The Role of the Quality of Parent–Child Interactions in Communication and Language Development in Preterm Born Children. Review of Research and Therapeutic Programs

Preterm infants are at increased risk of difficulties in language development, including speech and language developmental delays. Preterm birth impacts the pattern and the quality of parent–child interactions, which, in turn, may affect the child’s language and communication development. The article presents the results of research on parents’interactions with their preterm born children and describes some programs aimed at improving parent–child interactions.

Applied Psychology –From Witmer to Modernity

This work, inspired by the symbolic “centenary”of Polish psychology has been dedicated to the emergence and development of applied psychology. The main protagonist of applied psychology, and clinical psychology in particular, has been, in the author’s opinion, Lightner Witmer (1867–1956), an American psychologist promoting the clinical method of getting to know the patient through a direct contact of the psychologist with the maladjusted, including contact in their everyday environment. Witmer’s message, supported by the new ideas of the systems theory, environmental psychology and the spreading concepts of social psychology, can be all found in what is currently expected from psychologists. Applied psychology is not only a “bridge”between the theory of psychology and professional practice, but most of all, it remains a science directed towards practice, open to the contemporary challenges; a science that accepts the necessity to adjust the ethos of the profession and the new tasks of environmental work for the improvement of health and the quality of life.

The Mediating Role of Health Behaviors on the Relationship between Personality Traits and Psychological Well-being

This study examined the role of health behaviors in the relationship between personality traits and psychological well-being. The sample consisted of 147 participants (51% female), aged between 20 and 35 years. Respondents completed the NEO-FFI Personality Inventory, Psychological Well-being Scale (PWBS), and Health Behaviour Inventory (IZZ). The results confirmed the significant relationships between the personality traits, health behaviors and psychological well-being. Extraversion, conscientiousness and neuroticism were related to health behaviors. Personality traits appeared as significant predictors of psychological well-being (68% of explained variances in PWBS). The health behaviors mediated the relationship between three abovementioned personality traits and psychological well-being. A higher health behavior score was shown to reduce the strength of the effect of personality traits on psychological well-being. Findings indicate that personality traits are important in designing health programs to improve mental health.

The aim of this report is to call attention to a unique clinical group of children who are not diagnosed with ASD but exhibit excessive interest in specific topics or repetitive behaviors. It is argued that this group might require specific developmental stimulation, especially in light of the fact that it does not receive adequate professional treatment or support. The results of conducted surveys are supplemented with additional diagnostic and anamnestic data from which practical conclusions based on research evidence are drawn and general guidelines for intervention are formulated. Further research into this group is also suggested.

Relations of the Dimensions of Insecure Attachment with Personal Resources and Life Satisfaction in People with Schizophrenia

Theoretical background: Personal resources are one of the attributes that protect against the destructive consequences of experiencing a difficult situation and that figure in the overall assessment of life satisfaction.

Aim: The aim of the study was to analyze whether the individual dimensions of attachment are related to the level of personal resources of people diagnosed with schizophrenia and their life satisfaction, and to identify mediators that determine the quality of these relationships.

Study group: 50 people were tested. The average age of the respondents was 49 years.

Method: The measurement of the variable attachment was made using Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised by Chris Fraley, Kelly Brennan and Neils Waller, in the Polish adaptation of Cezary Wiśniewski; the Life Satisfaction Scale by Zygfryd Juczyński was used to determine the variable satisfaction with life. The level of personal resources was measured using the Lifespan Individual Resilience Scale in the Polish adaptation of Alicja Malina, Julie Ann Pooley and Craig Harms.

Results: The analyzes carried out in the course of the study confirmed the existence of significant relationships between the level of personal resources and life satisfaction. Research has also confirmed that there are significant links between attachment and life satisfaction, and between attachment and personal resources. It also turned out that the level of personal resources is an important mediator in the relation between avoidance and the level of life satisfaction in people diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Conclusion: The level of personal resources and secure attachment correlate with a higher life satisfaction of people diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Gender Identity in the Narrative of Women-Soldiers Serving in the Red Army during World War II

The analysis of gender identity is based on the narratives of women who volunteered to serve in the military after the start of World War II and fought as soldiers in the Red Army. Forty years after World War II, Svetlana Alexievich conducted interviews with women veterans, which she published in the book War’s Unwomanly Face. Their memories of wartime and post-war period were analyzed from the perspective of their gender identity, i.e. the ability to reconcile the role of a woman determined by their biological sex with the role of a soldier determined by the circumstances. The interpretation of this problem offered in the paper is based on developmental psychology theories of Erik Erikson, James Marcia, Daniel Levinson, and Jeffrey Arnett, and the sociological perspective on identity. Selected narratives from Alexievich’s reportages are analyzed focusing on identification and interpretation of different themes, which are assessed according to their relevance to the understanding of the process described. The narrators were only 16–20 years old at the time of joining the military and they were still at the stage of identity moratorium.

It required a lot of determination for them to become a soldier. Their identity as a soldier was their assumed identity, defined by Marcia as ideological or professional engagement without completing the period of exploration. Women were not welcome in the army, they suffered because of logistical shortcomings, but they still supported all of the units, became officers and military leaders, and were awarded medals for their valor, courage and reliability. After the war, they were socially rejected and condemned and they needed to process their identity, i.e. reject their military ethos in order to strengthen their sense of being a women. Based on Arnett’s concept one can conclude that their “in between”period of identity exploration was determined by external events and social relations.