The Results of Family Therapy Revisited: The Nonbehavioral Methods

Studies from 1971 to 1976 reporting on the outcome of the nonbehavioral family therapies are analyzed and critically reviewed. Such research has increased in both quality and quantity since 1970 and, broadly speaking, has legitimized the status of family therapy as a viable mode of helping. Particularly potent effects were noted for family therapy as an alternative to psychiatric hospitalization, with psychosomatic problems in children and adolescents, and in certain applications with parent-child and parent-adolescent relationships. However, a number of studies comparing family therapy with no formal treatment or an alternative treatment found little difference in outcome. Problems in family therapy outcome research are discussed and some future directions suggested.     

Ethical Considerations in Family Therapy Research

In this article, significant ethical issues that arise in the conduct of family therapy research are considered and four major areas are emphasized: (a) the researcher's responsibility to protect the rights of research participants, (b) confidentiality and informed consent, (c) the researcher's values, and (d) methodology. In each area, parallels are drawn between the ethical issues facing family clinicians and those facing family researchers.     

Audience Activity and Soap Opera Involvement A Uses and Effects Investigation

This investigation examined the role of motives, attitudes, and audience activity in explaining the affective, cognitive, and behavioral involvement of 328 daytime soap opera viewers. Because inter correlations were found among motives, attitudes, activities, and involvement variables, canonical correlation analysis was used. There were two multivariate patterns. First, except for viewing to pass time, more salient viewing motivations (especially exciting entertainment and social utility), perceived realism, viewing intention, and attention were related to parasocial interaction, post viewing cognition, and post viewing discussion. Second, viewing for social utility, but not for voyeurism, and the lack of realism were related to post viewing discussion, but not to parasocial interaction. These audience orientations and the role of involvement in media uses and effects were discussed.     

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF STUDIES COMPARING BEHAVIORALLY ANCHORED RATING SCALES (BARS) AND OTHER RATING FORMATS1

All published studies comparing behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) with other rating formats were reviewed. Results indicate that BARS and other formats appear to differ relatively little (if at all) with regard to psychometric characteristics (leniency, halo, interrater agreement, ratee discriminability, validity and “accuracy”). Other variables, such as degree of rater participation in scale construction and rater preferences for different rating scale formats, also exhibited relatively little differences between BARS and other formats. A close examination of the studies, however, reveals numerous methodological problems confounding interpretations of results, making conclusions about the superiority or inferiority of BARS quite tenuous. Suggestions are made for more appropriate research directions and questions which seem more appropriate for rating scale investigations.