Maladaptive Interpersonal Behavior Research Articles

Like Mother, Like Daughter: Excessive Reassurance Seeking Across Mother–Daughter and Romantic Relationships

Excessive reassurance seeking (ERS) is a maladaptive self-regulatory behavior whereby an individual persistently seeks reassurance that one is loveable and worthy (Joiner et al., 1992; Joiner et al., 1999). Despite research evidencing the negative consequences of ERS on relationships, little is known about how ERS presents across relationships. The present study evaluated the associations between mothers’ and daughters’ ERS across the parent–child relationship and across their respective romantic relationships. Sixty-seven mother–daughter dyads were recruited to separately complete measures of ERS in reference to their relationships with each other and their relationships with their romantic partners. Consistent with our hypotheses, mothers’ ERS directed toward their romantic partners correlated with mothers’ ERS directed toward their daughters, r(65) = .36, p = .003, and daughters’ ERS directed toward their mothers also correlated with daughters’ ERS directed toward daughters’ romantic partners, r(65) = .25, p = .04. These preliminary findings highlight the interpersonal nature of ERS and contribute to the understanding of the consistency of this maladaptive interpersonal behavior across relationships.

A Narrative Review about Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior in Childhood: The Relationship with Shame and Moral Development.

We conducted a literature review aimed at identifying the origins of shame as well as its effects on moral development, especially in terms of behavioral outcomes, and we reflected on the practical implications of our findings. We explored the role of shame in moral development through cultural differences and parental influences, collecting evidence of psychopathological consequences of primary moral emotion dysregulation. These studies showed a dichotomous feature of shame, as a prosocial behavior enhancer in morally relevant situations and, simultaneously, a risk factor for aggressive and antisocial behaviors on other occasions. Dysregulated shame leads to maladaptive interpersonal behaviors, which could evolve towards psychopathological paths. Therefore, an integrated intervention is recommended in children with emotional/behavioral problems.

The Catalyst Model of Change: Gratitude Interventions with Positive Long-Term Effects.

How can gratitude interventions be designed to produce meaningful and enduring effects on people's well-being? To address this question, the author proposes the Catalyst Model of Change-this novel, practical, and empirically testable model posits five socially oriented behavioral pathways that channel the long-term effects of gratitude interventions as well as how to augment gratitude experiences in interventions to boost treatment effects and catalyze these behavioral pathways. Specifically, interventions that enhance the frequency, skills, intensity, temporal span, and variety of gratitude experiences are likely to catalyze the following post-intervention socially oriented behaviors: (a) social support-seeking behaviors, (b) prosocial behaviors, (c) relationship initiation and enhancement behaviors, (d) participation in mastery-oriented social activities, and (e) reduced maladaptive interpersonal behaviors, which, in turn, produce long-term psychological well-being. A unique feature of the Catalyst Model of Change is that gratitude experiences are broadly conceptualized to include not just gratitude emotions, cognitions, and disclosures, but also expressing, receiving, witnessing, and responding to interpersonal gratitude. To this end, gratitude interventions that provide multiple opportunities for social experiences of gratitude (e.g., members expressing gratitude to each other in a group) might offer the greatest promise for fostering durable, positive effects on people's psychological well-being.

An Interpersonal Approach to Social Preference: Examining Patterns and Influences of Liking and Being Bothered by Interpersonal Behaviors of Others.

Personality disorders are rooted in maladaptive interpersonal behaviors. Previously, researchers have assessed interpersonal behaviors using self-ratings of one's own behaviors and third-person ratings of dyadic interactions. Few studies have examined individuals' perceptions of others' interpersonal behaviors. Using a sample of 470 undergraduate students, the authors examined patterns of interpersonal perception as well as influences of these patterns on psychological functioning. Findings showed that people tend to like interpersonal behaviors that are similar to their own and become bothered by behaviors that are the opposite of their own. Such a pattern is particularly characteristic on the warmth dimension and is consistent across different levels of closeness of the relationship. The authors also found small but significant effects of interpersonal perception on personality and general psychological functioning, above and beyond effects of individuals' own interpersonal traits. Such findings highlight the importance of including perceptions of others in investigating interpersonal dynamics when understanding personality disorders.

Intrapersonal Emotion Regulation Difficulties and Maladaptive Interpersonal Behavior in Adolescence.

Although most research conceptualizes emotion regulation as an internal process (i.e., intrapersonal), emotions are frequently regulated in an interpersonal context. Adolescents may be particularly prone to turn to peers for assistance, given that honing emotion regulation abilities is a key task and peers become increasingly important at this stage. Adolescents each participated with a self-nominated same-gender friend (total N = 186; M age = 15.68years). All participants provided self-reports of their own emotion regulation difficulties and their engagement in interpersonal behaviors (excessive reassurance seeking, negative feedback seeking, conversational self-focus, self-disclosure) as well as their perceptions of their friends' engagement in excessive reassurance seeking and conversational self-focus. Using a cross-lagged panel model design, the current study tested associations between adolescents' intrapersonal emotion regulation difficulties and engagement in self- and friend-reported interpersonal emotion regulation behaviors at 3 time points over 6months. Gender and age group differences were considered. Results evidenced concurrent and longitudinal associations between emotion regulation difficulties and self-reported maladaptive (excessive reassurance seeking, conversational self-focus, negative feedback seeking), but not adaptive (self-disclosure), interpersonal regulatory behaviors. Friends' reports of adolescents' excessive reassurance seeking and conversational self-focus were associated concurrently, but not longitudinally, with self-reported emotion regulation difficulties. Implications for clinical intervention with adolescents struggling to regulate emotions are discussed.

An Interpersonal Approach to Social Preference: Examining Patterns and Influences of Liking and Being Bothered by Interpersonal Behaviors of Others.

Personality disorders are rooted in maladaptive interpersonal behaviors. Previously, researchers have assessed interpersonal behaviors using self-ratings of one's own behaviors and third-person ratings of dyadic interactions. Few studies have examined individuals' perceptions of others' interpersonal behaviors. Using a sample of 470 undergraduate students, the authors examined patterns of interpersonal perception as well as influences of these patterns on psychological functioning. Findings showed that people tend to like interpersonal behaviors that are similar to their own and become bothered by behaviors that are the opposite of their own. Such a pattern is particularly characteristic on the warmth dimension and is consistent across different levels of closeness of the relationship. The authors also found small but significant effects of interpersonal perception on personality and general psychological functioning, above and beyond effects of individuals' own interpersonal traits. Such findings highlight the importance of including perceptions of others in investigating interpersonal dynamics when understanding personality disorders.

NEGATIVE FEEDBACK SEEKING AND EXCESSIVE REASSURANCE SEEKING BEHAVIOR AND DEPRESSION: A META-ANALYTIC REVIEW

Introduction: Negative feedback seeking and excessive reassurance seeking behaviors in interpersonal relationships have been shown to frequently occur in conjunction with levels of depression.Method: We used meta-analysis to examine 102 studies (134 effects), relating depression with negative feedback seeking (k = 31) and/or excessive reassurance seeking (k = 103).Results: Depression had positive, moderate effect sizes with both negative feedback seeking (r = .26, 95% CI [.21, .32], p < .001, k = 31) and excessive reassurance seeking (r = .33, 95% CI [.31, .36] p < .001, k = 103). Subgroup analysis revealed the effect size for negative feedback seeking was smaller in romantic relationships compared to other relationship types. Effect sizes for excessive reassurance seeking did not differ for romantic and other relationships but were smaller in romantic relationships of a longer duration. Participant gender and symptom severity did not moderate effect sizes. Studies with child and adolescent samples had larger effects for negative feedback seeking and smaller effects for excessive reassurance seeking, relative to adult samples.Discussion: Longer closer relationships may protect against maladaptive interpersonal behaviors in individuals with depression.

Cognitive Rehabilitation With Mobile Technology and Social Support for Veterans With TBI and PTSD: A Randomized Clinical Trial

To investigate effects of cognitive rehabilitation with mobile technology and social support on veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There were 112 dyads, comprised by a veteran and a family member or friend (224 participants in total). Dyads were randomized to the following: (1) a novel intervention, Cognitive Applications for Life Management (CALM), involving goal management training plus mobile devices for cueing and training attentional control; or (2) Brain Health Training, involving psychoeducation plus mobile devices to train visual memory. Executive dysfunction (disinhibition, impulsivity) and emotional dysregulation (anger, maladaptive interpersonal behaviors) collected prior to randomization and following intervention completion at 6 months. The clinical trial yielded negative findings regarding executive dysfunction but positive findings on measures of emotion dysregulation. Veterans randomized to CALM reported a 25% decrease in anger over 6 months compared with 8% reduction in the control (B = -5.27, P = .008). Family/friends reported that veterans randomized to CALM engaged in 26% fewer maladaptive interpersonal behaviors (eg, aggression) over 6 months compared with 6% reduction in the control (B = -2.08, P = .016). An unanticipated result was clinically meaningful change in reduced PTSD symptoms among veterans randomized to CALM (P < .001). This preliminary study demonstrated effectiveness of CALM for reducing emotional dysregulation in veterans with TBI and PTSD.

Development and validation of the Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Problems.

The interpersonal circumplex (IPC) is a well-established model of social behavior that spans basic personality and clinical science. Although several measures are available to assess interpersonal functioning (e.g., motives, traits) within an IPC framework, researchers studying interpersonal difficulties have relied primarily on a single measure, the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex Scales (IIP-C; Horowitz, Alden, Wiggins, & Pincus, 2000). Although the IIP-C is a widely used measure, it is currently the only measure specifically designed to assess maladaptive interpersonal behavior using the IPC framework. The purpose of the current study is to describe a new 64-item measure of interpersonal problems, called the Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Problems (CSIP). Interpersonal problems derived from a pool of 400 personality-related problems were assessed in two large university samples. In the scale development sample (N = 1,197), items that best characterized each sector of the IPC were identified, and a set of eight 8-item circumplex scales was developed. Psychometric properties of the resulting measure were then examined in the validation sample (N = 757). Results from confirmatory circumplex structural analyses indicated that the CSIP fit well to a quasi-circumplex model. The CSIP converged with the IIP-C and the Revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales (Wiggins, 1995), and associated in theoretically expected ways with broader assessments of adaptive- and maladaptive-range personality traits and symptoms of psychological distress. The CSIP augments the IIP-C with additional content, thereby helping to extend the underlying constructs, and provides an alternative means for studying the interpersonal consequences of personality and psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record

Borderline Personality Disorder Features Are Associated with Concurrent Pain-Related Disability in a Chronic Pain Sample.

To determine whether core features of borderline personality disorder are associated with increased rates of being on disability benefits due to chronic pain conditions. A total of 147 patients currently in treatment for chronic pain at a multimodal chronic pain clinic. We tested for a concurrent relationship between borderline personality disorder features and employment status using self-report measures. Borderline personality disorder features were associated with increased likelihood of currently being on disability due to pain conditions (odds ratio [OR] = 23.13, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.68-318.73), on disability due to other conditions (OR = 33.65, 95% CI = 2.15-526.13), and unemployed (OR = 20.14, 95% CI = 1.38-294.93), even while controlling for pain severity and interference, depression, and trait anxiety. A follow-up analysis revealed that these associations were due to the negative relationships facet of borderline personality disorder features. Borderline personality disorder features, particularly negative relationships, are associated with increased rates of pain disability, general disability, and unemployment in a chronic pain sample. Future research should examine mechanisms by which the maladaptive interpersonal behaviors and cognitions of borderline personality disorder might result in worse long-term employment outcomes of chronic pain.

Associations between informant ratings of personality disorder traits, self-reports of personality, and directly observed behavior.

Diagnoses of personality disorders (PD) must rely on judgments of observers-either clinicians or acquaintances-because personality disorders are primarily defined in terms of maladaptive interpersonal behavior. Little is known, however, about how closely acquaintances' judgments of PD traits relate to self-reports of theoretically relevant Big Five traits or directly observed behavioral outcomes in interpersonal situations. The present study examines associations between judgments of the 10 PD traits provided by close acquaintances, self-reports of PD-relevant Big Five personality traits, and observed interpersonal behaviors across three different three-person laboratory interactions (i.e., unstructured chat, cooperative task, competitive game). The sample consisted of 256 undergraduate students (130 females; Mage = 19.83, SD = 1.25). Four unacquainted observers independently rated participants' behaviors from video recordings. In line with previous work, informant reports of PD traits demonstrate strong convergent validity with relevant self-reported Big Five traits (as identified by Lynam & Widiger, 2001). Directly observed behavior is meaningfully associated with acquaintances' judgments and self-reports of PD-relevant traits, and the associations between these judgments and behavior are strongest for traits associated with histrionic and schizoid PD. Vector correlations between behavioral profiles associated with informant and self-reports show that both assessments have similar behavioral correlates. Associations between PD trait ratings and behavior appeared to differ as a function of gender, with males showing more and stronger correlations. Informants' ratings of PD traits are impressively accurate, converging both with self-reports of relevant traits and directly observed interpersonal behavior. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of PDs and associated traits can be augmented by information from multiple acquaintances who have the opportunity to observe how an individual interacts with others on a daily basis across diverse contexts.

The role of the therapeutic relationship in the association between interpersonal behaviors and outcome: Comparison of two competing models

Objective: The patient–therapist relationship may be the mechanism behind the effect of pretreatment interpersonal patient behaviors on the outcome of psychotherapy for depression, or the factor determining for whom interpersonal behaviors affect outcome. We seek to establish which of these two alternatives receives empirical support. Method: We conducted a secondary analysis of the findings from the Treatment for Depression Collaborative Research Program to examine two alternative models. First, a deterministic model, in which clients’ ability to create satisfactory interpersonal relationships affects their ability to build a strong therapeutic relationship, which in turn affects outcome; and second, a compensation model, in which patients in a treatment focusing on interpersonal mechanisms of change and not in placebo, who compensate for their maladaptive pretreatment interpersonal behaviors by building a strong therapeutic relationship, benefit from treatment more than do patients who cannot build such relationship. Results: The compensation, rather than the deterministic model, was supported, suggesting that the interpersonal behavior–outcome association is significantly moderated by the therapeutic relationship in interpersonal psychotherapy and not in placebo. Conclusions: Findings support an optimistic view whereby patients seeking treatment for maladaptive interpersonal behaviors can achieve good outcomes if work on interpersonal relationships is conducted in the presence of a strong therapeutic relationship. Clinical or methodological significance of this article: This study highlights an important optimistic view in which patients with maladaptive interpersonal style who can form a strong therapeutic relationship can benefit from treatment focusing on interpersonal relationships.

Social-Cognitive and Social-Behavioral Correlates of Suicide Risk in College Students: Contributions from Interpersonal Theories of Suicide and Depression

Joiner’s interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide (IPTS) is predated by literature examining maladaptive interpersonal behaviors associated with depression; however, research has not examined the potential relevance of such behaviors for the IPTS. The current study aimed to expand understanding of suicide risk by examining two maladaptive interpersonal behaviors in the context of Joiner’s IPTS model. Structural equation modeling examined associations between depressive symptoms, social-cognitive predictors of suicide, maladaptive interpersonal behaviors, and suicide risk in 228 college students (53.9% female; M = 19.5 years, SD = 1.8). Social-cognitive IPTS variables mediated the relation between depressive symptoms and maladaptive interpersonal behavior. Both social-cognition and maladaptive interpersonal behavior mediated the effect of depressive symptoms on suicide risk. Findings have the potential to add to our understanding of the interplay of social-cognitive factors and interpersonal behaviors associated with suicide risk. Directions for future research are discussed.

Adolescents' depressive symptoms and subsequent technology-based interpersonal behaviors: A multi-wave study

This study examined the longitudinal effects of adolescents' depressive symptoms on engagement in technology-based social comparison and feedback seeking (SCFS) behaviors. A total of 816 adolescents (54.7% girls; Mage=14.1 at Time 1) participated at three times points, each one year apart. Adolescents reported technology-based SCFS, depressive symptoms, and frequencies of technology use (cell phones, Facebook, and Instagram). Multiple group (by gender) latent growth curve models examined concurrent and lagged effects of depressive symptoms on SCFS, controlling for adolescent's underlying trajectories of SCFS and overall frequencies of technology use. Results indicated that higher levels of depressive symptoms were concurrently associated with greater SCFS after accounting for adolescents' typical patterns of SCFS. For boys only, higher depressive symptoms were prospectively associated with later increases in SCFS. Results highlight the importance of social media as a unique context in which depressed adolescents may be at risk for maladaptive interpersonal behavior.

Can the Effectiveness of the Psychoanalytic Therapies Truly Be Proven?: The Effectiveness of the Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

The nature of psychoanalysis and long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy makes it difficult to perform efficacy study including randomized controlled trial (RCT). Several RCTs are focused on the effectiveness of psychoanalytic psychotherapy; and more RCTs are conducted across multiple disorders for short-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy. As a result, there were more studies on psychoanalytic psychotherapy, as compared with that of cognitive behavioral therapy or pharmacotherapy. Moreover, psychoanalytic psychotherapy yielded significant benefits in terms of psychiatric symptoms but also the aspects of quality of life, adaptive capacities, and the reduction of maladaptive interpersonal behaviors. The psychotherapies of various types applying psychoanalytic theories were generally effective. Consequently, it can be inferred that long-term and intensive psychoanalysis is also effective.

Defense Style as a Predictor of Change in Interpersonal Problems among Patients Attending Day Treatment for Personality Disorder

Healthy interpersonal functioning, and a reduction of the distress associated with maladaptive interpersonal behavior, is a focus of treatment for personality disorder (PD). Patients with PD are also known to make a preferential use of immature defenses. We examined change in interpersonal problems as a critical outcome, and defense style as a predictor of this outcome. Consecutively admitted patients to a group-oriented day treatment (DT) program were recruited (N = 32). Predictor variables were represented by subscale scores from the 40-item Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40); outcomes were represented by the global distress and interpersonal octant scores from the 64-item Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex (IIP-C). Significant inverse correlations were observed between Neurotic defenses and change in both interpersonal distress and problems associated with the Vindictive, Cold, Socially Inhibited, and Non-Assertive octants. Partial correlations, adjusting for baseline IIP-C scores, remained significant. Additional inverse relations between Neurotic defenses and improvement in the Domineering, Exploitable, and Overly Nurturant octants also emerged in the partial correlation analysis. Neurotic defenses are oriented to "splitting off" the affective element of experience; in the case of patients with PD, this affective element may often involve hostility. An orientation to use of Neurotic defenses also appears to be more trait-like and thus resistant to change. The findings highlight developing skill in affective communication, and addressing maladaptive interpersonal behaviors in the here-and-now, as mechanisms of therapeutic change in DT of patients with PD. The sample was small and assessment of defense style and interpersonal problems relied on patient self-report.

Why tough tactics fail and rapport gets results: Observing Rapport-Based Interpersonal Techniques (ORBIT) to generate useful information from terrorists.

This field observation examines 58 police interrogators’ rapport-based behaviors with terrorist suspects; specifically, whether rapport helps elicit meaningful intelligence and information. The Observing Rapport-Based Interpersonal Techniques (ORBIT; Alison, Alison, Elntib & Noone, 2012) is a coding framework with 3 elements. The first 2 measures are as follows: (i) 5 strategies adopted from the motivational interviewing (Miller & Rollnick, 2009) literature in the counseling domain: autonomy, acceptance, adaptation, empathy, and evocation and (ii) an “Interpersonal Behavior Circle” (adopted from Interpersonal theories, Leary, 1957) for coding interpersonal interactions between interrogator and suspect along 2 orthogonal dimensions (authoritative-passive and challenging-cooperative); where each quadrant has an interpersonally adaptive and maladaptive variant. The third (outcome) measure of ORBIT includes a measure of evidentially useful information (the “interview yield”) and considers the extent to which suspects reveal information pertaining to capability, opportunity and motive as well as evidence relevant to people, actions, locations and times. Data included 418 video interviews (representing 288 hours of footage), with all suspects subsequently convicted for a variety of terrorist offenses. Structural equation modeling revealed that motivational interviewing was positively associated with adaptive interpersonal behavior from the suspect, which, in turn, increased interview yield. Conversely, even minimal expression of maladaptive interpersonal interrogator behavior increased maladaptive interviewee behavior as well as directly reducing yield. The study provides the first well-defined and empirically validated analysis of the benefits of a rapport-based, interpersonally skilled approach to interviewing terrorists in an operational field setting.

Narcissism and Relational Representations Among Psychiatric Outpatients

Pathological narcissism is associated with maladaptive interpersonal behavior, although less is known regarding the internal relational representations of narcissistic patients. The authors examined the relationship between pathological narcissism and two constructs that reflect internal representations of relational patterns: quality of object relations and attachment style. Patients attending a psychiatric day treatment program (N = 218) completed measures of narcissism, general psychiatric distress, and attachment style in terms of attachment avoidance and anxiety. A semistructured interview was used to assess quality of object relations. Multiple regression analysis was conducted, controlling for general psychiatric distress. Pathological narcissism was associated with anxious attachment, but not with avoidant attachment. Narcissism was also associated with lower levels of quality of object relations. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of internal representations of self-other relations.

Invited Commentary: Applying Psychodynamic Developmental Assessment to Explore Mental Functioning in Adolescents

Recent publications in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence present a variety of topics exploring adolescents' mental functioning in the twenty first century. Conceptually, many of the articles address the intriguing, though rarely explicit, question of developmental continuities and change from adolescence to adulthood. Such investigations, which are particularly prominent in articles that discuss personality dispositions such as impulsivity or lack of empathy and their relationship to emotionally disturbed or maladaptive interpersonal behaviors, examine interactional effects of these dispositions within the personality-context matrix. From a methodological perspective, however, the major tools used for assessing personality dispositions are self-report inventories while performance-based methods, previously defined as projective tests, are not used at all despite the wide range of empirical studies that provide support for their psychometric properties. This commentary suggests that applying a theoretically based, multi-method assessment procedure in empirical research would be most fruitful for any study aimed at exploring mental functioning in adolescents. As an example, I would use the Rorschach Inkblot Method, currently being internationally considered as the most frequently applied personality test for assessing adolescents. Implications for research, practice and policy decision-making are discussed.

Examining the Link Between Friendship Contingent Self-Esteem and the Self-Propagating Cycle of Depression

Research has shown that basing one's self-worth on the quality of one's friendships, termed friendship contingent self-esteem (FCSE), is a risk factor for depressive symptoms (Cambron, Acitelli, & Steinberg, 2010). The current research extends this research by examining the hypothesis that individuals high in FCSE engage in behaviors and cognitions that maintain depressive symptoms. Study 1 showed that negative feedback seeking (NFS) and rumination mediated the relation between FCSE and depressive symptoms. Study 2, utilizing a daily diary study methodology, supported the findings of Study 1, and showed that the relation between FCSE and daily depressive symptoms was partially mediated by excessive reassurance seeking (ERS), NFS, and rumination over the course of three weeks. Findings imply that individuals whose self-esteem is determined by their friendship quality engage in maladaptive interpersonal behaviors that ultimately lead to experiencing greater depressive symptoms. Implications for future research are discussed.