Better Safe than Sorry: Risking Irresponsibility by Seeking Uncertainty

Research findings differ as to whether choosing a risky option is an efficient strategy for decision makers seeking to avoid responsibility for potential failures. A risky choice may leave the final outcome to chance factors, but the decision maker can still be held responsible for choosing risk. Further, it is unclear whether a risky choice is a responsible choice. The present article investigates the putative relationship between risk‐taking and responsibility by drawing a distinction between being responsible for the outcome (R1) versus acting responsibly (R2). Four experiments were performed, in which participants were presented with scenarios describing decision makers facing a choice between a risky (uncertain) option and a riskless (certain) option, framed in terms of losses or equivalent gains. The results showed that decision makers who chose the risky alternative were judged to have acted in a less responsible manner (R2), while still being held equally responsible for the outcome (R1), unless they were ignorant of the risks involved. Choosing risk did not absolve decision makers from blame, despite being less causal and less in control than those who chose the riskless option. Risky decision makers were also judged to be more personally involved. The dissociation between R1 and R2 ratings confirms earlier findings and serves to clarify an alleged relationship between risky choices and responsibility aversion. Framing effects for own choices were found in both scenarios. In contrast, responsibility ratings were only slightly affected by frame. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rupture Repair

A strong therapeutic relationship provides the optimal context for CBT, and an important component of this relationship is the alliance. An alliance rupture is a difficulty or deterioration in the alliance manifested by a lack of collaboration on therapy tasks or goals or a strain in the bond. The process of rupture repair can facilitate the work of therapy by renewing collaboration and strengthening the bond. Rupture repair can also provide the opportunity for a corrective experience of successfully navigating interpersonal conflict. A review of research on rupture repair in CBT treatments highlights that ruptures are common, and that failure to repair ruptures is associated with poor outcome and premature dropout. Therapists can reduce the likelihood of contributing to ruptures by adhering to the principle of collaborative empiricism. Therapists can facilitate rupture repair by recognizing ruptures when they occur and employing repair strategies: immediate repair strategies such as modifying the treatment task, or expressive repair strategies such as metacommunicating about the rupture and exploring the interpersonal schemas that underlie it. Training in rupture repair has demonstrated benefits for CBT therapists, particularly trainees.     

决策任务类型与结果框架对风险决策的影响

本研究考察生命和金钱问题下,获得和损失框架中决策任务类型对风险决策的影响。采用2（任务领域：生命、金钱）×2（决策任务类型：经验、描述）×2（结果框架：获得、损失）被试间设计,使用卡方检验及logistic回归分析后发现：生命和金钱问题下,个体在直接给出方案可能结果的描述性决策中仅表现出损失框架下的风险偏好;在通过自主查看方案可能结果的经验性决策中未发现结果框架作用。描述−经验差距一致性存在于生命和金钱问题中。     

Long-Term Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Standard Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Anxiety and Depression

The present study represents one of the first comparisons of the long-term effectiveness of traditional cognitive behavior therapy (i.e., Beckian cognitive therapy; CT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). One hundred thirty-two anxious or depressed outpatients were randomly assigned to receive either CT or ACT, and were assessed at posttreatment (n = 90) and at 1.5-year (n = 91) follow-up. As previously reported, the two treatments were equivalently effective at posttreatment according to measures of depression, anxiety, overall (social/occupational/symptom-related) functioning, and quality of life. However, current results suggest that treatment gains were better maintained at follow-up in the CT condition. Clinical significance analyses revealed that, at follow-up, one-third more CT patients were in the clinically normative range in terms of depressive symptoms and more than twice as many CT patients were in the normative range in terms of functioning levels. The possible long-term advantage of CT relative to ACT in this population is discussed.     

Future Expectations Among Adolescents: A Latent Class Analysis

Future expectations have been important predictors of adolescent development and behavior. Its measurement, however, has largely focused on single dimensions and misses potentially important components. This analysis investigates whether an empirically-driven, multidimensional approach to conceptualizing future expectations can substantively contribute to our understanding of adolescent risk behavior. We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to derive subpopulations of adolescents based on their future expectations with latent class analysis. Multinomial regression then determines which covariates from Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory are associated with class membership. After modeling these covariates, we examine whether future expectations is associated with delinquency, substance use, and sexual experience. Our analysis suggests the emergence of four distinct classes labeled the Student Expectations, Student/Drinking Expectations, Victim Expectations, and Drinking/Arrest Expectations classes according to their indicator profiles. These classes differ with respect to covariates associated with membership; furthermore, they are all statistically and differentially associated with at least one adolescent risk behavior. This analysis demonstrates the additional benefit derived from using this multidimensional approach for studying future expectations. Further research is needed to investigate its stability and role in predicting adolescent risk behavior over time.     

The effect of pre-treatment enquiries on child dental patient's post-treatment ratings of pain and anxiety

Abstract

The aim of this study was to attempt to replicate a study in adults: to determine whether pre-treatment enquiries about anxiety and pain in children, attending the dentist, influenced their subsequent reports of pain and anxiety immediately after treatment. One hundred and ninety five children aged from seven to 16, attending four Community Dental Clinics, were allocated at random to five groups. Before treatment the first group was asked questions about their dental anxiety, expectations and memories of pain. The second group was asked about dental anxiety and expectations of pain. The third group was asked only about dental anxiety; the fourth was asked only about pain. The fifth, the control group, was asked about none of these topics. All the children were asked after treatment to rate 1) their anxiety about dentistry and 2) their experience of pain in the treatment just completed. The children experienced less pain than they had expected. There were no differences between the groups in disruptiveness or in the amount of pain experienced. However, the children who were asked about both pain and dental anxiety (groups one and two) reported significantly less dental anxiety than the control group. These results are consistent with the conclusion that pre-treatment enquiries about both anxiety and pain have no effect on disruptiveness or the experience of pain but do reduce anxiety about dentistry.     

A comparison of pain management outcomes for disability compensation and non-compensation patients

Abstract

In this study, 50 men in an in-patient comprehensive rehabilitation program receiving disability compensation were compared with 25 non-recipients with respect to pre-and post-program measures of personality functioning. physical functioning and reported pain. On the pre-program measures. the only significant difference emerging between the two groups was found on the Mf scale of the MMPI, with the compensation group showing a slightly lower mean score. The two groups responded equally well on virtually all outcome measures. One interesting exception was found on the subjective measure of pain. which showed the compensation group reporting a higher level of subjective pain, and the non-compensation group a lower level than would be predicted on the basis of pre-program scores. Overall. and contrary to popular belief. the results suggest that compensation recipients can derive considerable benefit from pain management interventions despite the ostensible reinforcement provided by disability payments.     

The Impact of Periventricular Brain Injury on Reading and Spelling Abilities in the Late Elementary and Adolescent Years

The present study was designed: (1) to investigate the long-term consequences of both the presence and the severity of periventricular brain injury (PVBI) on intellectual, academic, and cognitive outcome in extremely-low-birthweight (ELBW: < 1,000 grams) children at a mean age of 11 years; and (2) to determine the nature of the underlying difficulties associated with academic problems in these children. The results indicated that ELBW children without PVBI performed as well as full-term children on intelligence, academic, and cognitive ability tests. In contrast, ELBW children with mild and severe PVBI achieved significantly lower scores than either ELBW children without PVBI or children who were born at term. A second analysis indicated that, after accounting for Full Scale IQ, working memory and phonological processing were significant predictors of reading and spelling performance in ELBW children. These findings suggest that the presence and severity of PVBI, and not ELBW status alone, is associated with performance on tests of intelligence, and academic and cognitive functioning, and that some of the same factors known to be associated with learning disabilities in full-term children contribute to learning disabilities in ELBW children.