Object relations and defense mechanisms of a psychopathic serial sexual homicide perpetrator: a TAT analysis.

The case of a 24-year-old African American man who committed serial sexual homicide and who met criteria (Hare, 1991) for psychopathy is presented. His Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1943) responses were used to code key aspects of personality organization--object relations and defense mechanisms--via the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (Westen, Lohr, Silk, & Kerber, 1989) and the Defense Mechanisms Manual (Cramer, 1991), respectively. Severe object relations pathology and a reliance on the defense mechanism of immature projection and immature denial are noted. Findings are relatively consistent with previous psychodynamic Rorschach studies of psychopathic sexual homicide perpetrators (Gacono, Meloy, & Bridges, 2000; Meloy, Gacono, & Kenney, 1994).

Core conflictual relationship themes of men and women who are violent toward their partners.

The Core Conflictual Relationship Themes of men and women violent toward their partners and entering psychotherapy, students violent toward their partners, and nonviolent students (n = 84; n = 14 in each of the six groups) were compared. Men and women entering psychotherapy more often had negative Wish elements than others. The wish element was "to be loved" for 11 of the 14 student women violent toward their partners and 5 of the 14 nonviolent student women.

Pica: common but commonly missed.

BACKGROUND: Pica is the compulsive eating of nonnutritive substances and can have serious medical implications. Although it has been described since antiquity, there has been no single agreed-upon explanation of the cause of such behavior. METHODS: Databases from MEDLINE and PSYCH-Lit were searched from 1964 to the present to find relevant sources of information using the key words "pica," "obsessive-compulsive disorder," "iron-deficiency anemia," and "nutrition." RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Pica is observed most commonly in areas of low socioeconomic status and is more common in women (especially pregnant women) and in children. To our knowledge, the prevalence of pica is not known. Numerous complications of the disorder have been described, including iron-deficiency anemia, lead poisoning, and helminthic infestations. Pica is probably a behavior pattern driven by multiple factors. Some recent evidence supports including pica with the obsessive-compulsive spectrum of disorders. Many different treatment regimens have been described, with variable responses. It is important to be aware of this common, but commonly missed, condition.

Cognitive and affective representations of people and MCMI-II personality psychopathology.

Hibbard, Hilsenroth, Hibbard, and Nash (1995) found that affective, but not cognitive, dimensions of object representations were related to the severity of psychopathology among outpatients. In this study, the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (Western, Barends, Leigh, Mendel, & Silbert, 1990) developed for interview data (Relationship Episodes; Luborsky, 1990) was used to assess the object representations of 33 men and 38 women entering psychotherapy. The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II was used to assess the personality traits of the 71 participants. The results support earlier findings that only affective dimensions of object representations are related to outpatient personality pathology.

Defense mechanisms development in children, adolescents, and late adolescents.

To replicate and extend Cramer's (1987) original cross-sectional study concerning the development of defense mechanisms, the Thematic Apperception Test responses of 148 students in Grades 2, 5, 8, 11, and college freshmen were collected and scored for denial, projection, and identification using Cramer's Defense Mechanisms Manual (1991). Our results supported the notion that the relative use of denial and projection decreases and identification increases as a function of grade level. The findings provide additional support for the psychoanalytic view (Freud, 1966) of an ontogenetic developmental line of defense.

Anabolic-androgenic steroid abuse and psychopathology.

Anabolic steroid abuse is a significant public health problem. There is evidence from both case reports and empirical studies that abuse of these drugs causes significant psychiatric and medical effects. There appears to be a relationship between increased dosages and severity of psychiatric symptomatology. Research is needed on the role of pathologic personality traits in the initiation and maintenance of anabolic steroid abuse.

Object relations in abusive partner relationships: an empirical investigation.

The Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (Westen, Barends, Leigh, Mendel, & Silbert, 1990) was used to assess four dimensions of object relations in the descriptions of relationship episodes of 41 men and 40 women entering psychotherapy and reporting physical abuse in their marital or partner relationships on the Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus, 1979) and in a matched group of 13 men and 13 women reporting no partner violence. Object relations levels were lower for men and women in the abusive relationships group. No differences were found between men and women in either relationship group. The findings provide empirical support for a hypothesis developed in the clinical literature of object relations impairment among both partners in abusive relationships.

Narcissism and empathy in steroid users.

OBJECTIVE: In an effort to begin to construct a psychological profile of anabolic steroid users, the authors compared weight lifters and bodybuilders who did or did not use anabolic steroids on an objective measure of narcissism and on clinical ratings of empathy. METHOD: The subjects were 16 weight lifters and bodybuilders who reported that they had used anabolic steroids within the past year and a comparison group of 20 weight lifters who had not used steroids. The Narcissistic Personality Inventory and clinical ratings of empathy were used to assess narcissism. RESULTS: Steroid users had significantly higher scores on dimensions of pathological narcissism and significantly lower scores on clinical ratings of empathy. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results document a relationship between anabolic steroid use and narcissistic personality traits. They also indicate the need for further research to determine whether narcissistic personality traits contribute to the initiation of anabolic steroid use or result from their use.

Need-gratifying object relations and psychopathology.

The authors tested hypotheses about a psychoanalytic model of a developmental continuum of object relations (from need-gratifying to mutual) by distinguishing persons that Goldberg (1972) classified as normal, sociopathic, and psychotic according to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). A Thematic Apperception Test rating scale, Capacity for Emotional Investment (CEI), developed by Westen, Lohr, Silk, and Kerber (1989) was employed for this purpose. Results strongly support the hypotheses and lend support for convergent and discriminant validity of the CEI dimension.