South African Journal of Psychology

This article explores work that anticipates current interest in the development of ‘psychosocial studies’. Marie Jahoda’s Freud and the Dilemmas of Psychology raises important questions about the historical and extant relationships between psychoanalysis and the discipline of psychology. This article traces those questions within two contextual frames. The first contextual frame comprises the historical vicissitudes of psychoanalysis and psychology from the 1930s through to the 1970s. Jahoda’s questions are rooted in a theoretical background that brings the tradition of German-speaking radical psychoanalysis into Anglo-American psychology. The second contextual frame is the development of ‘critical’ psychological attempts to recruit psychoanalysis for an alternative account of subjectivity from the 1980s through to the turn of the 21st century. Jahoda’s contribution, and its place as a ‘hinge-point’ between old and new conceptions of psychology, is to draw attention to the role of psychoanalytic ideas in the discipline and to provoke further critical reflection on Freud’s work today.

Psychotic symptoms have been associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and war experiences. However, the relationships between types of war experiences, the onset and course of psychotic symptoms, and post-war hardships in child soldiers have not been investigated. This study assessed whether various types of war experiences contribute to psychotic symptoms differently and whether post-war hardships mediated the relationship between war experiences and later psychotic symptoms. In an ongoing longitudinal cohort study (the War-Affected Youths Survey), 539 (61% male) former child soldiers were assessed for psychotic symptoms, post-war hardships, and previous war experiences. Regression analyses were used to assess the contribution of different types of war experiences on psychotic symptoms and the mediating role of post-war hardships in the relations between previous war experiences and psychotic symptoms. The findings yielded ‘witnessing violence’, ‘deaths and bereavement’, ‘involvement in hostilities’, and ‘sexual abuse’ as types of war experiences that significantly and independently predict psychotic symptoms. Exposure to war experiences was related to psychotic symptoms through post-war hardships (β = .18, 95% confidence interval = [0.10, 0.25]) accounting for 50% of the variance in their relationship. The direct relation between previous war experiences and psychotic symptoms attenuated but remained significant (β = .18, 95% confidence interval = [0.12, 0.26]). Types of war experiences should be considered when evaluating risks for psychotic symptoms in the course of providing emergency humanitarian services in post-conflict settings. Interventions should consider post-war hardships as key determinants of psychotic symptoms among war-affected youths.

The objective of this study was to examine the various coping styles used by university students in Southern Africa, with a specific focus on proactive coping. It investigated whether demographic variables influence students’ uses of differing coping styles, as well as whether students studying in South Africa make use of the same coping styles compared to those studying in Botswana and Namibia. The Proactive Coping Inventory was completed electronically by 622 students in three universities, one each in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. A small practically significant gender difference occurred for emotional support seeking, and older students were found to employ proactive coping more than younger students. A small practically significant difference was discovered between international and local students’ uses of instrumental support seeking, and university differences were found for reflective coping and two forms of support seeking. Recommendations include developing universities into positive socialising systems so that students are equipped with coping resources.

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare have become an integral part of human life, and their use has increased considerably over recent years. Facebook is the fastest growing social networking site, but little research has investigated the negative outcomes relating to the problematic use and predictors of this media phenomenon. This study examined the predictive roles of social safeness and flourishing on problematic Facebook use. The study was carried out among 229 Turkish university students (120 women, 109 men, M_age = 20.41 years, standard deviation = 1.64, and age range = 18–27). The participants completed the Turkish version of the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, the Social Safeness and Pleasure Scale, and the Flourishing Scale. The research data were analyzed by correlation and multiple regression analyses. Problematic Facebook use was correlated negatively with social safeness and flourishing. In addition, the findings indicated that social safeness and flourishing were significant predictors of problematic Facebook use. The results were discussed in light of relevant literature.

Within the field of neonatal care, two approaches have gained prominence – incubator care and kangaroo mother care. Each contributes to a baby’s physiological well-being. The aim of this study was to conduct an investigation into the effects of incubator care and kangaroo mother care from a psychological perspective – specifically an interactional approach – by undertaking interactional pattern analyses of mother–baby pairs receiving incubator care and kangaroo mother care, respectively. Person-centred interviews were conducted and audio recorded with 17 mothers whose babies were receiving either incubator care or kangaroo mother care at the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, South Africa. Each interview was studied by an independent clinical psychologist trained in observation and, in particular, the interactional pattern analysis and who then completed an adapted interactional pattern analysis questionnaire. The procedure yielded standardised interactional pattern analyses for the mother–baby pairs. Mann–Whitney U tests revealed that, in relation to their babies, the mothers in the kangaroo mother care group yielded significantly more effective interactional patterns than those in the incubator care group, highlighting that, in terms of the interactional approach, kangaroo mother care may be the preferred method of neonatal care.

The scholarship of addiction has metamorphosed over the years with a trajectory of social psychology studies focusing on technology-based addictions. Relatedly, the nascency of mobile messenger applications has not left the South African student community with immunity from the problematic and psychological effects of excessive reliance on mobile technology. An adoption of the Internet addiction test led to the identification of four factors, namely, withdrawal, compulsion, control disorder, and lifestyle disturbance as the underlying indicators of addictive tendencies among tertiary students. Analysis of variance was performed with Dunnette and Scheffe post hoc tests with a view to identifying possible existence of statistically significant differences among selected biographic variables. While gender had been shown to be a predictor of mobile messaging overuse in past studies, no gender differences were established in this study. Significant differences were noted with age and academic programme (specifically, engineering and social sciences). These results could have implications on the future development of novel, mobile software applications with discipline-specific and age-appropriate usability functions. It should also be noted that mobile phones are becoming more varied in their use, and new messaging applications appear to be more attractive to selected demographic segments rather than others.

The database of the 2011 South African census results provides an additional source of data to understand psychology education in South Africa. Despite the limitations of the data, the emerging picture is a familiar one: Those reporting psychology as a primary field of education tend to be concentrated in urban areas and are mostly White and female. In addition, census respondents are mostly Afrikaans-speaking or English-speaking and earn reasonable salaries.

This study explored the applicability of the metacognitive model of excessive worry and generalized anxiety disorder to the understanding of worry in a multi-ethnic context. A convenience sample of 1224 university students (female = 57.9%; Black = 49.9%) with a mean age of 19.77 years (standard deviation = 2.323) participated in the study. Following exploratory factor analysis, hierarchical regression analyses were employed to analyse the data. In combination, positive beliefs about worry, negative beliefs about worry, and cognitive control strategies emerged as significant predictors of worry intensity for the sample as a whole. However, only positive and negative beliefs about worry made independent contributions to the explanation of the variance in worry scores. Gender moderated the relationship between metacognition and worry. Viewing worry as a source of motivation was a unique predictor of worry intensity among women, while considering worry to be a positive personality trait emerged a distinctive predictor among males. The metacognitive model demonstrates cross-ethnic utility in understanding worry in a non-clinical population. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Despite the progress made in the domain of family planning, the practice of the latter remains a current issue around the world, particularly in emerging and developing countries. This study examines the impact of traditional values and norms regarding family planning in Niger. Self-reported data were gathered – by means of a questionnaire – as to the variables likely to influence family planning practices (through contraceptive use). Participants were married females (N = 200), between 21 and 50 years of age. The data were analysed using SPSS 15.0 software. The findings suggest that subjective norms have a direct effect on contraceptive use among women with no formal schooling, living in either rural or urban settings. For women with some formal schooling, it was their attitude towards family planning that had a direct effect on family planning practices. Suggestions for devising targeted family planning messages based on cultural values and norms have been proposed.

Psychologists are faced with numerous challenges in their daily practices. Literature indicates that the most frequent ethical transgressions in the 1970s–1990s were the invalid presentation of professional qualifications, unprofessional advertisements, and irresponsible public communications. However, at the turn of the century, it has changed to include sexual or dual relationships with patients as well as unprofessional, unethical, or negligent practice. The objective of this research project is to analyse the case content of all guilty verdicts related to professional standard breaches and ethics misconduct against Health Professions Council of South Africa–registered psychologists in the period 2007–2013 via a qualitative research paradigm focusing on a historical research approach. The findings of this study indicate that only a small fraction of psychologists registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa are annually guilty of ethics misconduct. The results indicate that the majority, around one-third, of transgressions can be regarded as improper professional role conduct. It was followed by negligent and/or incompetent treatment and/or patient care (27%), fraudulent conduct (20%), and disclosure of confidential information without permission (13%). As the age of electronic and social media advances, along with online diagnosis and therapy, clients may have better access to resources of varying authority and reliability, possibly giving them more confidence to question the practices of their service providers.