Results from a Large, Multinational Sample Using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire

Childhood maltreatment has diverse, lifelong impact on morbidity and mortality. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is one of the most commonly used scales to assess and quantify these experiences and their impact. Curiously, despite very widespread use of the CTQ, scores on its Minimization-Denial (MD) subscale—originally designed to assess a positive response bias—are rarely reported. Hence, little is known about this measure. If response biases are either common or consequential, current practices of ignoring the MD scale deserve revision. Therewith, we designed a study to investigate 3 aspects of minimization, as defined by the CTQ’s MD scale: 1) its prevalence; 2) its latent structure; and finally 3) whether minimization moderates the CTQ’s discriminative validity in terms of distinguishing between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Archival, item-level CTQ data from 24 multinational samples were combined for a total of 19,652 participants. Analyses indicated: 1) minimization is common; 2) minimization functions as a continuous construct; and 3) high MD scores attenuate the ability of the CTQ to distinguish between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Overall, results suggest that a minimizing response bias—as detected by the MD subscale—has a small but significant moderating effect on the CTQ’s discriminative validity. Results also may suggest that some prior analyses of maltreatment rates or the effects of early maltreatment that have used the CTQ may have underestimated its incidence and impact. We caution researchers and clinicians about the widespread practice of using the CTQ without the MD or collecting MD data but failing to assess and control for its effects on outcomes or dependent variables

Le couple : sa formation, sa destruction et ce qu’il y a entre les deux

La théorie de l’attachement représente un cadre théorique général à la compréhension de l’organisation des relations humaines tout au long de la vie et en particulier lors de l’adaptation aux situations de séparation. Si les premiers types de relations se reproduisent de manière générale au cours de la vie et dans les relations de couple en particulier, les expériences continuelles avec un conjoint - caractérisé par son propre type d’attachement - devenu une figure d’attachement importante, provoque la réactualisation du réseau de représentation interne (schémas internes actifs). Le type d’attachement de chaque partenaire influence donc le caractère de la relation de couple. Cet article décrit les différents types d’attachement d’individus et de couples et tente, d’une part, d’appréhender ce qui relie deux personnes, les attentes d’une relation, la capacité à créer une relation de proximité et d’intimité, et, d’autre part, de cerner les éléments qui éveillent les conflits, ceux susceptibles de briser la relation et ceux qui caractérisent le processus de séparation

Aggression and conduct disorder in former Soviet Union immigrant adolescents: The role of parenting style and ego identity

The study examined aggression, guilt feelings and conduct disorder (CD) in adolescent immigrants from the Former Soviet Union. One hundred and nineteen adolescents, including sixty six immigrants and fifty native Israelis from four residential schools, completed questionnaires assessing level of aggression, sense of guilt, ego identity, and parenting style. Objective assessments of CD were obtained from instructors at the residential schools, using the CBCL. Results indicate that diffused ego identity is the strongest predictor of aggression, guilt, and CD. A lack of positive parenting moderates the link between diffused ego identity and aggression and CD, while positive parenting promotes a sense of guilt, especially in the immigrant group. These results warrant cultural identity-sensitive interventions.Conduct disorder Ego identity Immigrant adolescents Parenting methods Residential schools