A study of the adjustment problems experienced by workers undertaking short term international relocation

This study focused on the adjustment problems created by the effects of living and working in a culturally unfamiliar environment. Sixty-five internationally relocated workers, both male and female aged between 30 and 60 years, from different countries, who were on short-term relocation to Singapore, were asked to complete a survey. This survey questionnaire consisted of 56 questions, about the adjustment problems that they faced while on relocation and the availability or non-availability of pre-departure training. The conceptual framework for this study was developed by referring to difficulties uncovered in the literature review on the topic of international relocation. Questionnaire items were adapted from previously published research instruments. Responses were analysed by using descriptive statistics, one way ANOVAs and Independent sample t-tests. The results of this study highlight the problems associated with international relocation from the workers’ perspective and suggests that employers, employees and their families should be made aware of these problems prior to working abroad. This study, specifically found that workers, whether on relocation with or without their families experienced problems which affected their adjustment to their new environment. Overall, the sample tended to be poorly adjusted in their new environment. Nonetheless, about half of the participants appeared to be satisfied with the level of assistance they were given before departure even though the actual assistance was minimal. These findings can create a new awareness for multinational organisations and initiate a better understanding of the benefits that pre-departure training can have in averting or avoiding potential and costly problems at work. Recommendations from this study are that appropriate training based on a modified motor skills modal would prepare and furnish workers and their families with techniques which will help them to adjust readily to other cultures and thus minimise the mental and physiological effects of “culture shock.” This will provide significant benefits to internationally relocated workers and their families in the areas of health, safety and work productivity as well as contributing to their happiness and the maintenance of stable family relationships

If It Looks Like a Duck and Quacks Like a Duck: Evaluating the Validity of Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents

The validity of borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been a topic of much controversy in psychiatry. Over the last two decades, a wealth of empirical work has challenged long-held concerns regarding the validity of adolescent BPD. However, this research has been conducted within a traditional approach to psychiatric nosology.In this article, we aim to evaluate the validity of adolescent BPD as guided by both the Robins and Guze criteria for the validity of psychiatric constructs and the new National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria (NIMH RDoC).We used the five principles of the Robins and Guze approach to evaluate selected research from our own and other groups regarding the validity of adolescent BPD. These principles include clinical description studies, laboratory studies, studies that delimitate the disorder from other related syndromes, follow-up studies, and family studies.Within the Robins and Guze criteria framework, evidence to date supports the validity of adolescent BPD to some extent. However, limitations of the research about the construct validity of adolescent BPD have also been identified, most notably regarding the delimitation of adolescent BPD from other disorders as well as a lack of longitudinal and family studies.Given these limitations and the limitations of the Robins and Guze approach to psychiatric nosology, we recommend exploring the potential of the National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria as a complement to previous work

The social domains organization of mentalizing processes in adolescents: a contribution to the conceptualization of personality function and dysfunction in young people

Background: We propose and evaluate a contribution to the conceptualization and assessment of personality functioning based on social domains and mentalizing hypotheses. Social domains are distinct social contexts, such as with acquaintances and friends, with differentiated expectations regarding participants' behaviours and social attributions. The capacity to organize social participation according to these expectations requires the ability, we suggest, to modulate mentalizing processes domain by domain. Drawing on evidence that social domain organization is impaired in borderline personality disorder (BPD) and that hypermentalizing, a heightened interpretation of others' motives, thoughts or emotions, is elevated in adolescent BPD, we hypothesized that hypermentalizing levels in adolescents will vary by social domain and that elevated BPD features will be associated with impairment of this domain organization of hypermentalizing.// Methods: Measures including the borderline personality features scale for children (BPFSC) and the movie for the assessment of social cognition (MASC) were administered to 171 adolescents aged 12–17 recruited from public schools and community organizations in a large metropolitan area in southwestern United States. Mean hypermentalizing scores were computed for adolescent interpretations of sequences in the MASC focusing on the social domains of acquaintance, friends and romantic interactions.// Results: There was a progressive increase in hypermentalizing scores across the acquaintance, friends and romantic interactions (repeated measures ANOVA, p < .001, all pairwise comparisons, p ≤ .02), which was markedly reduced in the presence of elevated BPD features (interaction term, p = .007).// Conclusions: Hypermentalizing is organized according to social domain and this organization is impaired in the presence of elevated BPD features. The findings are consistent with the proposal that personality functioning entails a social domains organization of hypermentalizing, which is impaired in personality dysfunction. Identifying mentalizing processes domain by domain has the potential to create a personalized focus for the treatment of adolescents with personality difficulties

Improving treatment outcomes for adolescents with borderline personality disorder through a socioecological approach

Background There is a dearth of studies evaluating treatment efficacy for adolescents diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The few available randomized controlled trials that have been conducted show modest results and treatments appear to have equivalent effects. The current paper draws on (a) the lessons learnt from the last 50 years of psychotherapy research in general and (b) recent advances in mentalization-based understanding of why treatment works, which together point to the importance of following a socioecological approach in the treatment of personality problems in adolescence – a developmental period that insists on a treatment approach that goes beyond the therapist-client dyad. Case presentation Here, we describe such an approach, and offer a clinical case example with a young 16-year old girl diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, to illustrate what a shift toward a more socioecological approach would entail. Conclusions The clinical impact of the socioecological approach and the potential benefits as illustrated in the current case illustration, offers a framework that justifies and allows for the expansion of service delivery for youth with borderline personality disorder beyond dyadic therapist-client work

Developmental pathways of childhood dark traits.

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Psychopathological outcomes of adolescent borderline personality disorder symptoms

Objective: Despite considerable morbidity and functional losses associated with adolescent Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), little is known about psychopathological outcomes. This study examined associations between adolescent BPD symptoms and subsequent depressive, psychotic, and hypomanic symptoms. Methods: We used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Participants were adolescents living in the community who had data for all longitudinal outcomes (N=1758). We used logistic regression and path analysis to investigate associations between BPD (5 or more probable/definite symptoms) reported at age 11-12 years and depressive and psychotic symptoms reported at age 12 and 18, and lifetime hypomanic symptoms reported at age 22-23 years. Results: Adolescent BPD symptoms were associated with psychotic symptoms (OR: 2.36, CI: 1.82-3.06) and diagnosis of depression at age 18 years (OR: 1.30, CI: 1.03-1.64), and hypomanic symptoms (OR: 2.89, CI: 2.40-3.48) at 22-23 years. Path analysis controlling for associations between all outcomes, indicated that BPD symptoms were independently associated with depressive symptoms (β=0.97, p<.001) at 12 years and hypomanic (β=0.58, p<.01) symptoms at 22-23 years. BPD symptoms were also associated with psychotic symptoms at age 12 years (β=0.58, p<.01), which were linked (β =0.34, p<0.01) to psychotic symptoms at age 18 years. Conclusion: Adolescents with BPD symptoms are at future risk of psychotic and hypomanic symptoms, and a diagnosis of depression. Future risk is independent of associations between psychopathological outcomes, indicating that adolescent BPD symptoms have multifinal outcomes. Increasing awareness of BPD in early adolescence could facilitate timely secondary prevention of these symptoms subsequently helping to prevent future psychopathology

Self and other mentalizing polarities and dimensions of mental health : association with types of symptoms, functioning and well-being

Research suggests that the ability to understand one's own and others' minds, or mentalizing, is a key factor for mental health. Most studies have focused the attention on the association between global measures of mentalizing and specific disorders. In contrast, very few studies have analyzed the association between specific mentalizing polarities and global measures of mental health. This study aimed to evaluate whether self and other polarities of mentalizing are associated with a multidimensional notion of mental health, which considers symptoms, functioning, and well-being. Additionally, the level or depth of mentalizing within each polarity was also analyzed. A sample of 214 adolescents (12-18 years old, M = 14.7, and SD = 1.7; 53.3% female) was evaluated on measures of self- (Trait Meta-Mood Scale or TMMS-24) and other- mentalizing (Adolescent Mentalizing Interview or AMI), multi-informed measures of psychopathology and functioning based on Achenbach's system, and measures of psychological well-being (self-esteem, happiness, and motivation to life goals). Results revealed no association between mentalizing polarities and higher-order symptom factors (internalizing, externalizing, and global symptoms or " p " factor). Self-mentalizing was associated with self-esteem (B = 0.076, p < 0.0005) and motivation to life goals (B = 0.209, p = 0.002), and other-mentalizing was associated to general, social and role functioning (B = 0.475, p < 0.0005; B = 0.380, p = 0.005; and B = 0.364, p = 0.004). This association between aspects of self-other mentalizing and self-other function has important implications for treatment and prevention. Deeper mentalizing within each polarity (i.e., comprehension beyond simple attention to one's own mental states, and mentalizing referred to attachment figures vs. mentalizing referred to the characters of a story) revealed stronger associations with functioning and well-being. Because mentalizing polarities are associated with functioning and well-being but not with symptoms, a new hypothesis is developed: mentalizing does not contribute to resiliency by preventing symptoms, but by helping to deal with them, thus improving functioning and well-being independently of psychopathology. These findings support that promoting mentalizing across development may improve mental health, even in non-clinical populatio

Beyond diagnosis : mentalization and mental health from a transdiagnostic point of view in adolescents from non-clinical population

An increasing volume of evidence suggests that mentalization (MZ) can be an important factor in the transition from mental health to mental illness and vice versa. However, most studies are focused on the role of MZ in specific disorders. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between MZ and mental health as a trans-diagnostic process. A sample of 172 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years old (M = 14.6, SD = 1.7; 56.4% of girls) was assessed on measures of MZ, psychopathology and psychological functioning from a multimethod and multi-informant perspective. Contrary to predictions, MZ was not associated with general psychopathology and comorbidity, even when explored from a broad, trans-diagnostic perspective. However, we observed a robust association linking MZ to functioning and well-being across many dimensions, involving social, role and several psychological indicators of adjustment and mental health. These results suggest that MZ may contribute to mental health beyond symptoms, not so much associated with psychopathology, but rather resilience and well-bein