Frequency and Impact of Interpersonal Trauma in Older Women

Interpersonal violence impacts the lives of many women in society. However, despite the proliferation of research in this area, there is limited information about the frequency and impact of interpersonal trauma experiences in late life. This study investigated the relationship between a history of interpersonal trauma and subsequent adjustment difficulties, including psychological distress and physical health, in women over the age of 60. Findings demonstrate that interpersonal trauma has a significant impact on later-life functioning. Additionally, the presence of multiple traumatization experiences was a critical factor in determining which individuals manifested long-term trauma symptoms.     

中学生同伴交往接受和拒绝的归因研究

本研究参考国外相关量表的设计,结合我国实际,编制了中学生人际归因风格问卷,考察了人际归因风格和人格特征两个维度对中学生在同辈群体中的社会测量地位的影响程度。结果表明,这两者共同影响中学生的社会测量地位,被拒绝学生对正性事件的归因与其他学生存在显著差异,对负性事件的归因不存在显著差异。这提示我们,可以通过改变被拒绝学生不适当的人际归因方式来改善其同伴关系。     

青少年学生疏离感及其发展的研究

本研究采用<青少年学生疏离感量表》对重庆市和兰州市的1502名青少年学生进行调查,结果表明:青少年学生在生活环境疏离感和压迫拘束感上的平均分相对较高;各学生群体在社会疏离感、人际疏离感和总体疏离感之间的差异,主要体现在年级和地区的交互作用上,而环境疏离感的差异主要体现在性别和片区的交互作用上。各群体疏离感的差异主要表现在年级和片区之间;青少年学生的疏离感大体呈现出三个阶段的发展趋势,即是:初中阶段发展比较平稳,没有大的起伏变化;高中和大学阶段都是从低到高,再从高到低的倒“V”字型发展变化趋势。     

Covert communication in laboratories, classrooms, and the truly real world

Hundreds of research studies have demonstrated that one person's expectations for the behavior of another person can actually affect that other person's behavior. These studies implicate the operation of processes of covert communication, communication that is subtle, largely nonverbal, and ordinarily unintended. The earliest studies of these processes showed that through their expectations, laboratory researchers unwittingly affected the responses of their research participants. Later studies showed that teachers' experimentally induced expectations about their pupils affected the pupils' intellectual performance. Most recently, studies of covert communication processes have extended to diverse contexts, such as the judicial and health care systems. For example, research indicates that judges' beliefs about the guilt of trial defendants can be unwittingly communicated to juries by the judges' nonverbal behavior during jury instruction. In addition, studies of covert communication in medical contexts show that physicians' effectiveness in persuading their patients to enter into treatment can be predicted from their tone of voice in talking to or about their patients. For example, one study showed that surgeons who used a bossy tone of voice when talking to their patients were more likely to be sued by their patients than were surgeons who used a more respectful tone. In sum, then, we have learned a great deal about the importance of subtle processes of nonverbal communication, but a great deal more is yet to be learned about these processes as they occur in the relatively sheltered context of laboratories and classrooms and in the rough-and-tumble of the truly real world beyond.     

Cognitive Alexithymia Mediates the Association Between Avoidant Attachment and Interpersonal Problems in Patients With Somatoform Disorder

Patients with somatoform disorder (SFD) are characterized by the presence of chronic physical complaints that are not fully explained by a general medical condition or another mental disorder. Insecure attachment patterns are common in this patient group, which are often associated with interpersonal difficulties. In the present study, the mediational role of two types of alexithymia and negative affectivity (NA) was examined in the association between attachment styles and interpersonal problems in a group of 120 patients with SFD. Patients were requested to fill out several self-report questionnaires for the assessment of attachment strategies, alexithymia, NA, and interpersonal problems. Cognitive alexithymia (i.e., the inability to identify and verbalize emotions) mediated the relationship between avoidant attachment patterns and interpersonal problems, even after controlling for NA. Preliminary findings also suggested that NA acted as a moderator of the mediator cognitive alexithymia. These results have important implications for clinical practice, as this study clearly shows that interpersonal problems do not automatically follow from insecure attachment strategies, but are contingent upon alexithymic features. It is recommended to target alexithymic features in patients with SFD, particularly in the context of negative emotions. Therefore, cognitive alexithymia may be an important therapeutic focus, specifically in the treatment of avoidant ptients with SFD.     

Measuring Religion in War: A Response

We respond to Isak Svensson's reaction to our article titled “Shrouded: Islam, War, and Holy War in Southeast Asia,” which was published in Volume 53 of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.     

Clients’ experiences of dynamic interpersonal therapy (DIT): opportunities and challenges for brief,manualised psychodynamic therapy in the NHS

Dynamic interpersonal therapy (DIT) is a brief manualised psychodynamic intervention for depression. This is a first study exploring clients’ experiences of DIT specifically and brief, manualised psychodynamic psychotherapy (PP) in general. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was the methodology employed. Five participants completed a semi-structured interview, three weeks to ten months after completing DIT. The scores of pre- and post-therapy outcome measures of depression and anxiety were also available. Two emerging superordinate themes are presented here: (1) ‘The Distinct Features of DIT’, referring to how its therapeutic style and time limitations were experienced and (2) the ‘Impact of Therapy’, referring to perceived outcomes. While previous findings showed that therapist’s perceived limited activity in long-term PP was experienced as hindering/unhelpful, the perceived sense of direction in DIT appeared adequate to most participants. Secondly, the time limitations provoked complex responses. Reactions to the distinct elements of DIT are to be treated both as therapeutic opportunities and as challenges. Further, in line with psychoanalytic theory, most participants described relational changes that went beyond symptom relief and remained in progress after therapy ended. Intriguingly, there was no consistency between participants’ qualitative accounts of change and the scores of the outcome measures.