An investigation into what best practice entails with adolescent survivors of prolonged child abuse

This theoretical study explored the differences between narrative therapy (White, 2007a) and the family contextual model (Gold, 2000) in the treatment of adolescent survivors of prolonged childhood abuse (PCA). The aim of this research was to contribute to defining best practice with this population. Narrative therapy and the family contextual model were selected for this research because they are primarily client directed and trauma responsive as opposed to trauma focused. These were important considerations given the differences between the treatment needs of survivors of long-term childhood trauma, which are inevitably intertwined with development and attachment, and those of single-incident trauma survivors. Content analysis was then conducted within and across bodies of literature on PCA survivorship, Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (which describes difficulties that PCA survivors frequently experience), narrative therapy, and the family contextual model. This analysis found that narrative therapy and the family contextual model each lend different strengths to clinical practice with adolescent PCA survivors and that their differing strengths have the capacity to complement one another. Suggestions for clinicians on how to integrate these two treatment philosophies were therefore proposed in an attempt to offer more comprehensive and effective treatment options for practice with this population, although much further research is needed

Characterization of Limitation Statutes in Canadian Private International Law: the Rocky Road of Change

Prior to the Supreme Court of Canada\u27s decision in Tolofson v. Jensen limitations statutes were characterized, prima facie, as procedural for purposes of Canadian private international law. The principal authority for this characterization was the 1835 case of Huber v. Steiner in which an action was brought on a promissory note made in France in 1813 and payable in 1817. The defendant argued that the French Code de commerce applied and that the right of action was extinguished by the provision that all actions ... prescribe themselves by five years reckoning from the day of protest ..... Tindal C.J. recognized the general rule that so much of the law as affects the rights and merits of the contract, all that relates ad litis decisionem, is adopted from the foreign country; so much of the law as affects the remedy only, all that relates ad litis ordinationem, is taken from the lex fori of that country where the action is brought. Applying this right/remedy distinction, Tindal C.J. was not satisfied that the French prescriptive law extinguished the contractual right and held that it merely limited availability of a remedy before the French courts

Experimental investigation of the critical magnetic fields of transition metal superconductors

The isothermal magnetic transitions of a type 2 superconductor have been studied by AC susceptibility techniques as a function of the amplitude and frequency of the exciting field. The field variation of the complex susceptibility was used to determine the critical fields. The research was planned to clarify the determination (both experimentally and theoretically) of the maximum field at which the superconductive phase spontaneously nucleates in the bulk and on the surface of the metal

The relationship between interpersonal problems, negative cognitions, and outcomes from cognitive behavioral group therapy for depression

Background: Interpersonal functioning is a key determinant of psychological well-being, and interpersonal problems (IPs) are common among individuals with psychiatric disorders. However, IPs are rarely formally assessed in clinical practice or within cognitive behavior therapy research trials as predictors of treatment attrition and outcome. The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between IPs, depressogenic cognitions, and treatment outcome in a large clinical sample receiving cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) for depression in a community clinic.Methods: Patients (N=144) referred for treatment completed measures of IPs, negative cognitions, depression symptoms, and quality of life (QoL) before and at the completion of a 12-week manualized CBGT protocol.Results: Two IPs at pre-treatment, ‘finding it hard to be supportive of others’ and ‘not being open about problems,’ were associated with higher attrition. Pre-treatment IPs also predicted higher post-treatment depression symptoms (but not QoL) after controlling for pre-treatment symptoms, negative cognitions, demographics, and comorbidity. In particular, ‘difficulty being assertive’ and a ‘tendency to subjugate one's needs' were associated with higher post-treatment depression symptoms. Changes in IPs did not predict post-treatment depression symptoms or QoL when controlling for changes in negative cognitions, pre-treatment symptoms, demographics, and comorbidity. In contrast, changes in negative cognitions predicted both post-treatment depression and QoL, even after controlling for changes in IPs and the other covariates.Limitations: Correlational design, potential attrition bias, generalizability to other disorders and treatments needs to be evaluated.Conclusions: Pre-treatment IPs may increase risk of dropout and predict poorer outcomes, but changes in negative cognitions during treatment were most strongly associated with improvement in symptoms and QoL during CBGT

Pathways from uncertainty to anxiety: An evaluation of a hierarchical model of trait and disorder-specific intolerance of uncertainty on anxiety disorder symptoms

Uncertainty is central to anxiety-related pathology and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) appears to be a transdiagnostic risk and maintaining factor. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a hierarchical model to identify the unique contributions of trait and disorder-specific IU (i.e., uncertainty specific to generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, and panic disorder) to disorder-specific symptoms, beyond other disorder-specific cognitive vulnerabilities (i.e., negative metacognitive beliefs, fear of negative evaluation, inflated responsibility, and agoraphobic cognitions, respectively). Participants (N = 506) completed a battery of online questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate model fit, as well as direct and indirect pathways. Trait and disorder-specific IU were significantly associated with multiple cognitive vulnerability factors and disorder symptoms. Indirect effects between trait IU and symptoms were observed through disorder-specific IU and cognitive vulnerabilities. The relative contribution of trait IU and disorder-specific IU to symptoms varied and theoretical and clinical implications are highlighted. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and reliance on self-report. Avenues for further research include a need for replication and extension of the model in different samples and using experimental and multi-method research methods