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Biomedical subjects

Jon G Allen

Publications and source records attributed to Jon G Allen.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Rethinking adult attachment: a study of expert consensus.

Self-report questionnaires designed to assess attachment in adulthood potentially confound global valence of relationships (e.g., liking and disliking) with attachment. The authors surveyed an international panel of experts to develop items for a new measure of attachment that systematically distinguishes between attachment and non-attachment aspects of relationships. The survey yielded a large set of items on which there is consensus in five domains: secure attachment, dismissing attachment, preoccupied attachment, positive non-attachment, and negative non-attachment. This report presents a content analysis of the core themes in each of these five domains and discusses implications of these results for conceptualizing and researching adult attachment.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Mentalizing.

Mentalizing, the process of making sense of mental states in oneself and other persons, plays a central role in psychopathology and psychotherapy. The author explicates the concept of mentalizing, highlights some factors critical to its development, and illustrates its clinical applications in the domains of trauma and depression.

Cognition↗
PubMed2003

Roles and relationships: a psychoeducational approach to reviewing strengths and difficulties in adulthood functioning.

The authors developed a psychoeducational protocol to help psychiatric patients review their patterns of interpersonal relationships. The conceptual framework is based on the Adult Personality Functioning Assessment (Hill, Fudge, Harrington, Pickles, & Rutter, 1995; Hill, Harrington, Fudge, Rutter, & Pickles, 1989). Seven domains of functioning are addressed: friendships, romantic relationships, family relationships, social contacts, therapeutic relationships, relationships with addictive substances and activities, and work. The intervention aims at fostering participants' reflectiveness about their relationships to enhance their capacity for social support. The introduction sets the protocol in context; an annotated version of patient materials includes commentary on each domain.

Female↗
PubMed2003

Psychiatric and sociotherapeutic perspectives on the difficult-to-treat patient.

IN SPITE of substantial advances in the effective treatment of psychiatric illness, there is a growing perception among clinicians that those patients who present for inpatient care are more difficult to treat. The authors review the history of contributions about the patient who is difficult to treat and propose a new typology for characterizing acute, severe and complex dimensions of this cohort. They hypothesize first that patient difficulty cannot be conceptualized independently from the treatment context; and second, that treatment complexity leads to a specific strain between the on- and off-floor treatment staff, thus enhancing the perception of difficulty. Finally, the authors suggest innovations in the structure of the treatment environment that may facilitate treatment of these patients. These innovations operate especially in the area of reducing interstaff tensions and helping patients use rather than resist that treatment.

Humans↗
PubMed2003

Challenges in treating post-traumatic stress disorder and attachment trauma.

Treating women suffering from trauma poses significant challenges. The diagnostic prototype of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is based on single-event trauma, such as sexual assault in adulthood. Several effective cognitive- behavioral treatments for such traumas have been developed, although many treated patients continue to experience residual symptoms. Even more problematic is the complex developmental psychopathology stemming from a lifetime history of multiple traumas, often beginning with maltreatment in early attachment relationships. A history of attachment trauma undermines the development of capacities to regulate emotional distress and thereby complicates the treatment of acute trauma in adulthood. Such complex trauma requires a multifaceted treatment approach that must balance processing of traumatic memories with strategies to contain the intense emotions this processing evokes. Moreover, conducting such treatment places therapists at risk for secondary trauma such that trauma therapists also must process this stressful experience and implement strategies to regulate their own distress.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Adult attachment: what are the underlying dimensions?

Using a community sample of 115 young adults, this study applied a range of statistical techniques to five measures of adult attachment to gain a better understanding of what they assess. First, we determined comparability of measures, using both categorical and dimensional approaches to model the association. Agreement among classifications was modest. Next, we examined the relation of attachment classifications and attachment measure subscale scores to criterion variables (i.e. dyadic adjustment, interpersonal sensitivity and severity of psychiatric symptoms). Classification predicted severity of psychological symptoms better than it predicted other measures of adjustment. Finally, using a principal components analysis, we mapped the relationship among underlying constructs, the subscales of the five measures and three criterion measures of psychological adjustment. We discuss our findings from the perspective of underlying constructs of attachment insecurity and strategy for coping with insecurity in relationships, noting implications for further research.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

Coping with the catch-22s of depression: a guide for educating patients.

The author developed a protocol for educating patients about depression that focuses on the obstacles encountered in the course of recovery. These obstacles are construed as "catch-22s," the gist of which is that all the things patients must do to recover from depression are made difficult by virtue of the symptoms of depression. After describing the evolution of the patient education program and providing an overview of the content of the educational curriculum, the author presents the written material that is given as a handout to the patients in the educational group. A guide to the pertinent literature on depression is also included as an appendix.

Adaptation, Psychological↗