Clinical psychology

This article presents research on the most effective measures in rehabilitation programs for people with chemical addictions and research on the personal characteristics that influence the complete cessation of drug and alcohol consumption. Building a model of an effective rehabilitation process is one of the most significant problems in organizing aid for drug and alcohol addicts. Analysis of the results of previous research revealed a number of factors that influence the stability of remission: individual biological factors (general state of health, presence of co-existing diseases); individual psychological factors (coping strategies, shifting of attention, self-control, aggressiveness); rehabilitation program factors (duration of programs, rehabilitation measures, form of rehabilitation, conditions for admission to a rehabilitation center); social factors (family support, rehabilitation with children, availability of communities with no drug addictions); spiritual factors (call to a divine power for help). We have researched the most effective measures of rehabilitation programs for people with chemical addictions, as well as personal characteristics that influence the full cease in drug and alcohol consumption.

In our research we studied people undergoing rehabilitation in different programs (nonstate 12-step, confessional, and state). Five groups of respondents participated in the research; the total number of respondents was 945.

The purpose of our research was to investigate the factors of stable remission for drug addicts in different rehabilitation programs. Our conclusion is that there are outer (social) and inner (personal) factors of stable remission.

Our research revealed that during positive remission (abstinence from taking drugs) addicts had fewer social and psychological problems, and their social and psychological personal characteristics improved; it also revealed those measures that furthered the development of remission. Respondents considered the following the most effective measures: small groups, lectures on addiction, written tasks connected with the analysis of feelings (diaries, self-analysis etc.), individual and group psychological classes, sport, introduction to faith, prayer, labour, communication with graduates of rehabilitation programs. The received data demonstrates the necessity of complex approach to rehabilitation, with regards to biological, psychological, social and spiritual components of addiction.

Fear of childbirth (FOC) is an important psychological problem that is studied worldwide because it affects the well-being of pregnant women. However, in Russia, this problem does not receive adequate attention among researchers. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the conditionality of fear of childbirth (FOC) in pregnant women by external and internal factors, which we assumed were the reasons for this fear. As external factors, we considered socio-demographic indicators (e.g., age, marital status, level of education, housing, and the attitude of relatives towards pregnancy) as well as indicators of gynecological history (e.g., the term of pregnancy, the outcome of previous pregnancies, and pregnancy complications). As internal (psychological) factors of the fear of childbirth, we considered personal anxiety as well as general inclination towards and negative consequences of different fears (20 types of fears and phobias were examined). The study was conducted with a Russian sample of 76 women at different stages of pregnancy and with different socio-demographic indicators and gynecological histories. The analysis of the results showed the absence of significant differences between women who were pregnant with FOC and those without this fear in terms of the external factors considered in this study. According to the study’s data, a general inclination of women to fear is associated with fear of childbirth. However, the findings for the women with FOC did not indicate significant positive correlations between the level of this fear and exposure to any of the 20 types of fear and phobias measured in the study. Furthermore, the results did not detect relationships between the FOC level and women’s personal anxiety. The results allow us to conclude that FOC is a separate phenomenon that is not dependent on other phobias and fears. Fear of childbirth has a subjective and highly individual genesis. It is not a direct consequence of objective factors, and it cannot be predicted based on women’s personal characteristics (in particular, anxiety). For further study of this problem, we suggest that researchers identify different types of FOC and describe their content as a way to help develop practical methods of providing psychological assistance for women during pregnancy.

This study investigated the level of conceptual and metacognitive abilities and their interaction in adolescents with different forms of dysontogenesis. The total sample (N= 173) included four groups of young adolescents (11-12 years old): with normal development, with infantile cerebral palsy (CP), with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and with delayed intellectual development (DID). We measured the adolescents’ performance on tests of conceptual abilities (the use of categories at different grades of generalization, the discovery of abstract meaning and implicit connections between concepts) and metacognitive abilities (attention selectivity, as measured by Mtinsterberg’s test and the understanding of hidden pictures, and attention organization, as measured by indices of cognitive styles). The results showed, first, that in comparison with normal adolescents, the adolescents with CP and ADHD had a deficit of metacognitive abilities, but they did not differ in rates of conceptual abilities. As for adolescents with DID, even though they had lower rates of conceptual abilities and attention selectivity, they did not differ from the “norm” group on some indices of attention organization. Second, a tendency for the disintegration of conceptual and metacognitive abilities (as measured by correlation and factor analysis) was most clearly seen in the adolescents with ADHD and DID. The adolescents with CP and ADHD had conceptual (categorial and generative) abilities as a mental resource, and the adolescents with DID had metacognitive abilities as a mental resource. The resource function of conceptual and metacognitive abilities was determined not only by their level but also by the extent of their interaction (integration).