Negative Interaction Patterns Research Articles

A Preliminary Investigation of Teacher-Reported Classroom-Level Adversity and Teacher–Student Interactions

Early elementary-age students with and at risk of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) tend to develop negative interaction patterns with their teachers. This preliminary study examines the extent to which symptoms of teacher burnout and teacher reports of classroom adversity are associated with the likelihood of negative interactions between teachers and students with and at risk of EBD. We conducted observations to assess teacher–student interactions in individual and group settings, and teachers reported on burnout and classroom adversity. This study included 10 teachers and 15 of their students with or at risk of EBD. High levels of classroom adversity increased the likelihood of negative teacher–student individual interaction. High levels of classroom adversity modified the relation between personal accomplishment and negative teacher–student interactions in group settings. Findings suggest teachers may need additional support for engaging in high-quality interactions with students with and at risk of EBD, particularly in classrooms facing high levels of adversity, and inform intervention design and implementation.

Investigating Couples' Interactive Patterns at Three Stages of the Family Life Cycle

Abstract Introduction: This study aims to investigate the couples' interaction patterns at three stages of family life cycle including couples without children, childbearing families and families with adolescent children. Method: This study is a qualitative research with a phenomenology method. Using purposive sampling, 28 couples were selected from Yazd (20-50 year old couples). The required data was collected through designed scenarios using in-depth semi-structured interview and the Marital Adjustment Test. To analyze the data, the seven-stage Colaizzi model was imitated. Results: Totally, 12 components of negative interaction patterns were identified including defensiveness, criticism, anger, gender rules, belligerence, family contempt, contempt, domineering, tense humor, contempt for her/himself, sadness and retreat. Positive interaction codes included cautious behavior, interest in the relation, validation, affection, humor, surprise, self-disclosure, seeing themselves as a unit, sense of humor, emotion management, and normalization. The findings indicate significant differences in the amount of usage, form, purpose and verbal manifestation of these components in each of the stages. Conclusion: It can be stated that different life cycle stages have certain features that can make an impact on the couples' interaction patterns.

Family Focused Therapy for Family Members of Patients with Bipolar Disorder: Case Reports of Its Impact on Expressed Emotions.

Caregivers of patients with bipolar disorder (BD) undergo a considerable amount of burden. In India, family caregivers are the primary source of support and care for their ill relatives. The burden faced by family members of patients with BD often results in physical and mental health consequences. This may lead to negative interaction patterns such as hostility, criticality, and overinvolvement, termed as expressed emotions (EE). Here, we report how we addressed the EE in family members, using a single-subject design that involved the family caregivers (n = 2) of two adults who presented with a diagnosis of BD with a current episode of mania. An assessment of family caregivers, using the family questionnaire, revealed high EE. Family focused therapy (FFT) of 12 sessions was delivered over 3–4 weeks on an inpatient basis, with positive outcomes of reductions in EE and family stress and improved psychosocial functioning in patient that were sustained over 9–10 months. FFT can be an important add on psychosocial therapy to reduce EE and stress and to facilitate functioning and communication.

Couple therapy for depression.

Couple therapy for depression.

Fighting for Connection: Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence

ABSTRACTIn this article, we draw on attachment theory, academic research, emotionally focused couple therapy, and our own clinical practice to offer insights into situational couple violence (SCV) and its therapeutic management. We argue that SCV arises from negative interaction patterns, which can be described by four patterns of violence that represent different attachment behaviours between partners. By understanding these dynamics, SCV is understood within a refined attachment-based therapeutic paradigm that gives the therapist a clear roadmap of how SCV is related to the underlying emotions and needs of both partners.

How Do Parent-Child Interactions Predict and Maintain Depression in Childhood and Adolescence? A Critical Review of the Literature

Background and Objective: Negative parent-child interaction patterns have been linked to youth depression, with a causal influence being assumed. However, the majority of empirical studies examining this issue have used self-report methods to assess parent-child relationships, which cannot capture the temporal dynamics of dyadic interactions and may be subject to reporting bias. This review considers the association between parent-child interactions and youth depression with a specific focus on observational methodology. Method: A literature search was conducted including studies that investigated the association between observed parent-child interactions and youth depressive symptomology. Literature was obtained using database searches, citation searches and screening of recent reviews. Results and Conclusion: Maternal disengagement, reduced adolescent autonomy granting, adolescent maladaptive emotion regulation, parental suppression of adolescent positivity and incongruent parent-child communication styles were relatively consistently related to youth depression. Nonetheless, there were conflicting findings and several studies demonstrated little or no contribution of parent-child interaction factors to youth depression. Overall, the evidence suggests that causal influences are likely to be modest. The majority of studies relate to maternal versus paternal interactions. Furthermore, the factors that mediate the association between parent-child interactions and youth depression remain largely unknown. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

Marital Satisfaction, Negative Interaction, and Religiosity: A Comparison of Three Age Groups

This study compared marital satisfaction among three age groups and examined how negative interaction patterns and religiosity relate to marital satisfaction at each age using a sample of Protestants (N = 45,387) diverse in denominations, location, geography, and size. We performed a 1-way ANOVA to compare marital satisfaction among three age groups (younger than 40, 40–59, and 60 and older) and found a U-shape curve with marital satisfaction highest among the youngest group, lowest among middle-age couples, and high among older couples. ANCOVA analysis found negative interaction, age, religiosity, age*negative interaction, and age*religiosity to be predictors of marital satisfaction.

Asymmetrical peer interaction and formal operational development: Dialogue dimensions analysis

The main goal of the study is to define dialogue dimensions in order to describe the interaction within peer dyads and potentially connect them with formal operations development in the less competent participants. Its significance is related to rare investigations of this subject in the context of formal operations development and to practical implications regarding peer involvement in education process. The sample included 316 students aged 12 and 14. The research had an experimental design: pre-test, intervention and post-test. In the pre-test and the post-test phases students solved the formal operations test BLOT. According to the pre-test results, 47 dyads were formed where less and more competent students jointly solved tasks from BLOT. Their dialogues were coded by 14 dimensions operationalized for this purpose. Correlations between the dialogue dimensions indicate clearly distinguished positive and negative interaction patterns. There are no connections between dialogue dimensions and progress of less competent adolescents on BLOT in the entire sample, but several are found in the subsamples. Arguments exchange seems to be the most encouraging dialogue feature regarding formal operations development, particularly in older students. This confirms relevant research data and the expectations about peers? constructive role in fostering cognitive development.

Pharmacotherapy for Parents with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Given the high heritability of the disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is common among parents of children with ADHD. Parental ADHD is associated with maladaptive parenting, negative parent-child interaction patterns and a diminished response to behavioural parent training. We describe our previous research demonstrating that stimulant medications for mothers with ADHD are associated with reductions in maternal ADHD symptoms. Although limited beneficial effects on self-reported parenting were also found in our study, the impact of ADHD medications on functional outcomes related to parenting and family interactions may not be sufficient for many families. Many questions remain with regard to how best to treat multiplex ADHD families in which a parent and child have ADHD. In particular, future studies are needed: (1) to evaluate how best to sequence pharmacotherapy, psychosocial treatment for adult ADHD and behavioural parenting interventions; (2) to determine the best approach to maintaining treatment effects over the long term for both parents and children; and (3) to identify individual predictors of treatment response.

Psychotherapy groups and individual support to enhance mental health and early dyadic interaction among drug-abusing mothers.

The purpose of this controlled study was to examine the outcome of psychodynamic mother-infant group psychotherapy (PGT) outpatient intervention for drug-abusing perinatal mother-infant dyads. PGT comprised 20 to 24 weekly 3-hr sessions with 3 to 5 months of follow-up. A comparison intervention group was formed of mothers participating in individually tailored psychosocial support (PSS) lasting, on average, 12 months and providing mother-infant support and practical counseling. We hypothesized that positive changes would occur in maternal drug abuse, mental health, and mother-infant interaction, especially in the PGT group due to its more intensive therapeutic focus. Participants were 26 drug-abusing dyads in PGT, 25 in PSS, and 50 dyads in a non-drug-abusing comparison group. Assessments were pre-intervention and at 4 and 12 months' follow-up, including maternal depressive symptoms and mother-child interaction assessed by the Emotional Availability Scales (EA). As hypothesized, in dyadic interaction maternal hostility decreased significantly in the PGT group, and intrusiveness decreased in both intervention groups, but especially in the PTG group. However, both interventions showed a general improvement in the quality of mother-infant interaction. They also succeeded in sustaining high maternal abstinence, treatment retention, and alleviating depressive symptoms. The findings are discussed in relation to preventing negative transgenerational interaction patterns in the high-risk dyads.

Marital Interactions as Predictors of Symptoms Severity in Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia

Several studies showed associations among marital variables and panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA) symptomatology. However, very few explored this issue using behavioural coding of couples’ interactions. We conducted this study to investigate whether observed marital interaction patterns would predict PDA severity. Cross-sectional, pre-treatment multi-center study of 65 married couples in which one spouse was diagnosed with panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA). All participants completed seven self-reported PDA symptoms measures commonly used in PDA research and two self-reported marital measures. Couples were observed during a 15-minute video-taped problem-solving task. The spouses’ marital interactions were coded by two independent coders using two validated observational coding systems. After controlling for socio-economical variables, the presence of negative marital interaction patterns, namely criticism and dominance behaviour, predicted higher symptom severity, whereas the presence of positive interaction patterns, namely support and validation behaviours, predicted lower symptom severity . Emotional over-involvement of the non-PDA partner, a manifestation of expressed emotions, failed to predict PDA severity. Discord in the couple could exacerbate the PDA and maintain it. A therapist evaluating a married PDA client may need to assess his or her client’s marital interaction patterns with his or her partner and adjust his intervention accordingly.

The influence of perceived uncertainty on entrepreneurial action in the transition to a low-emission energy infrastructure: The case of biomass combustion in The Netherlands

The transition towards renewable energy production will not occur without the involvement of entrepreneurs who dare to take action amidst uncertainty. In an earlier article, a conceptual model was introduced for analyzing how perceived uncertainties influence the decisions and actions of entrepreneurs involved in innovation projects that aimed at developing and implementing renewable energy technologies. In this article, the conceptual model is applied to stand-alone biomass combustion projects in the Netherlands. Although none of the biomass combustion projects has been abandoned, some entrepreneurs clearly have more difficulty to turn their project into a success than others. To create insight into the underlying dynamics of these projects, the article analyzes what types of positive or negative interaction patterns occur over time between (internal or external) factors in the project environment, perceived uncertainties, motivation and entrepreneurial action and how these patterns can be stimulated or prevented. The results provide several lessons to take into account when designing policies for stimulating the development and implementation of biomass combustion.

Preventing and ameliorating young children's chronic problem behaviors: An ecological classroom‐based approach

AbstractThe number of young children who demonstrate chronic problem behaviors placing them at high risk for the future development of emotional and behavioral disorders is increasing. These children's problem behaviors often exist prior to entering school and become apparent as they interact with their parents at home. In fact, researchers have suggested that children who demonstrate chronic problem behaviors and their parents often end up developing well‐established negative interaction patterns that can evolve into coercive relationships and persist upon entry into school. This article describes an ecological classroom‐based approach, which emphasizes changing teacher‐‐student interaction patterns as a means for preventing and possibly ameliorating coercive interaction patterns demonstrated by young children and their teachers. First, a brief overview of current service delivery models and intervention programs addressing young children's behavioral excesses is presented. Next, a description of the ecological classroom‐based intervention model for addressing the behavioral needs of these children is described. This section includes the theoretical frameworks on which the model is based and an overview of model components. Additionally, the application of the model to a school‐wide systems approach is explored. Finally, future research directions are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Positive Emotional Change: Mediating Effects of Forgiveness and Spirituality

We evaluated the efficacy of an emotional education program that seeks to reduce the intergenerational transmission of negative interaction patterns by increasing forgiveness and spirituality. We examined both reduction of psychological symptoms and increase in positive psychological outcomes over the course of a year, as well as the mediators of this change. At baseline, the sample consisted of 99 participants and 47 waiting list controls. Comparisons of scores from baseline (Time 1) to one week after the Hoffman Quadrinity Process (Time 2) showed large declines in negative affect (depressive symptoms) and increases in both positive outcomes (mastery, empathy, emotional intelligence, life satisfaction, forgiveness, and spiritual experience) and health and well-being. Over the course of a year, most of these gains were sustained, in comparison with the control group. Further, increases in forgiveness and spirituality mediated the effect of program participation on depressive symptoms.

Marital therapy for depression

Marital therapy for depression has the two-fold aim of modifying negative interaction patterns and increasing mutually supportive aspects of couple relationships, thus changing the interpersonal context linked to depression. 1. To conduct a meta-analysis of all intervention studies comparing marital therapy to other psychosocial and pharmacological treatments, or to non-active treatments. 2. To conduct an assessment of the internal validity and external validity. 3. To assess the overall effectiveness of marital therapy as a treatment for depression. 4. To identify mediating variables through which marital therapy is effective in depression treatment. CCDANCTR-Studies was searched on 5-9-2005, Relevant journals and reference lists were checked. Randomised controlled trials examining the effectiveness of marital therapy versus individual psychotherapy, drug therapy or waiting list/no treatment/minimal treatment for depression were included in the review. Quasi-randomised controlled trials were also included. Data were extracted using a standardised spreadsheet. Where data were not included in published papers, two attempts were made to obtain the data from the authors. Data were synthesised using Review Manager software. Dichotomous data were pooled using the relative risk (RR), and continuous data were pooled using the standardised mean difference (SMD), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. The random effects model was employed for all comparisons. A formal test for heterogeneity, the natural approximate chi-squared test, was also calculated. Eight studies were included in the review. No significant difference in effect was found between marital therapy and individual psychotherapy, either for the continuous outcome of depressive symptoms, based on six studies: SMD -0.12 (95% CI -0.56 to 0.32), or the dichotomous outcome of proportion of subjects remaining at caseness level, based on three studies: RR 0.84 (95% CI 0.32 to 2.22). In comparison with drug therapy, a lower drop-out rate was found for marital therapy: RR 0.31 (95% CI 0.15 to 0.61), but this result was greatly influenced by a single study. The comparison with no/minimal treatment, showed a large significant effect in favour of marital therapy for depressive symptoms, based on two studies: SMD -1.28 (95% CI -1.85 to -0.72) and a smaller significant effect for persistence of depression, based on one study only. The findings were weakened by methodological problems affecting most studies, such as the small number of cases available for analysis in almost all comparisons, and the significant heterogeneity among studies. There is no evidence to suggest that marital therapy is more or less effective than individual psychotherapy or drug therapy in the treatment of depression. Improvement of relations in distressed couples might be expected from marital therapy. Future trials should test whether marital therapy is superior to other interventions for distressed couples with a depressed partner, especially considering the role of potential effect moderators in the improvement of depression.

Parents’ causal attributions about attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: the effect of child and parent sex

Boys with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) demonstrate disruptive behaviour at significantly higher rates compared to girls. Disruptive behaviour often develops as a result of negative interaction patterns within the caregiving relationship. Given the importance of parental cognitions as mediators of parental behaviour, the consideration of parent and child sex in the investigation of causal attributions regarding AD/HD may, at least partially, explain sex differences in the prevalence of disruptive behaviour among children with AD/HD. To examine the effect of parent and child sex on parental causal attributions and reactions about AD/HD and to investigate the interrelationships between these variables. Three hundred and seventeen mothers and 317 fathers of boys and girls aged 4-6 years and enrolled in kindergartens in Athens. A Greek version of the Parental Account of the Causes of Childhood Problems Questionnaire was used, which followed a vignette about a hypothetical child displaying symptoms of AD/HD. Half of the participants received a male and another half received a female version of the vignette. The child's sex greatly influenced parents' causal attributions about AD/HD. Higher ratings of intentionality were conferred to boys with AD/HD than girls and these attributions were related to stricter responses towards boys. In contrast, parents who considered biological dysfunction as underlying AD/HD, they mostly did so in the case of girls. Minimal effect of parent sex on causal attributions was found. Because causal attributions of intentionality relate to the response of more strictness and such attributions are more prevalent for boys than girls, then these perceptions about the aetiology of AD/HD in boys may be at the basis of negative interaction patterns. The increase of such interaction patterns may place boys at a more vulnerable position towards the development of secondary behaviour problems.

The Use of Emotionally Focused Family Therapy in a Children's Mental Health Center

Emotionally focused family therapy (EFFT) is a model derived from emotionally focused therapy. It has a primary focus on utilizing emotion within sessions to address and change negative interaction patterns which result from attachment injuries. This paper discusses the use of EFFT with clients in a Children's Mental Health Center in London, Ontario, Canada. Three case examples are provided.

For better or for worse? The effects of alcohol use on marital functioning

Two competing hypotheses propose opposite effects for the relation between alcohol use and marital functioning. One hypothesis conceptualizes alcohol use as maladaptive and proposes that it serves as a chronic stressor that causes marital dysfunction and subsequent dissolution. An opposing hypothesis proposes that alcohol use is adaptive and serves to temporarily relieve stressors that cause marital dysfunction, stabilizing the marital relationship, and perhaps preventing dissolution. Sixty studies were reviewed that tested the relation between alcohol use and one of three marital functioning domains (satisfaction, interaction, and violence). Results provide overwhelming support for the notion that alcohol use is maladaptive, and that it is associated with dissatisfaction, negative marital interaction patterns, and higher levels of marital violence. A small subset of studies found that light drinking patterns are associated with adaptive marital functioning; however, more research is necessary to replicate these effects and identify specific conditions under which they occur.

Don't wait for accidents — possibilities to assess risk in traffic by applying the ‘Wiener Fahrprobe’

In Vienna during more than 10 years of research work a special traffic behaviour observation method has been developed, evaluated and applied by Risser et al. in the frame of many different traffic safety projects. Car drivers are accompanied by two observers who register not only errors in behaviour of drivers but also their communication and interaction with other road users. Malfunction of communication and interaction are judged as main sources for problems for danger in traffic. For example, if they lead to a bad traffic climate fealings of discomfort, anger and frustration will prevent cooperative actions of road users. Being able to recognize such negative or dangerous interaction patterns in time it seems to be easier to protect road users — most often the ‘unprotected’ ones — from getting involved in accidents. This contribution gives an impression about theory and practice of the observation method and shows results of different studies, where the method called ‘Wiener Fahrprobe’ has been applied. Furthermore it will show how the method and its results can be used in the frame of the European traffic (safety) research projects ‘PROMETHEUS’ and ‘DRIVE’. Till now no accident data exist in respect to new RTI systems. Therefore it seems to be important to have a sophisticated social-psychological method for testing the behaviour and interaction of road users in connection with these systems. This is a necessary prediction for deciding whether the systems are socially compatible or not.

The Darkside of Courtship: Violence and Sexual Exploitation

This article reviews the literature on the dark side of courtship, that is, the occurrence of physical violence and sexual exploitation between premarital partners. The basic premise of the article is that two features of dating and courtship both encourage the use of exploitative behavior and allow it to continue over time without necessarily causing the relationship to terminate. First, the different context of courtship for males versus females encourages male control of relationships and female compliance with that control. Second, the highly romanticized nature of courtship encourages partners to stay together despite highly negative interaction patterns. Implications for primary, secondary, and tertiary intervention are discussed.