Psicópatas versus trastornos de la personalidad: matices clínico-conceptuales y aspectos diferenciales / Psychopaths versus personality disorders: clinical-conceptual nuances and differential aspects

La psicopatía ha sido frecuentemente relacionada con los trastornos de la personalidad, sobre todo con el subtipo antisocial, debido a las características delictivas que, en ocasiones, este implica. A pesar de esta asociación, y sin obviar los matices diferenciales, es importante recordar que los trastornos de la personalidad son diagnósticos clínicos, que vienen amparados por las nosologías psiquiátricas y recogidos en los manuales de trastornos mentales. En este sentido, no se debe entender la psicopatía como un trastorno mental, ni de la personalidad ni de cualquier otra índole psicopatológica. Si bien la psicopatía incorpora algunos rasgos aislados, también característicos de varios trastornos de la personalidad, es necesario establecer con exactitud los perfiles diferenciales entre estos y la psicopatía, ya que hay múltiples matices que podrán ayudar a establecer el diagnóstico diferencial pertinente y a evitar equiparar psicopatía con psicopatologías de la personalidad

Psychopathy has been frequently associated with personality disorders, particularly with the antisocial subtype due to the criminal features that it sometimes entails. Despite this link, and without ignoring the differential nuances, it is important to remember that personality disorders are clinical diagnoses, which are supported by psychiatric nosology and included in manuals of mental disorders. Therefore, psychopathy should not be understood as a mental disorder, neither of personality nor of any other psychopathological nature. Even though psychopathy incorporates some isolated features, also characteristic of several personality disorders, it is necessary to accurately establish the differential profiles between them and psychopathy, since there are multiple nuances that may help to establish the necessary differential diagnosis and to avoid equating psychopathy with personality psychopathologie

La competencia emocional como recurso inhibidor para la perpetración del maltrato psicológico en la pareja / Emotional competence as a resource to inhibit psychological abuse in couples

Nowadays, violence within couples is the most alarming form of interpersonal violence. It could even be considered a public health problem. Nevertheless, although the magnitude is as serious as the repercussions of the aggression suffered by the victims, there is a general tendency to restrict the focus of attention to the physical aspect of the problem. Thus, the study of psychological abuse is relegated to a secondary plane, ignoring those works that demonstrate the presence of psychological aggression with serious consequences, comparable to or even greater than those of a physical nature, even though the former are more difficult to predict. For this reason, there is little consensus concerning the specific behaviour patterns that make up psychological abuse. Nevertheless, among its most evident characteristics, we can point to such manifestations as insults, criticism, humiliations, disparagement or ridicule, both in public and in private, social and economic isolation, repeated threats to either abandon the relationship or to seek a divorce, threats of abuse towards the victims or their loved ones and those related with harming or destroying the victim's cherished belongings, whether they be objects or animals, which may be psychologically traumatic for the victim. On the other hand, such conduct as manipulating information, affective neglect, denial of violence and putting the blame entirely on the victim can be listed as hidden expressions of psychological abuse in couples. Similarly, several works have established a link between a wide range of psychological and behavioural symptoms connected to psychological violence in couples with numerous aspects of emotional intelligence. On an interpersonal level, conflictive couples seem to respond to communicative registers far removed from emotional intelligence or such partner skills as empathy, self-control and co-operation, thus leading to violent relational dynamics. The current research analyses psychological abuse in couples (disparagement, hostility, indifference, intimidation, imposition of behaviour patterns, blaming and apparent kindness) and its connection with the level of emotional competence (emotiveness, efficacy, rigidity and illusion) shown by the individuals that make up the couple. The research was carried out in the context of the University of Extremadura (Spain). The sample was selected randomly and was made up of 1 080 university students, of whom 332 were male and 748 female, aged in four categories covering the range from 17 to 23 years or more. Following the sample selection, the deans and department directors were informed of the aims of the research, their approval was sought to implement the research instruments and to guarantee the collaboration of the lecturers in the various degree subjects chosen. Then, a joint calendar was established to apply the tests. The surveys were carried out during the academic years 2007/2008 and 2008/2009. The tests were collectively administered in single sessions. Copies of the survey were handed out along with instructions. Volunteers were then told to fill in personal data and the instructions were read out aloud, stressing the importance of answering all the questions without exception. Finally, doubts were answered, taking care not to influence the subjects' replies. The confidentiality of the students' answers was guaranteed by coding each questionnaire with a numerical identification. After the questionnaires were handed in, the students' replies were checked for compliance with the protocols, and on the basis of atypical replies and questions left unanswered. Only two questionnaires were eliminated due to protocol and no atypical answers or unanswered questions were found. The order was exactly the same for all the applications: First of all the Inventory of Constructive Thought (15 to 30 minutes), and secondly the Questionnaire on Psychological Abuse (15 to 20 minutes). The main results of the study, with respect to the indicators of psychological abuse in couples, are as follows: the existence of patterns of psychological violence in the relationships of couples of university students is confirmed. Of the most significant sub-factors of psychological abuse, the most frequently used by these young people were those included in (3) Indifference, while the least commonly used were those included in (7) Apparent Kindness. As for the relationship between psychologically abusive behaviour patterns and emotional competence during pre-marital relationships, there are significant differences. Finally, the presence of significant correlations between most factors and sub-factors of psychological abuse in couples and the different emotional skills is confirmed. To conclude, it can be said that the research provides evidence that the indicators of psychological abuse in couples start to appear during pre-marital relationships. An analysis of the results demonstrates that these subjects put into practice such indicators and/or manifestations as: trivializations, reproaches, lack of empathy or support, judging, criticising, correcting, abusive insistence and accusations. The students from the sample show no marked tendency towards the exercise of any form of psychological violence in particular. Rather, they exhibit a heterogeneous behavioural repertory made up of disparagement, confrontation, lack of interest or affection, coercion, attempts to restrict the victim psychologically or socially, and blaming the victim for the aggressor's own violent response. Also worthy of note are such specific manifestations as: the aggressor's interest in disparaging any behaviour or attitude adopted by the partner, showing serious resistance to listening and sharing the partner's reality, unless to chide them. Similarly, the existence of behaviour patterns can be appreciated through which aggressors implacably and strictly censure their partner for not living up to their own expectations, forcing the situation until they can release their anger and personal tension and thus get their way with the victim. In addition, the presence of indifference can also be appreciated as the commonest expression of psychological violence among young people aged between 17 and 23. This demonstrates a lack of affective involvement that makes empathy, support and respect towards the individuality of the victim impossible. In turn, it promotes behaviour patterns of monopolising by the aggressor, at the same time as it generates problems for establishing effective communicative links within the couple and destroys the principles of mutuality and equality that are at the heart of any relationship. On the other hand, in this pre-marital interaction, there are significant differences and relationships between the considered manifestations of psychological violence. There are certainly such behaviour patterns as disparagement, hostility, lack of affection, coercion, unreasonable demands, blaming and manipulative attitudes present in the relationships of the students studied. There is also the development of such skills as the subject's capacity to face potentially stressful situations ("emotiveness"), to adopt objective, optimistic and functional thought patterns ("efficacy"), to show tolerance when faced with frustration ("rigidity") and to avoid making judgements about reality based on optimism without objective reasons ("illusion"). However, such data are indicative of such revealing results as the existence of a greater tendency towards psychological violence in its different manifestations by those students with more precarious emotional resources, become even more consistent when the many related studies that act as empirical support are reviewed. With this work, we aim to contribute to the scientific analysis of psychological violence in the relationships of couples, as well as in the design of primary prevention programmes focused on the development of emotional education as a key tool for establishing full and healthy relationships between couples.

La violencia contra la pareja constituye, actualmente, la forma más alarmante de violencia interpersonal. Sin embargo, a pesar de la magnitud del fenómeno, existe una tendencia general a restringir el foco de interés a la dimensión física del mismo. De esta forma el estudio del maltrato psicológico es relegado a un segundo plano, ignorando aquellos trabajos que evidencian la presencia de agresiones psicológicas con secuelas de gravedad equiparada o superior a las de naturaleza física, aunque las primeras presenten una mayor dificultad en su detección. Diferentes investigaciones establecen una vinculación entre una amplia gama de síntomas psicológicos y comportamentales consecuentes a la violencia psicológica en la pareja, con varias de las dimensiones de la inteligencia emocional. De esta forma, las parejas con elevadas tasas de conflictividad responsables de la instauración de la dinámica relacional violenta, parecen responder en el plano interpersonal con registros comunicativos alejados de la inteligencia emocional o de competencias como la empatía, el autocontrol y la cooperación hacia sus parejas. En la presente investigación se analiza el maltrato psicológico en las relaciones de pareja (desvalorización, hostilidad, indiferencia, intimidación, imposición de conductas, culpabilización y bondad aparente) y su relación con el nivel de competencias emocionales (emotividad, eficacia, rigidez e ilusión) que presentan los miembros que conforman la misma. Se desarrolló en el contexto de la Universidad de Extremadura (España). La selección de la muestra fue aleatoria y se compuso de 1 080 estudiantes universitarios/as. De ellos, 332 varones y 748 mujeres de edades comprendidas en cuatro categorías que abarcan el intervalo de 17 a 23 años o más. Una vez seleccionada la muestra establecimos un calendario para la aplicación de los instrumentos, conjuntamente con los decanos, directores de centros universitarios y secretarías académicas. La aplicación de los instrumentos se realizó de forma colectiva en una sesión en horario de mañana y tarde, durante los cursos académicos 2007/2008 y 2008/2009. Los resultados del estudio confirman la presencia de patrones de violencia psicológica en las relaciones de pareja de los estudiantes universitarios/as. Destacan como subfactores de maltrato psicológico ejercidos con mayor frecuencia en estos jóvenes los situados en el factor Indiferencia, en oposición a aquellos menos habituales comprendidos en el factor Bondad aparente. En cuanto a la relación entre las conductas psicológicamente abusivas y las competencias emocionales durante el noviazgo, se evidencian diferencias significativas. Finalmente se confirma la presencia de correlaciones significativas en la mayor parte de los factores y subfactores del maltrato psicológico en la pareja y las diferentes competencias emocionales. Los hallazgos del estudio sugieren en términos generales que los indicadores del maltrato psicológico en la pareja comienzan a manifestarse durante las relaciones de noviazgo, concretamente: trivializaciones, reproches, no empatía ni apoyo, juzgar, criticar, corregir, insistencia abusiva, acusaciones, etc. Se aprecia como la manifestación más habitual la falta de implicación afectiva que imposibilita la empatía, el apoyo y el respeto hacia la individualidad de la víctima, promoviendo conductas de monopolio por parte del agresor en la pareja. Asimismo se confirma la existencia de una mayor tendencia al empleo de las diferentes manifestaciones de violencia psicológica por parte de aquellos estudiantes universitarios/as con recursos emocionales más precarios. Datos que adquieren una mayor consistencia conforme revisamos los múltiples estudios que actúan como soporte empírico. En este sentido, el mayor reto es la promoción del análisis científico de la violencia psicológica en las relaciones de noviazgo, así como su orientación al diseño de programas de prevención primaria centrados en el desarrollo de la educación emocional como elemento central para el establecimiento de relaciones de parejas plenas y saludables.

Competencia pragmática y adaptación psicosocial en niños sujetos a medidas de protección infantil / Pragmatic competence and psychosocial adaptation in children in protective care

The family, as the basic social environment, should attend to the affective and educational needs of the child. The family should be a stable and secure place for people to live together, where the child should receive care, protection, respect and social support. The family provides the environment for the child to develop and for the parents to adjust and readjust their expectations and practices concerning each child and each different circumstance within a continuity and style. The role of the family is not simply to satisfy the basic, fundamental needs, but to facilitate an interaction between the processes of physiological maturing and daily experiences in order to achieve the child's biopsychological plenitude. When the educational style is not the appropriate one, there are likely to be psychological problems in childhood and adolescence. Some experiences the child is exposed to can be the cause of maladjusted reactions. Such maladjusted response may vary according to the intensity of the experience, the meaning it has for the child, the developmental moment in which he/she finds him/herself (the degree of maturity) and the circumstances following the event. The attachment consolidates through the interaction between the child and the people around him/her. When children are exposed to aggression and rejection from their parents or when they are not given the affection and support that they need, they are more likely to develop emotional and behavioural problems. The communicative interaction established between the child and the important adults in his/her environment is essential for language developmental acquisition. Language accompanies us in almost all the activities we participate in. The absence of stimulation in the first years, so frequent in abused children, can result in delays in the acquisition and development of language. A great part of a child's activity in the first years of life is social and communicative. Although the early interaction between parents and children does not generate language understood as syntactical, phonological or semantic rules, it is essential as it provides the child with the necessary instruments to pass on to formal language. In the disorganised form of attachment, the most usual in cases of abuse, that sensitivity towards the child's needs is distorted, so the interaction with the child does not lead to a correct attribution of the intentional and communicative meaning of the child's action. The interaction in the family environment is essential as it reinforces and redirects the spontaneous use the child makes of language, progressively leading her/him to its correct use. The child learns to refer to the same things and in the same way as others do. Yet the use of language implies the consideration of the other as a thinking being, with beliefs and intentions that should be taken into account in order to be able to establish communication and the form it should take. Several papers researching this issue have stressed the effects of child abuse and neglect on language development. This research analyses pragmatic competence and psychosocial adaptation in children in protective care. Most of the studies do not provide data concerning how each individual linguistic component is affected in such children. Important deficiencies in language development are pointed out, but nothing is said in detail about where exactly such difficulties lie. The pragmatic function determines what type of language must be used in a certain context. This underlines the importance of such psycholinguistic skill. The child, beside learning the formal aspects of the language, learns to use them in a social context. The use of language implies something more than the form or the meaning. It also involves our desires, intentions, beliefs, decisions, to plan the action, etc. Our methodological proposal was carried out within the framework of the Child Care Centres in the Region of Extremadura (Spain). The sample is made up of 74 children living in four different Centres. There were 41 boys and 33 girls between the ages of 6 and 18. We feel we should point out, as strength of the research, the fact that the sample analysed represents the total number of children in residential care over the age of 6 at the time of the evaluation. Pragmatics determines what type of language should be used in a particular context. Children, apart from learning the formal aspects of the language, learn to use it in a social context. Thus there is a difference between the literal meaning of a phrase and its intention. It is necessary for the listener to recognise the speaker's intention over and above the literal meaning of what is said. To achieve this, children must be able to adapt the linguistic forms to the communicative act. We must draw attention to such important aspects as intentionality in communication and the context in which the children's language is developed. In a conversation, the children should be able to manage such skills as: taking turns to speak, expressing intention and recognising the intentions of others, attracting the other's attention, offering an appropriate amount of information, replying in an adequate way with relevant information, adopting the speaker's point of view, the capacity to modify their discourse according to the situation, etc. Our research shows that children in protective care have difficulties in knowing how people they are speaking to will react, especially when it comes to adults. They have clear limitations when using language as a resource to adequately demand attention, so that the person whose attention is required actually does so. They are also limited when directly or indirectly demanding action (the adequate formulation of a specific demand or suggestion); when making a request, especially in those situations in which a request has to be made to an important adult or figure of affection, they often have trouble maintaining continuity in discourse, jumping from one subject to another.

La presente investigación analiza la competencia pragmática y su relación con el grado de adaptación personal, social y escolar en niños sujetos a medidas de protección infantil. La interacción comunicativa que se establece entre el niño y los adultos significativos de su entorno es esencial para el aprendizaje del lenguaje. El lenguaje nos acompaña en casi todas las actividades que realizamos. La ausencia de estimulación en los primeros años, tan frecuente en los niños maltratados, puede desembocar en retrasos en la adquisición y desarrollo del lenguaje. Diferentes investigaciones ponen de manifiesto los efectos del maltrato infantil en el desarrollo lingüístico. El estilo comunicativo desempeña un papel determinante en algunas formas de maltrato. Éste es el caso del maltrato y abandono emocional, donde los intercambios afectivos y comunicativos entre el adulto y el niño son muy disfuncionales. La investigación se desarrolla en los Centros de Acogida de Menores de la región de Extremadura (España). La muestra se compone de 74 niños. De ellos, 41 son varones y 33 mujeres, de edades comprendidas entre los seis y los 18 años. La muestra analizada representa el número total de niños en situación de acogimiento residencial, de edades superiores a los seis años. El estudio evidencia que el nivel de dominio pragmático de los niños en situación de acogimiento residencial se encuentra afectado. El dominio de la pragmática implica un uso adecuado de los distintos tipos de enunciados en situaciones comunicativas concretas. Para ello, el niño debe tener la capacidad de comunicarse e interaccionar utilizando el lenguaje para diferentes funciones (pedir información, reclamar la atención del otro, saludar, protestar, etc.). Al analizar los resultados de la investigación, se evidencian dificultades pragmáticas para formular demandas de información específicas; responder cuando el enunciado les resulta demasiado extenso y emplear el lenguaje como recurso para reclamar la atención de forma adecuada, así como en los requerimientos directos e indirectos de acción. Los niños tienen dificultad para ponerse en el lugar del interlocutor, especialmente si se trata de un adulto; para hacer un ruego o petición, sobre todo cuando se trata de los padres u otro adulto; les cuesta mantener una continuidad en el discurso, saltando de un tema a otro; para solicitar más información o aclaraciones sobre algún acontecimiento; escasa habilidad para mostrar desacuerdos ante una figura de autoridad (padres o profesor); y muestran limitaciones para requerir una acción ya sea a través de órdenes o sugerencias. A través de la investigación comprobamos que las dificultades lingüísticas en niños con medidas de protección pueden adoptar formas muy diversas, destacando las dificultades para el uso del lenguaje como medio para dirigir la acción (función autorreguladora). Asimismo, los niños presentan inadaptación personal y social en varios de los factores analizados. Los niños manifiestan desajuste disociativo, pensamientos negativos y mecanismos de huida de la realidad (ensoñación, autoconcepto negativo e infravaloración de sí mismos). En cuanto a la inadaptación escolar, se evidencia falta de motivación, laboriosidad e interés por el aprendizaje, inadaptación escolar externa, indisciplina y aversión al profesor e insatisfacción escolar. Debemos tomar con precaución los resultados, ya que además de la situación de desprotección común a todos estos niños, es preciso tener en cuenta el factor sociocultural. El lenguaje se desarrolla en interacción con el medio social en que vivimos, y hay contextos familiares que ofrecen una mayor riqueza que otros. La pertenencia a familias de bajo nivel cultural puede dificultar el desarrollo lingüístico porque los niños oyen un lenguaje poco correcto y muy concreto. Esperamos que la presente investigación sirva para alentar el estudio de este fenómeno en mayor profundidad. Debemos destacar la complejidad intrínseca de esta medida de protección, en la que entran en juego múltiples factores pertenecientes a diferentes sistemas (familia biológica, niño, centro de acogida y profesionales), siendo extremadamente difícil dilucidar qué factores intervienen de forma significativa en la explicación de la adaptación y el bienestar de los niños acogidos.

El maltrato psicológico en los modelos teóricos explicativos de la violencia de género / Psychological abuse in the theoretical explanatory models of the gender violence

La mayoría de los estudios en torno a la violencia en la pareja se centran en el maltrato físico. El artículo llama la atención sobre la escasez de estudios en torno al maltrato psicológico en las relaciones de pareja, a pesar de su incidencia. Nos encontramos ante una forma de violencia invisible que quebranta la integridad emocional y afectiva de la víctima, en un proceso continuo y sistemático a fin de producir en ella intimidación, desvalorización, sentimientos de culpa o sufrimiento. Diferentes estudios señalan que en los casos de violencia física en la pareja, las manifestaciones de maltrato psicológico son previas, generando graves secuelas en la salud mental de quien lo padece y un impacto psicológico similar o superior al ocasionado por las agresiones físicas. El artículo analiza los principales modelos teóricos explicativos de la violencia de género, constatando que no todas las teorías explicativas son aplicables al fenómeno del maltrato psicológico en la pareja.