Golan Shahar

To Parcel or Not to Parcel: Exploring the Question, Weighing the Merits

We examine the controversial practice of using parcels of items as manifest variables in structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures. After detailing arguments pro and con, we conclude that the unconsidered use of parcels is never warranted, while, at the same time, the considered use of parcels cannot be dismissed out of hand. In large part, the decision to parcel or not depends on ones philosophical stance regarding scientific inquiry (e.g., empiricist vs. pragmatist) and the substantive goal of a study (e.g., to understand the structure of a set of items or to examine the nature of a set of constructs). Prior to creating parcels, however, we recommend strongly that investigators acquire a thorough understanding of the nature and dimensionality of the items to be parceled. With this knowledge in hand, various techniques for creating parcels can be utilized to minimize potential pitfalls and to optimize the measurement structure of constructs in SEM procedures. A number of parceling techniques are described, noting their strengths and weaknesses.

Dependency, self-criticism, social context and distress: comparing moderating and mediating models

Abstract Moderating and mediating models of dependency and self-criticism as vulnerabilities to emotional distress are compared. According to the moderating model, stressful events and social support moderate the vulnerability of self-critical and dependent individuals. In contrast, mediating models relate to stress and support as mediators assuming that individuals generate stress and lack of support over time. One hundred and eighty-two young adults were assessed longitudinally, and hierarchical multiple regression and structural equation modeling were performed. The moderating model was found valid for describing the vulnerability of dependent individuals, who reported increased distress only after experiencing interpersonal stress. The mediating model appropriately described the vulnerability of self-critical individuals, who reported increased stress and decreased support over time, which partly accounted for their increased distress. These findings are discussed in relation to the formulation of causal models of personality and distress.

Interpersonal relatedness, self-definition, and their motivational orientation during adolescence: a theoretical and empirical integration.

The authors examined a theoretical model linking interpersonal relatedness and self-definition (S.J. Blatt, 1974), autonomous and controlled regulation (E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, 1985), and negative and positive life events in adolescence (N = 860). They hypothesized that motivational orientation would mediate the effects of interpersonal relatedness and self-definition on life events. Self-criticism, a maladaptive form of self-definition, predicted less positive events, whereas efficacy, an adaptive form of self-definition, predicted more positive events. These effects were fully mediated by the absence and presence, respectively, of autonomous motivation. Controlled motivation, predicted by self-criticism and maladaptive neediness, did not predict negative events. Results illustrate the centrality of protective, pleasure-related processes in adaptive adolescent development.

Resilience in Homeless Youth: The Key Role of Self-Esteem

This study examined the protective role of self-esteem, social involvement, and secure attachment among homeless youths. These protective factors were examined as they ameliorate risks among 208 homeless youths surveyed in New York City and Toronto. Both mental and physical health indicators were employed in this study, including loneliness, feeling trapped, suicidal ideation, subjective health status, and substance use. Self-esteem emerged as a key protective factor, predicting levels of loneliness, feeling trapped, and suicide ideation, and buffering against the deleterious effect of fearful attachment on loneliness. Findings highlight the role of the self-concept in risk and resilience among homeless youth.

Active vulnerability, adolescent distress, and the mediating/suppressing role of life events

We tested a mediating/suppressing model linking personality vulnerability, negative and positive life events, and adolescent emotional distress. The model relied on three hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that negative life events would mediate the effect of adolescent dependency and self-criticism on distress. The second hypothesis was that positive events would mediate the effect of self-criticism on distress. The third hypothesis was that positive events would suppress, rather than mediate, the effect of dependency on distress. These hypotheses were tested and confirmed in a 16-week longitudinal study of 603 Israeli adolescents. Results elucidate the mechanism by which self-criticism confers vulnerability, suggest that a dialectic tension between risk and resilience is embedded in the construct of dependency, and extend action perspectives on distress.

Psychoanalysis--with whom, for what, and how? Comparisons with psychotherapy.

If psychoanalytic treatment is to survive in the era of evidence-based medicine and managed care systems, empirical evidence is needed to demonstrate its unique nature and effectiveness. To address this need, comprehensive analyses were conducted of data from the Menninger Psychotherapy Research Project (Wallerstein 1986). These analyses addressed three questions: (1) What are the differences in outcome between psychoanalysis (PSA) and supportive-expressive psychotherapy (SEP)? (2) With what types of patient, and in what ways, are these two psychodynamic treatments differentially effective? (3) Are these differences in outcome the consequence of possibly different mechanisms of therapeutic action? PSA was found to contribute significantly to the development of adaptive interpersonal capacities and to the reduction of maladaptive interpersonal tendencies, especially with more ruminative, self-reflective, introjective patients, possibly by extending their associative capacities. SEP, by contrast, was effective only in reducing maladaptive interpersonal tendencies and only with dependent, unreflective, more affectively labile anaclitic patients, possibly by containing or limiting their associative capacities.

Play, Pleasure, and Other Positive Life Events: "Non-Specific" Factors in Recovery from Mental Illness?

Abstract As part of the emerging recovery paradigm, there is an increasing need for psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation to be strengths—based and to be driven by the desires and preferences of the person with mental illness. Yet if mental illness is a brain disease, it is not at all clear how these characteristics contribute to improvement in the persons condition or influence the course and outcome of the disorder. To avoid these aspects being relegated to the role of nonspecific factors, the field must develop an understanding of the role of strengths and interests in recovery. To contribute to this effort, we review the existing empirical research on the protective and stress—buffering effects of positive life events and qualitative data on the importance of play and pleasure in the lives of people with mental illness. We conclude by considering briefly the implications of this research for clinical practice.

PROFESSIONAL FEELINGS AS EMOTIONAL LABOR

Emotional labor is what workers do with their feelings to comply with organizational role requirements. This article explores the concept in professional organizations, examining the psychotherapeutic discourse of objectivity, neutrality, and care as feeling rules. Based on a study in a residential psychiatric facility in Israel, the authors found that counselors labored to display aspired professional feelings despite the absence of memos, protocols, or training sessions. Who told them to do so? How did they know what to feel? The authors claim that therapeutic discourse constitutes professional feelings through the use of specific concepts and techniques. However, the term professional feelings disguises a complicated process of negotiation between different ideologies. The difference between two groups of counselors indicates that both scientific and intersubjective knowledge represent modes of emotional control. The authors claim, thus, that emotional labor in professional service organizations is the product of contested professional discourse.

Cultural Equivalence and Cultural Variance in Longitudinal Associations of Young Adolescent Self-Definition and Interpersonal Relatedness to Psychological and School Adjustment.

Ethnic group differences in the contributions of self-definition (self-worth and efficacy) and interpersonal relatedness with parents and peers to changes in psychological and school adjustment were examined among 448 White, Black, and Latino girls and boys (11–14 years of age). Self-report questionnaires and school records were evaluated for socioeconomic and ethnic group differences in patterns of change over 1 year. Overall similarity in changes over time across ethnic groups was found for relatedness, self-definition, and psychological adjustment, although Black and Latino youth reported more overall adjustment difficulties, Black youth reported less positive relationships with parents, and lower SES youth reported less positive peer relationships than others. Ethnic group differences in changes to school adjustment, even after controlling SES, suggested a cultural variation in which often cited declines in school adjustment during middle school characterize White adolescents to a greater degree than Black or Latino adolescents. Ethnicity moderated associations of relatedness and self-definition with psychological and school adjustment such that Black and Latino youth appeared particularly vulnerable to experiences that threaten closeness and trust in relationships. Results pointed to potentially important situational and cultural differences in maladaptive and adaptive developmental processes across ethnicity.

Social Support Buffers the Effects of Terrorism on Adolescent Depression: Findings From Sderot, Israel

OBJECTIVE This prospective study of 29 Israeli middle school students experiencing terror attacks by Qassam rockets addressed whether higher levels of baseline social support protected adolescents from adverse psychological effects of exposure to rocket attacks. METHOD Participants were assessed at two time points 5 months apart, before and after a period of military escalation from May to September 2007. Adolescent self-reported depression was measured at both time points, using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Child Depression Scale. Social support from family, friends, and school was measured at time 1, via a short form of the Perceived Social Support Scale. Adolescents also reported their exposure to rocket attacks at both time points. RESULTS There was a significant interaction between social support and exposure to rocket attacks predicting depression over time. As hypothesized, baseline levels of social support buffered against the effect of exposure to rocket attacks on increased depression. Conversely, social support was associated with increased depression for adolescents who were not exposed to rocket attacks. CONCLUSIONS Findings highlight the potential importance of community mental health efforts to bolster schools, families, and peer groups as protective resources in times of traumatic stress.