The response of African Americans to the Rorschach: a review of the research

Studies exploring the performance of African Americans on the Rorschach were reviewed. The review revealed the limited number of studies done in this area of study, as well as the fact that the research paradigm for all of this research has been limited to comparing the Rorschach performance of African Americans to that of Whites. However, no one has offered a rationale for such a research paradigm. Without a scientific reason to expect personality to be a function of race, another research design was recommended, one that explores the effect of a variety of aspects of living conditions on the development of the personality of African Americans.

[Prostitution--a sequela of sexual abuse]

AIDS has consolidated the isolated state of prostitutes and stigmatized them as HIV carriers. Due to the threat of AIDS, the Berlin senate has worked out a programme for prostitutes. For the programme to succeed, knowledge of the causes of prostitution is a prerequisite, such as sexual abuse during childhood and adolescence. The sexually abused who have gone without psychological help are prone to prostitution. The work and its evaluation by a psychologist is presented to help counselling Services on Venereal Diseases in their work.

Applying stigma theory to epilepsy: a test of a conceptual model

Tested a theoretical model that sought to explain the association of stigma to self-esteem among adolescents with epilepsy. The model depicted hypothesized relationships among several characteristics of epilepsy (seizure type, seizure frequency, and duration of epilepsy), perceived stigma, management of disclosure, and self-esteem. Subjects were 64 adolescents 12 to 20 years old with idiopathic epilepsy. In a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, variables were entered into the equation in the order specified a priori by the model. Results showed that the data supported some hypotheses tested in the model: (a) Seizure type and seizure frequency predicted low self-esteem, and (b) the belief that epilepsy is stigmatizing predicted low self-esteem. However, several relationships of major theoretical significance were not realized. Explanations for why some aspects of stigma theory were not supported by the data are offered.

Bulimia nervosa in Hong Kong Chinese patients

In contrast to the West, bulimic disorders are rarer than anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong. Four female normal-weight bulimic patients with mostly typical clinical features and conspicuous morbidity are reported. The case histories support the hypothesis that binge-eating is used to regulate unpleasant effect.

Early life experiences and residential stability: a ten-year perspective on sheltered care

The effects of early family losses and disruptions on the ability of seriously mentally disabled individuals to achieve stable living arrangements were investigated. Factors found to predict instability were early losses, early disruptions, psychological symptoms, and youth. Among factors found to predict stability were increased age and a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Predicting symptoms of depression from reports of early parenting: a one-year prospective study in a community sample

The purpose of this study was to determine whether (reported) parental over involvement and lack of affection identify initially healthy subjects at risk for depression. One thousand subjects from the province of Utrecht, the Netherlands were randomly selected by using telephone addresses and asked to participate in a one-year prospective study on psychological risk factors of depression. From the 108 subjects that finally participated on both occasions, the reports of parental upbringing (Parental Bonding Instrument) of initially non-depressed subjects with a Zung Self-rating Depression Scale score below 49 points were used to predict new cases of depression one year later. Initially non-depressed subjects who reported maternal over involvement in the upper quartile of the distribution had an 8.5-fold increased risk (95% confidence interval 0.9 to 80.6) of becoming depressed one year later. Although initial reports of low paternal affection were positively associated with initial symptoms of depression, this characteristic failed to show predictive value. Parental upbringing deficiencies have frequently been shown in cross-sectional inpatient studies in which retrospective retrieval from memory because of depressive state characteristics may have caused negative colouring. Our results would suggest that maternal over involvement reported in the absence of a depressed mood still proves to be an important psychological risk factor in the aetiology of depression.

Posttraumatic stress disorder among homeless men and women

Six hundred homeless men and 300 homeless women in St. Louis were systematically interviewed using the revised Diagnostic Interview Schedule that includes a module for assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Most subjects with PTSD had an additional life-time psychiatric diagnosis. No consistent pattern of association was apparent, however, between individual diagnoses and either traumatic events or PTSD. In almost three-fourths of both men and women, the onset of PTSD had preceded the onset of homelessness. Childhood histories of abuse and family fighting were predictive of both traumatic events and PTSD. The results suggest that factors leading to PTSD in the study sample began long before the onset of homelessness and may overlap with factors operative in the genesis of homelessness.

[A brief psychotherapeutic synergistic approach in child and adolescent psychiatry]

The controversy between the concepts of family therapy and systemic therapy is one issue to design a synergetic concept of brief therapy in the psychiatric treatment of children and adolescents. Some principles of the radical-constructivism, systemic theory an the psychology of narratives will be discussed and related to concepts of solution-oriented brief therapy. A case example demonstrates the perspectives of this approach in the ambulant psychiatric treatment.

General deviance syndrome: Expanded hierarchical evaluations at four ages from early adolescence to adulthood

Problem behavior theory predicts that norm-violating attitudes and activities reflect a syndrome. Hierarchical latent-factor models examined the integrity of this syndrome at 4 developmental stages from early adolescence to adulthood. Latent constructs of Drug Use, Academic Orientation, Social Conformity, Criminal Behavior, and Sexual Involvement were assessed up to 4 times at 4-year intervals in a community sample. Second-order constructs of General Deviance confirmed integrity of the syndrome at these life stages, although subtle changes in certain components of the construct emerged. Criminal Behavior was more determined by General Deviance in adulthood than in young adulthood, whereas Sexual Involvement became less determined by the common factor between these times. Drug Use and low Social Conformity were consistently strong indicators of General Deviance.

Genes, viruses and neurodevelopmental schizophrenia

Recent neuroimaging and neuropathological studies suggest a developmental origin for schizophrenia. Some cases may, therefore, be caused by a genetic defect in the specification of brain development. Early environmental hazards such as obstetric complications, and maternal exposure during pregnancy to influenza epidemics, have also been found to increase the risk of later schizophrenia. The relationship between the prevalence of influenza and birth date has been found more consistently for female than male schizophrenics. Female schizophrenia is also associated with a higher risk of schizophrenia in first degree relatives. This raises the question of whether part of the genetic predisposition to schizophrenia may comprise an abnormal reaction to maternal influenza.

Classification of adult attachment: an integrative taxonomy from attachment and psychoanalytic theories

Developmental and psychoanalytic theorists have focused increasingly on empirically determined early childhood antecedents of adult attachments, with several resulting taxonomic models. This article suggests a theoretically based and clinically based model of attachment consistent with both psychoanalytic and attachment theories, resulting in an integrative taxonomy of four adult attachment styles: dependent, avoidant, hostile, and resistant-ambivalent. These styles reflect behavioral manifestations of dependence and anger, as derived from the interaction of primitive relational drives, defenses, and interpersonal experience. In addition to theoretical construction, brief clinical examples are presented to facilitate discussion of the model.

Association of attitude toward mathematics with self-efficacy, causal attribution, and personality traits

983 children from Grades 1, 2, and 3 of the middle schools participated as subjects. Of these, 339 children were judged as having higher "self-efficacy" than the others. The associations of attitude toward mathematics with self-efficacy, attributions, and personality traits measured on the Shimoda Personality Inventory were investigated. Analysis showed that attitude toward mathematics had significant effects on mathematics performance. In attribution of effects to mathematics performance there were differences among the children across the grades. Among personality traits the immodithymic trait was significantly correlated with attitude toward mathematics.

Adult children of alcoholics in treatment programs for anxiety disorders and substance abuse

Studies of the first-degree relatives of patients with alcoholism and anxiety disorders have identified a significant overlap of these disorders. Forty percent of the patients in an outpatient anxiety disorder program were adult children of alcoholics (ACOA), a proportion similar to that found in the substance abuse program. The ACOAs in both programs were younger, had higher co-dependency scores and were younger when they had their first psychiatric contact than the controls. The adult children of alcoholics who had anxiety disorders were more likely to be female and their alcoholic parents were less likely to have had psychiatric antecedents to alcoholism. Aside from substance abuse, similarities in sociodemographic variables and the impact of the parents' alcoholism were noted, reinforcing the hypothesis that vulnerabilities to anxiety disorders and alcoholism overlap.

Need for achievement and performance on measures of behavioral fluency

This investigation was designed to assess the relationship between a validated personality characteristic, need for achievement (nAch), and performance on measures of behavioral fluency. To infer this relationship, 50 neurologically intact college undergraduates were administered a questionnaire assessing nAch and a battery of tests including a short form of the WAIS and measures of behavioral fluency (i.e., verbal fluency). Statistical analysis indicated that subjects high on nAch obtained higher scores than subjects low on nAch on the measures of figural fluency and the WAIS Verbal Scale. No significant difference on verbal fluency was seen between the two groups. Secondly, the group high on nAch also had a higher mean Verbal IQ but not a higher mean Performance IQ as measured by a short form of the WAIS than did subjects scoring low on nAch.

Psychiatric symptoms in drug abusing adolescents

Psychiatric symptoms and psychosocial variables were investigated in 46 adolescent drug abusers referred to a psychiatric clinic. There were high rates of behavioural symptoms (mostly oppositional and delinquent), emotional symptoms (mostly depressive) and an abundance of adverse life events and family dynamics. When compared to a control group of non-abusing adolescents, drug users were only more behaviourally disturbed. Cluster analysis of the drug abusing adolescents showed that they fell into three distinct groups of (1) behavioural dysfunction (76%); (2) family dysfunction (16%); and (3) emotional dysfunction (8). The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Family dysfunction as a risk factor in the development of antisocial behavior

Many studies have indicated a positive correlation between family dysfunction and subsequent cognitive and behavioral problems in offspring. The purpose of this study was to compare the family histories of 118 inmates with those of 45 college students and to document differential patterns. The possible social implications of the data are discussed as well as directions for further research.

Summer and school-term youth employment: ecological and longitudinal analyses

The effects of summer versus school-year employment on self-esteem, peer relationships, and family social climate were investigated in a sample of 135 adolescents. Students were assessed the summer before entrance into high school and during the second semester of high school, using a longitudinal design. Cross-sectional findings indicated that, during the summer, 52 workers possessed higher self-esteem than 79 nonworkers. Longitudinal analysis indicated that 10 girls who worked only during the school term reported increases in both stress and activity with peers. At our final assessment, the families of 49 students who did not work at either time had become more conflicted and less cohesive than families of all other students. The developmental implications of these results are discussed.

The use of hypnotic age progressions as prognostic, ego-strengthening, and integrating techniques

Age progression as a hypnotherapeutic technique is mentioned infrequently in the literature when compared with its counterpart, age regression. In this paper we explore the use of progressions, or "views of the future," as prognostic indicators of therapeutic progress and as valuable tools for ego strengthening and for the integration of clinical material. Age progressions vary in the types of suggestions given and can be used to promote growth on multiple levels, facilitating treatment goals and deepening the working-through process. We present six cases in which we used different types of age progressions, and we discuss the significance of the progressions used in each case, within the context of relevant clinical material. We conclude from our observations that the use of hypnotic progressions can be a sustaining, valuable aspect of hypnotherapy, particularly in providing an index of the current direction and progression of the therapy process itself.

Adolescent drug use, health and personality

Four factors have confounded the association between drug use and morbidity: (a) known drug users may be less healthy than unknown drug users; (b) drug users are rarely compared to control subjects; (c) the socio-economic status of drug users predisposes them to ill-health; (d) the personality of drug users predisposes them to ill-health. Here, controlling for these confounds, in a study of 210 adolescent drug users it was found that subjective ill-health was more strongly related to drug use than was objective ill-health. Drug use was related to neuroticism and psychopathic deviance. Controlling for personality, drug use accounted for little additional variance in health. It is concluded that drug use and health are not strongly related amongst adolescent drug users, although, because of their personalities, drug users tend not to feel well. Implications are discussed for the self-treatment explanation of drug use and for the design of preventative programmes.

Genetic transmission and improved diagnosis of schizophrenia from pedigrees of adoptees

In previous investigations of the prevalence of schizophrenic illness among the biological relatives of schizophrenic adoptees in Copenhagen and the remainder of Denmark, the operation of heritable spectrum illness was clearly implicated. The findings supporting that conclusion are briefly summarized. Classical chronic schizophrenia was found almost exclusively in the biological relatives of chronic schizophrenic probands and its prevalence was ten times greater than that in the biological relatives of controls. These were global diagnoses, made without knowledge of the relationships and family histories of the subjects, and based upon the descriptions of dementia praecox or schizophrenia by Kraepelin and Bleuler. They showed considerably greater sensitivity and at least equal specificity in comparison with diagnoses made on the same material in accordance with operational criteria as exemplified by DSM-III. The prevalence of a disorder in the biological relatives of adoptees with that disorder in comparison with biological relatives of control adoptees offers a useful test for the expression of genetic factors in the disorder, but also a much needed evaluation of the validity of diagnoses based on clinical observation.

Self-regulatory mechanisms governing gender development

This study tested predictions about development of gender-related thought and action from social cognitive theory. Children at 4 levels of gender constancy were assessed for their gender knowledge, personal gender standards, and gender-linked behavior under different situational conditions. Irrespective of gender constancy level, all children engaged in more same-sex than cross-sex typed behavior. Younger children reacted in a gender stereotypic manner to peers' gender-linked behavior but did not regulate their own behavior on the basis of personal gender standards. Older children exhibited substantial self-regulatory guidance based on personal standards. They expressed anticipatory self-approval for same-sex typed behavior and self-criticism for cross-sex typed behavior. Their anticipatory self-sanctions, in turn, predicted their actual gender-linked behavior. Neither gender knowledge nor gender constancy predicted gender-linked behavior. These results lend support to social cognitive theory that evaluation and regulation of gender-linked conduct shifts developmentally from anticipatory social sanctions to anticipatory self-sanctions rooted in personal standards.