Self-Efficacy, Values, and Complementarity in Dyadic Interactions: Integrating Interpersonal and Social-Cognitive Theory

Cognitive Behavioural Analysis System of Psychotherapy for Treatment-Resistant Depression: Adaptation to a Group Modality

Studies researching psychotherapeutic interventions for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) are quite new to the field. The Cognitive Behavioural Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) is the only model developed specifically to treat the chronically depressed patient. While empirical evidence indicates that CBASP is an effective treatment for chronic depression, little is known about its adaptation to a group modality. Treating these patients in a group approach would have the added benefits of being cost-effective and providing in vivo previously avoided interpersonal situations for practising social skills and role-plays. This single arm study asks whether CBASP adapted to a group modality can be effective. All patients received 12 CBASP group therapy sessions with two to four individual preparatory sessions before the group. Our results suggest that CBASP group treatment demonstrated positive effects on patient outcomes. Specifically, patients showed significant decreases in symptoms of depression and the use of emotion-oriented coping, as well as increases in overall social adjustment and interpersonal self-efficacy when compared to pretreatment levels. However, patients did not achieve normative levels in these areas by the end of treatment. These pilot results are encouraging and support further study of the effectiveness of CBASP group treatment with a control group.

Using Behavioral Mapping to Examine the Validity of the IPIP-IPC

Behavioral mapping, a method designed to relate behaviors to circumplex models, was used to examine the predictive validity of the International Personality Item Pool–Interpersonal Circumplex (IPIP-IPC). In this study, 96 participants first completed the IPIP-IPC and then were videotaped in a social interaction with a confederate. At the conclusion of this interaction, the Riverside Behavioral Q-Sort was used to code 64 different behaviors expressed by the participants. Results indicated that participants’ Riverside Behavioral Q-Sort interpersonal behaviors occurred in a manner predicted by their IPIP-IPC scores. Such findings suggest that the IPIP-IPC can predict a multitude of interpersonal behaviors expressed during a dyadic interaction.

The circumplex structure of interpersonal sensitivities

Previous research on aversive interpersonal behavior has provided limited links between interpersonal sensitivities and comprehensive models of personality and social behavior. Study 1 (N = 1,336) of this article demonstrated that interpersonal sensitivities can be mapped onto the interpersonal circumplex and that people generally find others' behavior that is least similar to their own generally most aversive. In Study 2 (N = 299), a broader array of correlates with interpersonal sensitivities was investigated, and results again suggested that interpersonal opposites are generally perceived as most aversive. Study 3 (N = 315) specified romantic, platonic, or nonclose relationships and again found this pattern. Conceptualizing sensitivities with the interpersonal circumplex model permits investigators to distinguish general from specific kinds of sensitivity, allows for tests of the convergent and discriminant validity of interpersonal sensitivities, and integrates sensitivities into a well-established nomological net composed of multiple constructs relevant to social behavior and interpersonal dysfunction.

Modeling stability and change in borderline personality disorder symptoms using the revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales-Big Five (IASR-B5)

Personality disorders have been defined as "stable over time." However, research now supports marked change in the symptoms of these disorders and significant individual variability in the trajectories across time. Using the Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders (Lenzenweger, 2006), we explore the ability of the Revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales--Big Five (IASR-B5; Trapnell & Wiggins, 1990) to predict individual variation in initial value and rate of change in borderline personality disorder symptoms. The dimensions of the IASR-B5 predict variability in initial symptoms and rates of change. Interaction effects emerged between Dominance and Conscientiousness, Love and Neuroticism, and Conscientiousness and Neuroticism in predicting initial symptoms; and between Dominance and Love and Love and Neuroticism in predicting rates of change, suggesting that the effects of broad domains of personality are not merely additive but conditional on each other.

An interpersonal perspective on the personality assessment process

Many aspects of therapeutic approaches to the personality assessment process derived from or are consistent with Sullivan's interpersonal approach to clinical practice, but the link between such approaches and contemporary interpersonal theory remains underdeveloped. In this article, I argue that contemporary interpersonal theory provides a valuable framework within which to conceptualize the personality assessment process. Specifically, I argue that interpersonal models can parsimoniously represent client behavior and can facilitate discussions of assessment data with assessees. Further, I show that hypotheses on the therapeutic mechanisms of personality assessment can be reframed in contemporary interpersonal metatheory so that they can be compared and tested directly.

Interpersonal circumplex descriptions of psychosocial risk factors for physical illness: application to hostility, neuroticism, and marital adjustment

Personality risk factors for physical illness are typically studied individually and apart from risk factors reflecting the social environment, potentially fostering a piecemeal understanding of psychosocial influences on health. Because it can be used to describe both personality and social relationship processes, the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) provides an integrative approach to psychosocial risk. In 301 married couples we examined IPC correlates of 3 risk factor domains: anger, hostility, and aggressiveness; neuroticism; and marital adjustment. Risk factors displayed IPC locations ranging from hostile dominance (e.g., verbal aggressiveness, marital conflict) to hostility (e.g., anger) to hostile submissiveness (e.g., anxiety, depression); protective factors (marital satisfaction and support) reflected warmth or friendliness in the IPC. Similar descriptions were found using self-reports and spouse ratings of IPC dimensions, indicating that interpersonal styles associated with risk factors do not simply reflect common method variance. Findings identify interpersonal processes reflecting low affiliation or high hostility as a common component of risk and indicate distinctions among risk factors along the dominance dimension.

The Agreeableness Asymmetry in First Impressions: Perceivers' Impulse to (Mis)judge Agreeableness and How It Is Moderated by Power

Prior research shows that perceivers can judge some traits better than others in first impressions of targets. However, questions remain about which traits perceivers naturally do infer. Here, the authors develop an account of the “agreeableness asymmetry”: Although perceivers show little ability to accurately gauge target agreeableness in first impressions, they find that agreeableness is generally the most commonly inferred disposition among the Big Five dimensions of personality (agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, and emotional stability). Using open-ended impressions based on photographs, videos, and face-to-face encounters, three studies show agreeableness as the most prevalently judged of the Big Five, although it is also poorly judged in both absolute and relative terms. The authors use interpersonal power to reveal an underlying mechanism. Manipulating the power of perceivers relative to targets substantially shifts impression content, suggesting that habitual interaction and relational concerns may partially explain perceiver's chronic interest in assessing agreeableness despite their limited ability to do so.