AIDS counselling in the context of the terrence higgins trust

The Terrence Higgins Trust provides counselling and support services for people who are affected by HIV. Counselling involves enabling people to unlock feelings and find ways in which to deal with them. Counsellors need to be able to listen non-judgetnentally. To listen and really hear what the client is saying, and also to what is not being said.

‘Being there’ involves dealing with one's own feelings about disability, death, dying, sex, sexuality, anger and so on. Counsellors also have a responsibility to look after their own needs. This means getting regular supervision to discuss the work they are doing and their feelings about this.

Counselling people living with, or affected by HIV brings up feelings of helplessness, anger, fear, grief and despair, but with this comes joy, amazement and wonder at the power and magic in all human beings.     

A follow up study of a behavioral program for young people with learning disabilities and challenging behavior

This paper describes a pilot follow-up study of a behavioral program for 20 young people with learning disabilities and challenging behavior. Eighteen participants made good overall improvement during the treatment period, and this was partially maintained at follow-up. Eight had continued to improve, eight had deteriorated slightly and four had deteriorated markedly. Adaptive skills were generally maintained. The reemergence of challenging behaviors explained the difference between the Good and Poor Outcome groups. Those participants in the Good Outcome group were younger on admission, scored lower on adaptive skills and higher on challenging behaviors. In addition they had remained on the treatment programme for 12–18 months and had been discharged from the Unit for longer. The overall level of independent living had increased from preadmission and the majority of participants were living in less restrictive placements. These results confirm and extend the findings of previous research. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for more detailed longitudinal follow-up studies in this area.     

Sex differences and sex-role stereotyping in clinical psychologists' reports: a research note

This paper presents an empirical study of sex differences and sex-role stereotyping in clinical psychologists' reports. The results of numerous analyses showed no significant evidence at any point of sex differences or sex-role stereotyping in the form or the subject matter of the clinical reports.

     

Sexual victimization among sorority women: Exploring the link between sexual violence and institutional practices

This study investigates the incidence and nature of sexual coercion among sorority women. Particular emphasis is placed on sexual coercion that occurs within the context of fraternal life. Overall, almost half of those studied had experienced some form of sexual coercion, 24% experienced attempted rape, and 17% were victims of completed rape. Almost half of the rapes occurred in a fraternity house, and over half occurred either during a fraternity function or was perpetrated by a fraternity member. This study provides evidence that fraternities represent a social context that tolerates, if not actually encourages, sexual coercion of women, including sorority women.     

The role of distress tolerance in the relationship between depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use

Empirical evidence and theory implicate the role of distress tolerance in the relationship between negative affect and alcohol use. However, limited research has been conducted to explore these relationships. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine whether distress tolerance moderates the relationship between current depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use in a community sample of adults. Participants included 150 adults, primarily female, recruited from the local community. Problematic alcohol use was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) total score, which is a composite measure of harmful and hazardous patterns of alcohol use and several current alcohol dependence symptoms. Distress tolerance was measured using a computerized behavioral distress tolerance task, the Computerized Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT-C). Tobit regression analyses indicated a significant interaction between distress tolerance and depressive symptoms in predicting alcohol problems, such that depressive symptoms were significantly associated with problematic alcohol use among adults with low, but not high, distress tolerance. Thus, alcohol use interventions with a focus on distress tolerance skills in the context of depressive symptoms may be particularly effective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Perceptions of Liver Transplant Candidates with or Without an Alcohol Use History

Cirrhosis secondary to alcohol use is a primary cause of liver disease and a medical condition for which liver transplantation is a viable treatment option. However, there remains considerable debate within both the lay and the medical communities regarding the distribution of a scarce medical resource to adults with alcoholism. This study examined college students' perceptions toward an adult, presented in a written vignette, for whom liver transplantation was medically indicated. The influence of gender (female and male) and alcohol use history (no alcohol history, alcoholism history with long-term abstinence, alcoholism history with current use) on these ratings was examined. Subjects rated the adult presented with no alcohol history more positively than they did the adults presented with a history of alcoholism. Also, the adult with no alcohol history was more likely to be offered transplantation and was given higher priority ratings for transplantation by subjects. While subjects' own alcohol use history and organ donor registration status were not associated with ratings, having a family member with an alcohol problem and personally knowing a transplant recipient were related to more favorable ratings toward the adult presented in the vignette. Implications of these findings as well as limitations of the study are discussed.     

Improved low-cost,MR-compatible olfactometer to deliver tobacco smoke odor

We describe a low-cost, MRI-compatible olfactometer that delivers fresh cigarette smoke odor, a challenging odorant to present, as well as other odorants. This new olfactometer retains all of the advantages of an earlier design that was capable of only delivering volatile odors (Lowen & Lukas, Behavior Research Methods, 38, 307–313, 2006). The new system incorporates a novel switching mechanism that allows it to deliver fresh smoke generated from a burning cigarette during a stimulus presentation paradigm that might be employed in a cue-reactivity experiment. An evaluation study established that the olfactometer reliably delivered smoke to the participants and that tobacco smoke was discriminated from other odorants; there were no adverse reactions to the device.