The use and abuse of touch in therapy and counselling

Sexual exploitation within therapy is founded upon inappropriate physical contact. Yet the use of touch in therapy remains a contentious issue. Some therapists purport that touch is a primary source of communication of which many clients, as children, were deprived. They argue that refraining from the appropriate use of touch in the counselling situation can be damaging to the client. This article considers the argument for the use of physical contact in therapy and counselling and its potential therapeutic value.     

The use of the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale in detecting substance abuse and antisocial personality

We evaluated the hypothesis that characterological factors, particularly antisocial personality, influence scores on the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC). Using the Washington University research criteria to establish diagnoses, the following subgroups were defined: subjects who received no psychiatric diagnoses; subjects who received diagnoses other than alcoholism, drug dependence, or antisocial personality; and subjects who received a diagnosis of alcoholism, drug dependence, and/or antisocial personality, alone or in combination with other psychiatric diagnoses. The highest MAC scores were obtained by subjects diagnosed as having antisocial personality without alcoholism or drug dependence and subjects diagnosed with antisocial personality, drug dependence, and alcoholism. Alcoholics without antisocial personality or drug dependence, and subjects with other psychiatric diagnoses scored lowest. Although higher MAC scores were obtained by males, MAC scores greater than 24 correctly classified the greatest number of males and females as alcoholic, drug dependent and/or antisocial. These findings are interpreted as consistent with MacAndrew's reinterpretation of the scale as assessing a dimension of personality, rather than solely a tendency to addiction.     

The selective use of sound effects and visual inserts for children's television story comprehension

Sound effects were inserted in a television program in order to guide children's selective attention to, and comprehension of, significant story content. Sixty-four children, equally distributed by sex and by kindergarten and fifth grades, were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions that crossed two levels of sound effects with two levels of visual inserts. One-s sound effects either preceded or did not precede three key program transitions. The visual insert conditions provided additional information at these program points whereas the no visual insert conditions did not. Visual attention was videotaped during each child's individual viewing session. After viewing, each child answered a 22-item multiple-choice recognition test of inferential, central, and incedental content. As predicted, sound effects increased selective attention and inferential recognition, particularly for the youngest children who have the greatest difficulty understanding televised stories.     

Substance use and abuse among children and teenagers

During the past several years, there has been a renewed national concern about drug abuse, culminating in the current "war on drugs." In this review, we emphasize that even though child or teenage drug use is an individual behavior, it is embedded in a sociocultural context that strongly determines its character and manifestations. Our focus is on psychoactive substances both licit (cigarettes and alcohol) and illicit (e.g., cannabis and cocaine). We feel that it is critical to draw a distinction between use and abuse of drugs and to do so from a multidimensional perspective that includes aspects of the stimulus (drug), organism (individual), response, and consequences. Our selective review of substance use and abuse among children and adolescents covers epidemiology (patterns and extent of drug use), etiology (what generates substance use), prevention (how to limit drug use), treatment (interventions with drug users), and consequences (effects and outcomes of youthful drug use).     

The use of anatomically detailed dolls in sexual abuse evaluations: The state of the science

In child sexual abuse investigations, anatomically detailed dolls (ADDs) are used frequently with the intention of facilitating expression or demonstration in children who do not disclose abuse verbally. We review and critique research that examines the play of nonabused children with ADDs, compares the ADD play of abused children with that of nonabused children, or compares ADD-aided interviews with interviews using other data-gathering methods. We conclude that the APA Council of Representatives' recent statement (February 8, 1991) endorsing the use of ADDs by certain examiners and the current research on this topic are incompatible.     

The story of Isaac

Pastoral Psychology -     

The reliability of a computer interview for drug use/abuse information

A computer interview was developed to collect information about drug use/abuse from high school students. Responses to this interview were compared with those obtained from an identical paper-and-pencil questionnaire given to the same students, in counterbalanced order. Results were comparable for the two methods, but missing data and logically inconsistent answers obtained with the paper-and-pencil questionnaire were not possible with the computer interview. The overwhelming majority of respondents preferred the computer interview as a means of data collection.     

The effects of familial risk, personality, and expectancies on alcohol use and abuse

This study tested a structural model of the association between familial risk, personality risk, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol abuse in a sample of 224 young adult offspring of alcoholics and 209 offspring of nonalcoholics. The results provided support for 2 personality-risk pathways, a social deviance proneness and an excitement/pleasure seeking path, that accounted for a significant portion of the association between a familial alcoholism and alcohol abuse. The path from familial alcoholism to social deviance proneness lead directly to alcohol problems. The path from familial alcoholism to excitement/pleasure seeking was associated with increased drinking, which, in turn, was associated with alcohol problems. Positive alcohol expectancies accounted for part of the association between excitement seeking and alcohol use. The results suggest 2 different biopsychosocial mechanisms that elevate risk for abuse in the offspring of alcoholics.