Predicting posttraumatic stress disorder after childbirth

Objective: around 50% of women report symptoms that indicate some aspect of their childbirth experience was 'traumatic', and at least 3.1% meet diagnosis for PTSD six months post partum. Here we aimed to conduct a prospective longitudinal study and examine predictors of birth-related trauma - predictors that included a range of pre-event factors - as a first step in the creation of a screening questionnaire. Method: of the 933 women who completed an assessment in their third trimester, 866 were followed-up at four to six week post partum. Two canonical discriminant function analyses were conducted to ascertain factors associated with experiencing birth as traumatic and, of the women who found the birth traumatic, which factors were associated with those who developed PTSD. Findings: a mix of 16 pre-birth predictor variables and event-specific predictor variables distinguished women who reported symptoms consistent with trauma from those who did not. Fourteen predictor variables distinguished women who went on to develop PTSD from those who did not. Conclusions: anxiety sensitivity to possible birthing problems, breached birthing expectations, and severity of any actual birth problem, predicted those who found the birth traumatic. Prior trauma was the single most important predictive factor of PTSD. Evaluating the utility of brief, cost-effective, and accurate screening for women at risk of developing birth-related PTSD is suggested

The stigmatization of mental illness by mental health professionals: Scoping review and bibliometric analysis.

Although research suggests that mental health professionals stigmatize mental illness, studies on this topic are relativity new. Little is known about the state of this research and existing literature reviews exhibit multiple limitations. Accordingly, a scoping review was performed on the endorsed stigmatization of mental illness by mental health professionals, with the aim of exploring how research is conducted and whether there are gaps in the literature. Studies were included from any time period if they supplied findings on the endorsed stigmatization of mental illness by mental health professionals. Research was identified through electronic databases (i.e., PsycINFO, Embase, Medline, Scopus) and other sources (i.e., the Griffith University library, Google Scholar, literature reviews). It was found that the research is characterized by a number of limitations, and little progress has been made in this important domain. Among other limitations, there was a lack of comprehensive studies on the relative stigma of mental illness and how the components of stigmatization relate to each other. A bibliometric analysis also found that a large proportion of the research is not connected by references. Recommendations were made with respect to future research in this area

A transdiagnostic investigation of emotional distress after traumatic brain injury

Emotional distress after traumatic brain injury (TBI) often presents as a range of neurobehavioural and emotional reactions rather than distinct disorders. This study adopted a transdiagnostic approach with the aim of identifying psychological processes common to depression, anxiety and global distress after TBI. Fifty participants with TBI (aged 19-66 years, 12-65 months post-injury) completed measures of threat appraisals and avoidance behaviour (Appraisal of Threat and Avoidance Questionnaire), self-discrepancy (Head Injury Semantic Differential Scale III), emotion dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale), worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire), negative self-focused attention (Self-Focus Sentence Completion) and emotional distress (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and Brief Symptom Inventory). Significant correlations were found among the proposed transdiagnostic variables (rs =.29-.82,

The association between state attachment security and state Mindfulness.

Recent research suggests that attachment and mindfulness are related, though the nature of this association is unclear. Here we present two studies examining whether there is a causal relationship between state attachment and state mindfulness. Study 1 investigated the effects of experimentally increasing state mindfulness on state attachment security. State mindfulness was successfully enhanced, but this led to no change in state attachment security. Study 2 investigated the effects of experimentally enhancing state attachment security on state mindfulness. State attachment security was successfully enhanced, but this did not lead to any change in state mindfulness. These findings suggest that there is not a direct, immediate causal relationship between state attachment and state mindfulness as a result of brief experimental manipulations. Future research should examine these associations in longer term interventions

An examination of the factor structure of the effects of meditation scale

We examined the reliability and validity of the Effects of Meditation (EOM) scale (Reavley and Pallant, 2009) which measures Experiences During Meditation (EOM-DM) and the Effects of Meditation in Everyday Life (EOM-EL). Adult meditators (N = 254) completed questionnaires on the effects of meditation, compassion towards self and others, flow, satisfaction with life, and psychological distress. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the factor structure and reliability of the EOM scales. A shortened 18-item version of the EOM-DM scale replicated the five-factor structure of the original 29-item scale. The seven-factor structure of the EOM-ELwas not confirmed, with data revealing a single-factor scale. Validity of the scaleswas demonstrated by showing that individuals reporting greater cognitive, mystical and fewer negative emotions during meditation reported greater self-compassion, flow and less psychological distress and more benefits from meditation in everyday life than individuals less engaged during meditation

Introduction to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Professional Supervision: Challenges and Practice Implications

There are promising new developments in supervision theory and conceptualisation, a growing recognition of the importance and impact of supervision on the acquisition and maintenance of professional competence, a greater scrutiny of and major changes to professional supervisory practice, and exciting new research avenues. In the words of Watkins (2014), "the 'slow and steady' evolution of supervision over the last century has given way to a 'sea change' transformation over the last decade" (p. 179)

Antecedents to women's fear of rape

Abstract not available

Opinions of australian psychological society college chairs about process and content in supervision training: Preliminary investigation in Queensland

Few psychologists in Australia have been trained to provide supervision to probationary psychologists. The current preliminary study investigated whether a supervision training workshop could, in the view of representative psychologists, provide effective training across a range of psychological specialties, or whether separate training was needed for different specialties. The nine Queensland Chairs of the Australian Psychological Society specialisation colleges were given a semi-structured interview to investigate the goals, content and processes of supervision within their specialty, and perceived relationships with other specialties. Results indicated considerable agreement regarding the content and process of supervision across specialties, suggesting that supervision has much in common regardless of specialty

Through benevolent eyes: the differential efficacy of perspective taking and cognitive reappraisal on the regulation of shame

Difficulties in regulating feelings of shame is a risk factor for the onset and recurrence of mental health disorders. The present research investigated the impact of the individual differences in propensity to experience shame (or shame-proneness) on two emotion regulation strategies-perspective taking and positive reappraisal. A total of 228 participants, undergraduate students, were allocated randomly to one of the eight experimental conditions. The results revealed that for high shame-prone participants, the use of perspective taking, without positive reappraisal, led to a heightened experience of shame. In contrast, the combination of perspective taking and positive reappraisal led to reductions in shame among high shame-prone participants. The findings highlight the relationship between individual differences, and the separate and combined effects of affect regulation strategies on the experience of shame

There is no such thing as a mindful binge: How mindfulness disrupts the pathway between anxiety and impulsivity on maladaptive eating behaviours

Research using the Revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) to investigate the individual differences in overconsumption of food has consistently found those who over-consume to be higher in conflict sensitivity (i.e., Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS)) and impulsivity than those who do not overconsume. However, the exact mechanisms through which these individual differences operate, and the identification of potential protective factors that may disrupt such pathways are not clear. The current study tested the moderating role of impulsivity and trait mindfulness in the pathway between BIS and two types of overconsumption; binge eating and grazing. Undergraduate students (n = 245, M = 22.48 years of age, SD = 8.95, 77% female) completed self-report measures of RST, trait mindfulness, binge eating symptoms, and grazing symptoms. Results showed that impulsivity moderated the pathway between BIS and both binge eating and grazing. With mindfulness included in the model, a two-way interaction was found for binge eating, and a three-way interaction was found for grazing. Results suggest the effect of trait mindfulness on the BIS/impulsivity pathway is unique for differing severities of overconsumption, and that RST systems, trait mindfulness and target behaviours may be worthy of consideration when selecting intervention modalities