Childhood abuse and depressive vulnerability in clients with gender dysphoria

Background: Childhood abuse in the early lives of gender variant people has been under‐reported, although higher psychiatric morbidity, particularly depression and suicidality, than in the general population is more widely recognised. There are increasing numbers of people seeking advice and treatment for gender dysphoria (GD) some of whose experiences of depression and childhood abuse may be additional treatment considerations. Aim: To illuminate the issues relating to childhood abuse, depression and GD via case examples underpinned by a summary review of the relevant literature, for their combined relevance to therapeutic practice and service provision. Methods: A review of relevant online literature was conducted and two case examples were developed subsequently to capture the core review themes from a practice perspective. Results: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Gender variant children and adolescents may experience abuse by peers and teachers, as well as parents and caregivers. Emotional abuse and neglect may have more adverse consequences than more active forms of abuse. Conclusions: This is an under‐researched area, and inconsistencies of design, definition, measurement and controls were evident in the literature. While no clear association between depressive vulnerability and childhood abuse could be found, prevalence of such abuse was high. A case is made for clients with GD to have the opportunity to explore the influence and meaning of their adverse childhood experiences on their social and psychological development, and for additional training and education for practitioners.     

Supervisor social skill and supervision outcome

Background: The practice of clinical supervision is considered an effective procedure to achieve a variety of professional outcomes for supervisees. Supervisory alliance mediates many of the learning outcomes thought important for effective supervision. Therefore, it is important to identity supervisor characteristics that relate to the capacity to develop a positive supervisory alliance and achieve supervision outcome. Aim: Supervisor interpersonal skill was investigated as a characteristic involved with both supervisee assessment of supervisory alliance and learning outcomes of supervision. Method: Forty supervisors completed assessments for interpersonal skill and provided 8 sessions of supervision to 50 supervisees. Supervisees completed assessments for supervisory alliance and supervision evaluation. Findings: Supervisor interpersonal skill predicted supervisee rated supervisory alliance and supervision outcome. Implications: Supervisor interpersonal skill is important for the capacity to develop a positive supervisory alliance and manage the learning environment of supervision.     

Analogue Mental Transformations in 3‐Year‐Olds: Introducing a New Mental Rotation Paradigm Suitable for Young Children

Until now, a successful application of the mental rotation paradigm was restricted to children 5 years or older. By contrast, recent findings suggest that even infants can perform mental rotation. Unlike the methods used in infant studies (looking time), our new research paradigm allows for the measurement and interpretation of reaction times. Kindergartners (aged 3–6 years) were presented with a stimulus configuration on a touchscreen and asked to bring a rotated stimulus into an upright position using the shortest path. Mean reaction time (RT) increased linearly with angular disparity. The ensuing linear trend was significant not only for the entire sample but also for the youngest age group analysed separately. To exclude the possibility that linearity was due to movement planning, 3‐year‐olds had to manually rotate a stimulus about the same trajectory without the need for a corresponding mental transformation in a second experiment. Here, no linear trend was observed. These results are interpreted as evidence for an analogue mental transformation in 3‐year‐olds, equal to the transformation processes in older children's and adults' mental rotation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Causes,Course, and Consequences of Anger Problems in Veterans Returning to Civilian Life

While anger is a common problem for veterans returning from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, veterans' understanding of the causes, course, and consequences of anger has not been explored. We conducted this qualitative study to learn veterans' perspectives about their anger problems. We identify and describe three distinct patterns of anger problems that emerged as a consequence of (a) loss of structure during reintegration to civilian life, (b) moral injury sustained through a wartime experience, and (c) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While anger problems tended to be short lived for those experiencing loss of structure, problems persisted for years for those with moral injury or PTSD. Anger following all three patterns negatively impacted veterans' experiences with reintegration. We discuss the implications of these findings.     

Family structure,maternal employment,and change in children's externalizing problem behaviour: Differences by age and self-regulation

This study used a latent difference score growth model to investigate how changes in family structure (biological father and stepfather residence) and maternal employment are associated with American children's externalizing problem behaviours (EPB) from ages 4–10 and whether these associations vary by children's level of self-regulation. For all 4-year-old children, living with a biological father at age 4 was associated with reductions in EPB at ages 4–6 and later years, with no variation by child self-regulation. Living with a stepfather at age 4 was associated with higher levels of EPB at age 4; however, for less-regulated children, stepfather residence at ages 4 and 8 was associated with reductions in EPB between ages 4–6 and 8–10, respectively. Greater employment hours were associated with increased EPB in the next 2 years for less-regulated children of all ages; however, except for the age 4–6 transition, there was a lagged association that reduced behaviour problems after 2 years and outweighed short-term increases.     

Influence of character strengths on mental health stigma

We examined traits of open-mindedness, kindness, hope, and social intelligence in the context of mental health stigma. Stigma – a process that objectifies and dehumanizes a person who has mental illness – diminishes people’s ability to control their behavior as coping with stigma requires self-regulation. Exploring mental health stigma through the lens of character strengths allows for understanding individual differences and kinds of characteristics that help decrease the ramifications associated with stigma of mental health. Several tasks explored the effects of character strengths on implicit and explicit mental health stigma: implicit association task, measures of willingness to interact with those with a mental health disorder, and a social distance task of self, friend, and person with a disorder. Character strengths of social intelligence and kindness were indicative of less stigma of mental health. More open-minded individuals tended to not hold individuals diagnosed with a mental health disorder personally responsible for acquiring that disorder.     

When the cat’s away,some mice will play: A basic trait account of dishonest behavior

In line with every-day observation, research has established substantial individual differences in ethical behavior, especially dishonesty and cheating. However, these individual differences have remained mostly unexplained, especially in terms of traits as specified in models of basic personality structure. Theoretically, a prime candidate to account for these differences is the Honesty–Humility factor proposed as the sixth basic personality dimension within the HEXACO Model of Personality. Despite clear theoretical links, corresponding behavioral evidence is scarce and limited due to methodological caveats. In a series of six behavioral experiments we thus bridge the gap between behavioral ethics and personality research – critically testing whether individual differences in dishonest behavior can be accounted for by basic traits in general, and Honesty–Humility in particular. We implement different cheating paradigms, tasks, incentive structures, samples, and sets of covariates to evaluate the robustness and generality of results. Overall, variance in dishonest behavior was indeed accounted for by Honesty–Humility which was the only consistent predictor of cheating across the various experimental setups and beyond relevant covariates including other personality factors. The results thus corroborate that individual differences in ethical behavior can be accommodated by comprehensive models of personality structure in general and the Honesty–Humility factor in particular.     

Deformation behaviour and 6H-LPSO structure formation at nanoindentation in lamellar high Nb containing TiAl alloy

Microstructure and deformation mechanisms at a nanoindentation in the lamellar colony of high Nb containing TiAl alloy have been studied using the focused ion beam and the transmission electron microscopy. Considerable deformation twins are observed around the nanoindentation, and a strain gradient is generated. A continuous change in the bending angle of the lamellar structure can be derived, and a strain-induced grain refinement process is observed as various active deformations split the γ grains into subgrains. In addition to all possible deformation mechanisms (ordinary dislocation, super-dislocation and deformation twining) activated due to the heavy plastic deformation, a 6-layer hexagonal (6H) long-period stacking ordered structure is identified for the first time near the contact zone and is thought to be closely related to the glide of partial dislocations.