Detecting Scale Recalibration in Survey Research: A Laboratory Investigation

The accurate detection of scale recalibration is an issue that should not be ignored by organizational researchers and practitioners concerned with the accurate assessment of change interventions. In an effort to more effectively operationalize one methodology that is designed to detect scale recalibration (using ideal scales), three research questions were developed and investigated in a laboratory study utilizing videotape technology. It was concluded that ideal scale methodology can be used to accurately detect the presence of scale recalibration in survey research data. The implications of these findings for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

The personal self of psychotherapists : Dimensions, correlates, and relations with clients

ObjectiveThe personal self of psychotherapists, that is, experiences of self in close personal relationships and its association with therapists' individual and professional attributes is explored. The study aimed to: (a) describe therapists' self-ratings on specific self-attributes; (b) determine their dimensionality; (c) explore demographic, psychological, and professional correlates; and (d) assess the convergence with professional self. MethodData from the Development of Psychotherapists Common Core Questionnaire were available for>10,000 psychotherapists of various professions, theoretical orientations, career levels, and nations. ResultsMost psychotherapists described themselves in close relationships in affirming terms (e.g., warm/friendly), although a substantial minority also described themselves in negative terms. Factor analyses yielded four dimensions: Genial/Caring, Forceful/Exacting, Reclusive/Remote, and Ardent/Expressive. Being Genial/Caring was associated with life satisfaction. Among professional attributes, personal self-experiences, and parallel dimensions of relationship with clients correlated strongly. ConclusionsAnalyses of>10,000 psychotherapists revealed meaningful variations in personal self relevant to personal and professional life.Peer reviewe

Fatal Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis, Minas Gerais, Brazil

The emergence and reemergence of a serious infectious disease are often associated with a high case-fatality rate because of misdiagnosis and inappropriate or delayed treatment. The current reemergence of spotted fever rickettsiosis caused by Rickettsia rickettsii in Brazil has resulted in a high proportion of fatal cases. We describe two familial clusters of Brazilian spotted fever in the state of Minas Gerais, involving six children 9 months to 15 years of age; five died. Immunohistochemical investigation of tissues obtained at necropsy of a child in each location, Novo Cruzeiro and Coronel Fabriciano municipalities, established the diagnosis by demonstration of disseminated endothelial infection with spotted fever group rickettsiae. The diagnosis in the two fatal cases from Coronel Fabriciano and the surviving patient from Novo Cruzeiro was further supported by immunofluorescence serologic tests

Interpersonal Arrogance and the Incentive Salience of Power <i>Versus</i> Affiliation Cues

The arrogance dimension of the circumplex contrasts people who seemingly value power over affiliation (high arrogance) versus those who do not (low arrogance). Following this line of thinking, and building on an incentive salience model of approach motivation, three studies (total N = 284) examined the differential processing of power versus affiliation stimuli in categorization, perception and approach–avoidance paradigms. All studies found interactions of the same type. In study 2, for example, people high in arrogance perceived power stimuli to be larger than affiliation stimuli, but this differential pattern was not evident at low arrogance levels. People high, but not low, in arrogance also approached power stimuli faster than affiliation stimuli in a motor movement task (study 3). The results contribute to a process–based understanding of how interpersonal arrogance functions while linking such differences to the manner in which power versus affiliation cues are perceived and reacted to. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology </jats:p

Symptom patterns in women with premenstrual syndrome complaints: a prospective assessment using a marker for ovulation and screening criteria for adequate ovarian function

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72929/1/j.1365-2648.1991.tb01727.x.pd

New Strategies for Combining Mindfulness with Integrative Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for the Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) severely impacts social functioning, distress levels, and utilization of medical care compared with that of other major psychiatric disorders. Neither pharmacological nor psychotherapy interventions have adequately controlled cardinal symptoms of GAD: pervasive excessive anxiety and uncontrollable worry. Research has established cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as the most effective psychotherapy for controlling GAD; however, outcomes remain at only 50% reduction, with high relapse rates. Mindfulness has been integrated with CBT to treat people suffering from numerous psychiatric disorders, with mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) being the most researched. Preliminary evidence supports MBSR’s potential for controlling GAD symptoms and key researchers suggest mindfulness practices possess key elements for treating GAD. Classical mindfulness (CM) differs significantly from MBSR and possesses unique potentials for directly targeting process and state GAD symptoms inadequately treated by CBT. This article introduces the theory and practice of CM, its differences from MBSR, and a critical review of MBSR and CBT treatments for GAD. CM strategies designed to complement CBT targeting cardinal GAD symptoms are outlined with a case study illustrating its use

Neuroliberalism:Cognition, context, and the geographical bounding of rationality

Focusing on the rise of the behavioural sciences within the design and implementation of public policy, this paper introduces the concept of neuroliberalism and suggests that it could offer a creative context within which to interpret related governmental developments. Understanding neuroliberaism as a system of government that targets the more-than rational aspects of human behaviour, this paper considers the particular contribution that geographical theories of context and spatial representation can make to a critical analysis of this evolving governmental project.authorsversionPeer reviewe

Broad and narrow personality traits as markers of one-time and repeated suicide attempts: A population-based study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studying personality traits with the potential to differentiate between individuals engaging in suicide attempts of different degrees of severity could help us to understand the processes underlying the link of personality and nonfatal suicidal behaviours and to identify at-risk groups. One approach may be to examine whether narrow, i.e., lower-order personality traits may be more useful than their underlying, broad personality trait dimensions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We investigated qualitative and quantitative differences in broad and narrow personality traits between one-time and repeated suicide attempters in a longitudinal, population-based sample of young French Canadian adults using two multivariate regression models.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One broad (Compulsivity: OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.2–3.5) and one narrow personality trait (anxiousness: OR = 1.1; 95% CI 1.01–1.1) differentiated between individuals with histories of repeated and one-time suicide attempts. Affective instability [(OR = 1.1; 95% CI 1.04–1.1)] and anxiousness [(OR = .92; 95% CI .88–.95)], on the other hand, differentiated between nonattempters and one-time suicide attempters.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Emotional and cognitive dysregulation and associated behavioural manifestations may be associated with suicide attempts of different severity. While findings associated with narrow traits may be easier to interpret and link to existing sociobiological theories, larger effect sizes associated with broad traits such as Compulsivity may be better suited to objectives with a more clinical focus.</p

Collective narcissism: Political consequences of investment of self-worth into an ingroup’s image.

This article proposes a new theoretical framework for the reviewed state-of-the-art research on collective narcissism–the belief that the ingroup’s exceptionality is not sufficiently appreciated by others. Collective narcissism is interpreted as the investment of an undermined sense of self-esteem into the belief in the ingroup’s entitlement to privilege. Collective narcissism lies in the hard of populist rhetoric. The belief in ingroup’s exceptionality compensates for a lack of self-worth, leaving collective narcissists hyper-vigilant to signs of threat to the ingroup’s position. People endorsing the collective narcissistic belief are prone to biased perceptions of intergroup situations and to conspiratorial thinking. They retaliate to imagined provocations against the ingroup but sometimes overlook real threats. They are prejudiced and hostile. Deficits in emotional regulation, hostile attribution bias and vindictiveness lie behind the robust link between collective narcissism and intergroup hostility. Interventions that support the regulation of negative emotions, such as experiencing self-transcendent emotions, decrease the link between collective narcissism and intergroup hostility and offer further insights into the nature of collective narcissism

Clinical Usefulness of Measuring Red Blood Cell Distribution Width in Patients with Hepatitis B

BACKGROUND: Red blood cell distribution width (RDW), an automated measure of red blood cell size heterogeneity (e.g., anisocytosis) that is largely overlooked, is a newly recognized risk marker in patients with cardiovascular diseases, but its role in persistent viral infection has not been well-defined. The present study was designed to investigate the association between RDW values and different disease states in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients. In addition, we analyzed whether RDW is associated with mortality in the HBV-infected patients. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: One hundred and twenty-three patients, including 16 with acute hepatitis B (AHB), 61 with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and 46 with chronic severe hepatitis B (CSHB), and 48 healthy controls were enrolled. In all subjects, a blood sample was collected at admission to examine liver function, renal function, international normalized ratio and routine hematological testing. All patients were followed up for at least 4 months. A total of 10 clinical chemistry, hematology, and biochemical variables were analyzed for possible association with outcomes by using Cox proportional hazards and multiple regression models. RDW values at admission in patients with CSHB (18.30±3.11%, P<0.001), CHB (16.37±2.43%, P<0.001) and AHB (14.38±1.72%, P<0.05) were significantly higher than those in healthy controls (13.03±1.33%). Increased RDW values were clinically associated with severe liver disease and increased 3-month mortality rate. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that RDW values and the model for end-stage liver disease score were independent predictors for mortality (both P<0.001). CONCLUSION: RDW values are significantly increased in patients with hepatitis B and associated with its severity. Moreover, RDW values are an independent predicting factor for the 3-month mortality rate in patients with hepatitis B