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Objectives We evaluated measurement invariance of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ-15) Perceived Burdensomeness subscale across younger and older adult age groups as well as the construct validity of the Perceived Burdensomeness subscale by comparing nomological networks across age groups. Method We used nested multigroup confirmatory factor analyses to address measurement invariance and Fisher's r-to-z transformations to compare correlations between perceived burdensomeness and other constructs in younger and older samples. Results Results generally supported measurement invariance, but signals of differences in fit in older adults were present. The INQ-15 Perceived Burdensomeness subscale exhibited a significantly lower correlation with depressive symptoms in older adults compared to younger adults. Correlations between perceived burdensomeness and all other constructs were similar across age groups. Conclusion This study provides marginal support for measurement invariance of the INQ-15 Perceived Burdensomeness subscale across younger and older adults, but results also suggest age differences in the perceived burdensomeness construct.

Objective We tested a hypothesized model consistent with the notion that self-compassion mediates the association between negative life events and suicidal risk (viz., depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviors) in college students Method The sample was comprised of 331 college students. Self-compassion facets (viz., self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and overidentification) were used in testing for multiple mediation, controlling for sex. Results Common humanity, mindfulness, and overidentification were found to mediate the association between negative life events (NLE) and depressive symptoms. However, common humanity was found to be the only mediator of the association between NLE and suicidal behaviors. Conclusion These findings suggest that there are specific facets of self-compassion that account for the association between NLE and suicidal risk in college students and that (loss of) common humanity plays a central role in this process.

Objective The overarching purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among acculturative stress, self-esteem, and eating pathology in Asian American and Latina female college students. Method Participants (N = 638, mean age = 19.88) completed self-report measures of the variables of interest online. Results Bivariate correlations indicated that for women of both ethnic groups, acculturative stress was negatively correlated with self-esteem and positively correlated with eating pathology. Multigroup structural equation modeling indicated that for Asian American and Latina women, self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between acculturative stress and eating pathology. However, self-esteem did not serve as a significant moderator of this relationship for either ethnic group. Conclusion Overall, data suggest that acculturative stress is associated with increased eating pathology and self-esteem may mediate this relationship. These relationships suggest that assessment of eating pathology and self-esteem may be indicated for women presenting clinically with acculturative stress concerns.

OBJECTIVES: The interpersonal theory of suicide posits that perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness are risk factors for suicide ideation. To more comprehensively characterize this model, it is important to identify resilience factors. Forgiveness of oneself may attenuate the relation between perceived burdensomeness and suicide ideation. Similarly, hope might weaken the association between thwarted belongingness and suicide ideation. METHOD: We examined these relations cross-sectionally in a sample (N = 91) of older adults after including symptoms of depression and demographic variables in the models. RESULTS: Self-forgiveness moderated the relation between perceived burdensomeness and suicide ideation. Hope did not moderate the relation between thwarted belongingness and suicide ideation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that including resilience factors (i.e., self-forgiveness) in models of suicide ideation may result in better identification of those most at risk for suicide and may allow for more precise intervention targets. Language: en

Objective Transdiagnostic skills (e.g., emotion regulation, stress management) and related self-concepts (e.g., self-esteem) are associated with the pathogenesis and course of different mental disorders. Evidence suggests that skill deficits coincide with not only specific psychopathology but also psychological strain and disability. So far, studies examining the relevance of several skills for a patient's disability are lacking. The aim of the present study was the combined assessment of 7 skills and self-concept variables to simultaneously analyze their relevance for disability. Method We interviewed inpatients (N = 183) both on admission and discharge to assess 7 specific skills, 7 areas of daily living disability, and psychopathological distress. Results Results support a relationship between several skills and disability (especially stress management), even while controlling for psychopathology. The improvement of skills and related self-concepts during therapy contributed substantially to the improvement of disability ratings. Conclusion This study highlights the transdiagnostic importance of skills as well as the improvement of skills and related self-concepts as major determinants of disability. Parts of these effects are robust, even while controlling for psychopathology.

Objective Recently, researchers have called for therapeutic applications of behavioral primes (Shalev & Bargh, 2011). We evaluated whether courageous approach behavior might be facilitated through priming in a sample of spider fearful women. Method Undergraduate student women reporting elevated spider fear (N = 33, Age mean = 18.88) were recruited for this study. Participants completed self-report measures of spider fear and dispositional courage. They then completed either a courage or neutral word search prime, which was followed by a behavioral approach task involving a tarantula. Results Consistent with predictions, among those reporting lower dispositional courage, the courage prime led to reduced approach behavior relative to the neutral prime. However, no group differences were found among those high in dispositional courage. Conclusions These findings point to the importance of self-perceptions in moderating the effects of behavioral primes and suggest limitations to the use of such interventions with individuals with psychological dysfunction.

Many today suffer from an imbalance between life and life on the screen. When extreme, such as excessive gaming, clinicians retreat to familiar explanations, such as "Internet addiction." But the addiction concept is of limited value, limiting both research and treatment options. This article discusses an alternative. Pathological overuse is seen as a failed solution in which people become entrapped by technology's promise of delivering that which only life can offer, such as the grand adventure simulated in World of Warcraft. A two-part treatment approach of such "simulation entrapment" is described in which both the original problem and the entrapment are treated, the former by traditional psychodynamic psychotherapy and the later by highlighting differences between the technologically mediated experience and traditional experiences of being bodies together. The case of a college student suffering from pathological shame with excessive gaming as the failed solution is offered as an illustration.

Objective This research developed and tested the Military Stigma Scale (MSS), a 26-item scale, designed to measure public and self-stigma, two theorized core components of mental health stigma. Method The sample comprised 1,038 active duty soldiers recruited from a large Army installation. Soldiers’ mean age was 26.7 (standard deviation = 5.9) years, and 93.6% were male. The sample was randomly split into a scale development group (n = 520) and a confirmatory group (n = 518). Results Factor analysis conducted with the scale development group resulted in the adoption of two factors, named public and self-stigma, accounting for 52.1% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis conducted with the confirmatory group indicated good fit for the two-factor model. Both factors were components of a higher order stigma factor. The public and self-stigma scales for the exploratory and confirmatory groups demonstrated good internal consistency (α = .94 and .89; α = .95 and .87, respectively). Demographic differences in stigma were consistent with theory and previous empirical research: Soldiers who had seen a mental health provider scored lower in self-stigma than those who had not. Conclusions The MSS comprises two internally consistent dimensions that appear to capture the constructs of public and self-stigma. The overall results indicate that public and self-stigma are dimensions of stigma that are relevant to active duty soldiers and suggest the need to assess these dimensions in future military stigma research.

Building a therapeutic alliance with a patient with pathological narcissism or narcissistic personality disorder is a challenging process. A combined alliance building and diagnostic strategy is outlined that promotes patients' motivation and active engagement in identifying their own problems. The main focus is on identifying grandiosity, self-regulatory patterns, and behavioral fluctuations in their social and interpersonal contexts while engaging the patient in meaningful clarifications and collaborative inquiry. A definition of grandiosity as a diagnostic characterological trait is suggested, one that captures self-criticism, inferiority, and fragility in addition to superiority, assertiveness, perfectionism, high ideals, and self-enhancing and self-serving interpersonal behavior. These reformulations serve to expand the spectrum of grandiosity-promoting strivings and activities, capture their fluctuations, and help clinicians attend to narcissistic individuals' internal experiences and motivation as well as to their external presentation and interpersonal self-enhancing, self-serving, controlling, and aggressive behavior. A case example illustrates this process.

Behavioral activation (BA) has come to be recognized as an empirically supported treatment for depression. Despite the general success of the approach, many patients experience treatment failure. Based on behavioral models of depression, we present several reasons for treatment failure in BA, including patient inability to understand and adopt the treatment rationale, lack of awareness or ability to articulate and behave according to life values, behavioral noncompliance, and ineffectiveness of contingency management to increase exposure to environmental rewards and reduce contact with both aversive environmental events and reinforcement of depressed behavior. A case study of treatment failure with a depressed breast cancer patient is presented, along with recommendations to reduce failure rates in BA.

In a school-based, four-wave, longitudinal study, children (grades 4–7) and young adolescents (grades 6–9) completed questionnaires measuring depressive symptoms and depressive cognitions, including positive and negative cognitions on the Cognitive Triad Inventory for Children (CTI-C; Kaslow, Stark, Printz, Livingston, & Tsai, 1992) and self-perceived competence on the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC; Harter, 1985). Application of the Trait-State-Occasion model (Cole, Martin, & Steiger, 2005) revealed the existence of a time-invariant trait factor and a set of time-varying occasion factors. Gender differences emerged, indicating that some cognitive diatheses were more trait-like for girls than for boys (i.e., positive and negative cognitions on the CTI-C; self-perceived physical appearance and global self-worth on the SPPC). Implications focus on the emergent gender difference in depression, the design of longitudinal studies, and clinical decisions about the implementation of prevention versus intervention programs.

The study and practice of mindfulness is rapidly expanding in Western psychology. Recently developed self-report measures of mindfulness were derived from Western operationalizations and cross-cultural validation of many of these measures is lacking, particularly in Buddhist cultures. Therefore, this study examined the measurement equivalence of the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS) and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) among Thai (n=385) and American (n=365) college students. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis models fit to the data revealed that the KIMS lacked configural invariance across groups, which precluded subsequent invariance tests, and although the MAAS demonstrated configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance, there was no significant latent mean MAAS difference between Thais and Americans. These findings suggest that Eastern and Western conceptualizations of mindfulness may have important differences.

Well-being therapy (WBT) aims to enhance psychological well-being based on Ryff's (1989) six dimensions: autonomy, personal growth, environmental mastery, purpose in life, positive relations, and self-acceptance. Previous studies have documented the efficacy of this psychotherapy in treating patients with mood and anxiety disorders and in preventing relapse in recurrent depression. We discuss and illustrate the use of WBT in generalized anxiety disorder. We present a case of a patient suffering from generalized anxiety disorder treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy followed by WBT.

Strength-based assessment can enhance clinical clarity, improve the range of information, and provide a more complete picture of clients and their circumstances. Deficit-oriented assessment has improved the assessment and treatment of a number of disorders but, at the same time, has created a negative bias, considered strengths as clinical peripheries or by-products, tended to reduce clients to diagnostic categories, and created a power differential, which could be counterproductive to clinical efficacy. Strength-based assessment explores weaknesses as well as strengths to effectively deal with problems. We present a number of strength-based strategies for use in clinical practice. These strategies, we hope, will help clinicians to operationalize how strengths and weaknesses reverberate and contribute to a client's psychological status, which is comprehensive and guards against negative bias.

This article reviews the relationship deficits experienced by many individuals who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and proposes effective strategies, based on Imago Relationship Therapy (IRT), to assist them in communicating more effectively. The neurological underpinnings of the disorder often contribute to the development of poor social and communication skills and can lead to a lifetime of relationship difficulties. IRT, a brain-based approach, is compatible with the neurological challenges of living with ADHD because it slows the communication process, provides structure, reduces reactivity, and helps individuals to be fully present so that their loved one can feel fully heard and understood. The couple's dialogue strengthens relationships by encouraging the development of stronger listening skills, better self-control, and problem solving. Two case examples illustrate the clinical methods used.

Research on personality vulnerability to depression is characterized by a "main effect" approach, often at the expense of examining interactions among various dimensions of vulnerability. To compare the "main effect" and "interactive-synergetic" approaches, we utilized data from a longitudinal study of adolescent adjustment. Focusing on dependency, self-criticism, and efficacy, the three factors of the adolescent version of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ; Blatt, Schaffer, Bers, & Quinlan, 1992), we found support for the interactive-synergetic approach. Dependency and self-criticism interacted in predicting changes in depressive and internalizing symptoms (under low efficacy), and among boys-changes in internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results illuminate the synergetic interplay among dimensions of risk and resilience in clinical research and practice.

In his Tree of Knowledge (ToK) System, Henriques (2003) posits that the human ego or "self" has evolved because human beings are the only animals that have had to justify their behavior to others. This essay provides evidence for this Justification Hypothesis (JH) from everyday life sociology, starting with the work of George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, and focuses on research related to the concept of the "looking-glass self." Special emphasis is given to the pragmatics of speech acts, the presentation of self in interaction rituals, the accounts given by actors in justification of their actions, and the role of social norms and conformity in the large-scale justification systems commonly called "culture."

Many therapists who work with children and adolescents make extensive use of self-disclosure. However, these interventions have received little attention in the literature, and the basis for using them has not been well established. A developmental/relational perspective on the therapeutic process provides a cogent foundation using therapist self-disclosure with children, adolescents, and their parents. Therapist self-disclosure facilitates the negotiation of many important therapeutic tasks. Clinicians working with children and adolescents almost always work concurrently with parents, yet the nature of this work has not been clearly conceptualized. I advance a collaborative model for parent work, highlighting the essential role of therapist self-disclosure. Extensive clinical examples of therapist self-disclosure with children, adolescents, and their parents are provided.

This paper presents a study of associations between psychiatric staff's habitual feelings towards their patients and the staff's self-image. At 22 psychiatric treatment homes for psychotic and other severely disturbed patients, 163 male and female staff recurrently rated their feelings towards the individual patients on a feeling checklist. At the beginning of the study period, they also rated different aspects of their self-image (the introject and the mother and father images) using Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB). Over time and over patient, correlations between the individual staff ratings on the feeling checklist and ratings on the SASB were studied for all staff and for male and female staff separately. The analyses showed a number of associations between the staff's feelings and aspects of their self-image. Staff who habitually tended to feel helpful and autonomous towards their patients had a more positive image of mother, whereas staff who tended to feel more rejecting, unhelpful, and controlled had a combination of negative images of mother and father and a protecting introject. Some notable differences between male and female staff were found. Overall, self-image accounted for larger proportions of the male staff's feelings than of the female staff's. Negative feelings for male staff were associated more with a critical father image, whereas for female staff these feelings were associated more with an image of the father as a freedom giving.

This investigation (N = 204) examined (a) the relations between the hope construct (Snyder, Harris et al., 1991; Snyder, Irving, & Anderson, 1991) and its two essential components, "will" and "ways," and the related constructs of self-efficacy and optimism; and (b) the ability of hope, self-efficacy, and optimism to predict general well-being. Maximum-likelihood factor analysis recovered will, ways, self-efficacy, and optimism as generally distinct and independent entities. Results of multiple regression analyses predicting well-being indicated that (a) hope taken as a whole predicts unique variance independent of self-efficacy and optimism, (b) will predicts unique variance independent of self-efficacy, and (c) ways predicts unique variance independent of optimism. Overall, findings suggest that will, ways, self-efficacy, and optimism are related but not identical constructs.

As a contribution to an understanding of the psychodynamics of dissociative disorders this study investigated proneness to shame and to guilt as predictors of dissociative tendencies. One hundred and three Australian university students completed self-report measures of dissociative tendencies, proneness to shame and to guilt, gender, and age. Proneness to shame, proneness to guilt, and age were found to contribute significantly to the prediction of dissociative tendencies. The data provide further support for the view that common affective consequences of childhood trauma may mediate between such trauma and the development of a dissociative coping style.

The present study was designed to examine the factorial nature of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire-Restraint Scale (TFEQ-R) and to compare the relationship of both the Restraint Scale (RS) and TFEQ-R to current dieting, history of dieting, disinhibition, self-esteem and restrained drinking in 144 females. A principal component analysis identified three interpretable factors: Emotional/Cognitive Concern for Dieting, Calorie Knowledge, Behavioral Dieting Control. Only Emotional/Cognitive Concern for Dieting equated with RS as both measures correlated with self-esteem and restrained drinking. Results are discussed in light of other proposed models of dietary restraint and in relation to two recent factors which have been identified in the drinking literature. Cognitive Emotional Control and Cognitive Behavioral Control. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Two aspects of codependency were investigated among 442 undergraduates. First, parental antecedents were examined by subjects completing measures of codependency, perceived parental dysfunctions (compulsivity, chemical dependency, and codependency), and parental styles (coercion, control, and non-nurturance). As expected, correlations between adult codependency and parental coercion, control, non-nurturance, and maternal compulsivity were significant. However, correlations between codependency and parental chemical dependency were not significant. A multiple regression analysis identified parental codependency and maternal coercion as significant predictors of subject codependency. To examine the second aspect of codependency, which assumes that codependency was identified over 40 years ago by Karen Horney, subjects completed a loss of self measure which correlated highly with codependency.

This study compared daydreaming to fantasies used for self-comfort at times of stress in order to assess the degree of overlap in content between the two types of fantasy and to determine what types of daydreams are associated with indices of psychopathology. One hundred nineteen college undergraduates completed the Sustaining Fantasy Questionnaire (Zelin et al., 1983) and the Imaginal Processes Inventory (Singer & Antrobus, 1972), along with five general measures of maladjustment, which reflect ideational deviance, low or unstable self-concept, and reliance upon regressive defenses. The results supported the hypotheses of considerable overlap in content and of parallels between the two types of fantasy. Three IPI scales - Fear Reaction, Bizarre, and Hostile - were observed to be particularly linked to psychopathology.

This study examined associations among self-esteem and self-efficacy; perceived unfavorable Parental Rearing Style (perceived PRS) and unfavorable family climate in the family of origin; and depression in undergraduates still in frequent contact with their families (N = 186). Unfavorable perceived PRS and family climate were construed as "affectionless control," in which parents and family provide little affection, but excessive control. Constructs were measured by the Self-Esteem Inventory, the Self-Efficacy Scale, the Child Report of Parental Behavior Inventory, the Family Environment Scale, and the Beck Inventory. Perceived "affectionless control" in both PRS and family climate accounted for about 13% of the variance in self-esteem, self-efficacy, and depression. Neither introversion nor depression mediated the relation between family socialization and self-esteem.

Self-efficacy constructs recently have been incorporated into a model of social functioning for schizophrenics. This model proposes that self-efficacy mediates patients' coping efforts. To assess this hypothesis accurately, it is critical to have a scale that measures self-efficacy reliably and validly. Such a scale was developed in this research, which used two independent samples of schizophrenic-spectrum patients. Results indicate that this scale is both valid and reliable. The data support the validity of two underlying subscales, one that measures positive symptom self-efficacy and one that measures negative symptom/social interaction self-efficacy. Future directions of psychosocial constructs in schizophrenic-symptom development are discussed, including the need for concurrent tracking of symptom development and self-efficacy.

In a recent preliminary report, a multidimensional model for bulimia nervosa was proposed with latent dimensions body dissatisfaction, restricting behaviors, bulimic behaviors, and affective and personality disorder. It was suggested that body dissatisfaction clearly represented a distinct dimension of the disorder. In the current investigation, we cross-validated the prior results on a larger sample with a different set of variables and tested the fit against alternative models. Subjects were 497 women diagnosed as having bulimia nervosa. We performed a confirmatory factor analysis using the LISREL 7 program. The results supported the fit of the four-dimensional model, but also suggested that self-injurious behaviors may represent additional separate dimensions of the disorder, relatively independent of the affective disturbance.

This study investigated conflictual independence from parents (defined as a relationship free of anger and resentment), adjustment, and alcohol use among college students at a midwestern technical university (N = 109). Results showed that adjustment, as measured by the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (1989), was associated with having achieved conflictual independence from one's parents as measured by Hoffman's (1984) Psychological Separation Inventory. Additionally, greater alcohol use was associated with having achieved less conflictual independence from parents; the most frequent and strongest relationships occurred with respect to the mother-student relationship. The results suggested that the parent-student relationship has an impact on late adolescent development and that it also may play a role in alcohol use by college students.

The Chinese version of the revised Self-Consciousness Scale (C-SCS) of Scheier and Carver (1985) was administered to 500 Chinese university students. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that three factors (Private Self-consciousness, Public Self-consciousness, and Social Anxiety) were abstracted from the scale, and reliability data also showed that the C-SCS and its three subscales are internally consistent. While the present findings are generally consistent with the conceptualization of Scheier and Carver (1985) and the data reported previously, an integration of the present study and the data in the literature suggests that some of the items and their related rationales in the original and revised Self-Consciousness Scale may require refinement and modification.

This article addresses the issue of failures in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Drawing on the clinical and research literatures, and utilizing our clinical experiences, we first describe and define criteria for success and failure in treatment. We then review five factors that can lead to failure: client factors, therapist factors, technical factors, relationship factors, and environmental factors. We illustrate our presentation with a case example, and conclude by discussing ways in which the likelihood of failures in psychodynamic treatment can be lowered.

About 30% of 171 college student respondents reported at least mild dysphoria. Depressed mood states were associated with dysfunctional attitudes and self-esteem problems, but not with gender or self-reported problem-solving ability. Findings about sex role orientation were mixed. The freshmen reported the highest levels of dysphoria, problem-solving difficulties, and dysfunctional attitudes, but there appeared to be consistent, gradual improvements, such that by the senior year students reported significantly less dysphoria. However, a 2-month follow-up found no significant changes in these areas, which suggests that the observed improvements may occur more gradually or may be an artifact of selective attrition from college. Implications of the results and directions for future research were discussed.

Psychotherapists' reactions to patients with borderline personality disorder were assessed by semantic differential ratings in an analogue study. Vignettes presented one of two patients who enacted the Rewarding and Withdrawing object relations units in two separate therapy sessions. In response to the Rewarding object relations unit therapists evaluated themselves more positively and perceived themselves as more active and more potent than in response to the Withdrawing object relations unit (p less than .01). They also evaluated the patients more positively and perceived them as less active (p less than .01). These patterns were modified by some order effects and some differences in response to the two vignettes, which represented a lower and higher functioning borderline patient.

The influence of certain personality characteristics (tendency to depressive experiences, personal boundary preferences) on psychotherapist reaction to patients with borderline personality disorder was assessed by semantic differential ratings in an analogue study. Vignettes presented one of two patients enacting the Rewarding and Withdrawing object relations unit in two separate therapy sessions. Therapists higher on anaclitic depressive and fusion tendencies evaluated themselves less positively than other therapists (p less than .01) in the Withdrawing condition. They evaluated the patient less positively regardless of condition (p less than .05). High boundary therapists evaluated patients more positively (p less than .05) in the Withdrawing condition. They evaluated themselves more positively regardless of condition (p less than .05) and showed less tendency to devalue self and patient with the lower functioning borderline patient.

Existing literature fails to comprehensively identify factors contributing to the comorbid relationship between eating disorder (ED) behaviors and unipolar depression. Maladaptive social comparison, body dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem are disruptive psychological patterns common to both constructs. It is unclear whether a unique relationship exists between depression and eating disorder behaviors beyond the effects exerted by this negative cognitive triad. The purpose of the present study is to examine whether a unique relationship exists between depression and ED behaviors after controlling for maladaptive social comparison, body dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem. We predict minimal unique variance in ED behaviors will be explained by depression after controlling for this negative cognitive triad.

Research of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) has expanded dramatically in recent years, and many novel PPIs may be useful in couples therapy. The present work identifies, summarizes, and suggests adaptations of PPIs that may improve couples therapy outcomes. Each intervention is presented as part of a larger organizational framework that may help couples therapists determine how and when each intervention can be effectively applied. Finally, a case illustration demonstrates how these methods can complement traditional therapeutic approaches.

The way that people lead themselves and others through crisis, loss, and adversity impacts their future and the future of those around them. Traditionally, mental health professionals have emphasized the negative consequences of crisis and loss. I present a story of how the simple act of holding the door for others on September 11th created a foundation for positive interventions. I offer the OTHERS(S) model and the process of growth consulting as practical means of creating growth as a result of loss or adversity. A case illustration and examples of clinical methods to facilitate Growth Through Loss and Adversity (GTLA) are provided.

The subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) method was used to study the effects of a message related to loss and separation on the behavior of anaclitic and control subjects in a sample of male college students (N = 148). In the subliminal condition (4 ms exposure time), subjects shown the experimental message "Mommy is Leaving Me" ate significantly fewer crackers than those exposed to the neutral message "Mona is Loaning It" (p = .04). Subjects subliminally exposed to the experimental message reported less confidence in their interpersonal attractiveness than those subliminally shown the neutral stimulus (p = .05). These findings, which support the hypothesis that semantic analyses are performed unconsciously, are discussed in the context of recent research on both the SPA paradigm and the anaclitic personality.

The 15 scales of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule were factor analyzed for 450 male and 89 female vocational rehabilitation clients in order to compare results by gender as well as combining them to compare with the college norming data in the EPPS manual. Correlations and factors were similar in many ways when the combined sample and norm samples were compared, but larger and consistent differences between the study scores suggest that separate norms are justified and that norm tables need to be revised.

In an effort to identify, organize, and operationally define the philosophies that underlie Albert Ellis' self-defeating beliefs, the authors factored an 11-item irrational-values self-report instrument given to 190 psychiatric patients. Four factors emerged and were named to reflect the contents of their items--"I need to control a dangerous world," "Self-assertion is painful," "I need affirmation," and "I lack control over my fate."

A growing number of children are experiencing marital transition. The effects of divorce on children have typically been considered deleterious, although factors can buffer the difficulty of postdivorce adjustment. One of these factors is a positive relationship with a parental figure. Unfortunately, divorce often overwhelms parents with a series of changes that compromise their parenting skills. One new approach to improving parenting after divorce is mindful parenting, which aims to enhance interpersonal and emotional connection in the parent-child relationship. This program is intended to facilitate parents' self-awareness, their mindfulness, and their intentionality in responding to their child's needs. The present study reports on the implementation of the Mindful Parenting Program, delivered in two groups to 12 recently divorced parents with preschool-aged children. Program effectiveness was conducted on two levels. First, mindfulness measured by the Toronto Mindfulness Scale revealed significant increases over the intervention and posttest period. Second, in-home behavioral observations conducted pre- and postintervention revealed no changes in parent-child relationships. These findings are discussed within the larger context of facilitating effective parenting postdivorce.

This study investigates the effects of six types of social support on distress and posttraumatic stress disorders in security guards who did and did not encounter a critical incident. Three types of social support were significantly related to distress and posttraumatic stress disorder: emotional support in problem situations, instrumental support, and social companionship. Emotional support in problem situations paradoxically appeared to have an aggravating effect on distress and posttraumatic stress, whereas instrumental support and social companionship had a mitigating outcome.

The present study was aimed at investigating the relationships among attachment styles, autonomy-connectedness (self-awareness, sensitivity to others, and capacity for managing new situations), alexithymia, and antisocial behavior among 202 college students (67 men and 135 women). We were particularly interested in sex differences in the levels of these variables as well as their associations. Sex differences were expected in types of insecure attachment styles, patterns of autonomy-connectedness, and levels of self-reported antisocial and passive-aggressive behavior. All expected sex differences were indeed found. Furthermore, the model that we hypothesized was partly confirmed: For men, anxious attachment had a stronger direct and positive effect on antisocial behavior than for women, and the positive effect of anxious attachment on passive-aggressive behavior was smaller for women than for men. Interestingly, capacity for managing new situations had a main and mediating effect on antisocial behavior. Sensitivity to others appeared as a mediator between anxious attachment style and passive-aggressive behavior. Contrary to expectations, fantasizing (a component of alexithymia) had a strong, negative association with antisocial behavior. The results are discussed against the background of other recent findings concerning alexithymia and autonomy- connectedeness. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol.

In this study, the authors both developed and validated a self-report mindfulness measure, the Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS). In Study 1, participants were individuals with and without meditation experience. Results showed good internal consistency and two factors, Curiosity and Decentering. Most of the expected relationships with other constructs were as expected. The TMS scores increased with increasing mindfulness meditation experience. In Study 2, criterion and incremental validity of the TMS were investigated on a group of individuals participating in 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction programs. Results showed that TMS scores increased following treatment, and Decentering scores predicted improvements in clinical outcome. Thus, the TMS is a promising measure of the mindfulness state with good psychometric properties and predictive of treatment outcome.

Although clinical theories suggest that people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) experience a confused sense of self, little empirical research has directly examined the self in BPD (Heard & Linehan, 1993; Westen & Cohen, 1993). In this study, 43 female participants, 15 with BPD and 28 without BPD, completed the closed-ended version of Markus and Wurf's (1987) Possible Selves Questionnaire (PSQ). Participants with BPD were less likely than controls to endorse positive possible selves as current, but more likely to endorse negative possible selves as current, probable, desired, and important. Participants with BPD linked negative and positive selves to their desired selves, which is consistent with the unstable sense of self characteristic of BPD.

The current study examined relationships between sociotropic and autonomous personality styles and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology following trauma as well as specific posttraumatic cognitions that have been shown to characterize individuals with PTSD. Self-report data were collected in a sample of 156 college students indicating a history of traumatic experience. Significant relationships were found between symptoms of PTSD and depression and measures of sociotropy, autonomy, and negative posttraumatic beliefs about self and world. Additionally, measures of autonomy and negative posttraumatic thoughts improved prediction of PTSD symptom level after controlling for depressive symptoms.

Results of the present study indicate that over a 3-month period, the multidimensional Body Esteem Scale (BES) exhibits high test-retest reliability. Findings further indicate that the BES is not susceptible to a tendency to unrealistically deny negative self-attributes and is only very slightly susceptible to a tendency to unrealistically attribute positive self-attributes. Overall, the present study supports the continued use of the BES as a reliable and valid measure of male and female body esteem.

Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) theoretically promotes actualization of both individualistic and social-oriented potentials. In a test of this assumption, the Belief Scale and subscales from the Survey of Personal Beliefs served as measures of what REBT presumes to be pathogenic irrationalities. These measures were correlated with the Hypercompetitive Attitude Scale (HCAS), the Personal Development Competitive Attitude Scale (PDCAS), factors from the Splitting Index, and self-esteem. Results for the HCAS and Self-Splitting supported the REBT claim about individualistic self-actualization. Mostly nonsignificant and a few counterintuitive linkages were observed for irrational beliefs with the PDCAS, Family-Splitting, and Other-Splitting, and these data suggested that REBT may be less successful in capturing the "rationality" of a social-oriented self-actualization.