Yona Teichman

A comparison of two modalities of cognitive therapy (individual and marital) in treating depression.

Historically, depression was explained and treated intrapsychically and/or biochemically. In the 1970s theoretical propositions and treatment applications began to appear that offered that depression should be viewed cognitively (Beck 1963, 1974; Beck et al. 1979) or interpersonally (Coyne 1976a, 1976b; Klerman et al. 1984). Simultaneously, though more sporadically, marital interventions started to attract interest (Feldman 1976; Friedman 1975). The cognitive and interpersonal trends of thinking stimulated researchers to investigate the efficacy of these therapeutic modalities and to compare them with each other. Interest in these two treatments peaked with the publication of the study that emerged from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program (Elkin et al. 1989). This well-known research found that the two psychotherapies were similarly effective, but that the interpersonal approach was slightly more successful with more severely depressed patients.

Emotional arousal and affiliation

Abstract Schachters 1959 emotional comparison theory was criticized by Sarnoff and Zimbardo 1961, who demonstrated that there are certain kinds of emotional arousal in which isolation is preferred. The generality of the theory was restricted and the direction of affiliative behaviors in different emotional-arousal conditions was questioned. In an attempt to reconcile the opposing findings, affiliative reactions to general and specific emotional arousal were compared. General arousal, anxiety state, was experimentally induced by confronting subjects with unspecified and cognitively unclear threat which allowed undetermined modes of personal interpretations. Specific arousal was induced by replicating Sarnoff and Zimbardos experimental procedures. As predicted, general arousal increased affiliation while specific arousal decreased it. Birth order failed to interact significantly with any variables, and did not affect affiliation. Based on present and previous findings, some generalizations about emotional comparison and affiliation were offered, and problems of studying underlying motivations for affiliation were discussed.

Intergroup biases in conflict: Reexamination with Arab pre-adolescents and adolescents

This study examined the proposition derived from the integrative developmental contextual theory (IDCT) (Bar-Tal & Teichman, 2005; Teichman & Bar-Tal, in press) that contextual circumstances determining collective self esteem (i.e. conflict and social status), and developmental stage in which identity development is a central issue (pre- and early adolescence) would influence intergroup biases. This proposition was previously examined with Israeli Jewish participants and here is re-examined in three samples, aged 8—17, including Israeli Arabs and two groups from the Palestinian Authority. The three samples were based in different intergroup contexts in which their group status was relatively high, medium or low. The findings demonstrate differences in the relationship between contextually defined collective self-esteem and intergroup attitudes. Results confirmed the hypothesis that in conflict, irrespective of age highest intergroup biases would be displayed by the high status group. However, the hypothesis that the lowest status group would express only more negativity toward the out-group was not confirmed. The developmental hypothesis that pre- and early adolescents from the high status group would express most varied and extreme biases was also confirmed. With some exceptions in the middle status group, all older adolescents displayed moderation in biases.

Images Held by Jewish and Arab Children in Israel of People Representing their Own and the Other Group

This study examined the way Jewish and Arab children in Israel perceive their in-group and the respective out-group. The sample consisted of 365 children, 166 Jews and 199 Arabs, from two age groups, 7 to 8 and 11 to 13. Images of “a Jew” and “an Arab” were assessed using human figure drawings (HFD) and a related questionnaire that were scored on the dimensions of structure and content. Based on developmental and contextual perspectives and previous findings, it was hypothesized that younger children in both ethnic groups would favor the majority group, whereas early adolescents would favor their in-group and reject the out-group. The hypothesis was confirmed for the Jewish children. Arab children demonstrated rare differentiation between the images. The findings are discussed in relation to cognitive development and the different contextual influences in the two groups: the Israeli-Arab conflict for Jewish children and minority status for Arab children.

Gender preferences of pregnant women and emotional reaction to information regarding fetal gender and postpartum: An examination of freud's view about motivation for motherhood

Freud (1933) suggested that women enter motherhood with a motivation to compensate for anatomical and psychological inferiority. This motivation is reflected in the desire to bear a son. Freuds idea was investigated by examining pregnant womens preferences regarding fetal gender and their emotional reactions (anxiety and depression) to information about fetal gender following an ultrasound examination and postpartum. Subjects were first-time and third-time pregnant women. In the third-time pregnant group only women who had two previous children of the same gender were investigated. First-time pregnant women did not express a predominant preference for any gender, third-time pregnant women preferred a child of a gender they did not have. In the first pregnancy, after the examination, subjects experienced a significant decrease in depression, and postpartum a significant elevation in both emotions. Preference and information about fetal gender affected depression only when they interacted with the time of measurement. In the third pregnancy, anxiety and depression were highest after the examination and the strongest elevation in both emotions was reported by women who had two sons, preferred a daughter and were informed they will deliver a son. The findings in both pregnancies put doubt on Freuds ideas about the motivation for motherhood, and suggest that social factors may also play a part in determining mothers attitude and emotional reactions towards fetal and neonates gender.

Affiliation and self disclosure in a specific ego threat situation

Abstract This study presents findings about affiliative reactions to a specific ego threat in a real life situation. Subjects exposed to a personal and cognitive evaluation were asked about their preference for sharing this experience with others or experiencing it individually. They were compared with subjects offered the same choice in a neutral non-evaluative situation. The actual self disclosure of the subjects was also evaluated. As hypothesized, the subjects in the evaluative condition reacted with higher levels of emotional arousal and preferred isolation rather than affiliation. The hypothesis that emotional arousal due to a specific ego threat would restrict self disclosing behavior was only partly confirmed.

Family therapy with adolescents

This paper is a continuation of Berkowitzs (1979) systemic ideas about the treatment of troubled adolescents and their families. A therapeutic approach which is conceptually and structurally relevent to the developmental task of differentiation and individuation is presented. This task is viewed systemically as a familys task rather than an individuals task. Specific problems and applications are discussed.

Grandparents' and Parents' Views about Their Family and Children's Adjustment to Kindergarten.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between perceptions of family characteristics by three family dyads (maternal grandparents, paternal grandparents, and parents), as well as the relationship of these perceptions with the adjustment of young children in these families to kindergarten. Grandparents and their adult children (parents) described their current families by completing the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (D.H. Olson, J. Portner, & Y. Lavee, 1985). Due to significant Pearson product‐moment correlations between cohesion and adaptability in the three dyads, the relationships between grandparents’ and parents’ descriptions of their families and between family perceptions and childrens adjustment to kindergarten were explored using partial correlations. Despite the similarities on family dimensions between generations, we found unique influences of parents, maternal, and paternal grandparents on three unrelated indices of childrens adjustment to kindergarten.

Family Treatment with an Acting-Out Adolescent

Cognitive therapy was conceptualized and developed as an individual modality of therapy for treating depression (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). Despite the fact that Beck et al. (1979) attributed great importance to the interpersonal context, they perceived the patient as an “individual thinker.” According to their definition, the model they presented was an “autonomous cognitive model” that was “divorced from the current environment” (p. 22). In the decade that followed, cognitive therapy was applied to a wide variety of symptoms and psychopathologies, and expanded from solely individual to group and family intervention.

Interpersonal Needs of Drug Addicts: Are They Similar across Cultures?

Needs for interpersonal resources were compared in groups of Israeli and USA drug abusers and in matched groups of normal subjects. Across cultures, drug addicts displayed a similar pattern of needs, while the patterns displayed by normal subjects were dissimilar. The results suggest that drug addicts display patterns of need that deviate from the cultural norm and approach the patterns displayed by addicts in other cultures.