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Despite evidence that childhood maltreatment is associated with increased risk for intimate partner abuse perpetration, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Given literature suggesting that violent behaviors may serve an emotion regulating function, this study examined the mediating role of emotion dysregulation in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and intimate partner abuse perpetration among 341 male and female undergraduates. However, given evidence of gender differences in the underlying mechanisms of intimate partner abuse, emotion dysregulation was expected to be more relevant to the perpetration of partner abuse among men. Consistent with hypotheses, emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and intimate partner abuse among men; conversely, emotion dysregulation was not associated with partner abuse among women. Keywords: intimate partner violence; perpetration; emotion regulation; childhood abuse; childhood neglect

This study reports the results of a 3-year follow-up assessment of children and adolescents diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (social phobia) and treated with Social Effectiveness Therapy for Children (SET-C), a comprehensive behavioral treatment program combining social skills training, peer generalization, and individualized exposure. Among 32 children initially treated with the protocol, 29 completed the follow-up assessment and were evaluated with a multidimensional assessment strategy, including self-report, parental report, clinician ratings, and behavioral assessment. Results indicated that the majority of posttreatment gains were maintained at 3-year follow-up, and 72% of treated children continued to be free of a social phobia diagnosis 3 years later. These findings support the long-term efficacy of SET-C for children and adolescents suffering from social phobia. Keywords: social phobia, children, behavior therapy, Social Effectiveness Therapy for Children, treatment follow-up

This preliminary study examined treatment-satisfaction and potential therapeutic benefits of Behavioral Activation as a primary care-based treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans. Eight veterans were enrolled, 6 completed at least 4 sessions, and 5 veterans completed posttreatment and 3-month follow-up assessments after receiving 5–8 weekly sessions of Behavioral Activation delivered in a specialty postdeployment primary care clinic. Significant and meaningful reductions in PTSD symptoms were found on structured clinical assessments and self-report measures. Posttraumatic stress disorder treatment gains (measured by structured clinical assessments) were maintained at 3-month follow-up. The majority of veterans demonstrated meaningful improvements on depression and quality of life and veterans reported a high satisfaction with treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been found to be associated with aggressive behavior. Recent evidence suggests that the ways in which individuals respond to their emotions may account for this relationship. In particular, to the extent that aggressive behaviors serve an emotion regulatory function, responding to emotions with avoidance (i.e., experiential avoidance) or the active suppression of emotional expression may heighten emotion dysregulation, increasing the risk for aggressive behavior as individuals attempt to regulate that dysregulated state. This study examined whether these two ways of responding to emotions account for the relationship between PTSD symptom severity and self-reported engagement in aggressive behavior among a diverse sample of 113 men with past exposure to interpersonal violence. Experiential avoidance and emotional inexpressivity each accounted for a significant amount of unique variance in aggressive behavior, above and beyond PTSD symptom severity and trait anger. Clinical and research implications of findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is widely considered the result of biological vulnerability arid environmental adversity. Despite growing evidence for the role of several temperamental and environmental risk factors in the development of BPD, the unique contribution of each to the development of this disorder remains unclear. Furthermore, the extent to which these factors are associated with BPD among underserved and diverse populations is unknown. The current study examined the temperamental and environmental factors uniquely associated with BPD among a sample of 93 inner-city individuals receiving residential substance use treatment. Results indicate that BPD was associated with higher impulsivity and emotional instability/vulnerability, lower well-being, arid several interpersonal manifestations of positive and negative temperament (i.e., greater alienation and lower achievement and social closeness). BPD was also associated with several forms of childhood maltreatment, including emotional and physical abuse and neglect. However, only emotional instability or vulnerability, impulsivity, and emotional abuse emerged as unique predictors of BPD status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]