Psychological Difficulty Research Articles

When Sport psychology consultants and graduate students are impaired: Ethical and legal issues in training and supervision

Impaired sport psychology consultants, that is, professionals and graduate students whose behavior, inadequate training, personal situations, or psychopathology are having a negative influence on the delivery of services, have the potential to do harm to athlete-clients, damage their own professional standing, and bring disrepute to the field. The applied sport psychology literature is replete with guidelines and suggestions for referring athletes for counseling or psychotherapy when appropriate (e.g., Heyman & Andersen, 1998), but the ethical, legal, and procedural problems associated with sport psychology consultants whose training or mental conditions suggest the need for remediation, rehabilitation, or psychotherapy, and possible removal from seeing clients, has not been addressed. We describe a variety of situations where student and professional functioning might be impaired, discuss the possible ramifications (legal, ethical) of impairment, and provide suggestions for ways to proceed when sport psychology consultants are in psychological difficulty.

Psychological difficulties amongst plastic surgery ex-patients following surgery tothe face: a survey

Qualitative accounts suggest that social difficulties are a major source of psychological disturbance to disfigured people. However, there have been few systematic investigations of their psychological and social difficulties, and those which do exist are usually small studies with methodological difficulties. Social skills training and cognitive-behavioural therapy are promising interventions, particularly if it can be demonstrated that anxiety is a major element of the psychological difficulties experienced by disfigured people.A postal survey was sent to all ex-patients at a plastic surgery clinic who received plastic surgery to the face between 6 months and 5 years 6 months prior to the date of the survey. Of these, 105 ex-patients returned questionnaires, representing a 41.8% response rate. Respondents did not differ from non-respondents according to age, sex or diagnosis. The majority of respondents were not experiencing psychological difficulty, but GHQ caseness, HAD anxiety and HAD depression scores were generally higher than in general population samples. Their levels of social phobia appeared higher than prevalence in the general population, although direct comparison is hampered by the different instruments used. Women showed greater disturbance than men on many of the scales used, and patients who had undergone surgery for revision of scars showed greater disturbance than those who had undergone surgery for cancer. The current study may be considered more representative of disfigured people than previous surveys, since its subjects were neither awaiting nor receiving treatment, although the response rate was still low. Contrary to assertions in previous studies, standardised measures detected dysphoria in this sample. Anxiety, particularly in social situations, with associated phobic avoidance, was the most frequently reported difficulty, with depression considerably less common. Given the success of cognitive-behaviour therapy in addressing such difficulties, both via formal therapy and self-help methods, there are clear implications for treatment from this finding.

Evaluation of a self-help leaflet in treatment of social difficulties following facial disfigurement

Psychological difficulty, particularly in social situations, is widely reported by disfigured people, but many receive no formal psychological treatment. This study randomly allocated 106 facially disfigured people either to receive a self-help leaflet offering cognitive-behavioural guidance or not. Participants were assessed pre-treatment and at 3 month follow-up. The untreated group then received the leaflet. Participants in the leaflet group fared better than controls on 3 of the 9 scales employed (Social Leisure [SAQ] ( t=2.31, p=0.012), HADS anxiety ( t=2.22, p=0.015), HADS depression ( t=1.83, p=0.036). There is support for a cognitive-behavioural approach and the usefulness of self-help instructions in addressing the social difficulties of facially disfigured people. The approach merits further development and investigation.

Premature menopause and psychological well-being

This study aimed to investigate the psychological well-being of women who had experienced menopause before the age of 40 years. Participants were women known to the reproductive endocrinology service of a London teaching hospital. They were contacted and invited to participate in the questionnaire study by post Sixty-four women (41.6%) who completed and returned their questionnaires formed a usable sample. Participants reported high levels of depression and perceived stress, and low levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction, compared to the general population. Self-reports on several dimensions of sexuality were significantly more negative. The following factors could affect the degree of reported distress: age, age at diagnosis, time since diagnosis, already having children, being in a long-term relationship, or having psychological treatment in the past or present The results suggest that premature menopause could pose significant psychological difficulty for a sizeable proportion of those who have the condition. It is argued that the provision of psychological care should be an integral part of clinical management.

Peer and Sibling Aggression:

The current study examines the prevalence of bullying in 375 U.S. American children, determines the relationship between peer bullying and sibling bullying, and examines the link between psychological difficulties and bullying. Twenty-five percent of the children reported being victims of peer bullying and 28% acknowledged being bullies. Children who were peer bullies and victims of peer bullying reported the highest frequency of sibling bullying and victimization. In addition, there were significant group effects for sibling and peer-bully involvement as well as a sibling by peer bullying interaction in level of self-reported psychological difficulties. In general, those who were both bullies and victims reported the highest level of psychological difficulty followed by victims, bullies, and those not involved in bullying, in that order.

College Freshmens’ Orientation to Experts’ Personal Characteristics After Failure and the Customary Description of Others in Terms of Dispositions1

A laboratory experiment examined a cognitive response (static thinking) to the stressful experience of a shortcoming. Psychology freshmen performed a memory task that was manipulated in terms of its psychological relevance and difficulty. Additionally, experienced press to succeed was quantified in terms of the specificity of participants’ professional goal in the area of psychology. A control condition performed no task. Dependent measures were personal characteristics ascribed to professional psychologists. The results indicated a strong general tendency to use dispositions to describe others. But in accordance with theoretical predictions by Wicklund (1986a, 1986b), the orientation to traits and external qualities of professional psychologists (i. e., experts) after failure on a psychologically relevant task was correlated with the level of specificity of participants’ professional goal in the area of psychology. These findings suggest that the general orientation to dispositions when describing others is replaced by the process of static thinking after the stressful experience of personal incompetence and when the persons to be described are experts.

Mood states and sleepiness in college students: influences of age, sex, habitual sleep, and substance use.

Survey and laboratory evidence suggests several factors affecting sleep-wake patterns of college students. These factors include social and academic demands, diminution of parental guidance, reduction of total sleep time, delayed bedtime, and increased nap episodes. In this study, we examined the problem of falling asleep in school as a correlate of negative moods in this population (N = 294). A multivariate analysis showed significant main effects of sleepiness on mood states based on the Profile of Mood States. Students who fell asleep in school reported higher negative mood states. Significant interactions were observed among sleepiness and age, sex, race, and duration of sleep. Specifically, younger men reported higher negative moods. No interactions were noted for alcohol and marijuana consumption; however, students who fell asleep in school consumed more alcoholic beverages and smoked more than those who did not. Perhaps falling asleep in school could be used as an index that characterizes students who manifest adaptive or psychological difficulty.

Nutritional requirements of an aging population with emphasis on subacute care patients.

Life expectancy in the United States has increased dramatically during the past century, creating a large population of people with potentially compromised nutritional status. Although requirements were previously believed to decline with aging, recent data suggest that requirements for protein and energy often do not decline and may actually increase during disease exacerbations. Optimal intake of vitamins and minerals is also under reevaluation, and significant segments of the population may have deficiencies based on limited intake or absorption. Social and psychological factors and difficulty chewing and swallowing may interfere with adequate intake. At the end of a hospital stay, many patients need continued skilled transitional care before discharge home. Many patients who have existing nutritional deficits, including weight loss, decreased serum proteins and pressure ulcers are admitted to subacute nursing facilities. Careful initial and periodic reassessment of nutritional status and aggressive nutritional management must be used to prepare patients for optimal independence after discharge. Improved clinical outcome can be achieved with prevention of malnutrition and timely correction of nutritional problems.

Psychological disturbance in atopic eczema: the extent of the problem in school-aged children.

Although psychological factors are widely considered to be important in atopic eczema, there have been few controlled studies to assess the extent of disturbance in affected children and the problems experienced by their parents. This study was designed to find out the degree of psychological difficulty experienced by children with atopic eczema, whether their mothers show higher levels of mental distress than a comparison group, and whether the families of children with atopic eczema have less social support than the comparison group. We investigated 30 school-aged children with atopic eczema for psychological problems using the Rutter parent scale and compared them with 30 children with relatively minor skin lesions such as viral warts. Mental distress in mothers was assessed using the General Health Questionnaire. The Family Support Scale was used to get a measure of the social support experienced by the families. We found twice the rate of psychological disturbance in children in the eczema group compared with the control group. This difference was statistically significant for children with moderately severe eczema and severe eczema, but not for children with very mild eczema. Levels of mental distress were no greater in mothers of children with eczema than in parents of the control group and there was no difference in the degree of social support experienced by their families. These findings indicate that school-aged children with moderate and severe atopic eczema are at high risk of developing psychological difficulties, which may have implications for their academic and social development.

Clinical and Personality Profiles and Survival in Patients With COPD

To assess the relationship of personality and clinical characteristics with survival in patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Prospective double-blind study. Outpatient clinic of a teaching Veterans Affairs Hospital in central New York. PATIENT PARTICIPATION: Sixteen male patients (mean age, 62.2 +/- 2.5 years) with severe COPD INTERVENTIONS: Patients were administered Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) test; their clinical features were recorded from hospital records at the time of admission into the study. All were followed up for 4 years after the initial assessment or until their death. The nine survivors and seven nonsurvivors were similar in age, pulmonary function test (PFT) results, oxygenation, number of medications, or concomitant illnesses. However, the nonsurvivors had higher MMPI and clinical illness scores compared with the survivors (p < 0.01 and < 0.05, respectively). The 4-year mortality in male veterans with severe COPD is influenced by overall psychological distress and difficulty in coping with their disease, which seem to be important prognostic indicators irrespective of PFT results or oxygenation.

Cyclical processes in personality and psychopathology.

Both the understanding of psychopathology and the ability to intervene therapeutically are enhanced by an appreciation of the central role of vicious circles in the development and maintenance of psychological disorder. It is usually possible to discern a structure to people's difficulties in which internal states and external events continually re-create the conditions for the re-occurrence of each other in all too real psychological version of the mythical perpetual motion machine. The present article illustrates how such circular processes work in a number of representative types of psychological difficulty and discusses the implications of this conception for understanding psychopathology and for therapeutic intervention.

Lifetime complications of drug use in intravenous drug users.

Ninety-two intravenous drug users (IVDUs) were identified from a study of 1,640 relatives of treated alcoholics and felons. Nearly all of the IVDUs (90%) reported a lifetime history of some degree of physical, psychological, or social difficulty related to drug abuse, but only 35% had ever received treatment for drug abuse. Overall, compared to subjects with a history of substantial illicit drug use who had never injected, IVDUs were significantly more likely to report all drug-related problems assessed. Even in populations of drug users not selected through treatment, any history of intravenous (IV) drug use is strongly indicative of a lifetime occurrence of complications of drug use.

The Hebraic Model of the Person: Toward a Unified Psychological Science among Christian Helping Professionals

Because of a duolistic cultural tradition assumed to be biblical, many Christian helping professionals tend to conceptualize an individual's psychological difficulty as originating within either the spiritual, soulish, cognitive, or biological domain, depending on the context in which it occurs. Consequently, various methods of inquiry and treatment are prescribed based on constructs consistent with the perceived origination of the disorder. A Hebraic model of the person, however, conceptualizes the various dimensions of personhood as existing along a mutually interactive continuum in which the divinely inspired aspects of the human condition are directly apparent in the biopsychological aspects, without intermediate metaphysical states or constructs. Furthermore, this holistic interpretation is consistent with the New Testament term soma, often translated as “person.” As such, the Hebraic model vouches for the adequacy of the philosophical assumptions of a psychological science, and it can allow such a perspective to penetrate more thoroughly the analytical and treatment strategies of Christian helping professionals.

Taylor's theorem

Two problems have to be considered when introducing Taylor's formula into a calculus course: motivation for the use of the Taylor polynomial as an approximate function and the choice among different proofs of Taylor's theorem. A number of solutions found in the literature are discussed. Concerning the first problem, we think that the best solution is to find a proof of Taylor's theorem which generates the Taylor polynomial, so that we can dispense with any independent motivation for the polynomial. Such a proof is given at the end of the paper. Concerning the second problem, it is shown that the most common type of proof of Taylor's theorem presents a significant psychological difficulty. A proof which avoids the difficulty is presented, but I nevertheless think that the proof at the end of the paper is still the best choice.

Level of psychosocial development, perceived level of psychological difficulty, counseling readiness, and expectations about counseling: Examination of group differences.

Level of psychosocial development, perceived level of psychological difficulty, counseling readiness, and expectations about counseling: Examination of group differences.

A computational model of human parsing

This report describeslicensing-structure parsing (LS-parsing), a computational model of human parsing. LS-parsing corresponds to human parsing at three points: (1) the order in which the LS parser builds nodes is psychologically more accurate than the orders in which either LL or LR parsers build nodes, (2) the LS parser's preferences in resolving local ambiguities are preferable to Frazier's strategies on both empirical and theoretical grounds, and (3) the backtracking strategies the parser uses when it has made an error at an earlier choice point model the distinction betweenweak andstrong garden paths-strong garden paths being irrecoverable, weak garden paths causing psychological difficulty, but not preventing recovery of the correct structure.

Psychodermatology: A Clinical Report

Early psychoanalytic theories on the cause of certain skin disorders have now given way to general stress theory. Currently, there is interest in the notion that stress causes changes in the functioning of the immune system and that this is linked to inflammatory conditions of the skin. Therefore, psychological therapy may have relevance to the treatment of some cases of eczema, psoriasis etc. Recent research does confirm the high level of stress signs amongst such populations. Accordingly, a trial clinical project has been created to explore the application of brief psychological intervention in this field. A group of people judged by their dermatologist to suffer from skin disorders exacerbated by psychological factors were referred for therapy during a two year period. Interventions took the form of exploratory individual psychological therapy and also training in stress management and self care skills. The educational work was delivered in both a group and individual mode. Two patterns of psychological difficulty occurred with some frequency. One involved a personal style which appeared to be a covert Type A pattern. The other involved unexpressed and troublesome emotion linked to a key figure in the client's present life. In general, the impact of therapy was positive, with some 59% reporting improvements in their skin condition and a further 17% reporting solely psychological gains. These high figures must be linked to the fact that this was a highly selected group.

Life-Course Effects of Vietnam Combat and Abusive Violence: Marital Patterns

This paper examines the impact of military service and exposure to war trauma on marital patterns and problems in a stratified, probability sample of 1,259 nonveterans, era veterans, and Vietnam veterans. The intervening role of social support in the relationship between exposure to war trauma and current psychological and behavioral problems also is examined. The literature on the relationship between war and the family is reviewed, and the impact of military service and exposure to war trauma is examined on: rates of marriage, age at first marriage, rates of divorce, and levels of marital satisfaction. Finally, the role offamily status in contributing to current psychological and behavioral problems is examined. The primary findings are: Vietnam veterans are more likely to enter marriage than nonveterans; combat exposure and exposure to abusive violence contribute to higher rates of divorce among Vietnam veterans; participation in abusive violence leads to lower rates of divorce among Vietnam veterans but higher levels of marital dissatisfaction; and, while men in stable family situations report significantly less psychological and behavioral difficulty than those with a history of divorce or those never married, the effect of combat exposure is not primarily channeled through its contribution to greater marital instability. We conclude that familial support does not function to mediate substantially the impact of war stress.

Gynaecological symptoms and psychological distress in potential hysterectomy patients

The association between psychological and gynaecological problems has long been recognised and has recently received empirical support. The association of gynaecological symptoms with anxiety and depression was investigated. One hundred and two women referred to a gynaecology clinic, for non- malignant problems likely to result in hysterectomy, were assessed. A scale of gynaecological symptoms was constructed using principal component analysis. The Kellner-Sheffield Self-Rating Scale of Distress and the Zung Self-Rating Scale of Depression were also used. The depression measure correlated with complaints of heavy bleeding, flooding and clotting. The anxiety measure correlated with the complaint of long-standing painful menstruation. Anxiety and depression levels were significantly greater in this group than in an age-related population sample of women taken from the same city. It is argued that the use of such a scale of gynaecological symptoms might aid prediction of psychological difficulty in those presenting with certain gynaecological complaints.

Coping with transplant failure: grief vs. denial.

A major drawback to kidney transplantation as a treatment for end stage renal disease is the common occurrence of rejection and failure of the transplanted kidney. We evaluated twenty-five dialysis patients, all of whom had suffered transplant failure during a ten year period. Of these, twenty-four had good psychological readjustment to chronic dialysis. Fourteen patients successfully grieved the loss of their kidneys. Ten denied any psychological difficulty in returning to dialysis and did not manifest the usual signs of grief. We suggest that the effectiveness of denial as a coping mechanism should be recognized and supported when present; in contrast, "grievers" should be helped through the grieving process and followed up to ensure resolution and proper readjustment to dialysis.