Psychology

The phrase`organic alexithymia' is introduced as a clinically and theoretically useful construct for furthering understanding of alexithymia and the occurrence of alexithymic symptoms in patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). The construct is illustrated by the case study of HR, a 21-year-old man seen at the State Head Injury Unit, Perth, for neuropsychological and clinical assessment 2 years following a motor vehicle accident. HR's case supports the hypotheses that a syndrome substantially similar to alexithymia can occur in patients with acquired brain injury, and that the acquired nature of the organic disorder may cause it to be systematically different from the established syndrome. The case demonstrates the clinical relevance of a construct like organic alexithymia when treating patients with ABI. It also highlights the need to develop instruments capable of identifying the condition and differentiating it from symptoms of depression.

Mindfulness practice is becoming an accepted psychological intervention used in clinical settings to help enhance attention. To date however relatively few randomised control trial (RCT) studies have investigated the effect of mindfulness training on attentional skills in novice practitioners. This study examined the effect of daily mindfulness practice on changes in attention skills; alerting, orienting and executive control in novice practitioners. Forty six university students from Perth, Western Australia were randomly assigned to one of two groups (mindfulness or waitlist control). Baseline analyses of psychological wellbeing indicated that the two groups initially were comparable in this domain. Pre-and post-test assessments using the Attention Network Test (ANT) were conducted to measure attention skills. Repeated measures ANOVA were used to examine the effect of intervention. Significant improvement in orienting and executive control skills following the mindfulness intervention was noted, however, no changes in alerting attentional skills were detected. Mindfulness practice impacted on the fundamental processes of the selective (orienting) and executive attention (executive control) networks which may in turn have additional beneficial effects in a variety of domains and situations. These findings add to existing literature that supports the positive and beneficial effect of regular mindfulness practice for the enhancement of attentional skills and its potential application to clinical populations.

AbstrAct To critically review the literature on Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) within Mood Disorder populations. GSR profiles were examined for the various types of Mood Disorder and their association with comorbidity, suicidality and predispositions. This review examined studies with emotional and non-emotional stimuli whilst aiming to identify a Mood Disorder GSR profile by comparisons with healthy controls and other psychological or physical disorders. A systematic search for relevant literature was conducted using PsychINFO, CINAHL and MEDLINE databases. Studies using emotional stimuli to measure GSR in mood disorder patients were included. Some studies did not use emotional stimuli, however were included as GSR measures were conducted separately from stimuli presentation. A greater proportion of studies reported results in support of a specific GSR profile for mood disorders as well as indicating GSR variation depending on type of disorder. Distinguishing the GSR profile from other psychological or physical disorders was more challenging, as it is less clear if pathology causes differences in GSR when issues such as comorbidity are present. Bilateral GSR differences, GSR differences between the left and right hand, were also reported in a number of studies. Results indicated mood disorder patients have low or flat GSR profiles, consistent with review expectations. Bilateral analysis also indicated a common left-hand bias among mood disorder patients. The Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) is a physiological response of Electro-Dermal Activity (EDA), and is a commonly measured manifestation of Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) activation, particularly the sympathetic partition (Fontanella, Ippoliti, & Arcangelo, 2012). EDA, and thus GSR, is simply the electrical properties of the skin as determined by sweat gland activity. There are two methodologies for measuring GSR, the exosomatic and the endosomatic methods. The exosomatic method can either use a direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) through a circuit consisting of a galvanometer, electric battery and human body to measure changes in EDA; however DC currents are used more often than AC currents (Christie, 1981). In contrast the Novelty and Significance What is already known about the topic? • GSR is a physiological phenomenon that has long been used in psychology research. It is an automatic response of the electro conductance level of the skin. Although it can be measured a number of different ways, most researchers tend to use the same method. • Research has shown that GSR can change when individuals are presented with an emotional stimulus thus showing a close link between the emotional state and physiological reactions. Mood Disorder patients are characterized by a disturbance in mood and emotional state. What this paper adds? • This paper has helped consolidate the connection between emotional and physiological responses. • It also has helped identify the specific ways in which Mood Disorder patients differ from other populations.

Objectives: A cross-sectional empirical design was used to compare differences in alexithymia between Australian psychiatric and community samples and examine the influence of sample type on the relation between alexithymia and psychological distress. Method: Psychiatric outpatients (N = 151) and a convenience sample of the general community (N = 216) completed questionnaires measuring alexithymia and psychological distress. Results: Alexithymia was several times more prevalent in the psychiatric sample than the community sample. While the psychiatric sample reported greater psychological distress, no difference was found in the strength of the association between alexithymia and psychological distress between the study samples. Conclusion: These findings emphasize the pervasive problem alexithymia presents within the Australian psychiatric population and the importance of increasing recognition of alexithymia for the future research about and treatment of psychiatric patients. C 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Clin. Psychol. 00:1–12, 2016.

Objectives: To undertake a critical review of the literature on emotional processing (EP) in bipolar patients in remission. This literature review focuses on a number of dimensions of EP including facial emotion recognition, emotional memory, affective theory of mind (ToM), affective attention and affective auditory information processing. Methods: A systematic search was conducted through PsychINFO and Medline databases to obtain relevant literature. Studies that include behavioural measures of EP were included. Results: The findings from this review demonstrate that bipolar disorder (BD) patients continue to exhibit some EP deficits during euthymic phases. A number of factors believed to contribute to such findings have been highlighted. Conclusions: This review has shed light on some of the conflicting findings reported in the literature and thus offers a more comprehensive profile of euthymic bipolar patients' EP abilities. This information could enrich clinicians' therapeutic efforts to minimise relapse by attending to euthymic bipolar patients' specific emotional processing difficulties.

The goal of this article is to provide a review of the literature on conceptual aspects and measurement of emotional reactivity, and to propose a new measurement of emotional reactivity that addresses the problems identified in the review. We discussed the Behavioral Inhibition/Behavioral Activation (BIS/BAS) scale, the Early Adolescence Temperament Questionnaire (EATQ), the Affect Intensity Measure (AIM), the Emotion Intensity Scale (EIS), and the Emotional Reactivity Scale (ERS). Our review concluded that most of the scales are either too broad (BIS/BAS, EATQ), or too narrow (EIS, AIM). Moreover, ERS, which does not suffer from this problem, does not include valence and it was mainly validated with adolescents. We therefore introduced a new scale-the Perth Emotional Reactivity Scale (PERS)-which overcomes the identified problems. PERS is guided by the tripartite model of emotional reactivity (activation, intensity and duration) and it also includes valence (positive and negative emotions). It contains 5 positive valence items and 5 negative valence items in each dimension. Thus, it contains 30 items. Moreover, PERS includes three non-scorable items to measure subjective report of physiological changes. We conclude that PERS might prove to be a useful tool to assess emotional reactivity more precisely.

Thirty-six studies met criteria for inclusion. Six domains of EF were identified: Set-shifting (SS), inhibition (INH), planning (PLA), verbal fluency (VF), working memory (WM), and attention (ATT). BD1s performed worse than HCs in all domains. BD2s demonstrated impairment in VF, WM, SS, and ATT. The results were mixed for comparisons between BD1s and BD2s, but revealed that BD2s can experience similar (or sometimes greater) EF impairment.

We explore the discursive construction of Italian identity among a bilingual sample of Italian-born Western Australians. Focus groups were held with two groups: Italians who had migrated to Australia as children and a group who had migrated as adults. We found intra- and inter-individual differences in identity construction, with much discourse devoted to demonstrating Italian authenticity and negotiating ethnic category boundaries. Shared markers of authenticity included language, heritage and food. The groups varied in their selection of referent groups to make authenticity claims, with the child migrants drawing upon the shared Australian stereotype of ‘wogs’ to construct and authenticate their Italian-ness. In contrast, adult migrants constructed Italian identity through comparisons with the dominant Australian ethnic group and in relation to a broader ‘migrant’ identity. The findings highlight the fluid and complex nature of ethnic identity and the need for further exploration of how it is constructed in talk.

A phenomenological approach was used to explore the transition experiences of 12 undergraduate Seychellois international students within an Australian University. Interviews were conducted in Creole, the participants' native language, and the data was translated to English, transcribed and thematically analyzed. Cultural distance and perceived discrimination mitigated social interactions and cultural learning. The conclusion suggests we need to focus on teaching and learning rather then university wide supports to develop cultural exchanges and aid international student transition.

A case study approach was applied to understand the challenges of offering support services to international students (IS) within a university setting. A social constructivist theoretical framework informed the collection and analysis of data. Perspectives from service providers - general and academic staff members and international students were triangulated. To date, 63 participants have been interviewed and preliminary findings show that although international students encounter a number of academic and socio-cultural difficulties during university
transition, many do not access support services offered by university for various reasons including; perceived language and cultural barriers, unawareness, feeling uncomfortable; and
avoiding any stigma associated with help-seeking. The data shows service providers too have reported difficulties when working with international students, such as cultural and language barriers, lack of staff, funding and training. The focus of the current paper will be on one of the major themes explicating these tensions, namely English proficiency which acts as a pervasive barrier for both staff service provision and students service utilisation. Implications of findings, recommendations for universities and direction for future research will be discussed in
reference to this theme.

The purpose of this project is to provide current evidence on the value and effectiveness of support groups, and how ConnectGroups, as a leading peak body for self-help and peer support groups, compares to the activities and work of other domestic and international organisations. It is expected that by providing this information to ConnectGroups the organisation with be able to focus their activities on promoting and advocating for its members within the community and among funding bodies, further publicising/marketing its services, making informed decisions, sharing relevant knowledge, providing appropriate support and services, and educating its membership and external stakeholders. Therefore, this project was to conduct a review of literature relating to the:
1. benefits of self-help and peer support groups as a way to ameliorate and control stress‐related health conditions
2. work and scope of activities of ConnectGroups as a peak body supporting and facilitating self help and support groups.