Clues to Suicide,Reconsidered

This brief paper focuses on a rather recondite aspect of the suicidal scenario: dissembling (feigning, pretending, withholding). Most individuals who commit suicide exhibit prodromal indicia in the month before. These verbal and behavioral clues are found in about 90% of psychological autopsies of suicidal deaths. As for the other 10% who mask or hide their lethal intentions, we do well to assume that even some hidden clues might be deciphered by the skillful clinician or the alert friend or colleague.     

Neutrality, interpretation, and therapeutic intent.

Neutrality is a central concept within the theory of psychoanalytic technique. We spell out the major controversies in which the concept has become embroiled, and provide a definition that we believe coincides with actual psychoanalytic practice. We discuss its merits and weaknesses, noting also the negative consequences of relying on older definitions. We relate neutrality to the interpretive process, indicating ways interpretation protects neutrality and is made more effective by it. We discuss the complex and controversial relation between neutrality and the analyst's therapeutic intent.     

From front line to home front: a study of secondary traumatization.

While the long-term effects of combat trauma on veterans have been studied extensively, its impact on veterans' wives has yet to be investigated. This study examined the implications of combat-induced psychopathology--wartime combat stress reaction (CSR) and current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)--in a sample of 205 wives of Israeli combat veterans of the 1982 Lebanon war. Results show that both CSR and PTSD were associated with increased psychiatric symptoms in the wives. In addition, current PTSD was particularly found to contribute to impaired social relations among veterans' wives in a broad range of contexts, from inner feelings of loneliness, through impaired marital and family relations, and extending to the wider social network. Implications of these findings for treatment and further research are discussed.     

Developmental and individual differences in preschoolers' recognition memories: The influences of gender schematization and verbal labeling of information

Eighty-three 37-92-month-old children's gender schematization and recognition memories for gender-typed content were assessed. Verbal labeling of stimuli and age were positively associated with children's memories. Highly gender schematic children displayed better memories for gender-role consistent information and committed more gender transformation errors than less gender schematic children. Interactions between children's gender schematization, age, and labeling condition were observed. Labeling of stimuli facilitated less schematic children's memories for gender-role consistent information. Gender schematization was positively associated with younger children's memories, suggesting younger children's memories are more strongly mediated by gender schematization than older children's. Results support the position that studies of gender schema development require an integrated approach recognizing individual and developmental differences in gender schematic processing.Completion of this project was facilitated by funds received while the author was a National Institute of Mental Health Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Denver: Grant 5T32 MH 15780-09. This support is gratefully acknowledged. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Conference on Human Development, Charleston, South Carolina, 1988. The author would like to thank the faculty and staff of the Tiny Tot, Jack & Jill, Little Learners II, Plymouth and Upstate preschools for their assistance and cooperation. The author wishes to recognize James Aber, Rosanne David, Melisa Shack, and Susan Zigelbaum for their exceptional service in conducting the project; and would also like to thank Joan Barth, D. Bruce Carter, Gail S. Goodman, Carol L. Martin, William J. Meyer, Kathy Park, Ralph J. Roberts, Jaipaul L. Roopnarine, Margaret L. Signorella, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this article.     

Assessing the relationship of Type A beliefs to cardiovascular disease risk and psychosocial distress

Investigators have begun to take a multimodal approach to the assessment and treatment of psychosocial risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). For instance, cognitive responses have become the focus of contemporary research along with continued examination of overt Type A behaviors. Price (1982) has outlined a set of beliefs purportedly associated with Type A behavior and subsequent CVD risk. The current study examines the validity of this belief set as represented by a newly developed measure, the Type A Cognitive Questionnaire (TACQ). Subjects were 221 employed adults participating in a worksite CVD risk reduction program. They completed the TACQ as part of a pretreatment CVD risk screening protocol. As hypothesized, TACQ scores were significantly associated with Type A behavior, hostility, physiological mediators of CVD, and psychosocial distress. Discussion addresses continued refinement of the Type A belief construct.