The Relationship Between Treatment Acceptability and Youth Outcome in Group CBT for Youth with ASD and Anxiety

Anxiety is one of the most common co-occurring diagnoses in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment that has been tailored for youth with ASD and anxiety and has shown good efficacy in reducing youth anxiety immediately after treatment. One area that has not been widely studied is acceptability of CBT for anxiety in this population. Acceptability includes beliefs about the potential helpfulness and satisfaction with a given treatment and may be important in understanding treatment outcomes. This study focuses on parent, youth, and clinician acceptability of a well-researched CBT program, Facing Your Fears, for youth with ASD and anxiety. Data was collected as part of a larger multi-site study that compared three different instructional conditions for clinicians learning the intervention. Results indicated that parents rated acceptability as higher for the overall treatment compared to youth. Further, youth and parents rated exposure related sessions as more acceptable than psychoeducation, and higher exposure acceptability ratings were predictive of lower youth anxiety levels post-treatment. Clinicians who received ongoing consultation rated treatment acceptability lower than clinicians in the other training conditions. While some clinicians may be hesitant to implement exposure techniques with this population, findings suggest that it is the technique that parents and youth rated as the most acceptable. Results are discussed in terms of treatment and research implications for youth with ASD and their families.     

Moral Injury,Betrayal and Retribution: Australian Veterans and the Role of Chaplains

Journal of Religion and Health - This paper presents additional qualitative results from Phase 1 of a larger study examining potentially morally injurious events/experiences (PMIE) and/or moral...     

Systems Approaches to Occupational Vocal Health: Considerations for Community Faith Leaders

Journal of Religion and Health - Systems thinking approaches can benefit the occupational vocal health of vocally reliant workers. This paper explores community faith leaders as an example of a...     

Age differences in reasons for exercising

We tested the hypothesis that there are age-related differences in reasons for exercising. Adults (n=461), ranging in age from 18 to 86, were asked to indicate if they had considered different types of consequences in their exercise decisions, and how important they thought those consequences were to consider. A three-factor consequence measure examined individuals’ consideration and importance evaluations of various categories of exercise consequences. Results provided mixed support for the hypotheses that younger individuals exhibit greater concern for interpersonal attraction outcomes, while older individuals exhibit greater concern for health outcomes. These results have implications for designing educational and motivational training programs.     

Female Scarcity Reduces Women's Marital Ages and Increases Variance in Men's Marital Ages

When women are scarce in a population relative to men, they have greater bargaining power in romantic relationships and thus may be able to secure male commitment at earlier ages. Male motivation for long-term relationship commitment may also be higher, in conjunction with the motivation to secure a prospective partner before another male retains her. However, men may also need to acquire greater social status and resources to be considered marriageable. This could increase the variance in male marital age, as well as the average male marital age. We calculated the Operational Sex Ratio, and means, medians, and standard deviations in marital ages for women and men for the 50 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States with 2000 U.S Census data. As predicted, where women are scarce they marry earlier on average. However, there was no significant relationship with mean male marital ages. The variance in male marital age increased with higher female scarcity, contrasting with a non-significant inverse trend for female marital age variation. These findings advance the understanding of the relationship between the OSR and marital patterns. We believe that these results are best accounted for by sex specific attributes of reproductive value and associated mate selection criteria, demonstrating the power of an evolutionary framework for understanding human relationships and demographic patterns.     

Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Student Learning – Edited by Michelle V. Achacoso and Marilla D. Svinicki

Books reviewed: Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Student Learning. Edited by Michelle V. Achacoso and Marilla D. Svinicki. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 100. San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass Publishers, 2004. 122 pages. ISBN 0‐7879‐7970‐8. $29.00.