ON THE NEED FOR A BASIC SCIENCE APPROACH TO PSYCHOTHERAPY RESEARCH

Abstract— This article argues that the greatest progress in developing more effective psychotherapist will come from a renewed emphasis on designing and conducting therapy research as basic science devoted lo the acquisition of cause-and-effect relationships and from collaborations between clinical researchers and basic researchers from other domains of psychology.     

THEOLOGY AND SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL‐BEING

The approach to mental health and well‐being taken here illustrates the complementary perspectives approach and assumes that there are useful and intersecting contributions from science (including medicine) and from religion and spirituality. What counts as poor mental well‐being depends on the interaction of relatively objective criteria with culturally contingent value judgments. I then discuss theological perspectives on depression, including a consideration of sources of hope and tolerance of dysphoria, and argue that depression can be part of a spiritual journey. I then look at the relationship between psychosis and religion, including the work of Isabel Clarke, arguing that a spiritual approach to psychosis can complement a medical approach. Finally, I present a pastoral case study illustrating the interface between neurological and spiritual aspects of the sense of presence. A religious perspective can challenge and complement current assumptions about mental health in a potentially fruitful way.     

EFFECTS OF REINFORCER QUALITY ON BEHAVIORAL MOMENTUM: COORDINATED APPLIED AND BASIC RESEARCH

The high-probability (high-p) instructional sequence has been an effective treatment for noncompliance. However, treatment failures have also been reported. We hypothesized that the efficacy of the high-p treatment may be improved by using higher quality reinforcers for compliance to high-p instructions. The resistance of compliance to change was tested by varying reinforcer quality in two applied studies and a basic laboratory experiment. Experiment 1 tested the hypothesis that an increase in reinforcer quality for high-p compliance will increase the effectiveness of the high-p treatment when it fails to increase compliance. Experiment 2 assessed the effects of reinforcer quality on resistance of compliance to change by presenting successive low-p requests following the high-p treatment. A basic laboratory study (Experiment 3) was conducted to further isolate the relation between reinforcer quality and behavioral momentum. Two different liquid reinforcers (sucrose and citric acid solutions) were presented in a two-component multiple variable-interval variable-interval schedule followed by a single extinction test session. Results of all three experiments showed a generally consistent relationship between reinforcer quality and behavioral momentum.     

南京金陵中学高中生心理健康教育研究

学校心理健康教育是心理学在新形势下应运而生的一个新问题。作者认为,学校心理健康教育应强调教育与发展模式;应突出教育对象的积极向上性;应强调自我认识、自我教育、自我控制;应根据学生的心理困惑,及时有效地给予帮助;应教会他们模仿某些策略和新的行为,最大限度地发展他们的心理机能,促进内在潜力的开发,加速实现学生个体的社会化。作者还根据三年的实验实践,提出了一套学生心理困惑诊断模式。     

心理健康素质及其结构的访谈研究

以心理学专家、大学教师、中学教师、小学教师、大学生、中学生和小学生为被试,采用访谈法,研究他们对心理健康素质及其结构问题的看法。结果发现：多数人都认为心理健康素质就是心理素质;心理健康素质是健康的人的心理素质;认为心理健康素质就是在思想、情绪、认识和行为方式上符合正常标准;是维护人的心理健康所需要的内在心理特点。人们普遍认为能力和性格是心理健康素质的核心组成部分。     

EXPERIMENTS IN A COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTER: INCREASING CLIENT PAYMENTS FOR OUTPATIENT SERVICES

Although public health care systems often depend on revenue generated from client payment for services, inadequate agency fee payment systems continue to create substantial administrative problems. The first study examined the effects of implementing a system for producing and maintaining routine client fee payment. The second study was a replication of the first study. The Credit Criterion System was designed to: (a) allow clients to establish intra-agency credit by paying cash for each of the first three visits; and (b) pay for services monthly after credit was established. The system resulted in a baseline collection rate of 20%, compared with the Credit Criterion rate of 96.6%. The Credit Criterion System did not create additional administrative costs and it had no effect on attendance. Thus, the Credit Criterion System appears to be a reasonable set of procedures for allowing clients to meet their financial obligations to an agency.     

BEHAVIORAL THERAPY DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE:

Abstract— An abundance of research from diverse areas of psychological science is potentially relevant to behavioral therapy development research. The National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health convened a workshop to reinforce the connection between basic behavioral and therapy development research. The articles in this Special Section are the product of this workshop. Several lines of basic behavioral research are described, and implications for the development of behavioral therapies are discussed. This Special Section highlights the notion that strengthening the bond between behavioral therapy development research and basic behavioral science will accelerate the advancement of knowledge about behavior, behavioral change and therapeutic interventions.     

EMPIRICAL MINDFULNESS: TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE AND MENTAL HEALTH IN THE SCIENCE AND RELIGION DIALOGUE

As science and religion researchers begin to engage questions of mental health, mindfulness may prove to be a fruitful area of investigation. However, quantifying the physical effects of mindfulness on the brain is difficult because mindfulness deals with the problem of mental and physical interaction or, the mind/body problem. One system of understanding which may aid science and religion scholars in the pursuit of mindfulness is traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Within TCM, heart Qi manages the body's present connection to time and space. If the “being in the moment” is disrupted, then the heart Qi is blocked and mental illness or various neurological disorders occur. Succinctly, within TCM, mindfulness is understood as a nonphysical phenomenon (Qi) which directly affects physical systems, resulting in empirical data. This is tracked and treated through the TCM understanding of Qi. The TCM view of Qi in mental health may therefore provide a helpful new paradigm to investigations concerning mindfulness and the human brain.     

中国青少年心理健康素质·人际素质的研究

采用《青少年心理健康素质调查表·人际素质分量表》对全国23个省、市、自治区的44063名青少年人际心理健康素质发展状况进行调查。结果表明：（1）我国青少年人际素质处于较好的发展水平;（2）青少年在整体人际素质及人际交往、人际调控、人际知觉等各维度上的年级变化呈现一定差异,整体人际素质与人际交往、人际调控维度得分随年级增长呈现下降趋势,人际知觉维度得分随年级的增长呈逐渐上升趋势。     

中国青少年心理健康素质·动力系统研究

选取44063名青少年为调查对象,采用《青少年心理健康素质调查表·动力系统分量表》考察我国青少年动力系统的发展特点。结果表明：（1）从整体上看,我国青少年的动力系统发展状况良好;（2）我国青少年的动力系统年级变化趋势表现出小学五年级得分较高,初一年级略有上升,初二年级有所下降,之后起伏波动,高三年级得分最低,但从高三年级到大学阶段迅速上升,大学阶段得分最高;（3）我国青少年在动力系统各维度上均存在显著年级差异,但在各维度上呈现出不同的年级变化趋势。     

中国青少年心理健康素质·归因风格的研究

应用《青少年心理健康素质调查表·归因风格分量表》对全国23个省市地区的44063名青少年进行了调查,对不同年级阶段青少年归因风格的发展特点进行了分析。结果发现：（1）青少年归因风格的发展存在明显的阶段性,随着年级的升高,其内在归因倾向逐渐减弱;（2）在不同年级阶段,青少年归因风格不同维度的发展方向具有一致性。     

中国青少年心理健康素质·自我的研究

采用《青少年心理健康素质调查·自我分量表》对44063份小学五年级到大学阶段我国青少年有效问卷进行分析,结果表明：整体自我得分从小学五年到高中一年下降明显,高中阶段变化不大,高三到大学阶段略有上升。构成整体自我的各维度、因子也大多具有相同的年级变化特点。     

中国青少年心理健康素质·应对风格的研究

应用《青少年心理健康素质调查表·应对风格分量表》对全国23个省、市、自治区44063名青少年的应对风格状况进行了调查。结果发现：（1）在应对风格的行为—生理策略、行为—表达策略、认知—表达策略、防御策略和混合策略上,我国青少年的得分从小学五年级逐渐上升至初二年级,之后下降,到高三年级和大学回升。（2）在认知—情境策略和行为—情境策略上表现为从小学五年级到初中阶段逐渐下降,从高三年级后开始回升。     

A WAY FORWARD FOR SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION: A REVIEW AND A RIFF

John Evans’s new book Morals Not Knowledge pushes scholars to rethink contemporary debates about religion and science by moving past the rhetoric of societal elites to examine the perspectives of everyday Americans, identifying the moral conflicts at the heart of debates. We review Evans’s key contributions while also extending and challenging his arguments, urging consideration of how renewed moral debates might be informed by a broader set of U.S. “publics.” Drawing on empirical research, we highlight four sets of voices that are missing from Evans’s analysis. Specifically, we highlight the voices of racial and ethnic minorities, religious communities (as opposed to individuals), members of minority religious traditions, and everyday religious scientists. Through doing so we offer avenues for future research on these diverse publics that will help facilitate a broader set of better and more informed debates about moral conflict between religious and scientific communities.     

MENTAL HEALTH AND THE GOSPEL: A RESPONSE TO CHRISTOPHER COOK

It is sometimes assumed that when the gospels talk about demon possession they are just using different terminology for what would now be called psychosis or epilepsy. However, these terms come from different discourses that need to be distinguished, but do not need to be kept completely separate. The nature of the relationship between religion and mental health is complex. There is usually a positive correlation, but it is more difficult to be confident about the nature of the causal connection. Poor mental health can become intertwined with religion in a way that drags both down. It is a consistent feature of Jesus' interactions that he encourages people to believe that more is possible than might have been imagined. His impact on the mental health of those around him seems to have been largely a matter of what might now be called positive psychology.