The effect of behavioral skills training on shot performance in field hockey

Behavior analysis procedures have been used to improve sports performance and enhance player safety across a wide variety of sports. The current study evaluated the effects of behavioral skills training on three common field hockey shots, a slap shot, drive, and sweep for young field hockey players. The procedures were evaluated in a multiple baseline across behaviors for three players. Results showed increases in each type of shot once intervention was implemented.     

Intimate partner violence in military couples: A review of the literature

IntroductionIntimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health concern that has not received an immense amount of attention in the military community. It is well documented in military literature that rates of IPV across US military populations range from 13.5% to 58%, with considerably lower rates obtained among samples not selected on the basis of psychopathology (Marshall, Panuzio, & Taft, 2005). The main objectives are to address the this gap in literature concerning the definitions of violence used, prevalence of IPV in military intimate relationships, the nature and patterns of violence, risk factors, and theories that may help to provide a better understanding of the violence attached to this unique population.Methods and theoryCivilian and military communities are urged to work towards using common definitions and practices to facilitate comparison of rates among the populations. Furthermore, methodological tools should move towards using more multi-method and longitudinal designs, more theoretical model applications and more diverse sample selection as strategies to further our understanding of the structure and inner workings of IPV in military couples.Conclusion and recommendationsMore exhaustive research, especially in Canada, including consistent definitions and methodology needs to be conducted. Also, future research needs to address the gap in the literature regarding theory application, risk factors associated with this phenomenon, and prevention methods.     

The individual interview in couples treatment

This paper describes the use of concurrent individual and conjoint sessions in couples psychotherapy. The introduction of these individual interviews is seen as supporting the individual changes which must be made to effect change in the structure of the relationship. The benefits of this interventive scheme in dynamically oriented couples' treatment will be illustrated through the presentation of case examples.     

Feedback for improving staff training and performance in behavioral treatment programs

This paper reviewed observational studies that examined feedback for changing staff performance in behavioral treatment programs for clients with cognitive, developmental, or psychiatric disorders. The research findings were integrated into the main stages of staff training and management: pretraining, training, and posttraining. Specific recommendations for using feedback are made including defining process and outcome form and content before training, providing on‐the‐job supervisory feedback while staff practice self‐generated outcome feedback until competency is demonstrated, and after training, maintaining self‐generated feedback with emphasis on evaluating staff and client interactions with social validity measures. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Minority stress and intimate partner aggression among male same-sex couples

Intimate partner aggression (IPA) is high among gay, bisexual, queer, and other sexual minority men (SMM), and is strongly linked to minority stress. These links might be further magnified or buffered by communication between partners (i.e., negative and positive communication, respectively). The present study investigated associations of minority stress and IPA, and the moderating role of positive/negative communication, among male couples (N = 932 individuals, 466 couples). Partners completed measures of communication skills, minority stress, and IPA, which were analyzed using moderated actor-partner interdependence models. Results suggested that microaggressions increase one's own (i.e., an actor effect) and one's partner's (i.e., a partner effect) verbal IPA victimization, verbal IPA perpetration, and physical IPA victimization. Positive communication moderated the association between microaggressions and verbal IPA victimization, suggesting that high levels of positive communication may buffer the microaggression-verbal IPA link. Thus, minority stress' detrimental impacts on relationship functioning among male same-sex couples may be reduced by the presence of positive communication (e.g., effective conflict resolution). We discuss structural and clinical innovations to prevent IPA among male couples, with particular emphasis on the absence of positive communication as an aggravating factor.     

Sequenced neurocognitive and behavioral parent training for the treatment of ADHD in school-age children

The present study examines the potential of sequencing a neurocognitive intervention with behavioral parent training (BPT) to improve executive functions (EFs), psychiatric symptoms, and multiple indices of functional impairment in school-age children aged 7 to 11 years who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Specifically, in a randomized controlled trial design, 85 children were assigned to either Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) followed by an empirically supported, manualized BPT intervention, or to a placebo version of CWMT followed by the same BPT intervention. Working memory maintenance (i.e., attention control/short-term memory), working memory processing and manipulation, ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms, impairment in parent–child dynamics, familial impairment, and overall functional compromise were evaluated as outcomes. The results suggest specific effects of the combined CWMT and BPT program on verbal and nonverbal working memory storage and nonverbal working memory processing and manipulation but no incremental benefits in regard to ADHD symptoms, ODD symptoms, and functional outcomes. The present findings do not support the hypothesis regarding the complementary and augmentative benefits of sequenced neurocognitive and BPT interventions for the treatment of ADHD. These results, the study’s limitations, and future directions for research are further discussed.     

Binge eating and outcome of behavioral treatment of obesity: a preliminary report

A survey was carried out of binge-eating behavior in a group of 44 patients who had completed group behavioral treatment for obesity. Obese binge eaters, defined by DSM-III criteria for bulimia, lost significantly less weight immediatedly posttreatment and at 6-month follow-up than non-binge eaters.     

The importance of the organization of partner knowledge in understanding perceptions of relationship quality and conflict resolution behavior in married couples

This research investigated how the organization of partner knowledge was related to global relationship evaluations and specific interpersonal behaviors in a sample of 107 married couples. Spouses first completed several questionnaires and later participated in a 12-min videotaped conflict resolution task. As expected, wives in older relationships exhibited greater marital quality (self-reported and observed) when they had (a) an integrative knowledge structure and used many negative traits to describe their spouse or (b) a compartmentalized knowledge structure and used few negative traits to describe their spouse. Greater marital quality, however, was found for husbands when they were (a) in older relationships and possessed an integrative structure or (b) in newer relationships and possessed a compartmentalized structure. Exploratory analyses suggested that in some circumstances people may have greater marital quality when they share an organizational style with their spouse.     

On the use of fluency training in the behavioral treatment of autism: a commentary

The substantial demand for behavior-analytic treatment of early childhood autism has been associated with rapid dissemination of treatment procedures to practitioners and caregivers. This level of demand could plausibly induce premature dissemination of treatments that do not yet have sufficient empirical support. We argue that this might have happened with the use of fluency training for learners with autism and identify four areas of research that are necessary to ensure that dissemination efforts are better matched to the available empirical support for this instructional strategy.