Emotional suppression explains the link between early life stress and plasma oxytocin

Early life stress (ELS) has been found to be associated with lower concentrations of plasma oxytocin (OT) in adulthood. It is not yet clear, however, what mechanisms underlie this association. The goal of the present study was to test the role of emotional suppression as an intervening variable between ELS in childhood and plasma OT. In a nonclinical sample of 90 men, ELS, emotional suppression, and plasma OT were assessed. Emotional suppression was positively associated with ELS (r = 0.37, p < 0.001) and negatively associated with plasma OT concentrations (r = ?0.30, p < 0.01). In contrast, cognitive reappraisal – an alternative emotion regulation strategy – was not correlated with ELS or plasma OT concentrations. Cross-sectional regression analyses revealed that the ELS explained variance in plasma OT via emotional suppression. Moderation analyses revealed that the combination of high ELS and high emotional suppression was associated with the lowest concentrations of plasma oxytocin. These findings are consistent with the view that emotional suppression may be one pathway linking ELS and OT.     

Integrating mindfulness as self-care into counselling and psychotherapy training

Aim: Within the last 10 years, mindfulness has quickly moved into the mainstream of behavioural medicine, psychotherapy, and counselling. This article examines the potential of applying mindfulness practices to the training of counsellors and psychotherapists. Method: Several qualitative research projects conducted over the past nine years are summarised. Findings: Mindfulness training can enhance the physical and psychological wellbeing of trainees. Implications for training: Mindfulness training is a specific way that training programmes can teach students strategies of self-care that can help prevent burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious traumatisation.     

大学生的压力应对人格结构——基于中国人人格结构的形容词量表(QZPAS)的结果

用以中国人人格结构的形容词量表（QZPAS）为基础构成的138个人格形容词问卷调查383名大学生压力应对人格的内隐人格观,然后用筛选后的88个形容词组成的压力应对人格问卷和自我评定方式调查1653名大学生,因素分析的结果表明,压力应对人格结构由才智、坚韧性、外向性、情绪控制、自信心和功利性6个因素构成。最后在检验信、效度前提下,本研究对该结构合理性和有效性进行了讨论。     

Job skill discretion and emotion control strategies as antecedents of recovery from work

Recovery from work protects employees’ health and well-being, and therefore it is important to understand its antecedents. The aim of this study conducted among 183 middle-aged participants drawn from the Finnish Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development was to examine whether job skill discretion and emotion control strategies (emotional rumination and emotional inhibition) are related to psychological aspects of recovery from work (subjective recovery evaluation, psychological detachment and relaxation). The results of hierarchical general linear models confirmed the hypothesis that job skill discretion is positively associated with subjective recovery evaluation and relaxation. As expected, high emotional rumination predicted difficulties in psychological detachment and relaxation. Emotional inhibition moderated the relationship between job skill discretion and psychological detachment: where emotional inhibition was at a moderate level, job skill discretion was positively related to psychological detachment. The findings suggest that not only job characteristics but also individual factors contribute to recovery, revealing practical implications for employees, employers and occupational health care professionals seeking to promote employees’ work ability, health and well-being.     

God images and self-worth among adolescents in Scotland

A sample of 866 young people between the ages of 12 and 15 in Scotland completed measures of self-worth and God images. The data demonstrate a positive relationship between self-worth and images of God as loving and forgiving, and a negative relationship between self-worth and images of God as cruel and punishing.     

The effects of mental illness on families within faith communities

Associations between mysticism and madness have been made since earliest recorded history, and the striking resemblance between self-reports of both mystical and psychotic experience suggests that similar psychological processes may be involved in their occurrence. By exploring the similarities, and proposing a common element to mystical and psychotic experience (referred to here as the experience of “oneness”), this paper aims to place mysticism and madness onto the same experiential continuum. However, in contrast to much of the previous literature, the intention is not to pathologize mystical experience, but rather to normalize psychotic experience. The paper argues not only that the experience of oneness is entirely genuine and available to all humans, but also that it has an important psychological (and evolutionary) function. Using cognitive terminology, it then attempts to explain the processes determining whether an individual enjoys a fulfilling mystical experience, or suffers a debilitating psychotic breakdown (i.e., how “oneness” is experienced). Finally, this paper turns to look at some of the important implications such an approach might have for clinical practice and for the mental health of people in general.     

Religiosity and posttraumatic stress in a sample of East African refugees

The present study focused on organisational religious activity (ORA), non-organisational religious activity (NORA), and intrinsic religiosity as potential moderators of the relationship between traumatic exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a sample of 59 East African refugees living in the United States. Results demonstrated a moderating effect for ORA (ΔR² = .054, p = .009) and NORA (ΔR² = .047, p = .013) on symptoms of PTSD. High ORA was associated with reduced PTSD symptoms for participants reporting relatively low traumatic exposure. However, results indicated that neither ORA nor NORA buffered against the development of PTSD symptoms as traumatic exposure increased.     

Stress in Doctors: A Pilot Study of the University Teaching Hospital,Lusaka, Zambia

This study had the objective of explored the stressful aspects of a doctor's job at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka, Zambia. Stress can have a serious effect on the work output of a doctor and on their physical and mental health. The data were collected from 41 doctors at UTH using the Perceived Stress Scale and a stress check list. The results revealed that out of the list of 14 possible stressors, Zambian doctors in this sample identified an average of 7.3 aspects of their job (SD=2.7) as being stressful. Lack of resources to carry out their job, the workload, the low level of reward and the long working hours were most frequently identified as stressors.     

Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Following an Armed Robbery: A Case Study Testing the Transportability of Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy to Urban Africans

John, an urban African male who developed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following an armed robbery at the petrol station where he worked, was treated with 12 sessions of Trauma-focused cognitive behaviour therapy. Intervention involved a combination of psychoeducation, prolonged imaginal exposure, cognitive restructuring and behavioural assignments. This article is a systematic case study of his treatment which included a comprehensive narrative and tracking of progress by means of the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale. John responded well to the treatment, finding it acceptable and credible and remained free of PTSD symptoms at 15 months follow up. It is argued, based on the principles of Elliott's Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design, that there is evidence from within the narrative that it was the treatment that led to remission of symptoms. This case study demonstrates the cognitive, emotional and behavioural processes underlying John's PTSD, which fits with those extensively described in the research literature, and that this evidence-based treatment developed in a westernised context is transportable to work with urban Africans.