Private Experience Research Articles

Experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and suicide ideation among psychiatric inpatients: The role of thwarted interpersonal needs

ABSTRACTObjective: The interpersonal theory of suicide posits the simultaneous presence of thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness (i.e., thwarted interpersonal needs) leads to active suicide ideation. According to the psychological flexibility model, psychological inflexibility is in part a product of cognitive fusion (i.e., becoming entangled or wrapped up in one’s thoughts) and experiential avoidance (i.e., avoidance of internal private experiences, which include thoughts and feelings). We hypothesized that thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness, in parallel, would mediate the positive relation between experiential avoidance and suicide ideation and between cognitive fusion and suicide ideation. Method: Participants were 118 adult psychiatric inpatients who completed self-report assessments of thwarted interpersonal needs, cognitive fusion, experiential avoidance, and suicide ideation. Results: Using bootstrapped parallel mediation regression procedures, results indicated thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness mediated, in parallel, the positive relation between experiential avoidance and suicide ideation and between cognitive fusion and suicide ideation. Additionally, thwarted belongingness, but not perceived burdensomeness, independently mediated the relation between cognitive fusion and suicide ideation. Conclusion: The current findings indicate that psychological inflexibility variables are associated with increased thwarted interpersonal needs and suicide ideation. The findings of this study provide support for the integration of the interpersonal theory of suicide and psychological flexibility model to improve our conceptualization of suicide risk among psychiatric inpatients.Clinical or methodological significance summary: The findings of this study provide support for the integration of the interpersonal theory of suicide and psychological flexibility model to improve our conceptualization of suicide risk among psychiatric inpatients.

Weather-company chief is Trump's pick to lead climate agency

Barry Myers would bring private weather-forecasting experience to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Perceptions of the attractive factors for adopting public–private partnerships in the UAE

ABSTRACTPublic–private partnerships (PPPs) procurement instruments have been very popular tools for developing projects around the world. Through the literature review of peer-reviewed papers, the attractive factors for adopting PPP models were identified. It was warranted to study these factors from a local perspective and triangulate them with the UK factors, which was established as one of the best globally. Through a questionnaire tool, data were collected from 30 participants residing in the UAE and 62 participants residing in the UK. The attractive factors sought after in the implementation of PPP projects were identified to be 13 factors. The attractive factors were further subjected to a multiple regression analysis to establish their influence on the success of PPP projects. The findings show that PPPs are considered to be attractive because they facilitate the transfer of private sector's skills and experience to the public party, utilize private sector's funds, add value for money, and transfer risk to the private party. This study contributed to research in the field of PPPs in the UAE and the UK and highlighted the similarities and differences in the practice and opened areas for future consideration.

When general practitioners meet new evidence: an exploratory ethnographic study

Objective: To explore how general practitioners (GPs) think and act when presented with new evidence in relation to planned home birth and a proposal to change information practices.Design: Exploratory ethnographic study of GPs. The GPs were encountered one or more times during a two-year period, 2011–2013, while the author tried to set up formal focus group interviews. Dialogues about the evidence, personal experiences, values and other issues unavoidably occurred. Field notes were written concomitantly.Setting: Danish GPs, primarily in Copenhagen.Subjects: Fifty Danish GPs.Results: The GPs reacted very differently, both spontaneously and later. Spontaneous reactions were often emotional involving private and professional experiences whereas later reactions were more influenced by rational deliberations. Approximately half the GPs (n = 18) who were asked whether they would personally hand out the local information leaflet about home birth were prepared to do so. The time lag between presentation of the evidence and the GPs’ decision to hand out the leaflets was up to one and a half year.Conclusions: A significant number of GPs were prepared to change their information practices. However, for many GPs, the new evidence challenged previous perceptions, and ample time and resources for dialogue, deliberations and adaptation to local circumstances were required to accommodate change.Implications: Changing information practices on a larger scale will require a systematic approach involving key stakeholders.Key PointsCurrent awareness•Patients and pregnant women should receive evidence-based information about possible choices of care – also in relation to place of birth.Most important results•Doctors often find the new evidence supporting planned home birth counterintuitive and spontaneously react emotionally rather than rationally to the evidence.•The new evidence challenging previous views elicits fast, emotional reactions, later deliberate reflections, perhaps cognitive dissonance and, finally, for some, change in clinical practice.Significance for the readers•The findings may be applicable to other fields where an evidence-based choice between an interventionist and a conservative approach is relevant.

Do ‘in vitro children’ exist? The ‘ontological choreography’ between public debates and private experiences in Poland

ABSTRACTChildren who were born used IVF in Poland are subject of vivid discussion nowadays. In this article, we probe the ontology of the in vitro child: do in vitro children exist? If so, how and where? We analyse how an ‘IVF child’ is constructed through public discourses and private narratives. We explore media publications, as well as doctors’ and parents’ narratives concerning IVF children. A very strong voice in the debate has Catholic Church, which opposes medically assisted reproduction. Our main interest in this text are the answers of children and adults born using in vitro. Even young children recognize some focal points from the debate over assisted reproduction and refer to them. Their narratives show that they feel interpellated into existence by various discourses. In this manner, we argue, being an ‘in vitro child’ in Poland is a political status, not a biological one.

The heteronomous moral value of shame

Recent work in moral theory has argued against according shame any moral value in virtue of its supposed heteronomy. Authors who have defended shame's moral value have generally argued that shame is, in fact, autonomous. In the present article, I draw on the work of Jean-Paul Sartre, Stanley Cavell and Adam Smith to develop an argument for shame's moral worth based on its heteronomy. I then contrast my defence with work that holds shame's moral value to be based on its autonomy. I argue that that view goes wrong by construing shame on the model of private experience. This psychology is unconvincing in its own right and can underwrite moral failings.

Georgina Born (ed.), Music, Sound and Space: Transformations of Public and Private Experience

<i>Georgina Born (ed.)</i>, Music, Sound and Space: Transformations of Public and Private Experience

Making extractive investments work for Africa’s development: what role for Qatar in shaping the debate on natural resource governance?

At present, emerging economies such as China, are the major importers as well as investors in Africa’s extractive sector. Indeed, they maintain a “stranglehold” on the continent regarding finance for development. Their success in gaining access to the resources of Africa is linked to an effective strategy that combines trade inducements, increased investment flows, aid for infrastructure and construction and technology transfers. With the recent dramatic decline in the price of commodities, and China’s re-balancing with greater emphasis on consumption-driven growth model, growth prospects in commodity-dependent Africa has dampened. Qatar, with its abundant hydrocarbon reserves and US$10 billion foreign exchange reserves, deploys its “soft power” to enable African countries develop their extractive sector fully, industrialize and end China’s financial stranglehold on the continent. Qatar can help develop Africa’s mineral processing industries through public private partnerships and experience. This is because of Qatar’s track record as a sound manager of natural resources. This type of partnership will assist African countries to get more out of their natural resources through valueaddition, and further deepen domestic technological capacity and job creation.Key words: Qatar, China, Africa, minerals, oil, extractive, development

Tiny Symbols Tell Big Stories. Naming and Concealing Masturbation in Diaries (1660-1940)

Symbols, encryptions and codes are a way to hide sensitive or highly personal content in diaries. This kind of private language is an important feature of diary practice, regardless of time and place, but it has barely been studied yet. This article highlights symbols for masturbation in diaries from the mid-seventeenth until the early twentieth century. These symbols are interpreted not as ‘silence’, but as disguising, narrative strategies. They form an integral part of the text and should be studied as such. The central question is how authors, by employing disguising strategies (such as symbols) in diaries position themselves within and against public discourses on masturbation. The main body of sources consists of six diaries from different national contexts. The discourse against masturbation which developed from the beginning of the eighteenth century was an international (western) affair. In medical treatises and pedagogical manuals for parents, masturbation became a ‘total illness’: a life-threatening activity that would lead to near-certain (and gruesome) death. Diary writing functioned as a medium to register and control this secret vice. But the diaries also show ways to change or resist this dominant discourse. The symbols for masturbation reflect some crucial aspects of diary writing: the diary as a memory device, between private experience and public discourses. This article was submitted to the European Journal of Life Writing on February 2nd 2017, and published on July 12th 2017.

Evolutionary Scenarios and Primate Natural History

Scenarios summarize evolutionary patterns and processes by interpreting organismal traits and their natural history correlates in a phylogenetic context. They are constructed by (1) describing phenotypes (including physiology and behavior), ideally with attention to formative roles of development, experience, and culture; (2) inferring homologies, homoplasies, ancestral character states, and their transformations with phylogenetic analyses; and (3) integrating those components with ecological and other ancillary data. At their best, evolutionary scenarios are factually dense narratives that entail no known falsehoods; their empirical and methodological shortcomings are transparent, they might be rejected based on new discoveries, and their potential ideological pitfalls are flagged for scrutiny. They are exemplified here by homoplastic foraging with percussive tools by humans, chimpanzees, capuchins, and macaques; homoplastic hunting with spears by humans and chimpanzees; and private experiences (e.g., sense of fairness, grief) among diverse animals, the homologous or homoplastic status of which often remains unexplored. Although scenarios are problematic when used to bolster political agendas, if constructed carefully and regarded skeptically, they can synthesize knowledge, inspire research, engender public understanding of evolution, enrich ethical debates, and provide a deeper historical context for conservation, including nature appreciation.

Making It Work: Women's Ways of Leading

An examination of women in leadership from a feminine perspective or point of view reveals that afemale organizational culture exists and that women exhibit ways of leading that are distinctivelydifferent from the ways men lead. Women's ways of leading are consistent with recent trends inleadership research and theory and provide a model for education that could lead to "a more caringcommunity and a safer world" (Noddings, 1991, p. 70). Yet, historically, society has been viewed asdivided into two domains""the public sphere and the private sphere. Predominantly male, the publicsphere "demands independence, rationality, and self-reliance," whereas the private sphere, predominantlyfemale, reflects "dependence, emotionality, and support" (Forisha, 1981, p. 10). That which is public isprimary, and that which is private is secondary. Since women have been relegated to the private sphere,their values and experiences have not been considered until recently.

Comparison of neoadjuvant anti-HER2 therapy for breast cancer in public versus private health care: Time to shorten the distance.

e18045 Background: In the neoadjuvant setting (NAC) of HER2-positive breast cancer (BC), the addition of pertuzumab (P) to trastuzumab (T) and chemotherapy (chemo) has increased pathological complete response (pCR) from 40-50% to over 70%. Recent data has shown that pCR is a reliable surrogate marker of disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS). In Brazil, there is an important gap between cancer drugs approved in the public health care system (PHCS) vs. the private setting. Although P approval for NAC (Aug/2016) and metastatic setting (Sep/2015) in the private health system, it is not approved for any indication in the PHCS. Likewise, T is not approved for use as NAC at the PHCS. We aim to compare private practice experience of T + P + chemo in the NAC vs. HER2-positive advanced BC patients treated at the PHCS. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 95 patients diagnosed with locally advanced HER2-positive BC by immunohistochemistry 3+ or FISH according to ASCO/CAP definition. We evaluated 17 consecutive patients at the COAEM private cancer center in Brazil since Feb/2014 (cohort 1). Neoadjuvant therapy was T and P plus docetaxel-based chemo. A cohort of 78 patients with locally advanced HER2-positive BC treated in a PHCS cancer center was analyzed (cohort 2). They received standard NAC regimen according to PHCS guidance: anthracycline and taxane-based therapy without anti-HER2 therapy. Results: Cohort 1: 17 patients with median age of 50 years (range 34-70); Four patients had clinical stage IIA; 2 patients IIB; 7 patients IIIA; 3 patients IIIB; one patient IIIC. The pCR rate was 70.5% (12 patients). Cohort 2: 78 patients with median age of 48 years (range 26-79). One patient IIB; 33 patients IIIA; 37 patients IIIB; 7 patients IIIC. The pCR rate was 16.7% (13 patients); 29 patients (37.2%) had clinical complete response. Only 26 patients (33.3%) received T in the adjuvant setting. Conclusions: Neoadjuvant P and T combined with chemo has shown pCR rates superior to 70% in clinical trials, which is a surrogate marker for DFS and OS in HER2-positive BC. The absence of anti-HER2 therapy in the PHCS must be urgently reviewed not just in light of double-blockage strategy but also in T monotherapy use.

Economies of Acquaintances: Social Relations during Shopping at Food Markets and in Consumers’ Food Cooperatives

I researched two forms of shortened food supply chain in Poland from the perspective of social relations. This involves qualitative analysis of interviews with the customers of seven open-air food markets in Małopolska region and the members of one Krakow cooperative. Such markets are traditional forms, continuously and deeply rooted in households’ everyday provision strategies, whereas food cooperatives are typical Alternative Food Networks inspired by Western experiences and have only existed in Poland for a few years. The two forms have distinct similarities, as they refer to directness and locality and are critical of dominant, mass economic institutions. However, the analysis of consumers’ interviews points to clear differences rooted in historical and structural determinants. These differences result in their different dynamic and contrasting roles in the food system and food culture of Poland. Owing to their inclusiveness and comparative popularity, open-air markets in Poland offer a universally accessible source of fresh produce. Furthermore, their strong social embeddedness increases their capacity to adapt to the current economic conditions and clients’ needs. The social-network nature of cooperatives, meanwhile, results in limitations in the scope of their operation, yet at the same time leads to innovative solutions and political narratives that are critical toward the mainstream food system. The criticism of markets, on the other hand, is based on conservative resistance, related to everyday food practices, private experiences, cultural values, and nostalgia.

Young Adult Use of Ebooks: An Analysis of Public Library Services and Resources

ABSTRACTAn online survey distributed to librarians at public libraries across North America established some interesting trends in public librarians’ perceptions of ebooks and teens. Some of the findings of this study are that teen library users strongly prefer to read print books for their recreational reading and show very little interest in ebooks or ebook programs offered by public libraries. Survey respondents indicate that teen library users remain largely unaware of or disinterested in the advantages of ebooks in providing them a convenient, private, and customizable recreational reading experience. Even when public librarians offer ebook programs for teens through school outreach, these programs tend to focus on the titles in the collection and the download process, rather than the specific benefits of ebook reading. More active promotion of these advantages could potentially appeal to teens, especially to non-library users and reluctant readers.

The Impacts of Private Experience on the Employment of Different Public Job Positions

There have been many studies on the differences between the public and private sectors; yet, these studies often do not address differences within the public sector. This article investigates the impacts of the private sector experience on the employment of different categories of public employees: public budgeting and finance (PBF) employees, professionals, and managers. It also compares the different impacts among mixed categories of PBF professionals, non-PBF professionals, PBF managers, and non-PBF managers. The results suggest that the private sector experience increases the likelihood of a public sector employee being in a PBF or professional position, while it decreases the propensity of a public sector employee to be in a managerial position. Moreover, while private sector experience negatively correlates with public employees’ job satisfaction, the results are not significant for PBF employees and professionals, and the negative effects are much higher for non-PBF employees and nonprofessionals.

Private emotions as contingency descriptors: emotions, emotional behavior, and their evolution

ABSTRACTWhereas emotional behavior can easily be included in a behavior analytic account, emotion as private experience has proven much more difficult. I will argue that simply considering the private experience of emotion as covert behavior, stimuli (to be gained or avoided), or motivating operations is not satisfactory. The fact of private experience presents definitional problems not encountered when considering public behavior. The problem of privacy as elucidated by Skinner (1953, 1963, 1974) and Wittgenstein (1953) is discussed and a possible solution provided. This solution is based upon an approach first described by Israel Goldiamond (1979a) which treats private emotions as indicators or descriptors – non-spoken tacts – of consequential contingencies. The experience of emotion is considered as occurring with, and determined by, the contingency. In this account, emotions neither cause behavior nor are caused by behavior; they are instead part of consequential contingencies. The differences among emotions reflect the differences in contingencies described. Once “made public”, however, emotion may become linked to “emotional behavior”, which is then maintained by its consequences. The approach appears consistent across species and suggests a common evolutionary origin as first suggested by Darwin (1872).

(Utilization of International Carbon Market under the Paris Agreement)

(Utilization of International Carbon Market under the Paris Agreement)

A Framework to Support Experiential Learning and Psychological Flexibility in Supervision: SHAPE

ObjectiveIn this article, we describe a pragmatic framework for supporting supervision, based on a contextual behavioural perspective.MethodThe development of psychological skills to a competent level requires didactic and experiential learning, and supervision is agreed to be a central vehicle for the integration of these experiences. Alongside engaging in problem‐solving and giving instructions (to build adherence), supervisors can reasonably expect supervisees to learn from experience by attending closely to influences and effects of their choices. Experiential learning can help the psychologist to develop sensitivity in applying knowledge and skills in effective and safe ways for clients (thus demonstrating competence).ResultsWe argue that contingency‐shaped learning is strengthened by including supervision elements that promote psychological flexibility (the capacity to actively embrace one's private experiences in the present moment and engage or disengage in patterns of behaviour in the service of chosen values). Psychological flexibility has been found to foster wellbeing, work effectiveness, openness to new learning, compassion, and acceptance of difference and diversity, in workplace settings. Moreover, the psychological flexibility of psychologists has been found to predict the use of evidence‐based interventions, such as exposure.ConclusionThe SHAPE framework identifies five features (Supervision values; Hold stories lightly; Assessment of function; Perspective‐taking; Experiential methods) likely to promote psychologists’ psychological flexibility and experiential learning in the supervision context. These five features are extensions of agreed supervision best practices, enhanced by developments in contextual behavioural science (perspective‐taking, cognitive defusion, and acceptance). We describe examples of using SHAPE, and present research directions, to assess whether these features promote experiential learning in supervision.

Differential Effects of Word-Repetition Rate on Cognitive Defusion of Believability and Discomfort of Negative Self-Referential Thoughts Postintervention and at One-Month Follow-Up

Objective: The word repetition technique is used in acceptance and commitment therapy as a method of facilitating cognitive defusion from distressing thoughts. The present study conducted a randomised trial to manipulate the rate of word repetition and evaluate its impact on the efficacy of cognitive defusion. Method: Thirty-two participants repeated a self-chosen negative self-evaluative word for 30 seconds at the rates of one word per 0.5-, 1-, or 2-seconds. Visual analogue scales were used to measure the associated levels of believability and discomfort at pre- and immediately postrepetition, and 1 month later. Results: Both believability and discomfort were significantly reduced immediately after word repetition in the 0.5-seconds and 1-second conditions. There was a significantly greater reduction in Discomfort in the 1-second condition in comparison to the 2-second condition. The 1-second condition alone maintained significant reductions in both believability and discomfort at 1-month follow up. Conclusion: Differences in the cognitive defusion of distressing thoughts appear to be influenced by word repetition rate with repetition rates of one word per 0.5 and 1 seconds somewhat more effective for treating distressing private experiences associated with problem words.

Understanding gender inequality and the role of the work/family interface in contemporary academia: An introduction

This double special issue gathers a series of nuanced critically conceptual and case-study research showing that in the contemporary European context, despite regional differences in gender regimes, political and economic demands and organizational cultures, work/life balance policies and their translation into practice remains a highly ambiguous issue. Although work/life balance policies have undoubtedly entered the university institutional spaces, they are deterred by opposing institutional policy logics and particularly ‘greedy’ logics of the organizing of work that still aligns to outdated work-exclusive masculine organizational culture (outdated because men too are suffering the effects, and because the academic environment is feminized). Moreover, there are lingering gender stereotypes around the value and attribution of home and work duties, which are having a significant impact upon women’s professional and private spheres and experiences in academic work. The gathered research shows how university institutions are still quite far from having addressed the core issues that undermine women’s career advancement and their possibilities to access to academic membership and leadership, still obliging them (and their male counterparts) to align with a work and membership (selection and progression) logic and organization that does not take into consideration parenthood, family and personal spheres of life.