A number of apparently diverse personality scales—variously called trait anxiety, neuroticism, ego strength, general maladjustment, repression-sensitization, and social desirability—are reviewed and are shown to be in fact measures of the same stable and pervasive trait. An integrative interpretation of the construct as Negative Affectivity (NA) is presented. Extensive data indicate that high-NA individuals are more likely to experience discomfort at all times and across situations, even in the absence of overt stress. They are relatively more introspective and tend differentially to dwell on the negative side of themselves and the world. Further research is needed to explain the origins of NA and to elucidate the characteristics of low-NA individuals. Rorer and Widiger (1983) recently bemoaned that in the field of personality "literature reviews appear to be disparate conglomerations rather than cumulative or conclusive integrations" (p. 432). We intend this review to be an exception to this discouraging statement. Distinct and segregated literatures have developed around a number of specific personality measures that, despite dissimilar names, nevertheless intercorrelate so highly that they must be considered measures of the same construct. Following Tellegen (1982), we call this construct Negative Affectivity (NA) and present a comprehensive view of the trait that integrates data from a wide variety of relevant research. We are not the first to note this broad and pervasive personality trait. The Eysencks, for example, (e.g. Eysenck & Eysenck, 1968) have done extensive research in the area, traditionally calling the dimension "Neuroticism," although in their most recent revision (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975) they suggest a label, "emotionality," that is similar to our own. Nonetheless, in discussing the relation between our interpretation and previous views of the domain, we argue for the preferability of our term, Negative Affectivity. We also present

Negative affectivity: The disposition to experience aversive emotional states

Editors Note: With this issue we inaugurate a new section of HCR devoted to summaries of research and theory in specialised areas within the field of human communication. Papers in this section will he designed to bring research and theory in a given area together so that both specialists and nonspecialists can determine the “state of the art” in that area up to the time the paper is published. Scholars who wish to prepare papers for this section are requested to contact the editor and make their interests known. Generally, papers for this section will be commissioned. However, unsolicited papers will be given full consideration.

Oral communication apprehension: a summary of recent theory and research

Meta-analysis of comparative therapy outcome studies: a replication and refinement.

Clinical Supervision is a comprehensive, up-to-date scholarly resource for training and supervising mental health practitioners. It guides readers through a science-informed process of supervision that clearly delineates the competencies required for good practice. The authors have geared this integrative approach to mental health professionals who currently provide supervision in academic, training, and treatment settings as well as to students and practitioners who are studying the supervision research and theory for the first time.

Clinical Supervision: A Competency-Based Approach

This study focused on therapist-counselor development. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with 100 participants served as the data-gathering method. Data from this study were first used to develop a stage model. Then, 20 themes of therapist-counselor development were extracted from the 120 pages of narrative stage data. The themes were extracted jointly by the two authors through a set of qualitative research procedures. These themes are described within the categories of primary characteristic themes, process descriptor themes, source of influence themes, and secondary characteristic themes. Professional development topics addressed include professional individuation, methods of renewal, conceptual orientation, measures of success, learning processes, boundary regulation, and impact of professional elders.

Themes in Therapist and Counselor Development.

Confronting professional impairment during the internship: Identification, due process, and remediation.

Sexual and nonsexual boundary violations involving psychologists, clients,supervisees, and students : implications for professional practice

Training and organizational issues associated with identifying and responding to intern impairment.

Practicing psychologists who engaged in prohibited sexual relationships with clients, supervisees, and students reflected on the impact, circumstances, and rationales associated with engaging in such relationships. Of thesample, 3.5% reported such relationships; 84% were male psychologists, and the majority of the relationships were with female clients after the therapist-client relationship ended. There was considerable variability in the evaluation of such relationships, with retrospective reflections being less positive. The majority of psychologists reported a significant impact on their professional work and identified personal vulnerabilities that contributed to developing such relationships. Collegial intervention was universally viewed as valuable. Professional implications are discussed.

Psychologists reflect on their sexual relationships with clients, supervisees, and students: Occurrence, impact, rationales, and collegial intervention

Anxiety experienced while in a public speaking situation (speech anxiety) is discussed within the framework of Trait‐State Anxiety Theory. Speech anxiety may be considered a dispositional variable designed to measure individual differences in speech anxiety proneness (Speech A‐Trait) or a measure of anxiety experienced during a particular speech (Speech A‐State). Physiological and behavioral measures of speech anxiety are typically viewed as A‐State measures. Self‐report indices may be considered either state or trait anxiety measures depending on the context in which the measures were obtained. The development of a scale to measure both Speech A‐State and Speech A‐Trait, including initial normative, reliability, and validity data, is reported.

Douglas H. Lamb

Papers

Confronting professional impairment during the internship: Identification, due process, and remediation.

Sexual and nonsexual boundary violations involving psychologists, clients,supervisees, and students : implications for professional practice

Training and organizational issues associated with identifying and responding to intern impairment.

Psychologists reflect on their sexual relationships with clients, supervisees, and students: Occurrence, impact, rationales, and collegial intervention

Speech anxiety: Towards a theoretical conceptualization and preliminary scale development