The psychological literature on immigrants has identified numerous challenges of resettlement. Research on acculturation indicates that adaptive functioning is characterized as a bicultural prospect in which individuals balance their heritage and the dominant culture within the receiving society. This conceptualization of positive adaptation typically relegates culture to a broad-based and static property circumscribed within ethnicity, neglecting diverse cultural representations and the way specific mechanisms affect the process of adaptation. The current research sought immigrants’ subjective accounts of resilience. The aim of this study was to identify specific markers of significant adversity and corollary positive adaptation that intersect with diverse mechanisms of culture to develop a theory of cultural adaptation. A constructivist grounded theory approach was implemented in data collection and analysis. Eighteen first-generation immigrants, who represented a range of cultural backgrounds and geographic regions, each participated in one semi-structured interview. The overarching theme that emerged from data analysis, Belonging, was found to explicate the meaning of resilience for immigrants in terms of their cultural adaptation. Belonging indicated a process by which immigrants gained a sense of identification with and inclusion in Canadian society. Immigrants’ perception of Belonging was affected by two mid-level themes, Forming Attachments and Feeling Acceptance. Forming Attachments was contextually driven and highlighted a personal process of developing cultural attachments. The advancement of attachments, interpersonally, occupationally and to the larger sociocultural environment, was meaningful to recovery and had implications for Belonging. The second mid-level theme identified a reciprocal process of acceptance that revealed a struggle to accept cultural changes as well as the significance of feeling accepted as an equal member of society. Taken together, Forming Attachments and Feeling Acceptance had a significant effect on immigrants’ sense of Belonging and were contextualized within a range of cultural domains. This study highlights the dynamic role of culture in immigrant adaptation and contributes to both research and health care professionals by offering a framework of immigrant resilience that may promote healthy forms of functioning.

The psychological literature on immigrants has identified numerous challenges of resettlement. Research on acculturation indicates that adaptive functioning is characterized as a bicultural prospect in which individuals balance their heritage and the dominant culture within the receiving society. This conceptualization of positive adaptation typically relegates culture to a broad-based and static property circumscribed within ethnicity, neglecting diverse cultural representations and the way specific mechanisms affect the process of adaptation. The current research sought immigrants’ subjective accounts of resilience. The aim of this study was to identify specific markers of significant adversity and corollary positive adaptation that intersect with diverse mechanisms of culture to develop a theory of cultural adaptation. A constructivist grounded theory approach was implemented in data collection and analysis. Eighteen first-generation immigrants, who represented a range of cultural backgrounds and geographic regions, each participated in one semi-structured interview. The overarching theme that emerged from data analysis, Belonging, was found to explicate the meaning of resilience for immigrants in terms of their cultural adaptation. Belonging indicated a process by which immigrants gained a sense of identification with and inclusion in Canadian society. Immigrants’ perception of Belonging was affected by two mid-level themes, Forming Attachments and Feeling Acceptance. Forming Attachments was contextually driven and highlighted a personal process of developing cultural attachments. The advancement of attachments, interpersonally, occupationally and to the larger sociocultural environment, was meaningful to recovery and had implications for Belonging. The second mid-level theme identified a reciprocal process of acceptance that revealed a struggle to accept cultural changes as well as the significance of feeling accepted as an equal member of society. Taken together, Forming Attachments and Feeling Acceptance had a significant effect on immigrants’ sense of Belonging and were contextualized within a range of cultural domains. This study highlights the dynamic role of culture in immigrant adaptation and contributes to both research and health care professionals by offering a framework of immigrant resilience that may promote healthy forms of functioning.

This study investigated the relationships among attachment styles, affect regulation, and outcome in a clinical sample receiving treatment for depression. Sixty-six clients completed questionnaire measures of adult attachment, dysfunctional attitudes, interpersonal problems, self-esteem, and depression. Clients’ levels of affect regulation were assessed with an observer-rated measure of affect regulation. The study’s purpose was to extend previous research by examining the relationship between adult attachment and affect regulation within a clinical context. Results indicated significant and positive associations between clients’ attachment security and their levels of affect regulation at early and late stages of psychotherapy. Late modulation of expression and arousal were found to mediate the relationship between pre-treatment attachment insecurity and outcome. Pre-treatment attachment avoidance, characterized by high discomfort with closeness, had a direct relationship with depressive symptoms not mediated by the cognitive-affective processes of affect regulation. Implications of present findings for the treatment of depression are discussed.

Purpose The study theoretically examine if satisfaction of a sports team can create place attachment to a city from a residents’ perspective. It empirically tests if this theory can be applied in reality through a case study of a handball team IFK Kristianstad, and Kristianstad city. Design/methodology/approach A deductive approach that was based on theoretical insights from place attachment, satisfaction and service quality. A quantitative study was conducted on spectators in Kristianstad Arena. Findings The paper reveals that high service quality leads to high satisfaction among spectators, which creates place attachment to Kristianstad. The results proved that residents of Kristianstad are more place attached to the city than people living elsewhere. Originality/value The value of our paper is a new insight of place attachment from a resident’s perspective. The paper highlights that satisfaction of a sports team actually can create place attachment to a city. Research implications There are many variables that are important when exploring residents’ satisfaction and place attachment, several of them may be education, healthcare, entertainment and variety in a city. By studying the different variables it is possible to receive a larger perspective from residents’ point of views. Additionally, the study could be applied in a larger context where the target group is the whole population of a city. Practical implications The practical contribution might be valuable information for IFK Kristianstad about the spectators of the team; among other, the information demonstrates that the team is valuable for the city. Since the handball team is of importance for both the city and its residents, this information might be useful when marketing Kristianstad city in the future.

This study examined the relationships between attachment style and the levels of self-criticism (comparative and introjective) and forms of dependency (neediness and connectedness) and the working alliance and outcome variables over the course of psychotherapy. Sixty-five adult clients receiving therapy at a mental health clinic completed questionnaires after the first, fifth, and second to last sessions. Strong positive correlations were found between neediness and insecure attachment and negative correlations between neediness and secure attachment. Similar, yet weaker relationships were found between connectedness and attachment. Comparative self-criticism was positively associated with preoccupied and fearful attachment and negatively associated with secure attachment. Similar, yet weaker relationships were found between introjective self-criticism and attachment. Connectedness was associated with a strong working alliance across therapy and comparative self-criticism with a poor working alliance at session five. Although neediness was associated with poor outcome, preoccupied attachment was the best predictor of poor therapeutic outcome. / Counselling Psychology

国立情報学研究所で電子化したコンテンツを使用している。

国立情報学研究所で電子化したコンテンツを使用している。

Relationship violence is a serious social problem. Given the prevalence and detrimental effects of relationship violence, much research has been undertaken to investigate the various risk factors that may be associated with this type of violence. In the present research, I examined the interrelationships among several correlates of violence (including rejection sensitivity, cognitive biases, decoding deficits and attachment style) in order to understand what differentiates physically abusive from non-abusive individuals. Hence, the current program of studies examined aggressive behaviours between partners with a focus on risk factors for violent behaviour in men and women and in particular on the role of rejection sensitivity in physically aggressive behaviour. In order to examine these constructs, the thesis includes six chapters. Following a review of the literature, a rationale was provided for the creation of an amended measure of rejection sensitivity as Downey and Feldman’s (1996) Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire was not suitable for the purposes of the current thesis. Hence, a series of validation studies were conducted in Chapter 2 to test and develop a revised measure of rejection sensitivity that would be applicable to a wider range of intimate relationships (dating, cohabiting and married) and contexts. The study reported in Chapter 3, investigated the role of rejection sensitivity, hostile attributions and attachment patterns in the etiology of intimate partner violence. This study provided preliminary support for insecure attachment and negative attributions as the link between expectations of rejection and intimate partner violence, with a stronger link for male-perpetrated violence compared to female-perpetrated violence. Consistent with the marital violence literature, when mediator and moderator relationships existed, these occurred predominantly in married relationships (as opposed to dating or defacto relationships). The studies reported in Chapters 4 and 5 built on the foundations of Chapter 3 by incorporating two constructs, the ‘overattribution bias’ and empathic accuracy into the investigation of the associations between rejection sensitivity and violence. Specifically, the study reported in Chapter 4 examined the decoding deficits and inferential biases of maritally-violent and maritally-violent rejection-sensitive men when interpreting their own partner’s messages whilst engaging in a laboratory-based decoding task. Overall, results showed that maritally-violent partner rejection-sensitive men were less accurate than were maritally non-violent partner rejection-sensitive men when interpreting their wives’ positive messages and more accurate when interpreting their wives’ negative messages. Likewise, maritally-violent rejection-sensitive men displayed an inferential bias to perceive their wives’ messages as being more negative, critical and rejecting in intent than did maritally non-violent rejection-sensitive men. In addition, maritally-violent men as a group were less accurate for their own partner’s positive and neutral messages than were maritally non-violent men and more accurate for their own wives’ negative messages than were maritally non-violent men. Finally, maritally-violent men tended to attribute their wives’ messages as being significantly more negative, critical and rejecting in intent than did maritally non-violent men. Overall, the data suggested that both rejection sensitivity and marital violence were key factors that were associated with married men’s decoding problems and biased interpretation of their own wives’ messages. In extending the previous findings, the study reported in Chapter 5 examined the decoding accuracy and inferential biases of both maritally-violent and maritally-violent rejection-sensitive men and women in relation to female strangers’ messages. There were no differences between maritally-violent rejection-sensitive women and maritally non-violent rejection-sensitive women on decoding deficits and inferential biases for female strangers. However, there was a trend for maritally-violent women to be more negatively biased than were maritally non-violent women when interpreting female strangers’ messages. Additionally, in contrast to the findings of Chapter 4, the data pointed to independent relationships among rejection sensitivity, violence and married men’s decoding deficits and biases for female strangers’ messages. In particular, there were no differences in decoding deficits or inferential biases between maritally violent rejection-sensitive and maritally non-violent rejection-sensitive men when decoding female strangers’ messages. Instead, the data revealed that maritally-violent men were poor decoders of female strangers’ positive messages compared to maritally non-violent men and maritally-violent women. In relation to negative messages, maritally-violent men were more accurate for female strangers’ negative messages than were maritally non-violent men. Maritally violent men had the highest decoding accuracy for negative messages. Maritally-violent men also tended to attribute female strangers’ messages as being significantly more negative, critical and rejecting in intent than did maritally non-violent men and maritally-violent women. Finally, the results showed that maritally-violent rejection-sensitive men’s decoding deficits and biases were relationship specific whereas maritally-violent men’s decoding deficits and cognitive biases were global deficits that extended to women other than the men’s wives. Implications of the findings were discussed, as well as the strengths and limitations of the study. The discussion concludes with implications for theory and practice and suggestions for future research.

While studies have examined risk factors and consequences of child maltreatment in general, relatively few have focused specifically on neglect, especially maternally perpetrated child neglect. This is despite evidence that neglect is the most common and most rapidly increasing form of maltreatment, with some of the most serious long-term effects on child development. Maternal neglect constitutes a substantial disturbance in the mother-child relationship. For this reason, after establishing the epidemiology of neglect at a population level, this thesis examines the neurobiology of patterns of mother-infant attachment using functional MRI. Disturbance in mother-infant attachment, in conjunction with family, social and societal risk and protective factors, constitutes the likely pathway to maternal neglect. Specific objectives were: 1) to describe the magnitude of the problem of maternal neglect in Australia, using longitudinal population-based studies; 2) to identify risk and protective factors associated with neglect, both in a high risk population of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants and a representative birth cohort; 3) to specifically explore whether breastfeeding was protective against maternally perpetrated neglect; 4) to examine the consequences of child neglect on infant cognitive development and head growth; and 5) to determine how maternal brain and endocrine responses differ according to patterns of adult attachment security. In Part A, two cohort studies examined the epidemiology of child abuse and neglect among mothers and their infants born at the Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Cohort databases were confidentially linked with official notifications of child abuse and neglect. The first cohort included 353 ELBW infants who were assessed at birth and at 1, 2 and 4 years of age. The second cohort included 7223 children whose mothers were enrolled prenatally into the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP), where data were collected at birth, 6 months, and 5 and 14 years. The initial ELBW study examined all reported notifications of neglect, while the MUSP study focused particularly on substantiated maternally perpetrated neglect and the protective effect of breastfeeding. These studies examined a broad range of social and biological predictors. Outcome variables for child neglect were examined in the ELBW cohort using cognitive z-scores and growth parameters. Analytic techniques included multivariate modelling. In Part B, the neurobiology of mother-infant attachment was examined by monitoring a cohort of 61 first-time mothers from Houston, Texas, over 4 study visits. The mothers’ attachment classifications were determined during pregnancy using the Adult Attachment Interview. At 6 months, mother-infant pairs were videotaped, and serum oxytocin measures collected before, during and after interaction. At 10 months, the mothers viewed pictures of their own and unknown infants during functional MRI scanning. The first report examined the brain responses of 28 mothers to happy, neutral and sad infant face cues. The next compared brain responses of 15 mothers with “secure” attachment patterns to 15 “insecure/dismissing” mothers, and also examined differences in peripheral oxytocin response to mother-infant interaction. Data were analysed using a general linear model and repeated measures ANOVA. Overall, more than 1 in 10 children were reported for suspected child maltreatment, 3-5% as a result of substantiated neglect and 3% with maternally perpetrated neglect, with higher rates seen in the ELBW cohort. Duration of breastfeeding was inversely associated with the odds of maternal neglect, with non-breastfeeding mothers almost 4 times more likely to neglect their child compared to mothers who breastfed for 4 or more months, after adjusting for covariates. Other significant risk factors for substantiated maternal neglect included low education, young maternal age, and race, which were also significant univariate predictors in the ELBW population. ELBW children exposed to neglect showed a progressive decline in cognitive functioning over the first 4 years of life, as well as a significantly reduced head circumference at 2 and 4 years. When mothers viewed their own infant’s faces, compared with an unknown infant, key dopamine-associated reward processing regions of the brain were activated, including the midbrain’s ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra, striatum and prefrontal cortex. Mothers with an insecure/dismissing type of attachment showed significantly less activation of these reward regions in response to both happy and sad own-infant faces. On viewing their own infant’s crying faces, these mothers showed activation of the anterior insula, a region involved in feelings of unfairness, pain and disgust. “Secure” mothers showed greater peripheral oxytocin responses during mother-infant interaction, which were correlated with activation of the pituitary/hypothalamic region of the brain, where oxytocin is produced and secreted. These findings confirm the magnitude of neglect as a public health concern, with identifiable consequences and specific risk and protective factors. The neurobiological studies identify neuroendocrine systems associated with mother-infant responses and patterns of adult attachment. Together, these studies theoretically link secure mother-infant attachment with brain reward activation and oxytocin response, breastfeeding success, and a reduced risk for maternal neglect. Implications for prevention and intervention, and future research plans, are discussed.

Spoilage and the presence of pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella, are among the most common reasons for shrimp product detentions and recalls. In addition, both listeriosis and salmonellosis have been associated with the consumption of shrimp. For these reasons, there is interest in reducing Listeria and Salmonella contamination of shrimps. A review of literature indicated no detailed study that described the attachment of Listeria and Salmonella onto shrimps and their resulting persistence. In addition, information related to the control of these two pathogens on fresh shrimps is also limited. The work reported in this thesis aims to partially fill these gaps. These aims were met through four studies. In the first study, the initial attachment and colonization of Listeria and Salmonella onto fresh and cooked shrimp carapaces and tissue was examined. The chitinolytic activity and the physicochemical properties namely cellular surface charge (CSC), hydrophobicity and electron donor/acceptor potential were also determined for all the strains. CSC was determined using zeta potential measurements. Hydrophobicity was determined using three hydrophobicity determination methods, while microbial adhesion to solvents was used to determine the electron donor/acceptor potential. Attachment and colonization of Listeria and Salmonella were demonstrated. Abdominal carapaces showed higher levels of bacterial attachment (p<0.05) than head carapaces while Listeria consistently exhibited greater attachment (p<0.05) than Salmonella on all surfaces. Chitinase activity of all strains was tested and found not to occur at the three temperatures (10°, 25° and 37°C) tested. Salmonella had significantly (p<0.05) more positive CSC than Listeria. A significant difference (p<0.05) in surface roughness between abdominal and head carapaces was noted. From the results obtained, it is possible to conclude that certain bacterial physicochemical properties and carapace roughness were involved in the attachment to carapaces but not attachment to tissue or colonization to carapace and tissue. The influence of attachment and colonization of Listeria and Salmonella onto shrimp surfaces on the resistance against environmental stress was investigated in the second study. Planktonic, attached and colonized cells of Listeria and Salmonella were challenged with high (50°, 60° and 70°C) and low (4°C) temperature, 100 ppm sodium hypochlorite solution, and acetic, hydrochloric and lactic acids (pH 4.0). Attached and colonized Listeria and Salmonella showed significantly greater (p<0.05) resistance to heat (~1.3-2.6 fold increase in D-values), hypochlorite (~6.6->40.0 fold) and acids (~4.0-9.0 fold) than their planktonic counterparts. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in the survival of planktonic, attached or colonized cells of Listeria and Salmonella stored under refrigerated conditions. The increase in resistance observed in attached and colonized cells could have an important implication for shrimp product’s safety in general. In the third study, bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi L.) and tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) juices were used to reduce Listeria monocytogenes Scott A and Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC 14028 populations on raw shrimps after washing and during storage (4ºC). The uninoculated raw shrimps and those inoculated with L. monocytogenes Scott A and S. Typhimurium ATCC 14028 were washed (dipped or rubbed) in sterile distilled water (SDW) (control), bilimbi or tamarind juice. Naturally occurring aerobic bacteria (APC), L. monocytogenes Scott A and S. Typhimurium ATCC 14028 counts of washed shrimps were determined on days 0, 3 and 7 of storage. Compared to SDW, bilimbi and tamarind juice significantly (p<0.05) reduced APC, L. monocytogenes Scott A and S. Typhimurium ATCC 14028 numbers on day 0. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) in bacterial reduction between the dipping and rubbing methods. Regardless of washing treatments or methods, populations of S. Typhimurium ATCC 14028 decreased slightly while populations of L. monocytogenes Scott A and APC increased significantly during refrigerated storage. These results suggest that consumable household items could be adopted as a natural method of decontaminating shrimps just before preparation and consumption. In the final study, use of nisin alone and in combinations with EDTA and salts of organic acids (potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, or sodium diacetate) to control L. monocytogenes, Salmonella and native microflora on fresh shrimps were evaluated. Uninoculated, and Listeria monocytogenes or Salmonella inoculated, shrimps were dipped in treatment solutions, vacuum packaged and stored at 4ºC for 7 days. Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and native microflora counts were determined on days 0, 3 and 7. Nisin-EDTA-potassium sorbate and nisin-EDTA-sodium diacetate significantly reduced (p<0.05) L. monocytogenes numbers by 0.94-1.20 and 1.07-1.29 log CFU/g respectively, as compared to the control. All treatments failed to reduce (p>0.05) Salmonella counts on shrimps. At the end of storage, the native microflora counts on all nisin-EDTA-organic acids salts treated shrimps were significantly lower (p<0.05) than the control. The results suggest that some of the treatments can be used to improve shrimp microbial safety and shelf-life. Through achieving the aforementioned aims the present thesis was able to enhance the knowledge and literature available concerning the initial attachment of Listeria and Salmonella on shrimps, their persistence as well as methods to control them