bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Personal styles, constructive alternativism and the provision of a therapeutic service*
Authors: Winter David A.
Published: July 2011

A series of studies on the ‘personal styles’ of clients and therapists is reviewed, and their findings are drawn together within the framework of personal construct theory. It is argued that the technical eclecticism of personal construct theory reflects its central philosophical assumption of constructive alternativism; and that a treatment service organized in accordance with this assumption could accommodate therapists of different theoretical persuasions, matching clients and therapeutic conditions in terms of dimensions suggested by the ‘personal styles’ research.
Skin conductance changes and psychotherapeutic content in the treatment of a phobic patient
Authors: Glucksman Myron L. , Quinlan Donald M. , Leigh Holye
Published: July 2011

This study examined the relationship between skin conductance response (SCR) and psychotherapeutic content in a single case study. Four SCR conditions of one minute's duration each, reflecting maximal increase (amplitude) and least amount of change as well as one‐minute periods preceding these criterion conditions, were measured for each psychotherapy session across 12 consecutive sessions. Psychotherapeutic content corresponding to these SCR conditions was evaluated according to 14 categories by five judges. There were significant relationships between SCR conditions and four psychotherapeutic content categories. Increases in SCR corresponded to a decreasing sense of mastery, increased symptom experience, increased symptom occurrence, and increased negative affects. This study suggests that there was a relationship between a responsive physiological measure and relevant psychotherapeutic content categories in an individual patient.
Attitudes of psychiatric nurses to treatment and patients
Authors: Scott D. J. , Philip A. E.
Published: July 2011

A sample of 208 psychiatric nurses and nursing assistants completed a questionnaire assessing attitudes to treatment and patients. Significant attitudinal differences between groups were found in relation to professional grade, age and sex. Staff with more professional training were less authoritarian and impersonal than staff more junior in the hierarchy. Younger males with Registered Mental Nurse training were found to be significantly less inclined towards physical methods of nursing and treatment. Male nurses tended to favour therapeutic techniques which emphasized independent nurse action and psychological proximity to patients. Female nurses were more favourably inclined to physical methods of treatment and were significantly more authoritarian and formal towards patients in line with the traditional stereotype of the general hospital nurse. Results are discussed in relation to the setting up of new treatment regimes within psychiatric hospitals and the influence that staff attitudes have on their functioning.
The effect of social class and cognitive orientation on clinical expectations
Authors: Foon Anne E.
Published: July 2011

Therapists have been found to have more favourable expectations of clients from similar social class backgrounds than of clients from dissimilar social class origins. This relationship is unlikely to be simple. Cognitive variables most probably function as mediators between social class and expectations about therapeutic benefit. In particular, it was hypothesized that the variable, locus of control, would mediate therapists clinical expectations. Two studies, involving clinical psychologists, tested this prediction. Therapists were asked to estimate their likely success with clients presented in the form of vignettes and role plays. The vignettes and role plays depicted the social class and locus of control of clients. Results indicate that there was a significant interaction between client's and therapist's locus of control in relation to therapists’ judgements of therapeutic success.
The psychotherapy of mania
Authors: Mester Roberto
Published: July 2011

Focal dynamic psychotherapy with acute manic patients has been a neglected treatment modality. In young adults with sound premorbid personalities and well‐developed ambition systems, focal dynamic psychotherapy is useful in the manic stage; it shortens the process of elaboration of major conflicts related to self‐image and self‐ideal. Three young Israeli soldiers’ case material is discussed in whom, due to different growth constellations, the hope to serve in the army in specific capacities had been a central motivating and consolidating factor in their personality development. Their confrontation with the realities and frustrations of military life caused them to react with a manic syndrome which brought them to treatment. Therapeutic insight led to the reshaping of their ambition to a more adaptive level.
Oedipal determinants in differential outcome of bereavement
Authors: Gill Harwant S.
Published: July 2011

According to psychoanalytic theory, a bereaved individual's prior relationship with the lost person affects his vulnerability to bereavement. Freud attributed the vulnerability to the intensity of ambivalence, and Fenichel saw Oedipal rivalry as one example of that ambivalence. It is argued that, after the death of a parent, reality testing, crucial to the resolution of the Oedipus complex, is disrupted differently for children of the same sex, from those of the opposite sex. Based on Freud's and Fenichel's clinical observations, the effects of disrupted reality testing were transformed into a testable hypothesis. The predictions were validated by testing them against the data supplied by patients before they had any professional contact, when two‐thirds of bereaved psychotherapy patients exhibited different effects when the deceased parent was of the same sex, from when he/she was of the opposite sex. A majority of the same‐sex children develop an unconscious sense of guilt, which blocks their expression of Oedipal attitudes towards both parents and which attacks their capacity to function adequately at work, and in their sex‐linked roles; while the opposite‐sex children maintain their preference for the dead parent, aversion to the alive one, and have idealized expectations of their lovers or spouses.
Self‐esteem in depression: A controlled repertory grid investigation
Authors: Axford Sharon , Jerrom D. W. A.
Published: July 2011

Repertory grids were used to investigate self‐esteem and social perception in three groups: depressed in‐patients, non‐depressed psychiatric in‐patients and a general hospital control group. Depression was measured by the Beck Depression Inventory. Depressives had significantly lower self‐esteem and more negative social perception and negative feelings associated with ‘actual self’, as predicted by Beck's cognitive theory. Repertory grids are potentially useful tools for the development of cognitive theories of depression, and may also have a role in clinical practice using cognitive techniques.
Faculty differences in psychological disturbance among undergraduates on arrival at university
Authors: Springett N. R. , Lekarz T. K. Szulecka
Published: July 2011

A model of psychological preselection is proposed to account for findings of higher psychiatric morbidity among Arts students than in other faculties. The predictions of this model and a competing ‘course factor’ model are tested. Arts students are found to show more evidence of anxiety, insomnia, depression and poorer relationships with parents before academic courses have begun. Some of these differences are found to be constructed from distinct sex‐linked components. Certain aspects of the preselection model were not supported by the findings, and refinements to the model are presented. It is suggested that the preselection may be based on an interconnection between clarity of identity, cognitive style and educational choice. The data also support the view that adolescent ‘storm and stress’ may be the experience of the relatively few.
Effect of pre‐appointment inquiries on dental patients’ post‐appointment ratings of pain
Authors: Kent Gerry
Published: July 2011

In order to test the possibility that an investigator's inquiries about dental patients’ anxiety and expectations of pain will enhance their subsequent discomfort, two groups of 51 patients were asked after their appointment about the amount of pain they had experienced, but only one group was interviewed beforehand. No difference between these groups was found.
The influence of social desirability on the Ai3 measure of anal character
Authors: Hill A. B.
Published: July 2011

The probability of item endorsement in the Ai3 test of anal character was found to be significantly related to item social desirability, but total scores on the test were unrelated to measures of social desirability. It is concluded that the test is adequately free of social desirability effects and that the experimental findings strengthen claims for the construct validity of the Ai3.
Primary anorexia nervosa in the male and female: A comparison of clinical features and prognosis
Authors: Crisp Arthur H. , Burns Tom , Bhat Ashok V.
Published: July 2011

The clinical characteristics of a consecutive series of 36 male anorectics were compared with those of a similar series of 100 female cases. Social class background and mean age of onset were found to be similar as were the majority of clinical features at presentation. Anorexia nervosa was associated with diminished differences between the sexes in terms of physical, experiential and behavioural characteristics directly related to the condition, and in terms of general psychoneurotic characteristics. The condition is one within which the individual is sadly reduced to an existence rooted in the experience, behaviour and impulses of starvation including the impulse to ingest and the consequent defences against this latter propensity and its implication of weight gain. Only the ‘choice’ of defence relates to premorbid ‘personality’ characteristics and thereby continues to characterize the individual. Overall the same background and presentation factors in both sexes predict similar outcomes, though a vomiting defence at presentation predicts good outcome for males and poor outcome for females. The condition is very rare in the male and such presentations may help to shed light on its overall nature.
Psychological correlates of the Type A behaviour pattern in coronary angiography patients
Authors: Langeluddecke P. M. , Tennant C. C.
Published: July 2011

The convergent validity of two popular self‐report Type A questionnaires (the Jenkins Activity Survey and Framingham Scale), and their association with (1) personality traits related to Type A, (2) affective states and traits, and (3) history of nervous illness, were assessed in a sample of 92 coronary angiography patients. The correlation between the two Type A measures, although significant, was modest. Both Type A measures had strong associations with standard personality traits (neuroticism and trait tension). The Framingham Scale was strongly correlated with distressing psychological states (tension, anxiety and depression) while the JAS showed a lesser association with these measures. The implications of these findings in terms of the convergent validity of the two Type A measures, and the independence of the Type A concept from other personality and emotional variables, are discussed.
Some aspects of sexuality and vaginal symptoms during menopause and their relation to anxiety and depression
Authors: Channon Lorna D. , Ballinger Susan E.
Published: July 2011

Vaginal symptoms and and loss of libido are common presenting complaints among patients of menopause clinics. Very often the cause and effect model used to explain and treat these complaints is one of simple oestrogen deficiency. However, factors other than menopausal status may play an important part in sexual and vaginal problems. This study investigated the relationship between vaginal symptoms and factors such as affective state, the importance of intercourse, satisfaction with sexual activity and strength of desire among 274 peri‐menopausal patients at a menopause out‐patient clinic. While vaginal dryness affects enjoyment and desire for intercourse, only dyspareunia was associated with a reduction in the frequency of intercourse. Depression was found to be an important factor in loss of libido and anxiety was the most important influence on reduced frequency of intercourse.
Prediction versus reflection in therapist demonstrations of understanding: A replication with clinical cases
Authors: Alpher Victor S. , Turkat Ira Daniel
Published: July 2011

Previous analogue research with college students shows that therapists who make accurate predictions of their patient's behaviour are judged as more demonstrative of understanding their patient's problems than therapists who make reflections or request further information. The present study replicated this research and extended it by using psychotherapy out‐patients as subjects. Similar findings were obtained. Further, therapists who employed accurate predictions were judged as more likely to mediate successful therapeutic outcomes.
Smoking as a transitional object
Authors: Hyllienmark Gunnar
Published: July 2011

An analysis of smoking during adolescence using Winnicott's concepts of transitional object, transitional phenomena and intermediate area can illuminate how an individual manages the relations between the outer objective world and the inner world of subjective experience. Viewing smoking as a transitional phenomenon can yield diagnostic and therapeutic information and provide a better understanding of the psychological functions of smoking and the difficulties involved in giving it up.
Narcissistic vulnerability and the fragile self: A failure of mirroring
Authors: Mollon Phil
Published: July 2011

The phenomenon of narcissistic vulnerability is described and the history of the concept is outlined. With clinical illustrations from individual and group psychotherapy it is described how some people are prone to show strong reactions to the narcissistic injuries of feeling slighted or ignored. These are associated with a proneness to shame. Drawing on Broucek's suggestion that the basis of the sense of self is the sense of efficacy, it is proposed that the fundamental injury is an incapacity to evoke a meaningful emotional response in the caretaker. This notion is compared with the related views of Winnicott and Kohut. It is apparent that a superficial mirroring response is not sufficient; what the child (and patient) needs is a deeper empathic response. In therapy, patients attempt to master the original injury by seeking again a response that mirrors in depth.
Consumers' views of the helpful aspects of an in‐patient psychotherapy group: A preliminary communication
Authors: Whalan Graham S. , Mushet Greta L.
Published: July 2011

Preliminary findings of a project to introduce a model of group psychotherapy into an acute admission unit are presented. Over a three‐month period, patients' responses to group sessions were recorded using a modified form of the ‘most important event’ questionnaire (Bloch et al., 1979). Results are discussed in the context of previous findings and further research directions.
Cognitive structure changes with psychotherapy in neurosis
Authors: Raz‐Duvshani Avivya
Published: July 2011

This study investigated the relationship between improvement in psychotherapy and changes in cognitive complexity (structural organization and differentiation). Before undergoing 30 sessions of psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy, 27 psychoneurotic subjects specified the target (major) complaints, described 15 figures (including themselves) and completed the repertory grid. After psychotherapy, subjects rated their improvement on the target complaints and again described the 15 figures and completed the repertory grid. The results showed that improvement in psychotherapy was associated with increased complexity in the patients' cognitive organization of the psychosocial world, but not with increased cognitive differentiation in interpersonal perception. Implications for the theory of neurosis and evaluation of change in the process of psychotherapy are discussed.
Type A behaviour pattern, the recall of positive personality information and self‐evaluations
Authors: Furnham Adrian , Borovoy Amy , Henley Susan
Published: July 2011

This paper reports on two studies of how Type A and B subjects perceive themselves. Both studies investigated differences in self‐ratings of personality by Type As and Bs, and differences in the recall of positive and negative personality information. As predicted, a modest significant positive correlation was found in both studies between Type A scores and number of positive traits remembered, suggesting that Type A behaviours are associated with a tendency to process information about the self in such a way as to bolster self‐esteem. Self‐ratings of positive and negative personality traits showed that Type As tended to rate themselves much more negatively than Type Bs. This provides support for a self‐evaluative model of Type A behaviour. The results are discussed in terms of the paradoxical nature of the Type A behaviour pattern.
Attachment—detachment, directiveness—receptiveness: A system for classifying interpersonal attitudes and behaviour
Authors: Birtchnell John
Published: July 2011

A system of describing attitudes towards others and ways of relating to others is presented. The system is constructed around two dimensions, the one concerned with closeness vs. separateness, the other concerned with dominance vs. submissiveness. Each dimension has two extreme positions and each of these incorporates a range of attitudes and types of behaviour which are systematically described.

The two extremes of the closeness‐separateness dimension are attachment and detachment. Attachment is a need for proximity and a fear of being alone. Detachment is a need to remain distant and a fear of closeness. The two extremes of the dominance‐submissiveness dimension are directiveness and receptiveness. Directiveness is an inclination for giving or doing things to others. It is characterized by a fear of being controlled or taken over. Receptiveness is an inclination to assume a recipient attitude towards others and is characterized by a fear of assuming responsibility.

This system lends itself to the development of measures which place an individual on each of the two dimensions. It also provides a conceptual framework within which to frame hypotheses which will have relevance both to clinicians and to researchers. An important consideration is the effect which a person occupying a particular position within the system has upon the attitude and behaviour of others.
The scientific status of the DMT
Authors: Kline Paul
Published: July 2011

The Defence Mechanism Test, the DMT (Kragh, 1969), is claimed to measure defence mechanisms and to reveal important and forgotten experiences in a subject's life. The nature of the responses to this test and the results achieved with it are examined in the light of the psychoanalytic definitions of the defence mechanisms. It is argued that although the responses resemble Freudian defences there is no strong evidence for their validity. Similarly it is shown that the purported parallelism between psychobiography and test responses must be treated with caution. Despite these interpretative caveats the evidence supports the claim that the DMT is a useful test in the clinical setting.
Development of a taxonomy of therapist difficulties: Initial report*
Authors: Davis John D. , Elliott Robert , Davis Marcia L. , Binns Marc , Francis Valerie M. , Kelman James E. , Schröder Thomas A.
Published: July 2011

While psychotherapists discuss amongst themselves and in supervision the struggles they experience face‐to‐face with their patients, empirical study of therapists' experience of psychotherapy has been scant and there has been little investigation of therapists' difficulties. We require tools for such investigation and in this initial report we describe the development of a taxonomy of situations that psychotherapists experience as difficult and indicate lines of research to which the taxonomy might be applied. We also suggest that our procedure might serve as a model of collective self‐study for other groups of practitioner‐researchers. Using accounts of our own difficulties as therapists, we constructed a consensual set of experiential categories that could be applied to describe them. These were designated as Therapist (T)‐Incompetent, T‐Damaging, T‐Puzzled, T‐Threatened, T‐Out of Rapport, T's Personal Issues, Painful Reality/T's Ethical Dilemma (a combined category), T‐Stuck, and T‐Thwarted. We then employed a fresh set of 30 accounts, which were also drawn from our own experience but had not contributed to the development of the taxonomy, to study the taxonomy's reliability. Each of us rated the presence and predominance of the categories for each of the 30 accounts. Both presence and predominance of all nine categories in the taxonomy could be reliably identified, with about three raters required to ensure good reliability for all categories; alphas (for our group of seven raters) were in the range 0.88–0.95 for presence‐absence and 0.83–0.94 for predominance. We conclude that the taxonomy is a serviceable tool for further investigation. We also show that we are discriminable from one another as therapists in terms of the kinds of difficulty we reported, differences amongst us conforming to what we know of one another's therapeutic practice. We note implications for the diagnostic use of the taxonomy in training and supervision.
Foetal heart rate and maternal emotional state
Authors: Benson Pauline , Little Betsy C. , Talbert David G. , Dewhurst Sir John , Priest Robert G.
Published: July 2011

Forty‐five pregnant women rated themselves for hostility, depression and anxiety. Maternal and foetal heart rates were recorded while they listened to a tape through headphones. The foetuses of anxious mothers showed pronounced responses to certain taped stimuli but this effect was not found for mothers with high hostility or depression scores.
The prevalence and construct validity of Type A behaviour in patients with duodenal ulcers
Authors: Keltikangas‐Järvinen Liisa
Published: July 2011

The prevalence and construct validity of Type A behaviour were studied in 34 patients with duodenal ulcers, 35 patients with ulcerative colitis, 37 patients with irritable colon syndrome, 29 patients with gallstone disease and 44 patients with varicose veins. Type A behaviour was measured using the Swedish version of the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) supplemented with some items of the Matthews Youth Test for Health. The results showed that patients with duodenal ulcers scored more highly on Type A behaviour than any other group studied. Findings regarding the construct validity of Type A behaviour revealed its basic component to be impatience characterized by aggression, a chronic sense of time urgency and competitiveness. Some characteristics such as a sense of responsibility and social activity, conceptually part of the pattern, were found to be actually independent of it.
The relation between low facial expressivity during emotional arousal and somatic symptoms
Authors: Malatesta Carol Z. , Jonas Ruth , Izard Carroll E.
Published: July 2011

Differential emotions theory has suggested that suppressed emotion, and specifically suppressed facial signs of emotion, might be aetiologically associated with illness, and moreover, that suppression of different classes of emotion might be related to differential symptom formation. This study examined the relationship between degree of facial emotional expressivity under conditions of emotional arousal and the presence and extent of various self‐reported physical symptoms. Twenty‐three adult women underwent emotion induction procedures and were videotaped while they described their emotional reactions. Judges viewed the videotapes of subjects' facial behaviour and rated the degree of expressivity during the sadness, fear, and anger inductions. Correlational statistics indicated that physical symptoms were almost exclusively negatively correlated with emotion expression. There was also some evidence of an emotion‐specific/symptom‐specific configuration. Although causal inferences about emotion‐symptom linkages are unwarranted at this time, the study provides some support for theoretical formulations about the relationship between physical symptoms and emotion and suggests a methodology with which to pursue this line of research.
Comparison of rehabilitation outcome between patients with psychophysiologic disorders and organic diseases
Authors: Myrtek Michael , Welsch Michael
Published: July 2011

Two groups of patients with either psychophysiologic disorders or organic diseases were examined four weeks prior to an in‐patient rehabilitation treatment, at the beginning and at the end of the rehabilitation, and six months thereafter. Data were collected through questionnaires assessing personality dimensions, physical complaints, hypochondriac behaviour, mood, disease concepts, living habits, and socio‐economic as well as medical data. The groups were comparable according to a wealth of socio‐economic and medical data but differed in extraversion, emotional lability, physical complaints, mood, disease concepts, and performance during ergometric exercise. Even before treatment there were changes in some variables between the examination at home and the examination at the onset of the treatment. Many short‐term and long‐term positive treatment effects could be observed but some adverse trends also emerged. Changes in personality dimensions, mood, and disease concepts revealed differential trends for both groups. The results are discussed in the context of the illness behaviour concept.
Cardiovascular unwinding, Type A behaviour pattern and locus of control
Authors: Evans Philip D. , Moran Patricia
Published: July 2011

Three studies are reported, in which subjects were exposed for a period of three minutes to a threat of possible shock. On average subjects showed higher heart rates before the trial than after the trial, and higher rate during the first minute of the trial than the final minute. Results are reported here which show that Type A behaviour pattern and internal locus of control are consistently related to less decline in heart rate.
Group psychotherapy for prolonged postnatal depression
Authors: Morris J. B.
Published: July 2011

Twelve women who had been depressed for more than one year after the birth of a child were offered group psychotherapy. Seven accepted. Our therapy aimed at providing the opportunity for supportive and confiding relationships to develop between the women in the group and the therapists. The Kelly repertory grid and Beck Depression Inventory administered before and after group therapy showed that group psychotherapy helped the women considerably.
A note on a modification of the Parental Bonding Instrument
Authors: Gamsa Ann
Published: July 2011

In order to eliminate the confusion caused by five negatively worded items, the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) was modified, with these items reconstructed to form positive statements. Subjects completed both the original and the modified PBI, with little difference resulting in scores between the two versions. Use of the modified version is recommended over either the original PBI or Parker's recent revision in which the five confusing items were completely removed.
Psychoanalysis and diabetic control: A single‐case study
Authors: Moran G. S. , Fonagy P.
Published: July 2011

The records of the 3 1/2 year, five times weekly psychoanalysis of a diabetic teenager with recurrent diabetic imbalance were examined using non‐experimental single‐case design methodology. A selected set of analytic themes was operationalized and independently rated for each week of the psychoanalysis. A weekly index of the quality of diabetic balance was also obtained for the same period. Time series analysis was used to examine the relationship between psychoanalytic themes and glycosuria. Two themes of psychic conflict were found to predict short‐term changes in diabetic control. In the long term the verbalization of conflict was strongly associated with improved diabetic control. The results are discussed in terms of a psychoanalytic model of adaptation to diabetes.
The impact of social support on mental and physical health
Authors: Ganster Daniel C. , Victor Bart
Published: July 2011

Early research on life‐stress grappled with the question of whether significant lifeevents bring about changes in health status. The emphasis has now shifted to the identification of factors that explain why some people seem to be so severely affected by life's adversities and others are not. From a class of what might be called ‘vulnerability variables’ (Kessler, 1979), support from one's social network has emerged as a significant factor that can account for at least some of the vulnerability differences between groups of stressed individuals. Since Cassel's (1974) review of the evidence linking social upheavals to adverse health consequences for both humans and animals, hundreds of empirical studies have been completed that assess the direct and indirect effects of social support on mental and physical health. This literature is so voluminous as to require several books devoted to reviews of various aspects of it (e.g. Cohen & Syme, 1985; Gottlieb, 1981; and Gottlieb, 1983). In this paper we will distil these as well as highlight some of the recent empirical developments, particularly in those areas that have received less attention in prior reviews.

Social support has been defined as the presence of others, or the resources provided by them, prior to, during, and following a stressful event. While there is no general agreement on a single definition, the variety has spawned a number of typologies attempting to organize the literature (e.g. Cohen & Syme, 1985; Cohen & Wills, 1985; Gottlieb, 1983; House & Kahn, 1985). Most of these typologies initially distinguish between functional and structural operationalizations of social support.
Type A behaviour and the healthy individual
Authors: Ivancevich John M. , Matteson Michael T.
Published: July 2011

The Type A behaviour pattern (TABP) is an interesting and controversial construct that has generated debate, empirical testing, and behavioural modification attempts. TABP is depicted as consisting of impatient or hurried behaviour, a strong orientation toward work responsibilities and task completion, and intensive competitive behaviour in situations that involve evaluation. Recently, the importance of what is called the anger/hostility dimension has been emphasized in research studies. After more than two decades of debate, testing, and attempting to modify the entire TABP there is now a growing acceptance of the proposition that a major overhaul or change in the TABP is not necessary or even feasible. The Type A person is also now being presented as possessing many desirable characteristics and healthy behaviours that are worth reinforcing. The present paper provides a brief review of the contradictory research evidence surrounding the Type A syndrome. Theorists, researchers, and organizational practitioners are encouraged to seek improvements in understanding the TABP through improved assessment and how it can be modified in generally healthy individuals. A theoretical model to guide improvement efforts in measurement and intervention is provided as a viable framework to examine causal pathways between antecedents, Type A core behaviours, responses, and consequences.
Personality, stress and cancer: Prediction and prophylaxis
Authors: Eysenck H. J.
Published: July 2011

This paper reports results from three prospective studies, in which probands were followed over periods of 10 years, before inquiring about death and cause of death. Personality inventories were administered at the beginning of the 10 year period, as were questions concerning smoking, drinking, medical diseases, etc. It was found that personality variables were much more predictive of death from cancer or cardiovascular disease than was smoking, and that different personality types were susceptible to either of these two diseases. Personality type was defined in terms of differential ways of dealing with interpersonal stress, and it was found that stress was a very potent cause of death, in the sense that stressed probands had a 40 per cent higher death rate than non‐stressed probands.
Immunological consequences of acute and chronic stressors: Mediating role of interpersonal relationships
Authors: Kennedy Susan , Kiecolt‐Glaser Janice K. , Glaser Ronald
Published: July 2011

This review presents recent studies examining the relationship between acute and chronic stressors, changes in immune function, and interpersonal relationships. Data are given which document immunosuppressive effects of commonplace, short‐term stressors, as well as more prolonged stressors, such as marital disruption and caregiving for a relative with Alzheimer's disease. Immune changes included both quantitative and qualitative changes in immune cells, including changes in herpes virus latency, decreases in the percentages of T‐helper lymphocytes and decreases in the numbers and function of natural killer cells. These effects occurred independently of changes in nutrition. Psychological variables, including loneliness, attachment and depression were related to the immune changes. The data are discussed in a framework in which quality interpersonal relationships may serve to attenuate the adverse immunological changes associated with psychological distress, and may have consequences for disease susceptibility and health.
A structural model approach toward the development of a theory of the link between stress and mental health
Authors: Cooper Cary L. , Baglioni A. J.
Published: July 2011

This study attempts to develop an empirical model of the link between stress and mental health, focusing particularly on occupational stress. Three different models were assessed ‐ the person‐stress model, the dispositional model, and the indigenous model ‐ using structural equation modelling. The indigenous model was found to be the most predictive of mental health. In this model, personality and coping strategies precede and determine the perception of job stressors, which ultimately affect the mental well‐being of the individual.
Women doctors for women patients?
Authors: Waller Kathy
Published: July 2011

This review concentrates on two main areas: (i) the attitudes of women patients towards physicians and (ii) the attitudes of physicians towards female patients. Women are important users of the health care services. There is female to male ratio of 3.8:3.0 for the average number of consultations in general practice per person per year. Women are prescribed more drugs than men; in 1974 66 per cent of women and 54 per cent of men had at least one drug prescribed. Physician gender is thought to have an effect through the physician—patient relationship and its outcomes. Patients perceive male and female doctors differently. Women patients believe women doctors to have the good qualities of both male and female physicians, e.g. assertiveness and initiative but also tenderness and nurturance. There is some evidence that women doctors give their female patients more surgery time than is allocated to them by male doctors. In the specialty areas, preference for a female gynaecologist is stated more often than a preference for a female doctor in any other speciality. The attitudes of physicians of both sexes towards female patients is seen by some as negative; however, physicians as a group are more ‘feminist’ than control groups. Some women GPs are seeing up to 85 per cent female patients.
Personality dimensions through the schizophrenia borderline
Authors: Rust John , Moncada Aura , Lepage Beatriz
Published: July 2011

While the schizoid dimension of personality has often been thought to be unitary, it has recently been suggested that several dimensions may be involved. In this study two separately derived normal population personality scales from within the psychoticism domain, the Rust Inventory of Schizotypal Cognitions (RISC), a scale designed to measure the positive cognitive schizotypal dimension, and the Eysencks' P scale from within the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, were administered to a group of 608 Venezuelan university students. It was found that the RISC and the EPQ had only a small correlation of 0.12. It was concluded that at least two dimensions were involved in the schizophrenic/normal spectrum, and that the EPQ Psychoticism scale was in fact measuring a dimension of personality disorder rather than a general factor of psychoticism.
Psychiatric symptoms and conflict among personal plans
Authors: Perring Christina , Oatley Keith , Smith Jonathan
Published: July 2011

In everyday life, the existence of personal goals is indicated by the activities in which people are engaged, such as leisure interests, occupation and relationships. Incompatibility between goals was predicted to be one source of conflict associated with poor mental health symptoms. A series of studies using different methods (interviews and questionnaires) to measure the degree of perceived conflict in the daily activities of young and mature students and non‐student adults is reported. Two forms of conflict are described — explicit (between two or more activities) and implicit (the importance of the activity to the individual). The results show that younger and mature students (particularly women) show correlations between their conflict and symptom scores, unlike other survey groups. The transitional nature of the student role may create a situation where the conflict experienced by many in their everyday activities is aggravated, and which is more readily expressed by psychiatric symptoms than in other ways.
Cancer, stress and personality: A correlational investigation of life‐events, repression—sensitization and locus of control
Authors: Taylor Paula , Abrams Dominic , Hewstone Miles
Published: July 2011

This study investigated the hypothesis that stress‐inducing life experiences and the personality factors of external locus of control and the tendency to repress emotion are relevant in the aetiology of cancer. Fifty cancer patients scored higher than 50 matched controls on a life‐events scale (especially negative events), but were found to be lower on repression of emotion. There was no difference between groups on locus of control.
Risk factors for myocardial infarction: The importance of relaxation
Authors: Wielgosz A. T. , Wielgosz M. , Biro E. , Nicholls E. , MacWilliam L. , Haney T.
Published: July 2011

Several risk factors for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were examined, including history of smoking and hypercholesterolemia, income, education, coronary‐prone behaviour by Structured Interview (SI) and the type and quality of stress‐reducing relaxing activities, in a case‐control study. Our sample included 100 AMI patients (80 males and 20 females, with mean ages 57.3 and 64.1 years, respectively), as well as 100 age‐ and sex‐matched controls.

Univariate differences between cases and controls were significant for history of smoking, income level, SI‐defined hostility, SI‐defined suppression of hostility, amount and type of relaxing activities and history of hypercholesterolemia. Multivariable analyses demonstrated that AMI patients reported significantly lower levels of relaxation and income, but higher levels of suppressed hostility and a higher incidence of hypercholesterolemia.

Our findings confirm the significance of hostility and particularly suppressed hostility as AMI risk factors; furthermore, inadequate relaxation was identified as an independent risk factor associated with AMI.
Predicting adjustment to perinatal death
Authors: Murray Judith , Callan Victor J.
Published: July 2011

One hundred and thirty parents who had experienced a perinatal death completed a self‐administered questionnaire that examined the demographic characteristics of parents, factors associated with the loss, and their levels of satisfaction with the amount of support they received. In addition, they completed scales measuring current levels of depression, self‐esteem and psychological well‐being. Comparisons with available norms revealed that, while parents were more depressed than general members of the community, they showed fewer symptoms of depression than did depressed patients. In addition, results revealed that less depressed parents were more satisfied with the level of support and comfort they received from doctors and nurses after the loss of their infant. Greater satisfaction with the support from hospital staff also predicted higher levels of self‐esteem, as did being satisfied with opportunities to be with the baby. Being more pleased with support from hospital staff and partners also predicted higher levels of psychological well‐being. Parents who reported higher well‐being were more likely to have experienced a neonatal death, and were satisfied with the opportunities they had had to create special memories of their baby. In the case of happier parents more time had elapsed since the loss of the child.
The total score of the Crown‐Crisp Experiential Index: A useful and valid measure of psychoneurotic pathology
Authors: Birtchnell John , Evans Chris , Kennard John
Published: July 2011

The Crown‐Crisp Experiential Index (CCEI) was designed as a measure of neurotic symptomatology. The tendency has been to report upon its six separate scales and to ignore the total score. We report on the use of the CCEI in a detailed interview study of 208 40–49‐year‐old women from a local community and 40 patients of the same age range and sex from a psychiatric hospital. In this study, scores on the six scales of the CCEI were shown to be highly intercorrelated. A case is made for combining the six scale scores to form an overall score of neurotic pathology.

This score was validated against a number of variables. It was shown to be significantly related to psychiatric patient status, negative self‐evaluation, level of severity of current symptoms, evidence of previous psychiatric episodes, previous psychiatric treatment and psychiatric symptoms in childhood. These validation variables were themselves intercorrelated but severity of current symptoms, self‐evaluation and childhood symptoms had significant independent effects.

It is concluded that scores on the six scales of the CCEI may be less important than the total score which provides a useful and valid measure of psychoneurotic pathology and has particular application as a screening instrument in community surveys.
Psychological adjustment, close personal relationships and personality
Authors: McLennan Jim , Omodei Mary M.
Published: July 2011

The finding (Cramer, 1985) that psychological adjustment is positively related to facilitative relationship quality for females but not for males was not supported in a study of 61 couples. For males, both relationship quality and personality characteristics of neuroticism and extraversion were significantly related to psychological adjustment. However, for females, perceived relationship quality was not related to well‐being once the effects of personality characteristics were controlled for. These findings are consistent with other reports of gender and sex‐ role differences in the process of social relationship support utilization. The findings may have implications for marital counselling.
On self‐boundary: A study of the development of the concept of secrecy
Authors: Meares Russell , Orlay Wendy
Published: July 2011

The child's developing concept of a ‘boundary’ between an inner world of ‘self’ and an outer world ‘non‐self’ is central to a number of systems of psychodynamic theory. The notion of boundary is also essential to Piaget. Despite the evident importance of the subject, there have been few attempts to discover the age at which this concept emerges. This study of 40 urban Australian children uses the development of the concept of secrecy as a marker. Most children attained this concept during the fifth year of life.
The scientific status of the Defence Mechanism Test: A reply to Kline
Authors: Cooper Colin
Published: July 2011

The Defence Mechanism Test, one of the better validated techniques for studying the operation of Freudian defences, has recently been impugned on theoretical grounds. This paper reconsiders two of the most telling points made by Kline (1987) and concludes that his alternative explanations are not well supported by theory or experiment.
An evaluation of personal construct therapy for the elderly
Authors: Viney Linda L. , Benjamin Yvonne N. , Preston Carol A.
Published: July 2011

Short‐term personal construct therapy was implemented with a group of elderly people, and its effects on their psychological states evaluated using content analysis scales. The states of these elderly were compared with those of two groups, one of well‐functioning elderly and the other a group of elderly who were matched with the psychotherapy group for age, sex and type of chronic illness. Neither control group had psychotherapy. When compared with the fully functioning group immediately after therapy, the psychotherapy group showed less anxiety and depression. When compared with the matched group on follow‐up 12 weeks later, they showed less anxiety, depression and indirectly expressed anger, and more feelings of competence as well as other good feelings.
Psychological well‐being and psychiatric disturbance in dialysis and renal transplant patients
Authors: Petrie Keith
Published: July 2011

The rate of psychiatric morbidity and levels of psychological well‐being and distress were assessed in groups of dialysis, renal transplant and general practice patients. Dialysis patients suffered from significantly higher rates of psychiatric morbidity, with 43 per cent falling into the probable psychiatric case range on the GHQ. Results from the Mental Health Inventory also showed dialysis patients to have a significantly poorer level of psychological adjustment than the other groups. While positive mental health states in dialysis patients were not significantly different from transplant and general practice controls, higher rates of psychological distress were found in patients on dialysis. Distress was characterized by a loss of emotional control and higher levels of depression.
Cognitive style and perceived control in spouse caregivers of dementia sufferers
Authors: Morris Lorna W. , Morris Robin G. , Britton Peter G.
Published: July 2011

The study investigated the cognitive style and perception of control in co‐resident spouse caregivers of dementia sufferers and their association with psychological adjustment. Depression and strain were significantly correlated with the caregivers' perception that the stress they were experiencing would continue and the expectation that it would affect all areas of their lives. However, the correlations between these factors and depression were no longer significant after partialling out the caregivers' rating of the behavioural disabilities and disturbances of the dementia sufferer. Depression and strain were significantly correlated with the caregivers' perceived lack of control over their own emotional reaction and over the dementia sufferers' behaviour.
Content specific information processing and persecutory delusions: An investigation using the emotional Stroop test
Authors: Bentall Richard P. , Kaney Sue
Published: July 2011

Attentional bias was investigated in patients suffering from persecutory delusions and matched psychiatric and normal controls, using the emotional Stroop task. Subjects were required to colour name words which were either meaningless strings of Os, neutral words, words indicating negative affect, or words judged to be of paranoid content. In comparison with the control subjects the deluded patients demonstrated a selective increase of response time for the paranoid words. A second analysis using indices of interference produced even more marked results. The relevance of these findings for the understanding of delusional thinking is discussed.