Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist

Several studies have employed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the latent structure of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist (PCL; Weathers, Litz, Herman, Huska, & Keane, 1993), a measure that assesses PTSD symptomatology. Findings have failed to support the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text revision [DSM–IV–TR]; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) PTSD model, consisting of reexperiencing, avoidance/numbing, and arousal factors, and no consensus has emerged regarding the best fitting alternative model. Additionally, most studies have utilized homogeneous trauma samples. This study used CFA to examine the PCL factor structure in a sample with exposure to various traumatic events. Superior fit was demonstrated by a model specifying reexperiencing, avoidance, dysphoria, and arousal factors.     

Un point sur la responsabilité civile du fait des prothèses

The evolutions of the medical liability depend on the walking (step) of the jurisprudence, and on that of the European law. Crossings renewed the reflection on the consequences of the protheses failures, and make paradoxically return to the contractual obligation.     

The effect of feature discriminability on the intertrial inhibition of focused attention

Identifying the shape of a colour oddball is faster when the distractor colour is viewed in the preceding target-absent trial and slower when the target colour is previewed, an intertrial effect known as the distractor previewing effect (DPE). We tested the effect of feature discriminability on the DPE. In Experiment 1, we determined the interitem discriminability of two colour pairs and two shape pairs. In Experiments 2 and 3, we measured DPEs with these set of target–distractor discriminability pairs. Our results showed that when the defining features allow for efficient parallel search, the a priori degree of interitem discriminability did not modulate the DPE. The results suggest the DPE does not arise as a strictly bottom-up modulation of saliency of the search-relevant features but reflects an attentional bias aimed at preventing attention from revisiting recently rejected “search features”. The underlying mechanism of this attentional bias is discussed.     

Transformations of the Sacred in Contemporary Chicana Culture

Abstract

Focusing on the transformation of the sacred icon La Virgen de Guadalupe into a secularized and sexualized modern woman in illustrations by Yolanda M. López and Ester Hernández, the rearticulation of ex-votos in Sandra Cisneros's short story ‘Little Miracles, Kept Promises’, and the development of a lesbian form of spirituality in Ana Castillo's Massacre of the Dreamers, this essay argues that it is the tradition of syncretism and cultural hybridization within the folk version of Mexican Catholicism and its concomitant propensity toward the deconstruction of binary oppositions (such as colonizer versus colonized; male versus female; body versus soul; sexuality versus spirituality) that forms the basis for many of the feminist revisions, reinterpretations, and transformations of Catholic figures, motifs and texts in contemporary Chicana art.     

The Five-Factor model of personality and work behaviour in Greece

This study explores the validity of the five-factor model of personality (FFM) in occupational settings in Greece, examining its relationship to employees' overall job performance, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behaviour, and generic work competencies. Two hundred and twenty-seven employees from various Greek SMEs participated in the study completing a personality and a job satisfaction measure. Their supervisors completed three questionnaires assessing their performance and their work competencies. Some of the most significant results of this study were the strong links identified between personality and job satisfaction and the moderating effect of job type on the criterion-related validity of some personality dimensions. These results are discussed in terms of the FFM literature taking into consideration the strong effect of Greek culture. The theoretical and practical implications for research and practice in Greece are also discussed.     

Storymaking: In-between anthropological enquiry and Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy

The author discusses the relationship between anthropological enquiry and Transactional Analysis (TA) counselling and psychotherapy practice. Both disciplines of anthropology and TA offer an exploration of the individual's story. The concept of in-between-ness can add an extra dimension to working with clients in acknowledging the place of the client's story and the psychotherapist's role in witnessing as a way of making meaning of the whole. Ethnographical extracts are examined to illuminate how the application of anthropological insights and concepts can enhance TA psychotherapy practice.     

Measuring psychotherapy outcomes in routine practice: Examining Slovak versions of three commonly used outcome instruments

This study examined the Slovak mutations of three outcome measures for routine practice i.e. the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation – Outcome Measure (CORE-OM), the Outcome Questionnaire – 45 (OQ-45), the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS), and one control measure the Symptom Checklist 10 Revised (SCL-10R), with regard to their concordance or differences in outcome classification of pre-post change, when used by the same patients and when the criteria used for establishing recovery and improvement status are based on the same sample. Method: Non-clinical (252) and clinical (202) samples were used for the standardisation of all instruments. A portion of the clinical participants (N?=?140) completed all measures at the end of their treatment. Results: The CORE-OM, and the SCL-10R indicated a higher number of recovered and improved clients. With regard to the pre-post differences as expressed in the effect size, the CORE-OM showed the highest pre-post difference (pre-post effect size .98), followed by the ORS (.87), the SCL-10R (.83) and finally with the OQ-45 (.69). Conclusion: Even very similar instruments developed on the basis of similar theoretical conceptualisations and empirical findings may report different pre-post outcomes.     

African American Spirituals

ABSTRACT

This article endeavors to explore the following aspects of African American Spirituals: the African Legacy; the creation and evolution in the North American environment; basic content and purpose of texts, musical elements, the influence of the Spirituals, published collections and significant publications.     

Forgoing Debriefing in Deceptive Research: Is It Ever Ethical?

The use of deception in research is generally permitted so long as participants are debriefed at the conclusion of their participation. Several authoritative research ethics guidelines allow investigators to omit debriefing under certain circumstances, however. Here we examine various justifications for forgoing debriefing in deceptive research, including concerns about subject pool contamination, the risk that revealing the deception will be harmful or distressing to participants, and issues of practicability. We conclude that, contrary to current practice, omitting debriefing is ethically acceptable only when debriefing is impracticable, the deception is innocuous, and no reasonable person would object to involvement in the research.