Qualitative Analysis of the Short-Term and Long-Term Impact of Family Breakdown on Children: Case Study

This article analyzes the impact of divorce on the members of a family by doing a retrospective case study, comparing a mother’s perception of the effects of this experience on her children with their personal report of them. Both short-term and long-term effects are examined. Children suffered from sleep disorders, confusion, aggressiveness, behavioral problems, academic problems, resentment, and fear of abandonment. However, the personal experience of the separated parents did not lead to inevitable negative consequences in the long term, as is clear from the self-reports included here.     

Unacknowledged Rape: The Influences of Child Sexual Abuse and Personality Traits

Evidence supports that the majority of young women who experience sexual victimization that meets the legal definition of rape do not label their experiences as rape—this has been termed unacknowledged rape. In a sample of 77 young adult women, the odds of unacknowledged rape significantly increased as a function of less severe child sexual abuse histories and greater levels of dysfunctional personality traits. Potential explanations for these findings as well as clinical implications are discussed. Because of the potential psychological and societal consequences of unacknowledged rape, it is vital that researchers continue to examine this phenomenon.     

Psychological Assessment through Performance-Based Techniques and Self-Reports: A Case Study of a Sexually Abused Girl at Preschool Age

We investigated the implicit psychological and behavioral consequences of sexual abuse in an adolescent girl who suffered child sexual abuse at preschool age in this case report. We report the manifestations of this abuse on her personality and psychological functioning using a structured clinical interview and a comprehensive psychological battery including the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Standard Progressive Matrices, Rorschach Ink Blots, and the Schema Mode Inventory. These investigations were useful in formulating both a diagnosis and a management plan. The girl fulfilled diagnostic criteria for a major depressive episode and borderline personality disorder. This combination of psychological testing may be useful in establishing an accurate multiaxial diagnosis and for understanding the behavioral and psychological sequelae of child sexual abuse in similar cases. The study further suggests that schema-focused therapy is a useful therapeutic tool for individuals who have suffered child sexual abuse at an early age and who have borderline personality disorder.     

Examining the Relationship between Childhood Sexual Abuse and Borderline Personality Disorder: Does Social Support Matter?

The relationship between childhood sexual abuse and borderline personality disorder is a prominent issue in the etiological research on borderline personality disorder. This study further explored the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and the development of borderline personality features while evaluating the moderating role of a primary social support source in a sample of 290 female undergraduate students enrolled at a major southeastern university. Consistent with previous research, retrospective self-reports of childhood sexual abuse and low social support were both positively correlated with current borderline personality features. It was hypothesized that the presence of a supportive relationship at the time the childhood sexual abuse occurred would moderate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and borderline personality features. This moderation hypothesis was not supported in the current study, but post-hoc analyses reveal the need to further examine how we define social support following childhood sexual abuse. This research is a stepping stone toward the prevention of borderline personality disorder following childhood sexual abuse.     

Borderline Personality Disorder and Adolescence

SUMMARY

This chapter addresses many of the potential challenges clinicians face when working with adolescents with BPD. First, we present the diagnostic issues related to an adolescent population. Second, we review issues related to the families, peers, and larger systems (e.g., schools) that reciprocally influence the adolescent and the treatment. Third, we discuss specific treatment concerns and propose solutions, including how to effectively manage therapists' own reactions to working with this population. Many of the clinical vignettes and suggested interventions in this chapter derive from our experience working in an outpatient adolescent Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) program. As described later in this book, DBT is an evidence-based treatment effective for suicidal multi-problem individuals with promising data published with suicidal adolescents diagnosed with borderline features (Rathus & Miller, 2002).     

A Regression Analysis of Motivations for Saudi University Male Student Volunteers

Abstract

As a major national asset for promoting social development, volunteer groups have grown rapidly worldwide and have brought significant benefits to individuals, communities, and society in general. Volunteering is encouraged and common among Muslims in the Middle East, but there is rare study on why they volunteer. This study used multiple regression to explore what motivates Saudi male university students to volunteer with a sample of 223 subjects. The results show that all predictor variables such as pro-social personality, values function, career function, social function, enhancement function, protective function, and learning function of volunteering, community identity, institutional facilitation, and Islamic cultural motivation, are statistically significantly correlated to students’ volunteering intentions, but these factors contribute to the ordinary least square regression model at different levels. Only career (B?=?0.217), social (B?=?0.212), learning (B?=?0.280), and enhancement functions (B?=?0.230) of volunteering have statistically significant influence on Saudi university male students’ volunteering intention. Findings highlight a need for a focus on instrumental needs of volunteers by government and NGOs. In regards to future research, gender and educational impacts on volunteers’ motive should be explored.     

Modifying Earplug Wearing Behavior by Behavior Modification Techniques:

A token economy system for, workers and a managerial intervention were developed in an industrial setting to modify the use of ear protectors. The token economy increased workers' use of ear protectors during work shifts, while new managerial standards maintained the level of earplug usage reached during the token economy intervention. As a result of the intervention program, earplug usage reached an operant level of about 95%. This remained stable throughout the follow-up period during which the new managerial stand was in effect. Theoretical and applied implications of organizational maintenance strategies are dismissed in view of the demonstrated effectiveness of the present intervention.     

Personality and the effort-reward imbalance model of stress: Individual differences in reward sensitivity

Abstract

The Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) model comprises both situational components (i.e. effort and reward) and a person-specific component (overcommitment). The aims of this study were to investigate the role of theoretically and historically linked personality variables (i.e. overcommitment and Type A personality) within the ERI model and to expand and extend the ERI model by investigating the contribution of individual reward components to both psychological (i.e. psychological distress) and attitudinal (i.e. affective commitment) employee strain indicators. A total of 897 police officers from a large Australian police agency participated in the study. The results provided no evidence of an interaction effect of effort or reward with overcommitment. The Type A variables did, however, make significant contributions and were involved in a number of interactions, suggesting that the person-specific component of the ERI model could be extended with the Type A personality profile. The findings also suggest that the esteem component of reward has the greatest relevance to employee outcomes, although tangible aspects of reward are more likely to act as a buffer of perceived work demand.     

高等艺术院校人文素质教育问题反思

药家鑫案凸现当前高等艺术院校人文素质教育的缺失,表现在诚信规则意识和法律信仰不足、道德认知与其行为失衡、心理不健全及人格缺陷,对生命缺乏敬畏、成功判定标准偏移等,原因在于高等艺术院校人才培养模式不完善,应试教育的消极影响和社会转型期带来的功利化影响,对此,应通过更新艺术教育理念、提升专业课教师人文素质水平、完善人文素质课程教学体系并与艺术专业教育相融合、加强校园文化建设和人文素质教育实践活动等途径有效提升高等艺术院校人文素质教育的成效。