Visuospatial perspective shifting and relational self-association in dispositional shame and guilt

Child Dissociation: The Descriptive Psychopathology Analysis of a Case

With a reliable retrospective link to early-life traumatic stress, dissociation has been formulated as a pathology of abnormal socioemotional development. Dissociation hence should be identifiable and diagnosable in childhood. This study aimed to address the extent to which current formulation and diagnostic criteria of adult dissociation is applicable to children. This case study documented and analyzed the potentially dissociative experiences and behaviors in a 11-year-old boy from a residential facility accommodating children from high-risk families. The first-person account from the child client about his potentially dissociative experiences and the observations of the clinician witnessing the targeted behaviors were documented, revealing a symptom profile similar to adult dissociation. Dissociation disrupted multiple domains of typically integrated mental functioning including memory, consciousness, and the sense of self. The child client presented unusual forgetfulness that was observed by others, while the child himself was able to describe experiences involving gaps in consciousness and a fragmented and disconnected sense of self. This case study renders support for the current formulation of dissociative pathology and its applicability to high-risk cases in early developmental stages. This finding also indicates the importance of trauma-informed care in child residential settings. With gentle guiding prompts, children are able to recognize and articulate unusual experiences, facilitating the early identification of dissociation.

When Parents Are at Fault: Development and Validation of the Parental Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale

Research has linked individuals' dispositional guilt and shame to their interpersonal processes. Although caregivers' guilt and shame proneness in the parenting context likely have important implications for their mental health and parenting, there is a lack of validated measures for such dispositions. In three studies with Chinese parents, we developed and validated the Parental Guilt and Shame Proneness scale (PGASP), which was based on the Guilt and Shame Proneness scale (GASP). The PGASP comprises two guilt subscales-negative behavior-evaluations (guilt-NBE) and repair action tendencies (guilt-repair)-and two shame subscales-negative self-evaluations (shame-NSE) and withdrawal action tendencies (shame-withdraw). Study 1 (N = 604) provided support for the four-factor structure of the PGASP, which was replicated in Study 2 (N = 451). The concurrent validity of the PGASP was examined in Study 2 and Study 3 (N = 455). The two guilt subscales were associated with better mental health and more positive parenting, whereas parents' shame-withdraw exhibited the opposite pattern; weak or no relations were found for shame-NSE. Findings highlight the need to differentiate between parents' shame-NSE and shame-withdraw. PGASP may be a useful tool for identifying parents at risk of engaging in negative parenting.