Social Cognition And Object Relations Scale Research Articles

Relationship between Two Dimensions of Object Relations and Group Psychotherapy Attendance Rate in Borderline Personality Disorder Individuals

Aim: Recent studies showed that the quality of object relations in patients with personality disorders predict individual psychotherapy attendance rate. However, associations between these variables have led to inconsistent results for group psychotherapy. The aim of the present study was to verify whether two dimensions of object relations are associated with rates of attendance at group psychotherapy sessions. Methods: Thematic Apperception Test narratives of forty-one outpatients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) enrolled in a psychodynamic group therapy over a period of one year were rated on two variables of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS): affective quality of representations and emotional investment in relationship. Results: Results indicated that these two affective dimensions of object relations were positively correlated with rate of attendance at group psychotherapy sessions after controlling for age of the participant. Conclusion: These results suggest that the quality of object relations could be a potential predictor for group therapy attendance. The results are discussed by taking into account the particular aspects of relational issues in group psychotherapy as opposed to individual psychotherapy.

Interpersonal Problems and Cognitive Characteristics of Interpersonal Representations in Alexithymia

In this study, associations between alexithymia, interpersonal problems, and cognitive-structural aspects of internal interpersonal representations were examined. Alexithymia was measured using the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA) and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). To measure interpersonal problems, the dominance and affiliation dimension scores of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems were used, and cognitive-structural characteristics of interpersonal representations were measured using the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS). As hypothesized, alexithymia was related to cold and withdrawn, but not to dominant or submissive, interpersonal functioning. In terms of the SCORS, alexithymia was negatively related to complexity of interpersonal representations, both in TAT and in interview narratives, indicating a link between alexithymia and mentalization. However, alexithymia was related only to the dimension of social causality when this dimension was scored on TAT narratives. Overall, the TSIA provides the most consistent and stable results after controlling for negative affectivity.

The Assessment of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale on TAT and Interview Data

This study examines the reliability and convergent validity of 2 versions of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS), one for use with Thematic Apperception Test narratives (SCORS–TAT; Westen, 1990) and one for use with clinical interview data (SCORS–CDI; Westen, Barends, Leigh, Mendel, & Silbert, 1990). Four SCORS dimensions were evaluated. Data were collected in a psychiatric sample (N = 74). Results show that although interrater reliability was good for all dimensions, internal consistency was low, especially for the affective dimensions. Structural equation modeling, in which a model with 2 factors (i.e., SCORS–TAT and SCORS–CDI) and 4 dimensions each was tested, indicated low convergence between corresponding dimensions of SCORS–TAT and SCORS–CDI. Correlational analyses suggested that this was due to a strong method factor. Regression analyses, however, revealed that the presence of a personality disorder operated as a moderator for convergence between corresponding cognitive-structural dimensions.

Assessing metacognition in schizophrenia with the Metacognition Assessment Scale: Associations with the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale

Impairments in metacognition are believed to be closely linked with functional impairments among persons with schizophrenia. Recently, we proposed a method for assessing multiple domains of metacognition by rating a narrative generated by a semi-structured interview with an abbreviated form of the Metacognition Assessment Scale (MAS). Less is known about how this measure is linked to social cognition. The current study sought to compare, in a cross-sectional design, assessments of metacognition using the MAS and social cognition measured using the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS). Participants were 37 adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders who completed an assessment battery that included the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, and the procedures needed to derive the MAS and SCORS indices. Univariate correlations and multiple regressions revealed that mastery, a domain of metacognition measuring thinking about oneself and coping with psychological challenges, was linked to SCORS indices which assess awareness of interpersonal relationships as the result of complex psychological forces and the recognition that relationships involve people with independent needs. This relationship persisted when the effects of symptoms and neurocognitive deficits were statistically controlled. Mastery, one domain of metacognition, is linked to social cognition independent of neurocognitive function and symptoms.

Relationship between the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS) and attachment style in a clinical sample

This present study examined the relationship between the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS) and two measures of adult attachment: the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) and the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire-Revised (ECR-R). Forty-five patients (76% female) at a university-based outpatient treatment clinic participated in this study. We hypothesized that higher levels of attachment security would be associated with higher, more adaptive ratings on the SCORS variables. Results indicated that the SCORS Self-Esteem (SE) variable was significantly positively related to the RQ's Secure Attachment ratings and negatively related with the ECR-R's Anxious Attachment scale. Additionally, negative trends were noted between SE and the RQ's Fearful and Preoccupied Attachment scores. The SCORS Emotional Investments in Relationships and Affective Quality of Representations variables were associated with higher Secure scores and lower, more maladaptive Preoccupied scores on the RQ. It was also associated with greater attachment anxiety as measured by the ECR-R. Using both clinician (SCORS) and participant-rated measures (ECR-R and RQ), this study provides further understanding on how object representations and attachment style relate within a clinical sample. Results are discussed in light of prior research examining relationships between object relations and adult attachments, and clinical implications are also reviewed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: • Individuals with higher levels of attachment anxiety may enter therapy with more self-image problems. • Individuals with higher levels of attachment anxiety may enter therapy with more maladaptive expectations about relationships. • Patients who endorse high levels of attachment anxiety (e.g., fearful and preoccupied) may be more likely to present with Axis II complaints. • Examining a patient's attachment style and object relations using different measures of assessment (e.g., explicit and implicit) can help gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of a patient.

Early Memories from Outpatients With and Without a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse

This study examined the relation between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and object relations in adulthood. Early memory narratives from 79 outpatients seeking individual psychotherapy at a community clinic were coded using Westen's (1995) Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS). Differences in functioning between those outpatients who reported CSA and those with no history of CSA were compared. Initial findings suggested that there were no group differences between CSA survivors and no-CSA clinical controls on the SCORS variables. However, when this clinical group was organized into no-CSA, low-severity CSA (no penetration), and high-severity CSA (oral, anal, or vaginal penetration) groups, analyses demonstrated that the high-severity CSA survivors had a significantly poorer understanding of social causality.

Reliability and validity of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale in clinical use

Abstract The authors examined the reliability and convergent validity of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS) when used to measure relational narratives and self-statements expressed to clinicians during clinicians sessions. Ninety patients admitted to short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy were rated by clinicians on the SCORS, DSM-IV Axis V Global Assessment of Functioning Scale, Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale, and Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale; patients were also rated on Axis II. The SCORS exhibited good to excellent interrater reliability and a pattern of significant convergent validity with all scales. Convergent validity indicates the SCORS has utility as a measure of psychiatric, social–occupational and interpersonal functioning, and personality dysfunction in applied clinical use. Zusammenfassung Zuverlassigkeit und Gultigkeit der sozialen Kognitions- und Objektbeziehungsskala in der klinischen Anwendung Die Autoren haben die Zuverlassi...

Social cognition and object relations scale: Convergent validity and changes following intensive inpatient treatment

To assess the convergent validity and clinical utility of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS), we utilized data on treatment-resistant young adults in intensive, psychoanalytically oriented, inpatient treatment. Convergent validity was assessed through correlations between the SCORS and Rorschach measures of mental representations, clinical assessments of interpersonal behavior, and a measure of defense mechanisms. Results of the convergent validity were mixed. Correlations between the SCORS and Rorschach measures of object relations were weak. Correlations between all four SCORS dimensions and two measures of interpersonal behavior as well as with defense mechanisms, however, were statistically significant. The clinical utility of the SCORS was also supported by significant changes in the SCORS scores over 15 months of intensive inpatient treatment. These findings indicate the utility of the SCORS to assess therapeutic change in severely disturbed, treatment-resistant young adults.

Inhibition and object relations in borderline personality traits after traumatic brain injury

This study aims to assess the nature and severity of borderline traits after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Thirty subjects with moderate or severe TBI were compared to 30 normal controls on the Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB-R), a dimensional measure of borderline traits, the Go-no go inhibition task, the Complexity of Representations of People and Affect-Tone Relationships Paradigms, two scales from the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS) evaluating the quality of object relations, an estimation of pre-morbid borderline severity, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and various neuropsychological measures. Results indicate that TBIs present more borderline symptoms and traits than controls. However, the severity of borderline symptomatology remains comparatively low for the vast majority. As expected, the TBI group showed a poorer performance on the Go-no go task, a characteristic neuropsychological inhibition deficit. Yet, both samples present similar profiles on the SCORS. Finally, the DIB-R was correlated with the Affect-Tone scale, the BDI and with the pre-morbid severity estimation. Results suggest that post-TBI borderline traits remain rare and relate more to the affective quality of object relations, negative affects and pre-morbid borderline pathology than inhibition deficits.

Reliability and Validity of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS) in the Assessment of Dream Narratives

In this study, we aimed to investigate the application of an externally rated measure of interpersonal representations (Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale [SCORS]; Westen, 1995) to dream narratives. A total of 80 student participants enrolled at a private university in the New York City metropolitan area completed a Dream Log and affect adjective checklist (Wellman, 2002) based on a recalled dream at both 1 month and 3 months following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Using the dreams provided in this study we examined the interrater reliability of SCORS ratings, the relationship of SCORS variables to an independently rated measure of dream distortion, and the relationship of SCORS variables to participants' own ratings of dream affect. Results indicated that dreams were reliably rated using the SCORS, 3 cognitive SCORS variables were significantly related to dream distortion, and affective SCORS variables were meaningfully related to participants' own ratings of affect in their dreams. Findings from this study provide support for the application of SCORS ratings to dream narratives. We discuss implications for further research and clinical application.

Discriminating among subgroups of borderline personality disorder: an assessment of object representations.

The purpose of this study was to identify subgroups of borderline personality disorder (BPD) by examining internalized object relations. It was predicted: (a) that the internalized object relations of borderline patients as a group can be differentiated from psychiatric patients (comparison group N = 15), and (b) that BPD subgroups significantly differ in their object-relational profiles. Fifty-seven adult borderline subjects (28 male and 29 female) were separated into three groups based on Horney's description of interpersonal styles (moving away, against, and toward). Object relations were assessed using the Bell Object Relations Inventory and from early memories. Four written early memories were scored using the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS). The results suggest that the malevolent inner object world of borderline patients is fundamentally different from nonborderline psychiatric patients; and that the defined BPD subgroups of moving toward, against, and away differed significantly on specific structural and thematic object-relational dimensions. Aspects from Fairbairn's object relations theory and contributions from the self/representational, ego deficit, and Kernberg's models of borderline psychopathology are used to help interpret the findings. Identifying subtypes of BPD may allow for more precise discriminations in separating BPD from other disorders and may provide meaningful therapeutic and prognostic information for the different subgroups of borderline patients.

Use of the TAT in the Assessment of DSM-IV Cluster B Personality Disorders

The Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS), developed by Westen, Lohr, Silk, Kerber, and Goodrich (1985), is a diagnostic instrument used to assess an array of psychological functioning by using clinical narratives such as the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943) stories. This study investigated the utility of the SCORS to differentiate between Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM-IV]; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) antisocial personality disorder (ANPD), borderline personality disorder (BPD), narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), and Cluster C personality disorder (CPD). A sample of 58 patients was separated into four groups: ANPD (n = 9), BPD (n = 21; 18 with a primary BPD diagnosis and 3 with prominent borderline traits who met 4 of the 5 DSM-IV criteria necessary for a BPD diagnosis), NPD (n = 16; 8 with a primary NPD diagnosis and 8 with prominent narcissistic traits who met 4 of the 5 DSM-IV criteria necessary for a NPD diagnosis), and CPD (n = 12). These groups were then compared on the 8 SCORS variables by using 5 TAT cards (1, 2, 3BM, 4, and 13MF). Spearman-Brown correction for 2-way mixed effects model of reliability for the 8 SCORS variables ranged from .70 to .95. The results of categorical and dimensional analyses indicate that (a) the SCORS variables can be used to differentiate ANPD, BPD, and NPD; (b) the BPD group scored significantly lower (greater maladjustment) than did the CPD group on certain variables; (c) the BPD group scored significantly lower (greater maladjustment) than did the NPD group on all 8 SCORS variables; (d) the ANPD group scored significantly lower than did the NPD group on certain variables; (e) certain variables were found to be empirically related to the total number of DSM-IV ANPD, BPD, and NPD criteria; and (f) certain variables were found to be empirically related to Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2; Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) personality disorder scales. The results of this study are discussed in terms of clinical utility, conceptual, and theoretical implications.

Two Methods of Early Memories Data Collection: An Empirical Comparison of the Projective Yield

This study addresses a methodological issue regarding the preferred method of collecting early memories data—using an interpersonal administration to collect the data, or using a written procedure in which subjects are asked to record their early memories privately. Early memories from clinical and nonclinical control groups from two experimental conditions were scored on the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS). The results support the superiority of the interpersonal administration over the private, written condition in differentiating clinical from nonclinical controls. The results are discussed in the context of contemporary trends in personality assessment, which attempt to limit interpersonal contact with the patient during the assessment process, in order to save time and money. The authors contend that this practice may yield less complex and less fertile projective data than the traditional interpersonal testing context.