Lynn E. O'Connor

The Religious Commitment Inventory-10: Development, refinement, and validation of a brief scale for research and counseling

The authors report the development of the Religious Commitment Inventory-10 (RCI-10), used in 6 studies. Sample sizes were 155, 132, and 150 college students; 240 Christian church-attending married adults; 468 undergraduates including (among others) Buddhists (n = 52), Muslims (n = 12), Hindus (n = 10), and nonreligious (n = 117); and 217 clients and 52 counselors in a secular or 1 of 6 religious counseling agencies. Scores on the RCI-10 had strong estimated internal consistency, 3-week and 5-month test-retest reliability, construct validity, and discriminant validity. Exploratory (Study 1) and confirmatory (Studies 4 and 6) factor analyses identified 2 highly correlated factors, suggesting a 1-factor structure as most parsimonious. Religious commitment predicted response to an imagined robbery (Study 2), marriage (Study 4), and counseling (Study 6).

Shame, guilt, and depression in men and women in recovery from addiction

Men and women in recovery from addiction were compared on levels of depression and self-conscious affect including proneness to shame, guilt, externalization, detachment, and pride. The sample consisted of 130 subjects (88 men and 42 women; mean age 33.04), 90 of whom were active participants in a 12-step recovery program, and 40 of whom were in a residential treatment community. Subjects completed The Beck Depression Inventory and The Test of Self-Conscious Affect. Significant differences between the sexes were found for proneness to shame, detachment, and depression. Women were significantly higher on shame and depression; men were significantly higher on detachment. The subjects were compared to subjects who were not chemically dependent. It was found that these recovering drug-addicted subjects scored significantly higher in proneness to shame and externalization and significantly lower on proneness to guilt. Treatment implications of proneness to shame in the drug-addicted population, and particularly in women, are discussed. The use of confrontational drug treatment strategies may be contraindicated.

Interpersonal guilt : The development of a new measure

We describe the development of a new measure to assess guilt related to concern about harming others. The two versions of the Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire, a 45-item and 67-item version, include theoretically-based and clinically relevant categories of guilt: survivor guilt, separation/disloyalty guilt, omnipotent responsibility guilt, and self-hate guilt. Preliminary reliability and validity studies for both versions are presented, based on clinical and nonclinical samples of subjects. Subscales on both versions show good internal consistency; however, the second version, which expanded on the first, is more psychometrically sound overall. Both versions demonstrated predicted correlations with previously published measures of guilt and related affects, such as shame and depression, and with attributional style. Differences between clinical and nonclinical samples are reported and the relevance of survivor guilt and shame to psychopathology is noted.

Guilt, Shame, and Depression in Clients in Recovery from Addiction

Men and women in recovery from addiction were compared on levels of depression, guilt, and shame. The measurement of guilt included subscales of Survivor Guilt, Separation Guilt, Omnipotent Responsibility Guilt, Trait Guilt, State Guilt, and Adaptive Guilt. The sample included 75 men and 33 women in treatment in a residential treatment community. It was found that women were significantly higher than men in depression. The recovering subjects were compared to nonaddicted subjects and established norms, and it was found that the recovering people were higher on depression, shame, and the subscales of maladaptive guilt. Both men and women in recovery were significantly lower than norms in adaptive guilt.

Survivor guilt, submissive behaviour and evolutionary theory: The down‐side of winning in social comparison

In prior research submissive behaviour has been studied in relation to social comparison. Evolutionary theory conceptualized submissive behaviour as a fear-based self-protective strategy when in a subordinate position. In this study we hypothesized that survivor guilt, the type of guilt associated with feeling better off than others, is also linked to submissive behaviour. The Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire, the Submissive Behaviour Inventory, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised and the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire were administered to a sample of 199 college students. Submissive behaviour was found to be significantly correlated with survivor guilt. Introversion, used as an indirect measure of the fear of being put down, was also correlated with submissive behaviour. A principal components analysis found two components: the first was composed of high loadings of submissiveness, survivor guilt and omnipotent responsibility guilt; the second was composed of high loadings of submissiveness and introversion. This supports the hypothesis that there may be two motivational states related to submissive behaviour, the fear of harm to the self, as described in prior studies, and the fear of harm to another or guilt-based submissive behaviour. We propose that survivor guilt has been selected by evolution as a psychological mechanism supporting group living, and that it may be considered from the perspective of inclusive fitness, reciprocal altruism, and multilevel selection theory.

The Drug-of-Choice Phenomenon: Psychological Differences among Drug Users who Preferred Different Drugs

The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Sensation Seeking Scale, and the Brief Symptom Inventory were administered to 125 recovering drug users with three or more months abstinent from drugs. Subjects were divided according to drug preference: opiates, stimulants, marijuana, alcohol, and a polydrug preference. Opiate users were significantly higher in Susceptibility to Boredom. Alcohol misusers compared to a combined stimulant, opiate, and polydrug group were significantly lower in Extroversion and Susceptibility to Boredom. Subjects raised in drug/alcohol-using families scored significantly higher on Neuroticism and on the Positive Symptom Total of the BSI, and had a higher rate of suicidality.

The drug-of-choice phenomenon : why addicts start using their preferred drug

The reasons why addicts begin using their preferred drug are examined and compared for differences between groups. Utilizing a questionnaire regarding their drug of choice and their reasons for use, a survey was made of 130 subjects (88 men and 42 women; mean age = 34.3 years) who were actively involved in recovery programs. The most frequent period of abstinence from the use of alcohol and other drugs was between one and two years. Forty-five of the subjects preferred opioids, 27 amphetamines, 24 cocaine, 18 marijuana, and 16 alcohol. The reasons for use were separated into three categories: emotional, physical, and social. Results showed that the amphetamine and cocaine addicts selected a higher number of physical reasons for use, and that the alcohol group chose social reasons most frequently. There were no differences between drug groups in total number of emotional reasons selected. Specific reasons for use were also analyzed between drug-of-choice groups. The findings cast doubt on earlier studies that suggested differential psychopathology or emotional disorders among addicts with different drugs of choice. Clinical implications of these data are discussed.

IDEAL CONTROL MASTERY TECHNIQUE CORRELATES WITH CHANGE IN A SINGLE CASE

The authors present a study of a 16-session psychotherapy conducted from the perspective of control mastery theory (CMT), a cognitive–psychodynamic– humanistic theory of psychopathology and psychotherapy process. Following every session, measures of the client’s in-session affect, the therapist’s in-session techniques, therapeutic alliance, and session outcome were obtained. The authors developed a quantitative prototype of ideal CMT technique for this case and determined how closely each session’s technique matched the prototype. The closer the therapist’s in-session technique was to ideal CMT technique, the better the client’s in-session affect and the better the session outcome. Providing ideal CMT technique was associated with better session outcome, even after controlling for the passage of time, in-session affect, and therapeutic alliance. Psychotherapists are often critical of psychotherapy research (Bohart, O’Hara, & Leitner, 1998; Henry, 1998; Persons & Silberschatz, 1998). This criticism is, in part, because studied psychotherapies sometimes poorly approximate practiced psychotherapies. Consider, for example, the researchers’ use of treatment manuals to tailor the delivery of therapeutic techniques to specific diagnoses from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM–IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Practitioners in the real world prefer to use clinical theory to develop individualized case formulations and flexible treatment plans to prescribe techniques (Drozd & Goldfried, 1996). Even therapists who advocate the use of treatment manuals in their practice tend to modify the manual to suit the particular complexities of each case (Persons, Bostrom, & Bertagnolli, 1999). Thus, studies that report on the effects of manualized treatments fail to study what therapists actually do. In addition, clinical practitioners complain that psychotherapy research pays undue attention to questions of minimal concern to the psychotherapist while neglecting questions that matter most to clinicians. For instance, the bulk of psycho-