Pornography and Committed Relationships: How Pre-existing Factors within a Dyad Change the Effect of Pornography on Heterosexual and Homosexual Couples

Pornography and its effects have been the topic of debate for decades now. Much of the pornography debate centers on whether or not male pornography consumption is detrimental to men’s perception of, communication with, and treatment of women. As Charlotte Witt claims, “feminist debates over pornography originate in fundamental philosophical disagreement” (165). Many feminists and feminist groups critique pornography for its degradation of and violence towards women. Andrea Dworkin, a feminist against pornography, states that “the fact that pornography is widely believed to be ‘sexual representation’ or ‘depictions of sex’ emphasizes only that the valuation of women as low whores is widespread and that the sexuality of women is perceived as low and whorish in itself” (201). However, some couple therapists support pornography and prescribe its use to aid couples struggling with intimacy. It is primarily used as a way to bring the couple together through the intimacy created when viewing pornography together as well as to help the couple regain their sexual stimulation

Interpersonal emotion regulation: a review of social and developmental components

A staple theme in clinical psychology, emotion regulation, or the ability to manage one's emotions, is directly linked with personal wellbeing and the ability to effectively navigate the social world. Until recently, this concept has been limited to a focus on intrapersonal processes, such as suppression. Less emphasis has been placed on developmental, social, and cultural aspects of emotion regulation. We argue here that as social beings, our engagement in emotion regulation may often occur interpersonally, with trusted others helping us to regulate our emotions. This review will highlight recent research on interpersonal emotion regulation processes.Dr Hofmann receives financial support from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (as part of the Humboldt Prize), NIH/NCCIH (R01AT007257), NIH/NIMH (R01MH099021, U01MH108168), and the James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Initiative in Understanding Human Cognition - Special Initiative. He receives compensation for his work as an advisor from the Palo Alto Health Sciences and for his work as a Subject Matter Expert from John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and SilverCloud Health, Inc. He also receives royalties and payments for his editorial work from various publishers. (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; R01AT007257 - NIH/NCCIH; R01MH099021 - NIH/NIMH; U01MH108168 - NIH/NIMH; James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Initiative in Understanding Human Cognition - Special Initiative)Accepted manuscrip

An Exploration Of In-Person And Online Social Interaction: Examining The Effects Of Two Domains Of Social Behavior

Social interaction is a core dimension of a fulfilling life. At present, the study of social interaction has focused largely on online social interaction due to the prevalence of this behavior in modern society, and the large impact of this manner of interaction on the psychological health of individuals. In terms of online behavior, both positive and negative effects may be experienced. Better understanding predictors and outcomes of online behavior would thus be a timely and valuable contribution to literature. The present study examined anxious and avoidant attachment style as predictors of social intimacy, levels of both in-person and online intimate disclosure, a negative attitude toward technology, and problematic internet use. It was then examined whether these variables in combination predicted social well-being. Participants were collected online using Amazon Mechanical Turk. The present sample of 314 participants was restricted to those that are currently young adults, which for the purpose of this study was defined as those individuals aged 18-25. A series of six total hierarchical regressions were conducted. It was found that both anxious and avoidant attachment positively predicted problematic internet use, neither predicted online intimate disclosure, and only avoidant attachment predicted negative attitudes toward technology. While avoidant attachment negatively predicted social intimacy and in-person disclosure, anxious attachment positively predicted both of these. Social well-being was positively predicted by social intimacy and network number and negatively predicted by negative attitudes toward technology, problematic internet use, and online self-disclosure. The present study demonstrated that attachment style has a strong relationship to many variables related to online and in-person behavior

Turbulence, Turmoil, and Termination: The Dark Side of Social Networking Sites for Romantic Relationships

Excerpt: Social networking websites (SNSs) have become an integral medium for communicating within and about interpersonal relationships (boyd & Ellison, 2008; Stafford & Hillyer, 2012). SNSs have been lauded for their ability to unite distal friends, maintain relational ties, facilitate relationship development, and promote social capital (e.g., Ellison, Vitak, Gray, & Lampe, 2014; Fox, Warber, & Makstaller, 2013; McEwan, 2013). Although considerable research has elected to focus on the benefits of using SNSs, it is also important to examine the dark side of computer-mediated communication (DeAndrea, Tong, & Walther, 2011). For example, SNS use has been tied to decreases in psychological well-being (Chen & Lee, 2013), and scholars have noted negative psychological outcomes when users experience rejection on SNSs (e.g., Bevan, Ang, & Fearns, 2014; Tokunaga, 2011a, 2014)

Sexual exploitation in children: Nature, prevalence and distinguishing characteristics reported in young adulthood

The aim of this study was to explore the nature and extent of sexual exploitation in a university student sample, whilst being clear that sexual exploitation is sexual abuse. Overall, 47% of participants (96 out of 204) reported having been approached by an adult in a sexual manner when they were under the age of 16. The study predicted that a number of individual characteristics would increase a young person’s vulnerability for sexual exploitation. These included low self-esteem, external locus of control, social loneliness and insecure attachment. Results indicated lower levels of self-esteem among those who had been approached sexually, although it is not clear in terms of causality. There were no differences in scores for locus of control or loneliness. Relationship anxiety was significantly linked with children having engaged in sexual behaviours with an adult. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of emerging individual characteristics relating to a risk of sexual exploitation

Models of collaboration between psychologist and family doctor: a systematic review of primary care psychology

open2noThe prevalence of psychological suffering is greater than the actual request for clinical consultation in Europe (Alonso et al., 2004). In Italy, no more than 5.5% of the population requested psychological assistance during lifetime (Miglioretti et al., 2008). There are different obstacles that prevent the access to mental health services, such as economic restrictions (Mulder et al., 2011), cultural prejudice (Kim et al., 2010), and lack of knowledge about the service providers that can answer to the patient’s psychological needs (Molinari et al., 2012). Therefore, the psychologist is often consulted as a last resort, only after everything else has failed, when problems have become severe, and thus requiring longer, more intensive, and expensive treatments. The introduction of the Primary Care Psychologist, a professional who works together with the family doctor, allows to overcome the above-mentioned problems and intercept unexpressed needs for psychological assistance. This professional role is operating in many countries since several years. In this study, current literature concerning different models of collaboration between physician and psychologist, in Europe and in Italy, was reviewed. A systematic search of Web of Science (ISI), Pubmed, Scopus, and PsychINFO was conducted using the initial search terms Primary Care Psychologist, Family Doctor, Primary Care, Collaborative Practice, and several relevant papers were identified. The review has shown the improved quality of care when mental health care is integrated into primary. Analyzing how different programs are implemented, results indicated that the more efficacious models of Primary Care Psychology are those tailored on the environment’s needs.The results of our systematic review stress the importance of the Primary Care Psychologist implementation also in Italy, to intercept unexpressed psychological needs and enhance clients’ quality of life.openFrancesca, Bianco; Enrico, BenelliBianco, Francesca; Benelli, Enric

Online Help Seeking in Emerging Adults: The Role of Attachment Style, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Disclosure

There is minimal research investigating the role of the Internet and computer-mediated technology in help seeking among emerging adults. The purpose of this study was to explore how and from whom emerging adults seek help online for their emotional and personal problems. In particular, the study examined the relations between attachment with intentions and behaviours of seeking help online, as well as from informal and formal sources of support. Three-hundred and fifty-four undergraduate university students (17 to 25 years of age) completed an online survey of questionnaires assessing their attachment style in close relationships, difficulties in emotion regulation, tendency to self-disclose distress to others, and help-seeking intentions and behaviours online and from informal (e.g., parents and friends) and formal sources of support (e.g., social workers and psychologists). Results showed that approximately 95% of the sample sought help for an emotional or personal problem by using online computer-mediated technology, in some capacity, over the past four weeks. Higher levels of attachment avoidance were significantly associated with lower intentions to seek help online by way of directly messaging close others (e.g., via text message), posting to large audiences (e.g., on social networking sites), and searching for and reading information relevant to the problem, as well as with engaging in fewer help-seeking behaviours of directly messaging close others. Similarly, greater attachment avoidance was significantly related to lower intentions to seek help from informal and formal sources of support, as well as to engaging in fewer help-seeking behaviours from informal and formal sources. Conversely, higher levels of attachment anxiety were significantly associated with greater intentions to seek help online by way of posting to anonymous sources of support and searching for and reading information, as well as with engaging in more online helpseeking behaviours of searching for and reading information pertaining to the problem. Greater attachment anxiety was significantly related to lower intentions to seek help from informal sources, but also to engaging in a greater number of help-seeking behaviours from professional sources. A series of significant mediation analyses revealed that higher levels of attachment avoidance predicted greater difficulties in emotional awareness, which in turn, predicted lower intentions (directly messaging close others and searching for/reading information) and fewer behaviours (directly messaging close others) of seeking help online. In contrast, higher levels of attachment anxiety predicted greater difficulties with access to effective emotion regulation strategies, which in turn, predicted a greater number of online help-seeking behaviours (searching for/reading information). Yet, higher levels of attachment anxiety predicted lower tendencies to disclose distress to others, which in turn, predicted lower intentions to seek help from informal sources. Similarly, higher levels of attachment avoidance predicted lower tendencies to disclose distress, which in turn, predicted fewer help-seeking behaviours from informal sources. However, higher levels of attachment avoidance predicted greater difficulties with access to effective emotion regulation strategies, which in turn, predicted a greater number of help-seeking behaviours from formal sources. Applied implications for engaging young people in the help-seeking process via online, computer-mediated technology are discussed – namely, that trusting relationships with close others and greater awareness of emotions continue to be crucial facilitators of seeking help in an online context

Culture or social interaction? A study of influential factors on weblog design

The importance of blogs and social networking as medium of interactions had gain substantial popularity in mainstream media. Such popularity is due to blogs timely publication, ease of use and wide availability. Blogs hypertext and hyperlinks spread information and influence through an underlying social network. Taking into consideration that past studies on web design have focused on cultural traits on design elements, this paper aims to analyse the patterns on blog design from the perspectives of social influence and interactions. Examining design patterns from five networks of blogs using content analysis method, the results show that design of blogs in an online network shares similar elements and the pattern is different from one network to the other

‘I don’t know what I’m doing. How about you?’: Discourse and identity in practitioners dealing with the survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

This research is based on interviews conducted with a voluntary group of health practitioners who care for the adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse in one area of Scotland. This project takes a broadly interpretive approach to the interviews, and examines the processes of sense-making apparent in the scripts of the doctors, community nurse and counsellors who comprise this voluntary Forum. Those interviewed were highly sceptical of traditional medical approaches to dealing with survivors of such abuse, and they all questioned the effectiveness of expert professional knowledge. The research highlights the role of patient disclosure as a key mechanism in the process of their treatment, which is akin to the confessional technology discussed in detail in the work of Michel Foucault. Combined with other medical technologies patient disclosure is revealed as a technique of normalization. In this particular case the experts themselves were engaged in unravelling this process in search of alternative approaches to caring for their patients, which were based on a relationship of equal partnership rather than of expert authority. This research thus begins to illustrate the processes of sense-making and identity formation which exist between professional health care workers and the victims of abuse for whom they care