The darker side of accommodating others: Examining the interpersonal structure of maladaptive constructs

The association between trauma and interpersonal problems in a United States community mental health setting

OBJECTIVE

Previous research has documented associations between trauma and interpersonal problems. We examined the impact of trauma on interpersonal problems among depressed patients seeking treatment in a community mental health setting.

METHODS

A total of 453 patients seeking treatment and screened for a comparative effectiveness study of therapies for depression were included. We conducted analyses relating the 32-item inventory of interpersonal problems (IIP-32) to trauma measures.

RESULTS

99.1% of the sample experienced a traumatic event. There were significant associations between the total number of traumas, the number of sexually and physically assaultive traumas, and both gender and race. The number of sexually assaultive traumas was significantly related to the IIP-32 "too caring" subscale (simple r = 0.167, p < 0.001). Controlling for demographics and other IIP-32 subscales, the total number of traumas remained significantly related to the IIP-32 "too caring" domain (partial r = 0.163, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Traumatic events are prevalent among community populations and these experiences are associated with certain interpersonal problems. Trauma and interpersonal problems are key issues for the treatment of patients in the community mental health setting.

Depressive symptoms and unmitigated communion in support providers

In this research, we argue and demonstrate that the association between enacted (un)supportive behaviour and depressive symptoms is a function of the providers' levels of unmitigated communion (UC). UC is characterized by overinvolvement in others' problems, self‐neglect and externalized self‐evaluation. These characteristics appear to predispose individuals high in UC to experience depressive symptoms. As anticipated, we show that enacted supportive behaviour was negatively associated with depressive symptoms (Study 1 and 2), and enacted unsupportive behaviour was positively associated with depressive symptoms (Study 2), but only among individuals low in UC. Our findings are consistent with the idea that for high UC individuals, enacting supportive behaviour, or not enacting unsupportive behaviour, is insufficient to reduce their high levels of depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sex differences in interpersonal problems: does sexual orientation moderate?

Sexual orientation was examined as a moderator in the relation between biological sex and interpersonal problems. Participants were 60 lesbians, 45 heterosexual women, 37 gay men, and 39 heterosexual men, who completed the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex. Sexual orientation was found to moderate one of the eight interpersonal problems under study. Heterosexual women scored significantly higher than lesbian women in Non-assertive. Although hypothesized, gay men did not differ from heterosexual men along the Dominant-Cold quadrant. Implications of these results are discussed.

Employees’ Motivation for Personal Initiative

As organizational contexts are increasingly dynamic, the extent to which employees take initiative to facilitate success has become more important. We examine how employee motivation to get ahead (status striving) and get along with others (communion striving) predicts their proactive work behaviors, in the form of personal initiative, over and above employee accomplishment striving. Data collected from 165 employees indicates status striving has a positive and communion striving has a negative relationship with employee personal initiative. More importantly, the interaction between status and communion striving shows increased employee initiative when both status and communion striving increase from low to high levels. Altogether, our results suggest that employees’ initiative is increased when they are motivated by both getting ahead of and getting along with others at work.