Amy R. Murrell

Characteristics of Domestic Violence Offenders: Associations with Childhood Exposure to Violence

Many women are abused by intimate partners, millions of children witness such acts, and many of these children are physically abused. Children who are exposed to violence often evidence difficulties, including violent behavior, as adults. One hypothesized mode of intergenerational transmission is modeling. There is evidence that witnessing and/or experiencing violence are related to different patterns of abusive behavior and, perhaps, psychopathology, but the extent of the relationship is unclear. This study examined differences in generality, frequency, and severity of violent offenses, nonviolent criminal behavior, and psychopathology within a battering population of 1,099 adult males with varying levels of exposure to violence as children. Generality, frequency, and severity of violence and psychopathology all increased as level of childhood exposure to violence increased. Modeling theory was supported by the findings that men who witnessed domestic violence as children committed the most frequent domestic violence, and men who were abused as children were more likely to abuse children. Men who were abused also committed more general violence.

Repetitive Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury as Experiential Avoidance Among a Community Sample of Adolescents

OBJECTIVE This study examined the relationship between experiential avoidance, functionally equivalent behaviors, and repetitive nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI/RNSSI) among adolescents. METHOD Self-report questionnaires from adolescents (N = 211) from 3 school-based samples were employed to assess three forms of experiential avoidance (thought suppression, alexithymia, and avoidance/cognitive fusion), various aspects of self-mutilating behaviors, and the existence of functionally equivalent behaviors (disordered eating, substance abuse, suicidal ideation/behaviors). RESULTS Results indicated one third of participants reported a history of NSSI and 16% reported engaging in RNSSI in the past 6 months. Female adolescents were twice as likely as males to report a history of RNSSI. Unwanted inner experiences, thought suppression, and alexithymia differentiated adolescents with a history of NSSI from their counterparts. Functionally equivalent behaviors occurred more frequently among those with a history of NSSI and increased in severity as NSSI increased, particularly suicidal ideation and behaviors. However, results for patterns of avoidance were not as consistent for males as females, which questions the broad application of this model. CONCLUSIONS NSSI continues to be surprisingly common among adolescents in the community. NSSI, particularly repetitive forms, appears to be strongly related to common forms of experiential avoidance, moreso for female adolescents. Results also illustrate the importance of conceptualizing and treating self-injury as a form of experiential avoidance.

ACT with Children, Adolescents, and Their Parents

In contrast to the growing empirical support for ACT interventions with adult problems and populations, ACT applications with children, adolescents, and their parents are in relatively early stages of development. Our preliminary data, and data from other sites, suggest that ACT and its components can be successfully adapted for children in developmentally appropriate, therapeutically beneficial ways. Evidence suggests that ACT can be useful to parents dealing with the challenges children present. As with any new intervention, conceptualizing and using this approach is a trial-and-error process. Keeping this in mind, clinicians using the adaptations suggested in this chapter should be committed to measuring progress through the use of ongoing assessments.

State of the Research & Literature Address: ACT with Children, Adolescents and Parents

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999) has been found effective in treating a wide number of psychological conditions affecting adults. To date, however, little research has been done on the use of ACT with youth and parents. Few efforts have been made at summarizing the literature that does exist. This article, therefore, is a review of empirical and theoretical work with these populations. Online databases, ACT-related websites, and personal communication were used to collect information about published and unpublished, ongoing work. Recommendations for future research are also mentioned.

I Am > Trauma: Experimentally Reducing Event Centrality and PTSD Symptoms in a Clinical Trial

ABSTRACT Event centrality has been one of the strongest predictors of PTSD symptoms. We attempted to experimentally reduce event centrality using a modified version of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in a sample of traumatized participants from a community outreach center. Relative to a control group, participants who received ACT evidenced significant decreases in PTSD symptoms, depression, and event centrality. A mediation analysis revealed that the effect of condition on PTSD symptoms was mediated by decreases in event centrality. Only the effect of condition on depression was still significant at six weeks posttreatment. This study is the first to manipulate event centrality and suggests that components of ACT may be effective at reducing event centrality.

Grounding Turbulent Minds: The Challenges of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for College Students With ADHD and How to Overcome Them

College can be difficult for students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Inattention and impulsivity are not conducive to academic success. Individuals with ADHD often experience difficulties with time management, organization, social adjustment, and psychological distress. One possible treatment approach for individuals with ADHD is mindfulness-based interventions, which lead to symptom reductions and increases in mindfulness skills. However, there are challenges in conducting such treatments on college campuses. This article outlines some of those challenges and highlights ways to overcome them using intervention research, more specifically clinical behavior analysis. The qualitative experience of conducting two mindfulness meditation interventions for college students with ADHD is discussed, and recommendations for conducting similar campus-based interventions are made.

New analyses of the National Institute of Mental Health Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program: Do different treatments reflect different processes?

Abstract To determine whether or not different therapies have distinct patterns of change, it is useful to investigate not only the end result of psychotherapy (outcome) but also the processes by which outcomes are attained. The present study subjected data from the National Institute of Mental Health Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program to survival analyses to examine whether the process of psychotherapy, as conceptualized by the phase model, differed between psychotherapy treatment approaches. Few differences in terms of progression through phases of psychotherapy were identified between cognitive behavior therapy and interpersonal therapy. Additionally, results indicate that phases of psychotherapy may not represent discrete, sequentially invariant processes.

Daycare Experiences and Long-Term Behavioral Outcomes: A Retrospective Self-Report

The current study examined existing data to determine whether family SES, age of entry into daycare, time spent in daycare per week, and child personality variables predicted behavioral outcomes. Our analyses indicated that, for this sample, the best predictor of problem behavior was personality. Specifically, individuals low in agreeableness re- ported more problem behavior than did individuals high in agreeableness. Family SES, age of entry into daycare, and amount of time spent in daycare were not significantly related to problem behavior. Although daycare quality was signifi- cantly correlated with problem behavior, it only accounted for 2% of the variance. Such findings indicate that future re- searchers should examine mediating or moderating effects of personality on the relationship between daycare and behav- ior.

Childhood Disorders and Developmental Influences: A 10-Year Content Analysis of Two Prominent Journals

Many scholars and practitioners prefer to use a developmental approach toward investigation and treatment of child psychopathology. However, the extent to which development is considered in childhood disorder research was unclear. Therefore, retrospective analyses were conducted of publications from 1996 to 2005 in a prominent abnormal child psychology journal (Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology; N = 472) and a prominent developmental psychology journal (Developmental Psychology; N = 926), to investigate the frequency of appearance of developmental factors and childhood disorders. Data on author affiliation and type, and acknowledgement of funding, were also analyzed. Our findings were consistent with a previous analysis; most studies were conducted by funded, university-affiliated researchers. Some disorders, including those typically construed as developmental in nature, (e.g., PDD-NOS) appeared significantly more in the abnormal than the developmental journal. Pathology was infrequently mentioned in the journal with a developmental focus. Implications of these findings are discussed. It is reasonable to suggest that the present analysis may lead to important changes in policy and resource allocation as relevant to children and their families.

Psychological Flexibility and Resilience in Parentally Bereaved College Students

Losing a parent prior to age 18 years can have life-long implications. The challenges of emerging adulthood may be even more difficult for parentally bereaved college students, and studying their coping responses is crucial for designing campus services and therapy interventions. This study examined the relationships between bereavement-related distress, experiential avoidance (EA), values, and resilience. Findings indicated that EA and low importance of values were correlated with bereavement difficulties, with EA accounting for 26% of the variance in the bereavement distress measure. In addition, reports of behaving consistently with values accounted for 20% of the variance in the resiliency measure. Contrary to hypotheses and previous literature, there were no significant relationships between the measures of EA and values. The results, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.