Cultural traits and immigration: hostility and suicidality in Chinese Canadian students

Suicidality has been related to inwardly directed aggression. We compared convenience samples of 89 Canadian students of Chinese origin (CC) and 81 Canadian students from other backgrounds on measures of suicidality, hostility and aggression. The Chinese Canadian group reported higher levels of suicidality and hostility than the group of other Canadians. However, aggressive behaviors directed toward self or others were less frequent among Chinese Canadians. No differences were found between men and women. The results are interpreted by invoking the influence of Chinese culture on emotional restraint, particularly as regards aggressiveness.     

Attitudes of Arabic psychology students toward behavior modification.

Several American studies have investigated attitudes toward behavior modification. As there are no data on perceptions of this approach in other countries, this study was undertaken to examine such attitudes in Arab countries. The attitudes of 102 undergraduate psychology students at the University of Jordan were assessed. The results showed that behavior modification is favorably received. No significant differences were found between male and female students, or among second, third, and fourth year students. However, significant differences were found between students who had taken a behavior modification course and those who had not.     

Menopause experiences and attitudes in women with intellectual disability and in their family carers

Abstract

Background Little is known about how middle-aged and older women with intellectual disability (ID) cope with life transitions such as perimenopause and postmenopause.

Method A mixed methods approach was employed to explore the attitudes toward and experiences of menopause among women with ID and their family carers in one city in Taiwan.

Results A survey found that how the carers perceived the level of menopausal symptoms in their female family members with ID was affected by their attitudes toward menopause; and carer age and education were significant factors associated with carer menopausal attitudes. The results of in-depth interviews indicated the carers’ gender, age, kinships with the women with ID, and the carers’ own menopausal experiences were related to how the carers felt about the menopausal transition of the women with ID.

Conclusions Both quantitative and qualitative findings show that little attention has been paid to either the menopausal transition experiences or the wellbeing of women with ID.     

Parental expressed emotion and suicidal ideation in adolescents with bipolar disorder

Family environmental variables are risk factors for recurrent courses of mood disorder in adolescents. The present study examined the association between parental expressed emotion (EE)—critical, hostile and/or emotionally overinvolved attitudes toward a concurrently ill offspring—and suicidal ideation in adolescents with bipolar disorder. The sample consisted of 95 adolescents with a bipolar I or II diagnosis who had experienced a mood episode in the prior 3 months. Participants (mean age=15.54 years, S.D.=1.4) were interviewed and completed questionnaires regarding current and past suicidal ideation prior to their participation in a treatment trial. Parents completed five-minute speech samples from which levels of EE were assessed. High EE attitudes in parents were associated with current suicidal ideation in adolescents. This relationship was independent of the effects of age, gender, current depressive or manic symptoms, comorbid diagnoses, bipolar I/II subtypes, family adaptability, and family cohesion. These results underscore the importance of addressing the emotional reactivity of caregivers in treating adolescents with bipolar disorder who have suicidal ideation.     

Bracing for the worst,but behaving the best: Social anxiety,hostility, and behavioral aggression

Social anxiety is marked by viewing social interactions as competitive, hypervigilance to signs of social threat, and avoidance of interactions that may result in social rejection. Therefore, social anxiety should relate to: (1) greater hostile feelings toward others, (2) heightened perceptions of hostility in others, and (3) relatively low levels of violence and aggression. To date, however, little is known about these relationships. In four independent non-clinical samples (total N = 2643), we examined relationships between social anxiety, hostility, and aggression using a range of measures that included both self-report and behavioral assessments. In Study 1, social anxiety correlated positively with feeling hostile toward others. In Study 2, social anxiety correlated positively with hostile perceptions of others. In Study 3, social anxiety was related to less positive attitudes toward behaving violently toward one's relationship partner. In Study 4, social anxiety was related to less aggressive behavior, as indicated by less intense and prolonged noise blasts delivered to a fictitious opponent. Taken together, these four studies paint a picture of socially anxious people as bracing for the worst by feeling and perceiving hostility in the social environment, but behaving the best by refraining from aggression and violence.     

Information and opinions about behavior modification

Previous research has suggested that the general population views behavior modification as an “appropriate” therapy for certain problems but it has not assured that these attitudes are based on an accurate conceptualization of behavior modification. In the present investigation, students and non-psychology faculty were assessed regarding their knowledge about and their attitudes toward several aspects of behavior modification. Attitudes toward behavior modification generally were favorable. Although greater knowledge as measured by a very simple task was associated with more favorable attitudes toward behavior modification, the overall level of information was very low. The significance of positive attitudes based on distorted information was discussed and concerns for behavioral clinicians were highlighted.     

A brief method for assessing expressed emotion in relatives of psychiatric patients

A measure of the attitudes and feelings that a relative expresses about a mentally ill family member, termed expressed emotion (EE), is derived from an extensive, semistructured interview, the Camberwell Family Interview (CFI). The present article describes a method for the assessment of EE attitudes that uses a variation of the 5-minute speech sample, originally developed by Gottschalk and Gleser (1969). The measure is derived from responses made by a patient's key relative when prompted to give thoughts and feelings about the patient for a 5-minute period. A coding system was developed to score behaviors analogous to those rated on the CFI, such as criticism and emotional overinvolvement. The relationship between blind EE ratings derived from the 5-minute speech samples and those from the CFI was investigated with two separate samples of relatives of schizophrenics. The relationship between the sets of ratings was very close and supports the value of the 5-minute speech sample as a brief EE screening procedure.     

Behavioral characteristics in delusional pregnancy: a matched control group study

OBJECTIVE: False pregnancy or delusional pregnancy, is the condition of believing one is pregnant despite factual evidence to the contrary. This is the first study to utilize a standardized mental disorder assessment tool, The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) to evaluate a group of women with delusional pregnancy compared to a group of controls. METHOD: Eleven-women with delusional pregnancy (DP) were compared to a control group matched for age, race and DSM-IV psychiatric diagnosis. All patients were receiving care in a state psychiatric hospital setting. RESULTS: Compared to matched controls, women with DP had significantly higher levels of hostility (p < .05), higher rates of prescribed polypharmacy (p < .05) and a trend toward higher antipsychotic medication dosages (t = 1.48, df = 20, p = .08). These findings may be suggestive of greater resistance to treatment in women with DP. CONCLUSIONS: Biologic and psychotherapeutic treatment interventions for women with DP may need to address factors of hostility and treatment resistance. Preliminary treatment issues include selection of specific categories of psychotropic agents, as well as psychotherapies that are cognitive and lead to modification of belief paradigm.     

Gender and schizophrenia outcome: a clinical trial of an inpatient family intervention

Several studies document sex differences in premorbid and intermorbid role functioning, showing less functional deficit among females. The specific nature of sex differences in role functioning is still poorly understood. The purpose of the present study was to investigate sex differences in symptomatology and role functioning in a sample of 92 inpatients hospitalized for an episode of DSM-III-diagnosed schizophrenic disorder. Patients were randomized at hospital admission to either of two treatment conditions: (1) multimodal hospital treatment with the addition of an inpatient family intervention (IFI) or (2) multimodal hospital treatment without IFI. Results indicated (1) sex differences in levels of substance abuse and antisocial behavior (worse for males both at admission and followup)--dimensions of psychopathology unrelated to the core features of schizophrenia; (2) superior family and occupational functioning in females at followup; and (3) superior clinical response of females to IFI. Data on family response to IFI suggest some ameliorative effects of IFI on critical family attitudes toward female patients as well as greater family compliance with IFI treatment among the families of females. Sex differences in intermorbid family and occupational functioning and response to a family-based psychosocial intervention are discussed in light of data on rejecting family attitudes toward the patient and sex differences in symptomatology. The possible influence of sex-differentiated social role demands on response to IFI is also discussed.     

Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities: results of a recent survey and implications of those results

Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities are often negative and deleterious, resulting in decreased opportunity and chances at successful integration into the community for these individuals. The purpose of the current study was to investigate attitudes of a group of 129 individuals attending a state-wide conference aimed toward improving quality of life of persons with disabilities. Overall, participants’ attitudes were positive toward persons with disabilities. There were statistically significant age and gender related attitudinal differences, with women and younger adults generally voicing more favorable attitudes than men and older adults. Future research needs to sample a diverse population, including persons from a variety of fields as well as persons with disabilities, to examine the range of attitudes that might exist.     

Body image differences in guatemalan-american and white college women

Although eating disturbances in Hispanic populations have been reported in the literature, body image attitudes have not yet been examined in this minority group. Utilizing several self-report measures, this study assessed differences in body image among 57 Guatemalan-American and white female college students. As predicted, Guatemalan women reported greater body satisfaction, were less driven toward thinness, and revealed more positive attitudes toward obesity. Body image disparagement in Guatemalan women was related to the degree of acculturation to the mainstream culture. Results are discussed in the context of cultural influences on attitudes toward body shape and size in minority groups.     

The psychiatrist and the patient's relatives

Summary Both the literature and the writers' own experience point to the vital importance of eliciting co-operation rather than hostility from the relatives of mental patients. Improvement as well as deterioration in a patient's condition is often seen to hinge directly upon the attitude of his relatives. For that reason, as well as for the practical consideration of returning the patient to his family under the most favorable circumstances possible, the psychiatrist must recognize and attempt to relieve the source of anxiety in hostile relatives—rather than return their hostility, or try to hold them at arm's length. This can often be accomplished, with a minimum of effort but a maximum of benefit, by employing simple, suggestive psychotherapy in interviews with relatives.     

The measurement of expressed emotion: a review.

Expressed emotion refers to the affective attitudes and behaviours (i.e., criticism, hostility and emotional overinvolvement) of relatives toward a family member with a psychiatric illness. In this article, the Camberwell Family Interview, the standard method used to assess expressed emotion, and alternative approaches to the measurement of expressed emotion are reviewed. While there is a reasonable correspondence between ratings derived from the Camberwell interview and the less arduous alternative methods, the association is not perfect. In addition, the conceptual similarities and prognostic utility of these measures require replication and further exploration. Of the alternative assessment methods available, the use of the Five Minute Speech Sample or the Level of Expressed Emotion Scale as screening devices is recommended.     

Hypochondriacal concerns and attitudes toward illness in males and females.

OBJECTIVE: To review the published studies on the sex distribution of hypochondriasis, and to examine sex differences in hypochondriacal concerns and in attitudes toward illness. METHOD: The Illness Attitude Scales, Factors 2 and 3 of the Whiteley Index and the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) were administered to fifty randomly-selected female family practice patients ages eighteen to sixty-five, and to male patients matched by age in decades. From a pool of 130 consecutive nonpsychotic psychiatric outpatients, fifty females and fifty males were matched with the family practice patients. RESULTS: Although females rated themselves as more depressed than males in both groups, there were no significant differences between the sexes in hypochondriacal fears and beliefs. Psychiatric male patients reported the most adverse effects of bodily symptoms on work and leisure. There were no other significant differences between the sexes in any of the other attitudes toward illness or symptoms. Hypochondriacal concerns were more common in the psychiatric patients than in the family practice patients of both sexes. CONCLUSION: The review of published studies on the sex distribution of hypochondriasis suggests that disease phobia is more common in females, except for the cardiophobic syndrome, which is more common in males. The other reported differences are inconsistent and appear to be caused by referral biases, varying diagnostic criteria, and cultural factors. In our study, we found no substantial differences between males and females in hypochondriacal concerns and attitudes toward illness.     

Generating nonnegative attitudes among parents of depressed adolescents: The power of empathy,concern, and positive regard

Abstract

Parental negativity is associated with the onset and maintenance of adolescent depression. Reducing parental negativity is a primary focus of family-based treatments for this clinical population. This study examined the association between therapist relationship-facilitating and attachment-oriented interventions and the valence (i.e., positivity–negativity) of parents’ attitudes toward their depressed adolescent in a sample of 13 sessions of attachment-based family therapy. Lag sequential analyses revealed that in good alliance sessions relationship-facilitating interventions, such as empathy and positive regard for the parent, were associated with parents’ nonnegative attitudes toward their adolescent in the five speech turns subsequent to the intervention. Attachment-oriented interventions, such as relational reframes, addressing core relational themes, and highlighting vulnerable emotions, were also intermittently associated with nonnegative parental attitudes in good alliance sessions. No such effects were evident for the comparison interventions. This study represents a first step in the process of testing specific strategies for reducing parental negativity in family therapy.     

Body image differences in guatemalan-american and white college women

Abstract

Although eating disturbances in Hispanic populations have been reported in the literature, body image attitudes have not yet been examined in this minority group. Utilizing several self-report measures, this study assessed differences in body image among 57 Guatemalan-American and white female college students. As predicted, Guatemalan women reported greater body satisfaction, were less driven toward thinness, and revealed more positive attitudes toward obesity. Body image disparagement in Guatemalan women was related to the degree of acculturation to the mainstream culture. Results are discussed in the context of cultural influences on attitudes toward body shape and size in minority groups.     

Authoritarianism and attitudes toward mental health services

Right-wing authoritarians have been shown to resist change and to demonstrate hostility toward out-groups and social movements that may advocate change from traditional and conventional beliefs. Using data from the Louisville Metropolitan Survey, an omnibus survey of 771 adults interviewed by telephone, the authors investigated the relationship between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and attitudes toward mental health services. The findings of the bivariate and regression analyses indicated that high scorers on a version of B. Altemeyer's (1988) RWA index were more likely to hold negative attitudes on mental health services. In particular, the Submissive Authoritarianism scale predicted negative attitudes toward mental health services; however, scores on the Conventionality subscale were not related to attitudes toward mental health services.     

A Comparison Study of Psychological,Family Function Marital and Life Satisfactions of Polygamous and Monogamous Women in Jordan

This study surveyed a 2009 convenience sampling of 199 women, 93 of whom were first (or senior) wives in polygamous marriages and 106 were wives in monogamous marriages. We deployed the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD), ENRICH marital satisfaction questionnaire, SCL-90 mental health symptoms checklist, Rosenberg self-esteem (SE) scale, and Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin life satisfaction scale, a basic sociodemographic scale, including attitudes towards polygamy. Women from polygamous families experienced more problems in family functioning, marital relations, and reported low self-esteem, less satisfaction with life, and more somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, paranoid ideation, psychoticism and their general severity index was higher (GSI). More women in polygamous marriages agreed with the practice of polygamy, as compared to their monogamous counterparts. The conclusion considers implications for mental health practice, policy, and further research.     

Hostility and perceived social support: interactive effects on cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stressors

Background: Previous research has identified trait hostility and social isolation as possible psychosocial risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). However, few studies have examined hostility and social support simultaneously to determine their independent and possible interactive relations with CHD and disease-promoting mechanisms.Purpose: Hypotheses derived from a general interpersonal model were tested in a study examining trait hostility and perceived social support as predictors of cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stressors.Methods: Healthy college students (53 men, 55 women) performed speech and mental arithmetic tasks while blood pressure and heart rate were monitored.Results: There was an interactive effect of hostility and perceived social support on systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) reactivity. Higher hostility scores were associated with greater SBP reactivity for participants who were high in perceived social support; whereas for those with low social support scores, greater hostility was associated with somewhat less SBP reactivity. The same pattern was obtained for DBP, but only during the speech task.Conclusions: These findings encourage further research conceptualizing trait hostility within a general interpersonal framework that calls attention to both positive and negative person-environment transactions. Yung Chen is now at Duke University Medical Center. Suzanne Gilligan is now at the Consortium for Advanced Psychological Training, Michigan State University. Elliot Coups is now at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.