The risk-taking and self-harm inventory for adolescents: Development and psychometric evaluation

In this study, we report on the development and psychometric evaluation of the Risk-Taking (RT) and Self-Harm (SH) Inventory for Adolescents (RTSHIA), a self-report measure designed to assess adolescent RT and SH in community and clinical settings. 651 young people from secondary schools in England ranging in age from 11.6 years to 18.7 years and 71 young people referred to mental health services for SH behavior in London between the ages of 11.9 years and 17.5 years completed the RTSHIA along with standardized measures of adolescent psychopathology. Two factors emerged from the principal axis factoring, and RT and SH were further validated by a confirmatory factor analysis as related, but different, constructs, rather than elements of a single continuum. Inter-item and test–retest reliabilities were high for both components (Cronbach's α = .85, rtt = .90; Cronbach's α .93, rtt = .87), and considerable evidence emerged in support of the measure's convergent, concurrent, and divergent validity. The findings are discussed with regard to potential usefulness of the RTSHIA for research and clinical purposes with adolescents

Feasibility study of a psychodynamic online group intervention for depression

Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT) was originally developed as a brief psychodynamic intervention for the treatment of depression and anxiety. More recently it has become the psychodynamic protocol for depression specifically within Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services across the U.K. The aim of the present study was to pilot and evaluate the feasibility of a group online version of DIT—Online Group Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy—and the perceived helpfulness of psychodynamically informed self-help materials. Twenty-four participants were randomly assigned to three groups. Participants in Condition A (n = 8) took part in an online DIT group, with self-help materials, facilitated by a therapist. Participants in Condition B (n = 8) were given access to a closed virtual group space where they could interact with each other and were supplied with the same self-help materials used by participants in Condition A, but without online therapist facilitation. Participants in Condition C (n = 8) received no instructions or facilitation, but had access to an online mental well-being site where they could meet virtually in a large, open, moderated virtual group space to discuss their psychological difficulties. This feasibility study was underpowered to detect significant differences in rates of change between facilitated and unfacilitated provision of material, but decline in symptoms appeared to be superior to control only for the facilitated group when the groups were considered separately. The response of the combined treated groups against control suggests that the DIT self-help materials may be helpful and appear to support the process of change. Further work is required

Playing with reality: IV. A theory of external reality rooted in intersubjectivity

The authors explore the interpersonal aspects of the early development of an experience of external reality and the roots of this experience in primary intersubjectivity. They suggest some implications that this has for psychoanalytic work with the patient experience of external reality. They argue that the external world is not an independently existing 'given' for the infant to discover as is sometimes implicitly assumed Infants acquire knowledge about the world not just through their own explorations of it but by using other minds as teachers. The experience of external reality is invariably shaped through subjectivities. The authors argue that at first the infant assumes that his knowledge is knowledge held by all, that what he knows is known by others and that what is known by others is accessible to him. Only slowly does the uniqueness of his own perspective differentiate so that a sense of mental self can develop. In clinical work we frequently observe the undoing of this process of differentiation, and understanding the underlying mechanisms can be helpful in managing the transference and countertranference consequences when the process has been derailed

Measuring mental health and wellbeing outcomes for children and adolescents to inform practice and policy:a review of child self-report measures

There is a growing appetite for mental health and wellbeing outcome measures that can inform clinical practice at individual and service levels, including use for local and national benchmarking. Despite a varied literature on child mental health and wellbeing outcome measures that focus on psychometric properties alone, no reviews exist that appraise the availability of psychometric evidence and suitability for use in routine practice in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) including key implementation issues. This paper aimed to present the findings of the first review that evaluates existing broadband measures of mental health and wellbeing outcomes in terms of these criteria. The following steps were implemented in order to select measures suitable for use in routine practice: literature database searches, consultation with stakeholders, application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, secondary searches and filtering. Subsequently, detailed reviews of the retained measures’ psychometric properties and implementation features were carried out. 11 measures were identified as having potential for use in routine practice and meeting most of the key criteria: 1) Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment, 2) Beck Youth Inventories, 3) Behavior Assessment System for Children, 4) Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale, 5) Child Health Questionnaire, 6) Child Symptom Inventories, 7) Health of the National Outcome Scale for Children and Adolescents, 8) Kidscreen, 9) Pediatric Symptom Checklist, 10) Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, 11) Youth Outcome Questionnaire. However, all existing measures identified had limitations as well as strengths. Furthermore, none had sufficient psychometric evidence available to demonstrate that they could reliably measure both severity and change over time in key groups. The review suggests a way of rigorously evaluating the growing number of broadband self-report mental health outcome measures against standards of feasibility and psychometric credibility in relation to use for practice and policy

USO DE LA MENTALIZACIÓN EN EL PROCESO PSICOANALÍTICO

USO DE LA MENTALIZACIÓN EN EL PROCESO PSICOANALÍTIC

Mentalisation Based Treatment and Psychoanalysis

A review of the relationship between mentalizing theory and psychoanalysis, examining the origins of mentalization-based treatment in traditional psychoanalysis, in particular its compatibility with object relations theory, and areas of divergence, such as the different emphasis upon and management of transference. More recent developments in psychoanalytical thinking and their relationship with MBT are also considered, in particular the emphasis on process in the here and now. The paper finishes with a recognition of the work that remains to be done in relocating and rethinking MBT in relation to psychoanalysis