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Biomedical subjects

K S Ferguson

Publications and source records attributed to K S Ferguson.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Lives through time: an ideographic approach to the study of resilience.

The authors describe and illustrate an ideographic method for the study of resilience. The method assumes that resilience is an unfolding and dynamic process in which the individual and the social environment interact to produce a life course over time. Using retrospective and prospective data, the authors present a case study of a profoundly troubled boy, first seen as a preschooler and then followed up in early adulthood with a battery of clinical interviews. The methodology presented provides a way to study resilience as a dynamic process and to reveal and make sense of counterintuitive findings. In contrast to historical or epidemiological methods, the approach also permits exploration of the role of intrapsychic processes in facilitating change.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

What do adult attachment scales measure?

Research suggests that attachment patterns can be measured as early as 12 months of age and that in the absence of major environmental change, they persist into adulthood. Evolving from three traditions, a number of assessment tools have been developed to study adult attachment. They range from semiclinical interviews to brief questionnaires and explore different relationship domains, from retrospective accounts of childhood experience to current romantic relationships. After exploring the theoretical background of the study of adult attachment, the authors review the format and the psychometric properties of several measures. Studies that compare measures are described. The article concludes with a discussion of unresolved questions about adult attachment that emerge from various measurement perspectives.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Anxiety, depression, and dissociation in women health care providers reporting a history of childhood psychological abuse.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and adult manifestations of depression, anxiety, and dissociation. METHOD: Women health care professionals reporting a history of childhood psychological maltreatment (n = 55) were compared to a nonabused control group (n = 55) on the three dimensions of anxiety, depression, and dissociation. The Childhood Experiences Questionnaire, a measure constructed specifically for this study to assess abuse history, was used to determine group membership. Participants were administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). RESULTS: A significant discriminant function analysis using the STAI, BDI, and DES as predictor variables was able to correctly classify 74.5% of the psychologically abused participants and 89.1% of the nonabused group, with an overall hit rate of 81.8%. Statistically significant differences were obtained between the abused and nonabused groups on the STAI, BDI, and DES. CONCLUSIONS: Interpretation of these results suggests that participants who reported a history of childhood psychological abuse suffer significantly higher levels of depression and anxiety, and more frequent dissociative experiences, than the nonabused women.

Adult↗