a time during which precursors to depression in girls can be identified. First, existing areas of research on explaining sex differences in depression, including cognitive and affiliative style and the socialization of emotion, are reviewed. Second, the hypothesis that for some girls, preadolescent precursors to depression take the form of excessive empathy, compliance and regulation of negative emotions is articulated. Third, ways of building on existing models by including the proposed preadolescent precursors are proposed. Finally, approaches to testing the hypotheses that individual differences in these domains during preadolescence may explain later individual differences in adolescent onset depression are explored.