Although 10 studies have been published on the empirical
overlap of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and measures
of self-reported attachment style, results in this
literature have been ...inconsistently interpreted in narrative
reviews. This report was designed as a rapprochement of the
AAI and attachment style literatures and includes 3 studies.
Study 1 (combined
N
= 961) is a
meta-analytic review showing that by J.
Cohen's (1992)
criteria (mean
r
= .09), the association
between AAI security and attachment style dimensions is
trivial to small. Study 2 (
N
= 160)
confirms meta-analytic results with state-of-the-art
assessments of attachment security and also examines
attachment dimensions in relation to the Big 5 personality
traits. Finally, Study 3 is an investigation of 50 engaged
couples that shows that developmental and social
psychological measures of attachment security predict
somewhat distinct-though theoretically
anticipated-aspects of functioning in adult
relationships.
Background:
Research on the parental experiences of caring for children diagnosed with cancer in Singapore are limited and not well understood.
Objectives:
We conducted a pilot focus group to ...understand the experiences of Singaporean parents whose child had survived cancer.
Methods:
Using convenience sampling, five parents were invited to participate in a focus group discussion regarding the psychosocial needs at the time of cancer diagnosis and into survivorship. The discussion was transcribed verbatim and analysed using Braun and Clarke’s 6-step approach to thematic analysis.
Results:
The analysis revealed three major themes of intrapersonal impact, interpersonal connectedness and financial implications.
Conclusions:
The identified themes indicated some universal and unique caregiving experiences among Singaporean parents and those reported in western and other Asian cultures. In particular, the findings provided an update on the parental experiences of caring for children with cancer in Singapore and highlighted the need for ongoing research and the development of early and holistic psychosocial support services for these parents.
Time4Nature Alexis Clarke
Journal of the Australian-Traditional Medicine Society,
12/2017, Volume:
23, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
David Suzuki is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. He founded the David Suzuki Foundation in 1990. The Foundation's aim is broadly to promote sustainable ways in ...which humans can continue to inhabit the planet. Its priorities are oceans and sustainable fishing, climate change and clean energy and environmental sustainability. Professor Suzuki's Nature Challenge is based on the premise that people in technologically advanced societies spend too much time in front of screens and too little time outdoors.
The purpose of this investigation was to extend earlier conceptual and empirical literature on the ways in which White individuals respond to societal racism. To this end, the authors conducted ...in-depth interviews to examine 11 midwestern, non-Hispanic, White university students' reactions and experiences related to individual and institutional forms of racism perpetrated against people of color. We used the consensual qualitative research method to analyze these data. Results suggested that White students varied in their understanding of and responses to racism. Three topic domains, each consisting of a number of subcategories, reflected participants' varied responses to racism: (a) affective, (b) social, and (c) cognitive. Findings add to the existing literature by identifying in greater depth the multiple ways in which dominant group members respond to societal racism. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.
Objectives
Kidney donation from a living donor to an unknown recipient has been legal in the UK since 2006. Yet there is little research into the experiences of unspecified kidney donors (UKDs) in ...interaction with the health care systems.
Design
This article explores the experiences of 14 UKDs recruited through four regional transplant co‐ordinating centres in England. At interview, they were invited to share their donation stories and discuss the antecedents, social, and psychological processes involved. Interviews were audio‐taped and transcribed.
Methods
Transcripts were analysed using a grounded theory approach employing a constant comparison methodology. Themes emerging from the data were named to form categories organized around the central focus of the research, forming an analytical story of UKDs' experiences.
Results
Two major categories emerged: ‘connected to others’ and ‘uneasy negotiations with others’. ‘Connected to others’ encompasses the motivations and psychological and social consequences of UKD. ‘Uneasy negotiations with others’ refer to the concerns and conflicts that arose during the donation process.
Conclusions
This study highlights the importance of social relationships on the process and outcomes of UKD. These UKDs report both intra‐ and interpersonal benefits from donation. The donation process, however, also created interpersonal stress, and conflicting messages about the acceptability of their donation were experienced in UKDs' personal lives and in their interactions with health care services. Findings are discussed with reference to the wider literature on UKD and altruism and in relation to implications for clinical practice.
Statement of contribution
What is already known on this subject?
Unspecified living kidney donation is an under‐researched area with only three research papers published worldwide that report on the motivations and experiences of donors. These studies indicate that donors endorse pro‐social values and receive positive interpersonal and intrapersonal benefits from donation.
What does this study add?
UKDs' experiences are made explicit and provide a framework for future research.
Social connections (capital) are an important precursor to and outcome from donation.
Assumptions of pathological motivations were encountered by donors in their personal life and within the NHS.
Background
People with acquired brain injuries (ABI) frequently experience psychological difficulties such as anxiety and depression, which may be underpinned and maintained by high self‐criticism ...and shame alongside an inability to self‐soothe. Compassionate focused therapy (CFT) was developed to address shame and self‐criticism and foster the ability to self‐soothe.
Objectives
This is a naturalistic evaluation with the aim of assessing the feasibility, safety, and potential value of CFT for ABI patients with emotional difficulties receiving neuropsychological rehabilitation.
Methods
This study employed a mixed methods design combining self‐report measures and qualitative interviews. Twelve patients received a combination of CFT group and individual intervention. Self‐report measures of self‐criticism, self‐reassurance, and symptoms of anxiety and depression were collected pre and post programme and analysed using Wilcoxon signed rank test (N = 12; five female, seven males). Follow‐up data were analysed in the same manner (N = 9). Interviews were conducted with six patients and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Results
CFT was associated with significant reductions in measures of self‐criticism, anxiety, and depression and an increase in the ability to reassure the self. No adverse effects were reported. Three superordinate themes emerged from the interviews: psychological difficulties; developing trust and finding safeness; and a new approach.
Conclusions
This study suggests that CFT is well accepted in ABI survivors within the context of neuropsychological rehabilitation. Furthermore, the results indicate that further research into CFT for psychological problems after ABI is needed and that there may be key aspects, which are specific to CFT intervention, which could reduce psychological difficulties after ABI.
Practitioner points
CFT appears to be a feasible intervention for psychological problems after ABI.
CFT was associated with a reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression and associated self‐criticism, as well as enhanced self‐reassurance for ABI survivors.
These ABI survivors reported that CFT provided them with tools to manage continued psychological difficulties.
Unspecified kidney donation (UKD) has made substantial contributions to the UK living donor programme. Nevertheless, some transplant professionals are uncomfortable with these individuals undergoing ...surgery. This study aimed to qualitatively explore the attitudes of UK healthcare professionals towards UKD. An opportunistic sample was recruited through the Barriers and Outcomes in Unspecified Donation (BOUnD) study covering six UK transplant centres: three high volume and three low volume centres. Interview transcripts were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The study provided comprehensive coverage of the UK transplant community, involving 59 transplant professionals. We identified five themes: staff's conception of the ethics of UKD; presence of the known recipient in the donor-recipient dyad; need for better management of patient expectations; managing visceral reactions about the "typical" unspecified kidney donor; complex attitudes toward a promising new practice. This is the first in-depth qualitative study of attitudes of transplant professionals towards UKD. The data uncovered findings with strong clinical implications for the UKD programme, including the need for a uniform approach towards younger candidates that is adhered to by all transplant centres, the need to equally extend the rigorous assessment to both specified and unspecified donors, and a new approach to managing donor expectations.
Objectives
This study sheds light on some controversial aspects of unspecified kidney donation (UKD) as well as the ways in which potential donors are screened and prepared for the donation ...experience and its aftermath. The aim of this study was to qualitatively investigate the experiences of individuals involved in the United Kingdom (UK) UKD scheme, including those who complete the donation, are eventually medically withdrawn, or self‐withdraw. Better insight into the different experiences of these groups will provide useful guidance to clinical teams on how to better address the differing psychological needs of completed donors as well as those who do not proceed to donation.
Methods
A purposive sample was recruited through the Barriers and Outcomes in Unspecified Donation (BOUnD) study covering 23 transplant centres in the United Kingdom. Semi‐structured interviews were audio‐recorded and transcribed verbatim and subjected to inductive thematic analysis.
Results
Participants consisted of 15 individuals who had donated, 11 who had been withdrawn by the transplant team and nine who had self‐withdrawn. The analysis resulted in six themes and 14 subthemes. The major themes were maximizing and sharing benefits; risk‐to‐motivation analysis; support; self‐actualization/finding meaning; the donor as patient; and relationship with the transplant team.
Conclusions
The data demonstrate that, although all donors enter the process with a similar level of commitment, those who did not proceed to donation expressed dissatisfaction and lingering emotional consequences linked to lack of follow‐up from transplant teams. The implication for the UKD programme is that from the beginning there needs to be a strategic and consistent approach to managing expectations in order to prepare those who embark on the donation process for all possible outcomes and their associated emotional consequences.
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