Adolescents' relationships with their mothers and fathers: Associations with depressive disorder and subdiagnostic symptomatology.

Family relationships across 3 groups of adolescents were compared: (a) those with unipolar depressive disorders (n=82); (b) those with subdiagnostic depressive symptoms (n=78); and (c) those without emotional or behavioral difficulties (n=83). Results based on multisource, multimethod constructs indicated that depressed adolescents, as well as those with subdiagnostic symptomatology, experience less supportive and more conflictual relationships with each of their parents than do healthy adolescents. These findings are notable in demonstrating that adverse father-adolescent relationships are associated with depressive symptomatology in much the same way as mother-adolescent relationships. As well, the findings add to the emerging evidence that adolescents with subdiagnostic symptoms experience difficulties in social relationships similar to those experienced by adolescents with depressive disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescents' theories about the development of their relationships with parents.

Assessed 100 undergraduates' developmental theories about their affective relationships with their parents, using a retrospective method. Ss used drawings and questionnaire ratings to portray their relationships with parents at 5 points between infancy and the present. From infancy to their current age, Ss portrayed their relationships in 2 major ways: They perceived themselves as gaining in responsibility, dominance, independence, and similarity from infancy to the present, whereas they portrayed their parents as experiencing a decline on these dimensions. For variables indicating closeness and love, however, there was a striking discontinuity in these linear trends: Although Ss perceived linear trends from infancy to adolescence, they depicted their current relationships as involving a great deal more love and closeness. They also portrayed their relationships with mothers and fathers somewhat differently. More responsibility was felt toward the mothers and they were portrayed as especially friendly, but Ss felt more similar to their fathers, whom they perceived as dominant. Results suggest that late adolescents construct theories of the affective components of their relationships with their parents to serve the needs of separation while maintaining a close affective tie to the parents. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The lens of personhood: Viewing the self and others in a multicultural society.

Explored some aspects of the subjective experience of individualism and collectivism in Israel, a society that simultaneously emphasizes both worldviews. Ss were Arab and Jewish Israeli students (Study 1 n?=?211, Study 2 n?=?370, Study 3 n?=?160, and Study 4 n?=?280). As hypothesized, endorsing individualism as a worldview was related to focusing on private aspects of the self and conceptualizing the self in terms of distinctions between the self and others. Hypotheses suggesting a relationship between collectivism, centrality of social identities to self-definition, a focus on public aspects of the self, and heightened perception of intergroup conflict were also supported by the data. Unexpectedly, endorsement of an individualistic worldview was also related to these variables. Discussion focuses on the meld of individualism and collectivism that may occur in Israel. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obligations to self and society in the United States and Germany.

"A questionnaire covering various value sentiments and a picture-story test for measuring n Achievement and n Affiliation were administered to 87 German and 74 United States male students preparing for college who had been carefully matched for age (around 18 years) and socio-economic background (largely upper middle class). A factor analysis of the questionnaire results yielded two factors that could be matched in the two countries and a third set of items that shifted from one factor to the other across countries. The 'switchover' items which dealt largely with decency and obligation to others were associated with Factor A ('rational striving') in Germany and were more strongly accepted by the Germans than by the Americans, as were also the Factor A items. In the United States, the switch-over items were associated with Factor B ('resigned cynicism') suggesting that acceptance of statements about strong obligations to others tend to be associated in the United States with a kind of deviant 'Un-American' passive resignation." (17 ref.) From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:1GB45M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Challenging established views on social issues: The power and limitations of research.

Research on social issues often becomes mission oriented and focused on change, but rather than promoting immediate practical applications, it more often is limited to promises, new methodologies, and excitement for coresearchers within a discipline. In rare instances, however, social research does generate real power that contributes to palpable change. With the aim of clarifying the limitations and the power of such research, this article reviews a program of research, starting in the 1950s in Quebec, that attempts to improve interpersonal and intergroup relations in this ethnolignuistically diversified society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists' views: APA's advocacy of and resource expenditure on social and professional issues.

This initial pilot survey was designed to examine the degree to which a random sample of the 1984 American Psychological Association (APA) membership agreed or disagreed with the organization's involvement in societal or professional issues. In general, the data suggest that respondents supported APA's involvement in both types of issues. However, an analysis showed that the members who responded (or 38% of the sample) supported APA's involvement in professional issues significantly more than they supported involvement in social issues, independent of whether involvement meant simple advocacy or included resource expenditure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescents' perception of discussions with parents and friends.

Examined 180 adolescents' perceptions of discussions with parents and friends, with reference to the academic/vocational, social/ethical, family, and peer domains. Ss completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. 30 males and 30 females represented each of 3 age groups: 12–13 yrs, 14–25 yrs, and 18–20 yrs. Discussion levels for parents remained substantial across ages in the academic/vocational, social/ethical, and family domains. Discussions with friends about these domains increased with age, and peer relationship issues were discussed more with friends than with parents in all age groups. For mutuality of discussion, parents tended to explain their views more than they tried to understand the Ss' views in all domains. Friends' efforts to explain and to understand did not differ significantly for most domains. The findings are discussed in terms of the differences in procedures of social construction between parents' and friends' socializing influences. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prison inmates' explanations for interpersonal violence: Accounts and attributions.

Explanations given by 44 22–51 yr old male violent offenders for 226 incidents of violence were coded for locus of attribution (e.g., self, other, situation) and for excuse vs justification and were examined for their relationship to certain situational variables (e.g., sex of victim, presence of 3rd parties). Results indicate significant associations that were consistent with predictions from attribution theory. Ss' explanations for their violent behavior were more external than internal, and explanations for violent episodes were more often justifications than excuses. Explanations in the form of excuses were given more frequently when the victim died. Attributions of single perpetrators were less external than those of Ss who acted with accomplices. There was more victim attribution and less situation attribution when the victim was an intimate or familiar. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The amnesic syndrome: Descriptions and explanations.

Reviews and analyzes major trends in the study of human amnesia and catalogs similarities and differences among amnesias. Six symptoms of different forms of amnesia overlap, and these 6 points of intersection constitute the amnesic syndrome. Various theories that have been proposed to account for the amnesic syndrome are evaluated, and an alternative based on the distinction between effortful and automatic encoding is developed. It is argued that encoding that occurs automatically in normal persons requires effort in amnesics. Consequently an amnesic must either expend more effort than normal persons to encode new information or fail to encode this information with the same richness as nonamnesics. In either case, memory will suffer. (4 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wife assaulter's explanations for assault: The neutralization of self-punishment.

75 men who had histories of repeated wife assault described the circumstances of their most recent assault. 21% of Ss excused their assault as not their responsibility while accepting that the act was wrong. The remaining 79% accepted personal responsibility but justified their actions typically by blaming the victim or discounting the behavior as due to uncontrollable arousal or subgroup norms. Ss who attributed the cause of their violence to their wives were most likely to minimize the frequency, severity, and consequences of their violence. Self-referred Ss were more likely to attribute the cause of violence to themselves than were court-referred Ss. The relevance of the results for A. Bandura's (1976–1986) concept of neutralization of self-punishment is discussed. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions as inferences and explanations: Conjunction effects.

When asked to estimate the probability of an interpretation for an event, observers may either assess whether the event can give rise to the interpretation (an inference set) or assess whether the interpretation can give rise to the event (an explanation set). These two strategies may moderate the conjunction effects (Leddo, Abelson, & Gross, 1984)—attributors' tendency to assign lower probabilities to single-reason interpretations than to their conjunctions. Our two studies showed that explanation-set instructions (e.g., "assess the probability that the interpretation could be the reason for the event") produced stronger conjunction effects than inference-set instructions (e.g., "assess the probability that the interpretation could be inferred from the event"). This Set (inference or explanation)?×?Reason (multiple or single) interaction was not affected by whether the events involved voluntary or involuntary behavior or by whether they described events that happened or failed to happen. In a third study, we found that subjects in an inference set were more likely to report that they estimated probability of the interpretation (as opposed to probability of the behavior) than were subjects in an explanation set. The extent to which the explanation set may account for conjunction effects obtained in other studies was discussed. Possible implications and determinants of the inference-explanation distinction were also considered. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

CUDCP-affiliated clinical psychology student views of their science training.

Scientist-practitioner models of clinical psychology training emphasize the quality of science training that students receive, but student views on this topic have not been adequately explored. The current study reports findings of a large-scale survey distributed to 163 clinical psychology doctoral programs affiliated with CUDCP. Student representatives from 55 programs (34%) returned responses from a total of 611 students. Although this response rate was not ideal, a number of important patterns in student perspectives emerged. The overwhelming majority indicated that science training was very important to them. Overall, students reported experiencing a fairly balanced emphasis on science and clinical work, and endorsed receiving a good amount of high-quality training in science. However, discrepancies were noted in the degree to which science training in some areas is emphasized versus desired. Implications for training experiences are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Causal explanations as a risk factor for depression: Theory and evidence.

The attributional reformulation of the learned helplessness model as outlined by L. Y. Abramson et al (see record 1979-00305-001) claims that an explanatory style in which bad events are explained by internal, stable, and global causes is associated with depressive symptoms. This style is claimed to be a risk factor for subsequent depression when bad events are encountered. A variety of new investigations of the helplessness reformulation are described that have employed 5 research strategies: cross-sectional correlational studies, longitudinal studies, experiments of nature, laboratory experiments, and case studies. Ss in these investigations included children, college students, poor women, depressed patients, and prisoners. Most of these studies involved the use of the Attributional Style Questionnaire and measures such as the Beck Depression Inventory and Multiple Affect Adjective Check List. These studies converge in their support for the learned helplessness reformulation. (120 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions as inferences and explanations: Effects on discounting.

Observers assessing the probability of an interpretation for a behavioral event may (a) assess the probability that certain inferences can be drawn from the event (inference set) or (b) assess the probability that some explanation can cause the event (explanation set). We suggested that inference set subjects would be more likely than explanation set subjects to discount less plausible interpretations in favor of more plausible interpretations. In three studies observers either estimated the probability that some inferences can be drawn from an event or estimated the probability that some explanation can be the cause for the event. As predicted, the inference set produced a higher level of discounting. Studies 1 and 3 also showed that future-oriented observers made attributions similar to those made in the inference set. However, this effect was open to alternative interpretations in Study 1 and failed to reach statistical significance in Study 3. There was also an indication that inference set subjects were more likely to make correspondent attributions. Additional tests of the effects of time orientation and the possible relation between the inference–explanation distinction and actor–observer differences were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Of the self, by the self, and for the self: An intra-relational perspective on intra-psychic attunement and psychological change.

This article explores the concept of self-relatedness, integrating ideas drawn from attachment theory, developmental studies, object relations, and interpersonal neurobiology with a multiplicity model of self. I suggest that because self-regulation begins as a dyadic interpersonal process between child and attachment figure, the mind renders such regulatory abilities across the life span via an analogous, intra-relational dyad. This “internal attachment system,” comprising states representing our subjective experience and states reflecting on and appraising that experience coordinates its activity in ways that best regulate the individual's affects, thoughts, perceptions, and behavior. Chronic trauma and neglect create patterns of intrapsychic relatedness that compromise connection, receptivity, adaptive engagement, and harmony among elements of the self system, thereby disrupting the mind's development toward greater coherence and complexity (Siegel, 2007). This article will also discuss the clinical application of intra-relational principles with pervasively maltreated people using a method called Intra-relational (I-R) Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (Lamagna & Gleiser, 2007). Applying Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy's use of dyadic affect regulation, the tracking of emergent somatic experience, and the processing positive effects associated with transformation to inner work with various internal parts of the self, I-R seeks to foster attunement and receptivity among previously dissociated parts of the individual. Creating intrapsychic safety provides an opening through which defensively excluded memories and associated emotions, thoughts, and impulses can be processed and integrated and increasingly coherent and complex forms of self-organization can be achieved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Statistical methods in psychology journals: Guidelines and explanations.

In the light of continuing debate over the applications of significance testing in psychology journals and following the publication of J. Cohen's (1994) article, the Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA) of the American Psychological Association (APA) convened a committee called the Task Force on Statistical Interference (TFSI) whose charge was to elucidate some of the controversial issues surrounding applications of statistics including significance testing and its alternatives; alternative underlying models and data transformation; and newer methods made possible by powerful computers (BSA, personal communication, February 28, 1996). After extensive discussion, the BSA recommended that publishing an article in American Psychologist, as a way to initiate discussion in the field about changes in current practices of data analysis and reporting may be appropriate. This report follows that request. Following each guideline are comments, explanations, or elaborations assembled by L. Wilkinson for the task force and under its review. The report is concerned with the use of statistical methods only and is not meant as an assessment of research methods in general. The title and format of the report are adapted from an article by J. C. Bailar and F. Mosteller (1988). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regulating the interpersonal self: Strategic self-regulation for coping with rejection sensitivity.

People high in rejection sensitivity (RS) anxiously expect rejection and are at risk for interpersonal and personal distress. Two studies examined the role of self-regulation through strategic attention deployment in moderating the link between RS and maladaptive outcomes. Self-regulation was assessed by the delay of gratification (DG) paradigm in childhood. In Study 1, preschoolers from the Stanford University community who participated in the DG paradigm were assessed 20 years later. Study 2 assessed low-income, minority middle school children on comparable measures. DG ability buffered high-RS people from interpersonal difficulties (aggression, peer rejection) and diminished well-being (e.g., low self-worth, higher drug use). The protective effect of DG ability on high-RS children's self-worth is explained by reduced interpersonal problems. Attentional mechanisms underlying the interaction between RS and strategic self-regulation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Familial Concordance by Sex with Respect to Schizophrenia": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by David Rosenthal (Psychological Bulletin, 1962, 59[4], 401-421). The column headings Male and Female should be reversed in Table 1, page 403. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1963-07079-001.) The literature regarding concordance rates with respect to schizophrenia among relatives of both sexes is reviewed. These rates are generally found to be higher for female than male pairs and higher for same-sexed than opposite-sexed pairs of relatives in primary family groups, but not among collateral relatives. The possible role of sampling errors, genetic contributions, and psychological factors in generating such sex-concordance ratios is examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)