bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Attitudes towards mild and severe mental handicap in Israel
Authors: Weller Leonard , Aminadav Chaya
Published: July 2011

Attitudes towards mild and severe mental handicap were examined, as well as whether these attitudes are influenced by social class, sex, religiosity, and order of questionnaire presentation. A second concern was the effect on these attitudes of country of origin, namely Israeli Jews of Western, Yemenite, and Iraqi origin. A random sample of 360 adults completed the Jordan six‐dimensional attitude scale on mental handicap. There was a more positive attitude to mild than to severe mental handicap. None of the remaining variables ‐ including country of origin ‐ affected the attitudes.
Parental care and overprotection of children with cystic fibrosis
Authors: Cappelli Mario , McGrath Patrick J. , MacDonald Noni E. , Katsanis Joanna , Lascelles Maureen
Published: July 2011

Parental overprotection has often been clinically associated with the psychological maladjustment of children with a chronic disease. The purpose of this study was to examine parental care and overprotection in children with cystic fibrosis compared to healthy controls. Results indicated no differences in the level of parental care or overprotection between controls and children with cystic fibrosis. However, a number of significant correlations were found between parental care and overprotection and children's psychosocial functioning. In particular, positive correlations were found between parental overprotection and poor psychosocial functioning in children with cystic fibrosis, whereas, poor psychosocial functioning in healthy children was associated with lack of parental care. Parental overprotection and care appear to play important roles in the emotional and psychological functioning of healthy and chronically ill children.
Damaged identity and the search for kinship in adult adoptees
Authors: Humphrey Heather , Humphrey Michael
Published: July 2011

A postal questionnaire was sent to 100 members of an organization for helping adopted individuals to trace their origins. Replies were received from 42 women and 34 men, some of whom were interviewed in person or more often by telephone. The voyage of self‐discovery was evidently more crucial for women, whose need for a stronger sense of identity had been enhanced by marriage and motherhood.

Relatively more men than women had sought help for personal problems in adulthood, although paradoxically more women reported an unhappy experience of adoption and a damaged sense of identity. Predictably, mother‐child reunions had often proved disappointing and occasionally distressing for both parties. In contrast, the discovery of lost siblings had usually brought more reward. This aspect of the search for biological relatives deserves more emphasis, in case adoptees (especially when reared as only children and/or when psychologically disturbed) might have more to gain from meeting a sibling than from meeting a parent.
‘Psychosomatic personality’— A personality constellation or an illness‐related reaction?
Authors: Keltikangas‐Järvinen Liisa
Published: July 2011

Personality‐specific features as opposed to illness‐related reactions were studied in 101 patients with ulcerative colitis, duodenal ulcers or irritable colon syndrome (experimental group) and 81 patients with gallstone disease, inguinal hernia or varicose veins (control group). The method used was the Lazare—Klerman—Armor personality test. Results indicated that features previously suggested to characterize the experimental group, such as egocentricity and dependency, were likely to be illness‐related reactions expressed by all patients with an acute disease. The greatest difference between the groups was found on emotionality: the control group found it difficult to control their emotions when they were ill while the experimental group felt emotionally more stable when they were ill.
Covert psychiatric disturbance in patients with globus pharyngis
Authors: Deary Ian J. , Wilson Janet A. , Mitchell Lauren , Marshall Tom
Published: July 2011

There is currently little agreement concerning the aetiology of globus pharyngis (néc hystericus), and both physical and psychological factors have been suggested as primary causes of this common disorder. Using validated research questionnaires we tested the hypothesis that there is significant psychiatric morbidity in female globus patients but not in males. One hundred and twenty‐one globus patients (90F, 31M) were tested on the Crown‐Crisp Experiential Index (CCEI), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Hysteroid Obsessoid Questionnaire (HOQ) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). Female globus patients, but not males, have low extraversion scores and high GHQ scores when compared with age‐ and sex‐matched ENT patient controls, and high mean levels of anxiety, depression and somatic concern on the CCEI. In females the mean total CCEI score was not significantly different from the mean of a psychiatric out‐patient group. The males had total CCEI scores similar to a group with no psychiatric symptoms. Globus patients did not have hysteroid traits. We conclude that a substantial minority of globus patients has significant psychiatric morbidity. It is important to exclude mild, reactive‐type depression and conversion disorder in these patients, in whom invasive physical investigations are inappropriate.
The Second Sheffield Psychotherapy Project: Rationale, design and preliminary outcome data
Authors: Shapiro David A. , Barkham Michael , Hardy Gillian E. , Morrison Leslie A.
Published: July 2011

The cost‐efficiency of psychotherapy research can be enhanced by (a) dissemination of the rationale and design of large‐scale investigations whilst still under way, (b) incorporation of process measures within comparative outcome studies, (c) cumulative development of a series of related studies, and (d) sharing of recordings and other data with other investigators. We present the rationale and design, including full details of process and outcome measures, of the second Sheffield psychotherapy project, in which 120 white‐collar, professional and managerial employees presenting with major depressive disorder receive either eight or 16 sessions of either prescriptive (cognitive/behavioural) or exploratory (relationship‐oriented) therapy in a 2 × 2 design. Ethical considerations prompted the analysis of preliminary outcome data on 48 clients. Results suggested substantial clinical improvement, of similar magnitude for both methods and both durations of treatment, except that exploratory therapy appeared more effective than prescriptive in relation to interpersonal difficulties. Other workers are invited to build collaboratively on this research by making their own process analyses of recordings available from this study, relating these analyses to the existing impact and outcome data, and developing comparable data sets based on the design and initial results of this project.
Life‐events, coping strategies, social resources, and somatic complaints among combat stress reaction casualties
Authors: Solomon Zahava , Mikulincer Mario , Habershaim Nava
Published: July 2011

This study examined the relationships of life‐events, coping strategies, and social resources on the one hand and self‐report of somatic problems following the stress of combat on the other. The sample consisted of 255 Israeli soldiers who suffered a combat stress reaction episode during the 1982 Lebanon War and were followed up one and two years after their participation in combat. Correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between life‐events, coping, and social resources and somatic complaints. However, regression analyses found that after prior somatization and current psychiatric status were controlled for, the level of perceived social resources was the only variable that significantly contributed to somatization. Theoretical and methodological implications of the findings are discussed.
Internal vs. external determinants of coping responses to stressful life‐events in the elderly
Authors: Patterson Thomas L. , Smith Lawrence W. , Grant Igor , Clopton Paul , Josepho Sharon , Yager Joel
Published: July 2011

Coping appears to function in the relationship between stressful life‐events and health. Factors that may influence an individual's use of a particular coping strategy, however, are not well understood. Coping consistency within individuals and across situations was examined in a longitudinal study of 74 independently living elderly persons, as were the effects of the type of event experienced, appraisal of its degree of threat, and demographic variables on coping behaviour. Correlational analyses indicated that coping responses were more a function of event type than of an individual's consistent style. A number of distinct life‐events were associated with particular types of coping responses. The degree of threat, one's expectation of the changeability of an event, and one's appraisal of possible courses of action were also correlated with specific coping behaviours. Age was negatively correlated with problem‐focused coping and total number of coping responses. This study suggests that the type of stressful event an individual experiences may be a more important general determinant of one's coping response than is one's overriding propensity to cope in a particular way.
Transforming identities: A repertory grid case study of the transition to motherhood
Authors: Smith Jonathan Alan
Published: July 2011

This study follows one woman through her pregnancy and the transition to motherhood, exploring the relationship between this life‐event and aspects of her personal identity.

Repertory grids were obtained from her four times during the transition, and at the end of the study she completed retrospective grids for how she thought she was during the pregnancy. Changes in the grids were analysed and the contemporaneous and retrospective grids compared. The graphical analysis was discussed with the participant.

The study finds a growing integration in the woman's personal construct system (both intrapersonal and interpersonal) during the pregnancy. Discrepancies in the woman's retrospective perception were also found, and are discussed in terms of selective self‐perception or construction. The woman's reaction to the analysis is included in the paper.

The study illustrates a methodology for exploring reflexivity, which is of growing concern in a number of areas of social science.
Women's anticipation and experience of childbirth: The independence of fulfilment, unpleasantness and pain
Authors: Salmon Peter , Miller Rebecca , Drew Nicholas C.
Published: July 2011

Adjectives or phrases used by women in their description of childbirth were identified by interviewing two groups of 10 women, one drawn from an antenatal clinic, the other following delivery of a healthy child. The terms obtained were formed into a questionnaire on which 106 antenatal women described their expectations of childbirth and 82 postnatal women described their experience. Principal components analysis revealed two important findings. First, the ratings were multidimensional; that is, a dimension of fulfilment and achievement was independent of one of emotional feeling. Second, painfulness was not associated with either dimension.
Maternal personality and sex of infant
Authors: Grant Valerie J.
Published: July 2011

This study investigated the hypothesis that dominant women are more likely to conceive sons. A Maternal Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) was constructed, using items from Cattell's 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire. Respondents were 85 women, mainly in the first trimester of pregnancy. Those who later bore sons were found to have scored higher on dominance items (p < .003) than those who later bore daughters.
The in vivo manipulation of alcohol‐related beliefs in male social drinkers in a naturalistic setting
Authors: Oei T. P. S. , Foley J. , Young R. McD.
Published: July 2011

Earlier research shows that alcohol expectancies are related to alcohol consumption. However, how the alcohol expectancies are related to drinking in a public bar is still unknown. This paper examines this relationship in 10 moderate—heavy male social drinkers attending alternatively to both alcohol dependent and non‐dependent cognitive sets of alcohol use. When discussing the alcohol dependent expectancies, these drinkers consumed significantly less alcohol compared with their consumption when discussing non‐alcohol dependent expectancies. This group effect was also corroborated by a within‐subject analysis of the data. The implications of the relationship between beliefs and drinking behaviour in terms of a cognitive behaviour model of alcohol use are briefly discussed.
Service requests of acute in‐patients and perceived pattern of provision at discharge
Authors: Whalan Graham S. , Mushet Greta L.
Published: July 2011

Over a seven‐month period all patients with non‐psychotic disorders admitted to an acute psychiatric unit were surveyed concerning the kind of help they wished to obtain during their stay. At discharge, ratings of the amount of help received in the various categories were obtained. It was found that, on admission, patients gave high priority to a number of psychological treatment requests and that, on discharge, they saw these as having been relatively less well provided for. Shifts from passive forms of help to those requiring more active participation during the course of hospitalization were also noted.
Overdosing as communication: A cultural perspective
Authors: Hodes Matthew
Published: July 2011

The recent epidemic of suicide attempts by overdosing has been explained in different ways. The suggestion that overdosing is a form of language or communication is explored here. Understanding the meaning of the communication requires consideration of the culture in which overdosing occurs, and some relevant cultural changes are discussed. How the overdose functions as communication between people is explained in terms of the properties of a communication system. The full meaning needs to be understood in relation to the individual's social world. The overdose may have different meanings for different family members and these are linked to different affective responses. Overdosing occurs in individuals who are relatively powerless, and the implications of this are discussed.
Rigidity of construing of self and significant others and psychological disorder
Authors: Button Eric J.
Published: July 2011

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that more rigid construing of self and others is more common in non‐psychotic psychological disorder than in the general population. Thirty‐one adult referrals to either a psychiatric day hospital or a clinical psychology service were compared with 31 matched normal controls using a repertory grid. There was no support for the hypothesis, but there was evidence of greater negativity of self‐construing in the client group. The implications of these findings for clinical practice are discussed.
Relationships among semantic differential change measures of splitting, self‐fragmentation and object relations in borderline psychopathology
Authors: Greene Les R.
Published: July 2011

This pilot study investigated associations among change measures in a sample of borderline patients participating in an intensive, group‐oriented day treatment programme. Change scores over a four‐month period were calculated from measures of splitting dynamics, self‐perceptions, and experiences of interpersonal relationships. Correlations provided partial empirical support for the hypothesized associations among these variables. Findings suggested that as splitting decreased, patients developed a more benevolent, and more anaclitic, view of self‐in‐the‐world.
A comparison of the affective well‐being of young and middle‐aged unemployed men matched for length of unemployment
Authors: Broomhall Helen S. , Winefield Anthony H.
Published: July 2011

A sample of young unemployed men (mean age: 21.7 years) was compared with a sample of middle‐aged unemployed men (mean age: 47.8 years) on a range of psychological and demographic/background variables. The groups were fortuitously matched for length of unemployment, with the average duration of current unemployment being 20.0 months for the young group and 17.9 months for the middle‐aged group. The middle‐aged group displayed poorer mental health, less life satisfaction and greater work involvement than the young group but the groups did not differ in self‐esteem. For the young group the best predictor of well‐being was perceived adequacy of social support and for the middle‐aged group the best predictor was participation in leisure activities involving other people. It was concluded that the poorer mental health displayed by middle‐aged unemployed men is not explained by the fact that they have, in general, been unemployed for longer than their young counterparts. In both groups, the best predictor of affective well‐being was a measure (albeit a different measure) of social support. These conclusions can only be regarded as tentative, however, because of the small sample sizes. Implications of these findings for community support programmes for both young and middle‐aged unemployed groups are discussed.
Discipline strategies and parental perceptions of preschool children with asthma
Authors: Eiser Christine , Eiser J. Richard , Town Carole , Tripp John H.
Published: July 2011

Parents of 37 children with asthma (aged between three and five years) and of 37 healthy controls were interviewed about their involvement in everyday care, discipline practices, perceptions of their child and situations which were particularly stressful. There was little correlation between mothers' and fathers' preferences for different discipline practices. There was, however, greater agreement in their perceptions. Parents of children with asthma did not differ from those of healthy controls in discipline practices. However, children with asthma were perceived to be generally less healthy. Parents of those with asthma also reported a greater number of everyday situations to be stressful. These data do not support traditional assumptions that parents of children with asthma are more permissive or overindulgent. At least in this preschool sample, there was only limited indication of adverse effects of chronic disease on parenting practices.
Type A behaviour pattern, extraversion, neuroticism and psychological distress
Authors: Cramer Duncan
Published: July 2011

The factorial structure of a nine‐item Framingham Type A Scale, the 30‐item General Health Questionnaire, the 57‐item Eysenck Personality Inventory and a 20‐item checklist of predominantly physical symptoms was examined in a nationally representative sample of 3065 women and 2520 men. For both women and men, the six principal components extracted from the 116 items and orthogonally rotated clearly corresponded to the six variables of psychological distress, neuroticism, symptoms, extraversion, the Lie scale and the Type A behaviour pattern. While Type A was positively correlated with neuroticism, psychological distress, extraversion and symptoms, there was no support for the idea that it could be more parsimoniously subsumed under these variables. Type A also showed a significant but very small positive association with self‐reported coronary heart disease in men, although the correlations between heart disease and psychological distress, neuroticism and symptoms were more positive.
If ‘A–B’ does not predict heart disease, why bother with it? A comment on Ivancevich & Matteson
Authors: Ray J. J.
Published: July 2011

A recent article by Ivancevich & Matteson notes many problems with research into the ‘A–B’ personality but recommends continued research into the construct. It is pointed out that these authors omit consideration of much of the relevant literature and that, when the omitted work is included, the ‘A–B’ construct must be viewed as a false trail which should now be abandoned.
Death of an institution*
Authors: Kaplan Tony
Published: July 2011

The impact on an institution of the death of its leader is examined. The vulnerability to loss and change that was engendered and the decline and eventual demise of the organization is described. A way of understanding the process of grief in institutions, drawing on psychoanalytic, attachment and systems theory, is proposed.
Evidence that defence mechanisms are more related to personality than to symptoms
Authors: Tauschke Elizabeth , Helmes Edward , Merskey Harold
Published: July 2011

The Defense Mechanisms Inventory is one of the more popular instruments for examining hypothetical dynamic mechanisms. It is known to correlate with some measures of personality and mood. We proposed that, as measures of personality and measures of defence mechanisms are considered to have a common origin in early experience, they should be more strongly correlated than measures of mood, given equal power in the measures of the dependent variables. In this connection we report the relationships which were found between scores on the subscales of the Inventory and the Hysteroid/Obsessoid Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. There was only a weak relationship between anxiety or depression on the one hand and the Defense Mechanisms Inventory on the other. The highest correlation noted in this regard was Pearson's r = .18, p = .065 between anxiety and the scale Turning Against Self (TAS). The Hysteroid/Obsessoid Questionnaire showed a positive relationship between high scores (hysteroid, i.e. extraverted) and the scale TAO (Turning Against the Object) and a negative relationship for the TAS scale (r = −.290, p = .003). Thus the Defense Mechanisms Inventory showed a stronger relationship with personality than with mood.
Social support and psychological distress in women and men
Authors: Cramer Duncan
Published: July 2011

The relationship between psychological distress and social support was investigated, along with various other health‐relevant variables, in a nationally representative sample of some 2050 women and 1873 men, who also returned the self‐completion questionnaire in the 1984–85 British Health and Lifestyle Survey. Psychological distress was measured with the 30‐item General Health Questionnaire. Stepwise regression analyses indicated that the quality of family support accounted for a significant increase of 0.2–1.0 per cent of the variance in the GHQ for women and 0.8–1.9 per cent for men. The correlation between family support and distress was reduced from −.13 to −.04 for women and from −.15 to −.10 for men when all other variables were partialled out. It was highest (−.33) for the better qualified women and men in the youngest (18–24) age group.
Infants born at risk: Consequences for maternal post‐partum adjustment
Authors: Bennett Dawn E. , Slade Pauline
Published: July 2011

The role of infant risk and social support as predictors of post‐partum adjustment was investigated. Fifty‐three mothers whose infants reflected the range of neonatal conditions were interviewed six weeks after discharge of their infant from hospital. They were assessed on measures of emotional distress, depressive symptoms, social support and perceptions of, and concerns about, their infant and themselves. The results indicated that mothers of higher risk infants reported higher levels of emotional distress and depressive symptomatology, more concerns about themselves and their baby, more difficulty in expressing affection towards their baby and greater dissatisfaction with their social support.

Using multiple regression techniques, depressive symptoms were predicted by neonatal risk and dissatisfaction with social support from family and friends, while emotional distress was predicted by neonatal risk and dissatisfaction with social support from the infant's father. The study underlines the need to place more emphasis on infant variables as factors in maternal post‐partum adjustment.
The environmental intergenerational transmission of alcohol problems: A comparison of two hypotheses
Authors: Orford Jim , Velleman Richard
Published: July 2011

Two competing hypotheses concerning the mechanism of transmission of excessive substance use from one generation to the next are tested, using data from a study of 16‐ to 35‐year‐old offspring of problem‐drinking parents. The ‘positive influence’ hypothesis predicts that the more positive has been the offspring's relationship with the problem‐drinking parent during upbringing, the greater the risk of excessive drinking or drug taking in young adulthood. This hypothesis received support only for women with fathers with drinking problems. The ‘relationship deficiency’ hypothesis predicts that those offspring most at risk are those who have had the more negative relationships with parents. This hypothesis received some support in the case of men with mothers with drinking problems: this subgroup of offspring were more at risk if they reported having had poor relationships with their fathers. It is concluded that the environmental intergenerational transmission of problems of excessive substance use occurs via a variety of mechanisms which are likely to be of differential importance in different subgroups.
The concept of dependence as developed by Birtchnell: A critical evaluation
Authors: Cadbury Stephanie
Published: July 2011

Birtchnell (1988) appeals for an accurate definition of dependence. Such accuracy would help with measurement, prevention and treatment of depression. He describes dependence as a developmental deficiency. In so doing, he presupposes a psychodynamic trait‐based, and gender‐related development model, but does not acknowledge its influence on his thinking. Birtchnell's analysis has three types of problem. The reasoning may be questioned because of faulty inferential leaps, undue reliance on the concept of ‘maturity’, the use of a tautology, (‘The dependent person is … dependent’), internal contradictions, and a questionable analogy between children's and adults' behaviour. Secondly, he appears to suggest that there is empirical evidence to support his theoretical approach, but he does not provide explicit evidence. He draws conclusions about causal links and neglects alternative interpretations, especially the transactional interpersonal element in social relationships. Finally, the analysis is potentially weakened by what may be described as an androcentric bias and relies upon a ‘medical model’ of psychological disorder, which fails to consider the impact of social influences on the expression of emotion. The author argues that it is at present premature and inappropriate to define dependence, but appeals for methods of research which would be more helpful in understanding it.
Predisposition to emotional distress and psychiatric illness amongst doctors: The role of unconscious and experiential factors
Authors: Johnson W. D. K.
Published: July 2011

This paper explores the contribution of unconscious and experiential factors in accounting for the high rates of depression, alcohol and drug abuse and suicide within the medical profession.

The first part of the paper reviews the literature on motivations to study medicine and proposes that, for some doctors, a component of their decision is a response to unconscious drives to compensate for childhood experiences of parental impotence, or emotional neglect.

The second part of the paper utilizes the theoretical framework of Kohut to argue that these childhood experiences may also result in the development of a narcissistic disturbance, and a vulnerable self‐esteem. A model is outlined of how this may contribute to the development of emotional distress and psychiatric illness through the creation of a state of dependence on patients, emotional detachment and the denial of personal vulnerability. It is proposed that preventative strategies will need to include changing the emotionally ‘abusive’ nature of medical education, which tends to exacerbate this process.
Psychogenic needs and psychiatric symptoms in young Swedish women
Authors: Holmlund Ulla
Published: July 2011

In a longitudinal study of personality, 66 women completed the Cesarec Marke Personality Schedule, a Swedish personality inventory, in order to assess their psychogenic needs at the age of 15 and 25. Psychiatric symptoms and a number of background variables were assessed independently after the completion of the Cesarec Marke Personality Schedule, with the aim of examining whether traits and background variables were related to psychiatric symptoms.

The psychogenic needs Defence of Status and Guilt Feelings at the age of 15 were positively and significantly related to depressive and anxiety symptoms and high score on psychiatric morbidity in general. The psychogenic needs Defence of Status, Guilt Feelings and Succourance at the age of 25 were significantly related to the symptom constructs Somatization, Interpersonal‐sensitivity, Depression, Anxiety‐phobia, and General Morbidity. Subjects with a low score of psychiatric symptoms differed from high scoring subjects by having been raised by older parents, experienced a secure childhood, better relationships with siblings and peers, and a longer education.

It may be hypothesized that high scores on Defence of Status and Guilt Feelings in combination with less favourable background variables may constitute a vulnerability factor for depression and anxiety.
Organization scores of self and other on the repertory grid
Authors: Curtin Theresa , Leitner L. M.
Published: July 2011

Traditional repertory grid studies of construct system organization have assumed that measures of organization derived from the construing of others are equivalent to measures derived from the construing of self. They also have assumed that constructs generated around the construing of others can be used to construe the self. Finally, they have assumed that the self is a unitary concept that does not vary across contexts. This study provides some empirical data on these assumptions by comparing the construction of self and others on repertory grids. Only moderate correlations between the organization of self and others were found on grid measures of construct independence and construct integration. Higher relationships were found on measures of construct system meaningfulness and the constructed use of categories. The implications of these data for repertory grid research are discussed.
The relationship between individual differences in defensive style and concept formation
Authors: Szalai John Paul , Eagle Morris N.
Published: July 2011

The relationship between defensive style and concept formation with aggressive and neutral stimuli was investigated. Very strong relationships were found between the use of avoidant and repressive defenses and the number of errors made in acquiring and utilizing an aggressive concept. This relationship was not found for the neutral concept. The results suggest the importance of directing attention to the relevant stimulus dimension in efficient concept formation. Insofar as defensive style involves a particular way of deploying attention (e.g. avoidance of a particular content) and insofar as the affective nature of the stimulus material lends itself to the elicitation of defensive reactions, individual differences in defensive style can serve as a robust predictor of efficiency of concept formation.
Maternal personality and sex of infant: A reply to James
Authors: Grant Valerie J.
Published: July 2011

In response to James (1992), further material is cited, both empirical and theoretical. The former is supportive of the pre‐pregnant personality of the mother being related to the sex of the child conceived, and the latter is supportive of the post‐pregnancy personality of the mother being relevant to the psychological development of the child as seen in very early mother‐infant interactions. Suggestions for future research are offered.
Psychoanalytic views of aggression: Some theoretical problems
Authors: Pedder Jonathan
Published: July 2011

Various problems in relation to psychoanalytic theories of aggression are considered in a review which is by no means exhaustive but includes areas which have puzzled and interested the author. First to be considered is why the concept of aggression as a major drive was a relative late‐comer in psychoanalysis; next the contentious concept of a ‘death instinct’ and some of the factors in Freud's lifetime which may have contributed to both. Then it is suggested that we seem to have theories of aggression which might be called primary or secondary in two different senses. First is the question whether aggression is innate or secondary to frustration. In another sense, primary and secondary theories of aggression seem to survive paralleling Freud's original primary and secondary theories of anxiety. In this sense the primary theory survives as an explanation of psychosomatic disorder. Lastly, the link between suicide and murder is considered and the turning of aggression against the self in depression and self‐destructive attacks.
Therapeutic strategies and outcomes: Perspectives from different cultures
Authors: Noon J. Mitchell , Lewis J. Rees
Published: July 2011

Two forms of psychological therapy, one Japanese the other Euro/American, are described and compared. It is suggested that each identifies comparable goals for individual change. However, each differs in the means by which change is induced. The consensus concerning goals is taken as evidence of universal values in the definition of the fully functioning self. However, the divergence in means by which these goals are attained reflects specific cultural differences. The implications of these differences are related to individualistic versus relational values within the cultures discussed. It is proposed that the comparisons have implications for the practice of any specific form of psychotherapy on members of a culture other than that within which the therapy has developed.
The belief in the transmigration of souls: Psychotherapy of a Druze patient with severe anxiety reaction
Authors: Daie Netzer , Witztum Eliezer , Mark Mordechai , Rabinowitz Stanley
Published: July 2011

In this paper the culture‐sensitive psychotherapy of a 19‐year‐old Druze patient with severe anxiety reaction is described. The patient explained his anxiety and his symptoms as stemming from violent death in his former life and subsequent transmigration. The therapists joined the patient's explanatory model and previous traditional healing, adding hypnotic suggestion which relieved the symptoms. The relationship of patient symptomatology to cultural background, multiple personality disorder, possession and dissociation is discussed. The strategic combination of culture‐specific and modern psychiatric approaches is advocated in similar cases.
Sense of self in recovery from severe mental illness
Authors: Davidson Larry , Strauss John S.
Published: July 2011

This report based on research interviews conducted with persons struggling to recover from prolonged psychiatric disorders suggests that the rediscovery and reconstruction of an enduring sense of the self as an active and responsible agent provides an important aspect of improvement. This process of developing a functional sense of self in the midst of persisting psychotic symptoms and dysfunction is described, and its implications for understanding severe mental illness and processes of change are discussed. It is suggested that viewing the development of a dynamic sense of self as central to the improvement process provides a coherent thread which ties together diverse research findings concerning factors influencing course and outcome of illness. It is also suggested that for treatment and rehabilitation to elicit and foster a more functional sense of self, models of improvement will need to allow for, and encourage, a more active and collaborative role for the person with the disorder.
Therapy factors in treating severely ill psychiatric patients
Authors: Modestin Jiri , Schwarzenbach Felix A. , Würmle Othmar
Published: July 2011

We studied therapeutic factors influencing suicide during out‐patient treatment in severely ill discharged psychiatric in‐patients. A subsample of 25 suicide and 27 control patients were all treated by psychiatrists at the time of their suicide or at a corresponding point of time. We were not able to identify any significant psychosocial or clinical pre‐discharge differences between the two groups. After discharge, the patients of the control group were treated by psychiatrists with substantially longer professional training‐plus‐experience, the therapist's experience being the most important therapy factor contributing to the different outcome. On the whole, the contribution of the therapy factors was modest, however, explaining only 26 per cent of the group variance.
Structural equation modelling of some of the determinants of suicide risk
Authors: Koslowsky Meni , Bleich Avi , Apter Alan , Solomon Zahava , Wagner Benny , Greenspoon Alexander
Published: July 2011

Much of the psychological research with suicidal patients has examined, individually or in combination, correlates and predictors of the various measures in the suicide process. The present study investigated suicidal risk as an outcome measure. Several questionnaires were administered to a sample of 94 soldiers, 61 of whom had manifested some suicidal symptoms. Using LISREL analysis, the data showed that the best model had suicide risk as directly influenced by depression and indirectly by impulsivity.
How specific are negative automatic thoughts to a depressed population? An exploratory study
Authors: Kumari Nirmal , Blackburn Ivy‐Marie
Published: July 2011

This paper is concerned with the relationship between negative or dysfunctional automatic thoughts and dysphoric mood in a non‐clinical population. It addresses the question of how specific are these automatic thoughts to a depressed population. Negative automatic thoughts were obtained from 27 normal subjects via a thought‐sampling method using the Daily Record of Dysfunctional Thoughts Form (Beck, Rush, Shaw & Emery, 1979) over a two‐week period. A thought‐content analysis was conducted. The resultant data were compared using χ2 with Blackburn & Eunson's (1989) data from depressed patients. The results presented in this paper indicate that basic cognitive distortions occur in a normal population, but differ qualitatively and quantitatively from those found in depressed patients.
Mood states and minor illness
Authors: Evans Philip D. , Edgerton Nick
Published: July 2011

Mood and health reports from 65 administrative and clerical staff were obtained daily over a period of several weeks. Three mood factors emerged from the aggregated data which appear to be most suitably labelled: happiness, tense depression and hostile depression. Subjects high on hostile depression suffered more from colds. Subjects scoring highly on tense depressed mood reported more insomnia, head and neck aches. The results, especially in regard to hostile depression, are discussed in a wider context, including possible overlap with core affective aspects of the well‐known Type A coronary risk construct. Finally, psychoimmunological interpretations of the link between hostile depression and vulnerability to colds are considered.
The concept of sign in the work of Vygotsky, Winnicott and Bakhtin: Further integration of object relations theory and activity theory
Authors: Leiman Mikael
Published: July 2011

In a recent paper Ryle introduced the idea of integrating object relations theory and activity theory, a conceptual tradition originated by Vygotsky and developed by a number of Soviet psychologists during the previous decades.

A specific aspect of this integrative perspective will be examined, implied in Ryle's paper but not elaborated by him. It is the issue of sign mediation which was Vygotsky's primary contribution to the methodological problems of modern psychology. The aim is to show that object relations theory, especially the work of Winnicott, may bring fresh understanding into Vygotsky's early notions. It is further claimed that, by introducing the contribution of Mikhail Bakhtin and his circle to the notion of sign mediation, the profundity in Winnicott's understanding of the transitional object and of the potential space may be more fully appreciated. At the same time the ideas of Winnicott and Bakhtin will jointly clarify the limitations in Vygotsky's sign conception.
Mysticism and psychosis: The fate of Ben Zoma
Authors: Greenberg David , Witztum Eliezer , Buchbinder Jacob T.
Published: July 2011

This paper examines the link between psychosis and mystical study through the cases of four young men who ‘entered the garden’ of Jewish mystical speculation and subsequently became psychotic. The role of such study as a precipitating factor is suggested, as three had no signs of disturbance prior to their mystical studies. All had suffered personal losses, and their choice of mystical texts and rites showed that their attraction to mysticism included a search for atonement for guilt they felt over their loss. The features of normative mysticism are presented with each case and it is apparent that hallucinations, grandiose and paranoid delusions, and social withdrawal, are phenomena that do not distinguish the psychotic from the mystic. Diagnosis of psychosis is made on the basis of duration of the state, ability to control entry into the state and the associated deterioration of habits, particularly the neglect of daily religious duties. These findings emphasize the need for the examining psychiatrist to be aware of the cultural background, despite the presence of seemingly florid psychopathology.
Could ‘objective, experimental’ analysis of human motivation really improve psychotherapy?
Authors: Evans Chris
Published: July 2011

Cattell is a founding father of modern, multivariate psychological method and his paper is a fine introduction to his views on motivation which have perhaps received less attention in Britain than they deserve. However, it was the unanimous opinion of three referees that it needed to be followed by a dissenting voice. In this counterargument I suggest that Cattell's presentation is: (1) ingenuously confident of the power of multivariate statistical methods; (2) naïve about the interactive nature of the clinical relationship.
Comments on the objective analysis of motivation and psychotherapy
Authors: Kline Paul
Published: July 2011

There are several important issues raised in the paper by Cattell and in the comments upon it: the empirical status of the Cattell factors; the experimental verification of factors; difficulties with confirmatory analysis and the value of P‐analysis. The relevance of these points is explicated in this paper.
Causal beliefs about depression in depressed patients, clinical psychologists and lay persons
Authors: Kuyken Willem , Brewin C. R. , Power M. J. , Furnham A.
Published: July 2011

Non‐depressed lay persons have been shown to have extensive and accurate knowledge about depression (Rippere, 1977, 1980a, b, 1981a) that is underpinned by a structure that resembles current academic theories of the disorder (Furnham & Kuyken, 1991). In this study a semi‐structured interview schedule and a number of rating scales were used to determine and compare the nature and extent of depressed patients', clinical psychologists', and lay persons' beliefs about the causes of depression. We confirmed that depressed patients and non‐depressed lay persons alike have relatively extensive beliefs about the causes of depression which are comparable to those held by clinical psychologists. However, depressed patients tend to endorse biological explanations of the causes of depression to a greater extent than clinical psychologists. In contrast, clinical psychologists assign a more important causal role to unconscious processes and childhood vulnerability factors than do either depressed patients or non‐depressed lay controls.
The psychological well‐being of infertile women after a failed IVF attempt: The effects of coping
Authors: Hynes Gloria J. , Callan Victor J. , Terry Deborah J. , Gallois Cynthia
Published: July 2011

One hundred infertile women and 73 female controls completed three measures of psychological well‐being (depression, self‐esteem and self‐confidence) on two occasions (Times 1 and 2), coinciding with the beginning and end of a failed IVF attempt by the infertile women. At Time 2, the IVF women were also asked to indicate whether they had used a number of different coping reponses, in relation to dealing with their failed IVF attempt. As predicted, IVF women were more depressed and had lower self‐esteem than controls prior to the treatment cycle, and both before and after the treatment cycle they were less self‐confident. After the failed IVF procedure, IVF women were more depressed and had lower levels of self‐esteem than they did prior to the treatment cycle. In terms of the effects of coping on the post‐attempt well‐being of the IVF women, the use of problem‐focused coping was associated with high levels of well‐being, while the use of avoidance coping and seeking social support was associated with low levels of well‐being.
Critique of a Kleinian case presentation
Authors: Ryle Anthony
Published: July 2011

An account of Kleinian analysis illustrating the concept of the pathological organization is discussed from an alternative theoretical position, that of cognitive analytic therapy. It is suggested that the alternative model of development, while still essentially an object relations theory, produces a different understanding and that the therapeutic method associated with it offers a more powerful means of aiding personality integration.
Facilitators and Regulators: Cross‐cultural and methodological considerations
Authors: Scher Anat , Blumberg Orly
Published: July 2011

In a model of motherhood Raphael‐Leff (1983) delineated two basic orientations: the Facilitator who adapts to the baby and the Regulator who expects the baby to adapt. The FR questionnaire was completed by 97 Israeli mothers of six‐month‐old infants; 34 per cent were classified as Facilitators, 34 per cent Regulators, 15 per cent Intermediates and 17 per cent were labelled Bipolars. Future research should explore the characteristics of this latter group and its prevalence in other societies.
Psychodynamic aspects of delayed abortion decisions
Authors: Cancelmo Joseph A. , Hart Beth , Herman Jack L. , Rashbaum William K. , Stein Janet L.
Published: July 2011

Multiple regression analysis of a wide range of variables for a sample of 58 women obtaining elective abortion identified psychodynamic factors as the only statistically significant explanations for seeking abortion at later gestational ages. Delay among these women was associated with greater disturbance in the basic sense of self as noted in indications of gender/sexual conflict on their drawings of a human figure, and lower achievement orientation (‘striving’) as expressed by lower levels of striving attributed to parents or other primary (early) caretakers. These findings are discussed as an active taking charge of an unintended pregnancy for women who present early for abortion; for those who delay, attempts to affirm a deficient feminine identification and/or reunite psychologically with the early caretaker are discussed as underlying dynamics.
Defining delusion and the serving of professional interests: The case of ‘paranoia’
Authors: Harper David J.
Published: July 2011

This paper examines the related concepts of paranoia and delusion from a broadly social constructionist perspective. Through an analysis of the American Psychiatric Association's (1987) definition of delusion, inherent inconsistencies and implied philosophical assumptions are highlighted. It is argued that psychiatric definitions are not merely academic and clinical but are a site of political and professional interest. The implications of such an analysis are discussed with particular reference to developing new directions for research and clinical practice.