Therapeutic Assessment in a University Counseling Center: A Replicated Single-Case Time-Series Pilot Study.

In this study, we pilot tested Therapeutic Assessment (TA) in a university counseling center using a replicated single-case design to generate hypotheses on the effectiveness and applicability for this setting and population. We aimed to see whether TA could be an effective brief intervention to address students' presenting mental health concerns. Further, we explored whether different types of presenting concerns were associated with differential symptomatic improvement during the intervention. An independent clinician interviewed participants before the baseline period to develop individualized rating scales pertaining to their presenting concerns. Eight consecutive students accessing the counseling center enrolled in the study and rated their presenting problems across baseline, intervention, and follow-up periods. The intervention involved five TA sessions. The results suggested that TA is associated with statistically significant reductions in clients' symptoms in the context of a university counseling center. Idiographic trajectory analysis of participant data who experienced significant and insignificant change was used to test whether changes were associated with the onset of TA. The findings suggest TA might be more effective for certain presenting concerns than for others. The implications for the implementation of TA in university counseling centers is discussed.

Exploring Children's Induced Defensiveness to the Tell Me a Story Test (TEMAS).

This study examined the effect of inducing a defensive attitude (fake good) in children on their responses to the Tell Me a Story test (TEMAS; Costantino, Malgady, & Rogler, 1988 ). Different story elicitation procedures were employed to explore their efficacy for inducing a defensive response style in children. Eighty-four Italian children aged 8 to 10 years old completed the TEMAS and the L scale of the Behavioral Assessment Scale for Children-2 (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004 ), which were used to detect the adoption of a defensive attitude. Children completed the tests under 1 of 3 conditions: (a) honest condition, (b) fake good with verbal instructions, and (c) fake good with verbal instructions and visual stimuli illustrating what was verbally explained. Using simultaneous verbal instructions and visual stimuli facilitated children's understanding of the researcher's instructions compared to using verbal stimuli alone. Results showed that children instructed to fake good used less time to tell stories and tended to modify the simpler and more face valid aspects of their stories. Still, 29 out of 47 children failed to fake good on the BASC-2 L scale. More complex TEMAS variables showed no significant difference between story elicitation conditions.

Family Traditions, Cultural Values, and the Clinician's Countertransference: Therapeutic Assessment of a Young Sicilian Woman.

Despite recent advances in models and instruments to understand the role of a client's cultural background, clinical psychologists are not immune to implicit cultural biases that are potentially damaging to the therapeutic alliance. In this article, I present a Therapeutic Assessment with a young Sicilian woman conducted in a university-based student clinic in Italy. During the assessment, I assumed that because we were both Italians, my client shared my perspective (northern Italian) about family and individual values, which resulted in a therapeutic impasse when I responded on the basis of my individual and culturally shaped view of interpersonal and family relationships without appreciating important differences between my own and my client's microcultures. To overcome the impasse, I had to openly acknowledge such differences and reorient myself to my client's goals. I discuss the core processes involved in such a repair in the context of a cross-cultural psychological assessment.

The inhibition of inner mitochondrial fusion in hepatocytes reduces non-alcoholic fatty liver and improves metabolic profile during obesity by modulating bile acid conjugation.

AIMS: Mitochondria are plastic organelles that continuously undergo biogenesis, fusion, fission, and mitophagy to control cellular energy metabolism, calcium homeostasis, hormones, sterols, and bile acids (BAs) synthesis. Here, we evaluated how the impairment of mitochondrial fusion in hepatocytes affects diet-induced liver steatosis and obesity. METHODS AND RESULTS: Male mice selectively lacking the key protein involved in inner mitochondrial fusion, optic atrophy 1 (OPA1) (OPA1ΔHep) were fed a high fat diet (HFD) for 20 weeks. OPA1ΔHep mice were protected from the development of hepatic steatosis and obesity because of reduced lipid absorption; a profile which was accompanied by increased respiratory exchange ratio in vivo, suggesting a preference for carbohydrates in OPA1ΔHep compared to controls. At the molecular level, this phenotype emerged as a consequence of poor mitochondria-peroxisome- endoplasmic reticulum (ER) tethering in OPA1 deficient hepatocytes, which impaired BAs conjugation and release in the bile, thus impacting lipid absorption from the diet. Concordantly, the liver of subjects with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) presented an increased expression of OPA1 and of the network of proteins involved in mitochondrial function when compared with controls. CONCLUSION: Patients with NAFLD present increased expression of proteins involved in mitochondrial fusion in the liver. The selective deficency of OPA1 in hepatocytes protects mice from HFD-induced metabolic dysfunction by reducing BAs secretion and dietary lipids absorption as a consequence of reduced liver mitochondria-peroxisome-ER tethering.

Therapeutic Assessment of Complex Trauma: A Single-Case Time-Series Study.

The cumulative effect of repeated traumatic experiences in early childhood incrementally increases the risk of adjustment problems later in life. Surviving traumatic environments can lead to the development of an interrelated constellation of emotional and interpersonal symptoms termed complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). Effective treatment of trauma begins with a multimethod psychological assessment and requires the use of several evidence-based therapeutic processes, including establishing a safe therapeutic environment, reprocessing the trauma, constructing a new narrative, and managing emotional dysregulation. Therapeutic Assessment (TA) is a semistructured, brief intervention that uses psychological testing to promote positive change. The case study of Kelly, a middle-aged woman with a history of repeated interpersonal trauma, illustrates delivery of the TA model for CPTSD. Results of this single-case time-series experiment indicate statistically significant symptom improvement as a result of participating in TA. We discuss the implications of these findings for assessing and treating trauma-related concerns, such as CPTSD.

Validation of the Self-Curiosity Attitude-Interest Scale in Colombia / Validación de la Escala de Self-Curiosity Attitude-Interest en Colombia

Abstract This paper presents a theoretical review of the psychological construct of human curiosity and the Colombian version of the Self-Curiosity Attitude-Interest Scale. This is a two-factor self-report scale that assesses the attitude and the interest that people have to explore their own inner world. Two paired samples for gender, age and working class of Colombian (n = 170) and Italian (n = 195) participants (N = 365) were included in the study. Confirmatory Factor Analysis revealed a good fit of the data to the two-factor model of the Self-Curiosity Attitude-Interest Scale in Italian and Colombian subjects (respectively, x 2(13) =16.073, p = .245 and x 2(13) =10.352, p = .665). Also, Measurement Invariance Analysis suggested equivalent factor structures (Configurai Invariance, x 2 (26) = 26.423, p = .440) and factor loadings across the two groups (Metric Invariance, x 2 (31) = 34.242, p = .315). The results do not support scalar invariance (x 2 (38) = 82.058, p < .001). Data suggest concurrent validity of the Self-Curiosity Attitude-Interest in the Colombian group, welding evidence for the scale application in the Colombian context. In conclusion, the results posit that the two-factor model of the Self-Curiosity Attitude-Interest Scale is adequate in Colombia; the psychological construct of self-curiosity is conceived similarly in Colombia and in Italy, and the scale has expected correlations with other relevant psychological constructs.

Resumen El objetivo de este estudio es presentar una revisión teórica del constructo psicológico de la curiosidad humana, así como presentar la validación de la versión colombiana de la Self-Curiosity Attitude-Interest Scale, una escala de auto-reporte de dos factores que evalúa la actitud y el interés que la gente posee para explorar su propio mundo interior. Se incluyeron en el estudio participantes (N = 365) Colombianos (n = 170) e Italianos (n = 195) pareados por género, edad y clase trabajadora. El Análisis Factorial Confirmatorio ha revelado un buen ajuste de los datos al modelo de dos factores de Self-Curiosity Attitude-Interest Scale en participantes italianos y colombianos (respectivamente, x 2(13) =16.073, p = .245 y x 2(13) =10.352, p = .665). El Análisis de Invariancia ha sugerido factores de estructuras (Invariancia de Configuración, x 2 (26) = 26.423, p = .440) y pesos de los factores equivalentes entre los dos grupos (Invariancia Métrica, x 2 (31) = 34.242, p = .315). Los datos no soportan la Invariancia Escalar (x 2 (38) = 82.058, p < .001). Adicionalmente, los datos destacaron la validez concurrente de la escala en el grupo de Colombia, y la posibilidad de aplicar la escala en el contexto colombiano. En conclusión, los resultados demuestran que el modelo de dos factores de la Self-Curiosity Attitude-Interest Scale es apto para ser aplicado en Colombia, así mismo reflejan que el concepto psicológico de la self-curiosity es concebido de forma similar tanto en Colombia como en Italia, y que la escala indica correlaciones con otras construcciones psicológicas relevantes.