Review of Handbook of depression in children and adolescents.

Reviews the book, Handbook of depression in children and adolescents by John R. Z. Abela and Benjamin L. Hankin (see record 2008-01178-000). The editors of this book embraced the ambitious objective of assembling a comprehensive review of the burgeoning literature on the etiology, prevention, and treatment of depression in children and adolescents. The book is divided into five parts. In an unusually brief introductory chapter, the editors emphasise the need for a critical analysis of the research on diverse theories of the etiology of depression in young people and coverage of interventions based on current theories. It is clear that this objective is met throughout the book. Abela and Hankin warn the reader that the reviews may generate more questions than answers. They hope the book will inspire the development of integrative and developmentally sensitive models. The book provides a comprehensive overview that clearly conveys the vibrancy of research in this area. The current format separates research on etiology from that on intervention. The authors of individual chapters do a good job of briefly highlighting the etiological factors on which the interventions are based. In a future edition, it would be very helpful for the editors to play a more explicit role in providing integrative syntheses to weave the themes together. In addition, to lay the foundation for the inclusion of positive psychotherapy and positive youth development programs, it would be useful to include a chapter addressing resilience and protective factors. In conclusion, this book will be appreciated by clinical scientists and scientist-practitioners alike. Abela and Hankin are to be congratulated for editing a book that convinces the reader that this is an exciting research area with great promise for further development of prevention and treatment of depression in children and adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Norman S. Endler (1931-2003).

Remembers the life of Norman S. Endler, Distinguished Research Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Psychology at York University. Endler passed away as a result of a brain tumor in Toronto on May 7, 2003. The author recalls Endler's life and career, highlighting his contributions as a pioneer in espousing an interactional view of personality. Norm is best known for his interactional model of personality, especially as applied to anxiety, stress, and coping (e.g., Endler, "Interactionism: A Personality Model, But Not Yet A Theory" in M. M. Page (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation 1981: Personality-Current Theory and Research, 1983). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Letter to The Editor: Canadian Psychologist": Reply to Dr. Zubek.

Responds to commentary by Zubek (see record 2007-02141-039) on the review of A. W. Pressey & J. P. Zubek's book (see record 2007-02140-023). The purpose of the review was to evaluate a unique and difficult undertaking: a collection of general psychology reprints in a Canadian context. A second but equally important intent was to invite reader reflection on some of the broader issues incidentally exposed by the nature of the task. The reviewer concluded that the book was not well enough balanced to be unreservedly recommended. And so they were not! Dr. Zubek's nine points of complaint must be evaluated by the individual reader who will take the time to scan the original review. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Encounters with great psychologists: Twelve dramatic portraits.

Reviews the book, Encounters with great psychologists: Twelve dramatic portraits by John H. Kunkel (see record 1989-97254-000). John Kunkel has given us a new form of fiction, one which is also intended to lure the lay reader toward an appreciation of that scientific enterprise which is Psychology, and, toward an appreciation of the men who have made it what it is today. The book recounts twelve separate fictional discussions, each of which is between an historical figure in Psychology and some largely imaginary others. These others feed each protagonist not only considerable quantities of good food and drink, but they feed convenient questions as well, questions which allow each great man to show us his wisdom, his gentleness, and his love of humanity. Kunkel's book is not all fiction. It is in part a history of psychology in biography. Each narration is preceded by an abbreviated history of the man and his ideas, setting the scene. Each narration is followed by a debriefing, in which some of the fiction is separated from fact and the references that Kunkel used to spawn his romance are shared with the reader in the form of recommended further reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychology of human possibility and constraint.

Reviews the book, The psychology of human possibility and constraint by J. Martin and J. Sugarman (see record 1999-02336-000). This wide-ranging, compact, dense, yet very readable little book presents many of the key elements of a badly needed, more credible philosophy of social science for academic and professional psychologists. The book gives no specific examples of theories or research findings that might illustrate what is meant by a better kind of "knowledge" or "theory" in psychology, so the reader is left somewhat high and dry concerning this question. Perhaps it is simply the case that these questions about what might be the best kind of social and psychological inquiry and what sense to make of the plethora of theories and findings to date, are difficult, murky, and on the frontier of a hermeneutic reenvisioning of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Methods of theoretical psychology.

Reviews the book, Methods of theoretical psychology by Andre Kukla (see record 2001-18914-000). In this book, the author argues that the traditional manner of studying theoretical psychology does not sufficiently prepare students to critically analyze selected theories. Therefore, this book aims to prepare the reader to analyze and advance the theoretical literature in any tradition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Beyond Piaget: A philosophical psychology.

Reviews the book, Beyond Piaget: A philosophical psychology by Jean-Claude Brief (1983). Dr. Brief's book is a serious attempt by a philosopher to draw epistemological and general psychological implications from Piaget's life work. In substance the book offers Dr. Brief's own neo-Piagetian model of cognitive development and genetic epistemology. Dr. Brief's is a purely theoretical reformulation of Piaget's enterprise. Its interest for psychologists lies in the fact that this is a philosophically more explicit reformulation, quite similar to other currently popular neo-Piagetian views. The book is well written, but psychologists may find, particularly in the second half, that the notions and considerations discussed are not explicit enough, or familiar enough, to add clarity to their understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Individuality in Pain and Suffering.

Reviews the book, Individuality in Pain and Suffering by Asenath Petrie (see record 1968-13362-000). One might expect from the title of this book that the author was going to supply the reader with new insights, or new theories, or new findings, or new ways of looking at the problems of pain and suffering. Instead it became increasingly obvious to the reviewer that the author is merely supplying us with new words for talking about the way people react to painful stimuli. Petrie's book is little involved (except for the reader) in pain and suffering. Her discussion of pain would probably require less than ten pages altogether. What the author appears to have done is written a book advocating her particular personality theory and reviewing all of the research that has been done relevant to that theory. This reviewer feels that, as far as any contribution to the literature on pain and suffering is concerned, the signal to noise ratio of this book does not match the price to usefulness ratio. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biosynthesis of the ansamycin antibiotic rifamycin: deductions from the molecular analysis of the rif biosynthetic gene cluster of Amycolatopsis mediterranei S699

Depression is a common disorder which causes intense personal suffering and socio-occupational dysfunction. It also imposes a heavy economic burden on society. It has been shown that between 29% and 46% of depressed patients fail to respond adequately to antidepressant medication. Treatment-resistant depression may contribute to the morbidity and mortality associated with affective illness. When treatment resistance is suspected, the patient's history should be reevaluated particularly regarding diagnostic subtypes and comorbidity. An assessment of treatment adequacy in terms of dose, duration and compliance should also be made. Treatment strategies for treatment-resistant depression should be systematic and empirically grounded because of the risk of increased resistance and loss of time in case of a random trial-and-error approach, and the inherent risks in certain novel strategies. A stepped care approach to treatment-resistant depression involves optimization of the current drug under trial, augmentation with drugs such as lithium and triiodothyronine, and switching to other somatic therapies such as electroconvulsive therapy and monoamine inhibitors. Only if these strategies fail, should novel treatments such as the use of venlafaxine, antidepressant combinations and augmentation with sleep deprivation be considered. Experimental strategies such as the use of antiglucocorticoids and sex hormones, which carry considerable risk, should be restricted to research settings. Somatotherapy should be combined in all cases with depression-specific psychotherapy. Psychosurgery should be considered only in truly intractable cases. Rational and energetic treatment can adequately help a large majority of patients with treatment-resistant depression.     

Review of Understanding depression: Feminist social constructionist approaches.

Reviews the book, Understanding depression: Feminist social constructionist approaches by Janet M. Stoppard (see record 1999-04422-000). Dr. Stoppard has written an excellent overview that brings together mainstream psychological and feminist research and writing about women and depression. The author, a feminist psychologist, brings a balanced view to this area, which has typically seen feminists and mainstream psychologists either avoiding or dismissing each other's work. Thus this book presents a unique and important integration that both feminists and psychologists should find useful. This is an excellent book that will be of interest to a wide range of readers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-reports of depression and state-trait anxiety: Evidence for differential assessment.

Several researchers have found anxiety and depression to be indistinguishable in nonclinical samples and have suggested that both constructs may be components of a general psychological distress process. Another possibility is that overlap is due to the psychometric limitations of scales used. A series of exploratory factor analyses were conducted in a nonclinical sample (N?=?605) using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales (EMAS; N. S. Endler et al, 1991). Both state and trait anxiety and depression could be differentiated with the BDI and the EMAS but not with the STAI. Some theoretical models of negative affectivity or general psychopathology may be premature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On catching form perception in a mathematical box.

Reviews the book, Figural synthesis by Peter C. Dodwell and Terry Caelli (1984). Most of the chapters of Figural Synthesis are summaries of their authors' attempts to catch figural synthesis in a mathematical box. Such endeavors have been productive in other areas of science, and some argue that mathematization is the only way to achieve testable theories and useful explanations. Other chapters of the book argue that all of the mathematical boxes so far proposed contain gaping holes caused by the swift passage of heavy empirical phenomena. These authors assert that more needs to be done to catch these phenomena in a logical box. Each reader will have to decide the issue for himself or herself. The editors provide no answers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Working it out: Using exercise in psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Working it out: Using exercise in psychotherapy by Kate F. Hays (see record 1999-02984-000). In this book, Hays presents a thoughtful, albeit at times controversial, advocacy for integration of physical exercise into the practice of psychotherapy in an explicit way. Although many mental health practitioners recognize the healing value of physical exercise and even encourage their patients to pursue physical activity, as part of their treatment, Dr. Hays takes this approach to an entirely different level. She argues persuasively that physical exercise, promoted by the therapist in the context of a cognitive-behavioral treatment model, represents for many who seek the services of a psychotherapist a treatment of first choice. She supports her views on this matter by skillfully weaving throughout the book a comprehensive and scholarly review of relevant clinical empirical literature, along with case studies from her own clinical practice. The case studies are a particularly appealing part of this book because they clearly and instructively give the reader an impression of what transpires between Dr. Hays and her clients or patients. One senses that above all she is a warm, empathic, and sensitive clinician who skillfully applies a blend of cognitive-behavioral interventions, enhanced by individually tailored regimens of physical exercise. As stated in the introduction, the author intends "…to inspire mental health professionals to bring to their work a clearer understanding of, interest in, and enthusiasm for exercise in the process of recovery from mental and emotional problems." Dr. Hays identifies practicing psychotherapists as the primary intended audience for her book, but it seems more likely to appeal to students in training for this craft. The more seasoned veterans among us are less likely to be inspired by Dr. Hays's enthusiasm for jogging with our patients, and her proposals for doing this certainly raises many serious concerns and potentially hazardous issues regarding the nature of the relationship between therapist and client. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)