Designing a range of mentalizing interventions for young people using a clinical staging approach to borderline pathology

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) can have a long-lasting impact on social and professional functioning, even when core symptoms of BPD are in remission. Adolescence may be a critical developmental period to change the potential long-term functional outcome of BPD. This paper presents a range of mentalizing interventions to alter the course and outcome of BPD, based upon a model of clinical staging. Mentalizing interventions have in common a focus on strengthening self-regulatory and interpersonal capacities, aiming to improve adaptive social learning. This paper argues that these interventions should be dosed and organized according to the stage of progression of BPD, which is illustrated by discussing different specific formats for mentalization-based interventions, including an early-intervention program for BPD and a standard program for full BPD

Multinational evaluation of the measurement invariance of the level of personality functioning scale–brief form 2.0: comparison of student and community samples across seven countries

DSM-5’s Level of Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS) was introduced as a dimensional rating of impairments in self- and interpersonal functioning, and the LPFS – Brief Form (LPFS-BF) was the first published corresponding self-report. The updated LPFS-BF 2.0 has been translated into several languages and international research supports many of the instrument’s psychometric properties; however, its measurement invariance has only been evaluated across a few countries. This study expands previous studies as an introductory step in a global evaluation of the LPFS-BF 2.0’s measurement invariance. Archival data (N = 5,618, 57% female) from seven countries (Canada, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Italy, United Arab Emirates, United States of America) were used for this study. Participants were recruited from both community (n = 4,677) and student (n = 941) populations. After confirming adequate model fit separately in the community and student samples, we evaluated a series of increasingly stringent model comparisons to test three aspects of measurement invariance (configural, metric, scalar) and then examined latent mean differences across countries. Full scalar invariance was supported in the community sample and partial scalar invariance was supported in the student sample. Evaluation of latent mean differences revealed multiple significant differences. Overall, the LPFS-BF 2.0 appears to assess self- and interpersonal functioning impairment similarly across the included countries. Findings are discussed through the lenses of the cultures from which participants were recruited, as well as in the context of alternative explanations. Limitations, plans for future research, and implications for both research and clinical practice are offered

Politiewerking in multiculturele buurten: de beeldvorming bij burgers en agenten over de gemeenschapsgerichte politiezorg

In deze bijdrage wordt een antwoord geformuleerd op de vraag hoe politiemensen omgaan met etnisch-culturele minderheden op basis van data verzameld in het kader van een 34 maand durend beleidsgericht onderzoek naar de toepassing van de gemeenschapsgerichte politiezorg in multiculturele buurten (in opdracht van Federaal Wetenschapsbeleid). Daarbij werden in vijf Belgische politiezones observaties uitgevoerd bij wijk- en interventieagenten die in multiculturele buurten werkzaam zijn. Het onderzoek beoogt inzicht te verwerven in de manier waarop interacties tussen politie en etnisch-culturele minderheden verlopen en de elementen die deze interacties beïnvloeden. Percepties, betekenisverlening en verwachtingen werden in kaart gebracht. Concreet zal de bijdrage ingaan op de beeldvorming over etnische culturele minderheden bij wijk- en interventieagenten met aandacht voor de inhoud ervan, de totstandkoming en de factoren die erop van invloed zijn. Vervolgens wordt de vraag beantwoord in welke mate en op welke manier beelden en attitudes ook het gedrag van de politiemensen op het terrein beïnvloeden met aandacht voor de situationele, contextuele, persoonlijke en organisatorische factoren die daarop van invloed zijn

Experiments and simulations of nonlinearly induced self-waveguiding in liquid crystals

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The Interplay Between Post-Critical Beliefs and Anxiety: An Exploratory Study in a Polish Sample

The present research investigates the relationship between anxiety and the religiosity dimensions that Wulff (Psychology of religion: classic and contemporary views, Wiley, New York, 1991; Psychology of religion. Classic and contemporary views, Wiley, New York, 1997; Psychologia religii. Klasyczna i współczesna, Wydawnictwo Szkolne i Pedagogiczne, Warszawa, 1999) described as Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs. Symbolic. The researchers used the Post-Critical Belief scale (Hutsebaut in J Empir Theol 9(2):48–66, 1996; J Empir Theol 10(1):39–54, 1997) to measure Wulff’s religiosity dimensions and the IPAT scale (Krug et al. 1967) to measure anxiety. Results from an adult sample (N = 83) suggest that three dimensions show significant relations with anxiety. Orthodoxy correlated negatively with suspiciousness (L) and positively with guilt proneness (O) factor—in the whole sample. Among women, Historical Relativism negatively correlated with suspiciousness (L), lack of integration (Q3), general anxiety and covert anxiety. Among men, Historical Relativism positively correlated with tension (Q4) and emotional instability (C), general anxiety, covert anxiety and overt anxiety. External Critique was correlated with suspiciousness (L) by men

Modulational instability, solitons and beam propagation in spatially nonlocal nonlinear media

We present an overview of recent advances in the understanding of optical beams in nonlinear media with a spatially nonlocal nonlinear response. We discuss the impact of nonlocality on the modulational instability of plane waves, the collapse of finite-size beams, and the formation and interaction of spatial solitons.Comment: Review article, will be published in Journal of Optics B, special issue on Optical Solitons, 6 figure