A Study of Clinical Supervision Techniques and Training in Substance Abuse Treatment

Data from 57 clinical supervisors in licensed substance abuse treatment programs indicate that 28% had completed formal graduate course work in clinical supervision and 33% were professionally licensed or certified. Findings raise concerns about the scope and quality of clinical supervision available to substance abuse counselors.     

A Model of Therapist Competencies for the Empirically Supported Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescent Depression

In order to treat adolescent depression, a number of empirically supported treatments (ESTs) have been developed from both the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-A) frameworks. Research has shown that in order for these treatments to be implemented in routine clinical practice (RCP), effective therapist training must be generated and provided. However, before such training can be developed, a good understanding of the therapist competencies needed to implement these ESTs is required. Sburlati et al. (Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 14:89–109, 2011) developed a model of therapist competencies for implementing CBT using the well-established Delphi technique. Given that IPT-A differs considerably to CBT, the current study aims to develop a model of therapist competencies for the implementation of IPT-A using a similar procedure as that applied in Sburlati et al. (Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 14:89–109, 2011). This method involved: (1) identifying and reviewing an empirically supported IPT-A approach, (2) extracting therapist competencies required for the implementation of IPT-A, (3) consulting with a panel of IPT-A experts to generate an overall model of therapist competencies, and (4) validating the overall model with the IPT-A manual author. The resultant model offers an empirically derived set of competencies necessary for effectively treating adolescent depression using IPT-A and has wide implications for the development of therapist training, competence assessment measures, and evidence-based practice guidelines. This model, therefore, provides an empirical framework for the development of dissemination and implementation programs aimed at ensuring that adolescents with depression receive effective care in RCP settings. Key similarities and differences between CBT and IPT-A, and the therapist competencies required for implementing these treatments, are also highlighted throughout this article.     

Group-based treatment for internalized stigma among persons with severe mental illness: findings from a randomized controlled trial

Elevated internalized stigma is common and is linked to subjective and objective outcomes for severe mental illness. The authors developed a manualized group-based intervention (Narrative Enhancement/Cognitive Therapy; NECT) to address internalized stigma in severe mental illness. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of NECT. In total, 144 individuals were screened at two sites to evaluate if they met criteria for "elevated" internalized stigma; 39 and were eligible were randomized to NECT or to treatment as usual (TAU) and were assessed at baseline, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up. Fifteen of the 21 individuals assigned to NECT were classified as "exposed" to treatment. Intent-to-treat analyses found no significant difference between the NECT and TAU groups. A comparison of exposed versus unexposed participants noted trends for exposed participants to have improved more in two aspects of self-stigma as well as insight. We conclude that NECT is feasible and tolerable, but findings did not support the hypothesis that NECT was more effective than TAU, although small sample size and significant dropout may have restricted the ability to detect an effect.     

Examining Factors Associated with Primary Care and Continuity of Care Among Adults with Severe Mental Illness

A number of studies have consistently reported that there is a greater prevalence of mental illness among the most socioeconomically disadvantaged. At the same time, there is evidence that services are not optimally accessed by the most socioeconomically disadvantaged; the most in need of care are also the most likely to have unmet healthcare needs. Of people with mental illnesses, those with severe mental illnesses (SMI) are the most at risk of poverty and the least likely to have optimal care. In the past, specialized community mental health services have been identified as the primary provider for people with SMI. However, there is growing interest in using the primary care setting as the main source of mental health care where both medical treatment and psychotherapy can be accessed. In this paper, we examine factors related to primary care use (and in turn, pharmacologic and psychotherapies) for people who are socioeconomically disadvantaged and who have a SMI.     

Perceptions of personal sex discrimination: the role of belief in a just world and situational ambiguity

The roles of belief in a just world (BJW) and discrimination against ones' group in perceptions of personal discrimination were examined. Female participants (n = 63) were personally discriminated against in a laboratory setting. We manipulated whether the experimenter appeared to discriminate against other participants, which presumably made the presence of personal discrimination less ambiguous, or did not appear to discriminate against others, which presumably made personal discrimination more ambiguous. In the no group discrimination condition, but not in the group discrimination condition, participants' perceptions of being personally discriminated against depended on individual differences in BJW: Women with a strong BJW perceived less personal discrimination than those with a weak BJW. Also, strong BJW women in the group discrimination condition perceived less personal discrimination than strong BJW women in the no group discrimination condition.     

Co-Constructions of Gender and Ethnicity in New Zealand Television Advertising

This paper reports key findings from a content analysis of gender and ethnic depictions in a sample of 2,120 New Zealand prime-time television advertisements screened in 2006. The study explored the following questions: With what product categories are male and female White, Māori/Pasifika and Asian characters most commonly associated? What are the most common occupational roles of male and female White, Māori/Pasifika and Asian characters? The results reveal highly stereotypical depictions of women and men within each ethnic category. White men dominated advertisements for foodstuffs, telecommunications and financial/corporate/legal services and were over-represented as professionals/white collar workers, while White women were over-represented in advertisements for household products, personal products, and medical products and featured predominantly as homemakers. Māori/Pasifika men were over-represented as athletes and service and sales workers. Non-White women featured prominently within multi-ethnic groups in advertisements for personal grooming products and most frequently featured as glamour models, while non-White men were over-represented as blue collar workers. Largely absent were Māori/Pasifika women and Asians of both genders, potentially exacerbating the multiple axes of subordination encountered by these groups in the New Zealand context.     

Empathy development from 8 to 16 months: early signs of concern for others

The study examined the responses of typically developing infants to the distress of another, prior to and following the transition to the second year. Infants’ responses to maternal simulations of distress and to a peer distress videotape were observed from 8 to 16 months, using an accelerated longitudinal design (overall n = 37). Modest levels of affective and cognitive empathy for another in distress were already evident before the second year, and increased gradually (and not always significantly) across the transition to the second year. Prosocial behavior was rare in the first year and increased substantially during the second year. Self-distress reactions were rare overall. Individual differences in cognitive and affective empathy assessed in the first year, particularly at 10-months, predicted the levels of prosocial behavior observed in the second year. No gender differences were found. Theoretical implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Assessing miserly information processing: An expansion of the Cognitive Reflection Test

The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT; Frederick, 2005) is designed to measure the tendency to override a prepotent response alternative that is incorrect and to engage in further reflection that leads to the correct response. It is a prime measure of the miserly information processing posited by most dual process theories. The original three-item test may be becoming known to potential participants, however. We examined a four-item version that could serve as a substitute for the original. Our data show that it displays a .58 correlation with the original version and that it has very similar relationships with cognitive ability, various thinking dispositions, and with several other rational thinking tasks. Combining the two versions into a seven-item test resulted in a measure of miserly processing with substantial reliability (.72). The seven-item version was a strong independent predictor of performance on rational thinking tasks after the variance accounted for by cognitive ability and thinking dispositions had been partialled out.