Adverse childhood experiences and insecure attachment: The indirect effects of dissociation and emotion regulation difficulties.

OBJECTIVE: Difficulties with dissociation and emotion regulation are well-documented reactions to early adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Although findings identify dissociation and emotion dysregulation as explaining the relationship between various forms of ACEs and adult psychopathology, less is known about their combined effect in the relationship between ACEs and insecure attachment in adulthood. This study examined the indirect effects of dissociation and emotion regulation difficulties in the relationship between early adverse experiences and insecure attachment traits. METHOD: Participants (N = 260) completed an online questionnaire measuring ACEs, dissociation, emotion regulation difficulties, and anxious and avoidant attachment. RESULTS: Results indicated that, after controlling for mental health treatment, dissociation and emotion regulation difficulties explained the relationship between ACEs and insecure (anxious and avoidant) attachment. Emotion regulation difficulties were not a significant predictor of avoidant attachment. CONCLUSION: Findings provide support for greater research on mediating factors in the maintenance of insecure attachment across development and potential implications of dissociation and emotion regulation in clinical and nonclinical populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The emotional impact of self-criticism on self-reflection and rumination.

OBJECTIVES: The goals of this study were to determine whether self-reflection is a beneficial exercise for highly self-critical individuals and to examine the effects of self-focused thought including reflection and rumination on mood. This was investigated by measuring the levels of self-criticism, as well as mood before and after exposure to a reflective prompt or a ruminative prompt. DESIGN: Experimental design with random assignment to reflection, rumination or control groups. METHODS: 243 participants from a sample recruited on prolific provided demographic information and completed measures of current mood and self-criticism. All participants were then asked to remember a time they made a mistake that had a significant impact on them and describe the mistake briefly. Participants were then randomly assigned to a self-focus condition (reflection, rumination or control). After being assigned and completing the prompt, their mood was measured again. RESULTS: Hierarchical multiple regressions were used to measure the potential combined effects of self-criticism and self-focused thought on change in emotion. The results showed that participants with high levels of maladaptive self-criticism (hated self-subscale) experienced a significant decrease in negative emotions, indicating improved mood. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that reflection may be a beneficial exercise for highly self-critical individuals. Participants in the rumination group experienced no significant change in emotion, indicating how rumination can perpetuate negative affect and is therefore an important issue to be addressed in psychotherapy.

The Bright and Dark Aspects of Grit in the Pursuit of Success.

Grit, defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals, predicts success in a number of social domains. The present two studies examined grit and its subscales, and how these relate to both adaptive and maladaptive personality traits pertaining to success. For Study 1, based on data from 249 participants, results indicated that grit was correlated positively with proactive personality, personal growth initiative, and competitiveness, and the perseverance subscale also was correlated positively with self- and other-oriented perfectionism. The findings of Study 1 led us to further explore the dark aspects of grit in Study 2: based on data from 222 participants, results indicated that grit was correlated negatively with Machiavellianism, hypercompetitiveness, and most forms of narcissism but positively correlated with adaptive grandiose narcissism. Collectively, results reveal grit to be a positive, adaptive trait but raise questions regarding the perfectionistic tendencies of gritty individuals and the unitary nature of the construct.

Nonpathologizing trauma interventions in abnormal psychology courses.

Because abnormal psychology courses presuppose a focus on pathological human functioning, nonpathologizing interventions within these classes are particularly powerful and can reach survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators. Interventions are needed to improve the social response to trauma on college campuses. By applying psychodynamic and feminist multicultural theory, instructors can deliver nonpathologizing interventions about trauma and trauma response within these classes. We recommend class-based interventions with the following aims: (a) intentionally using nonpathologizing language, (b) normalizing trauma responses, (c) subjectively defining trauma, (d) challenging secondary victimization, and (e) questioning the delineation of abnormal and normal. The recommendations promote implications for instructor self-reflection, therapy interventions, and future research.

Maintaining boundaries in psychotherapy: Covert narcissistic personality characteristics and psychotherapists.

The psychological literature to date has identified more than one form of narcissism: the more well-known grandiose form, and the less familiar and recognized covert form. Although the distinction between these two narcissistic types has been identified with regard to better conceptualizing client dynamics, there has been much less written about how covert narcissistic tendencies and traits may affect psychotherapists and psychotherapy. This paper uses psychodynamic theory to highlight the role that covert narcissistic characteristics may have on the psychotherapists' ability to maintain boundaries, potentially leading to boundary transgressions (existing along a continuum from therapeutically useful to maladaptive and anti-therapeutic). Specific therapeutic situations have been delineated to increase therapists' recognition and awareness of themes that may emerge and compromise the boundaries between themselves and their clients. Areas of focus include narcissism and its forms, the possible connection between covert narcissism in psychotherapists and the impact on managing boundaries, the potential therapeutic implications of covert narcissistic tendencies in psychotherapists, and the implications of covert narcissistic personality characteristics on treatment, supervision, and training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).