A further comparison of external control and problem‐solving interventions to teach social skills to adults with intellectual disabilities

We compared the effectiveness of a problem‐solving and an external control intervention to teach social skills to two adults with mild intellectual disabilities. Each participant received the problem‐solving intervention with one social skill and the external control intervention with another social skill. The comparative effectiveness of the social skill training protocols was evaluated using individual participant alternating treatment designs. Overall, there seemed to be little difference between the interventions in terms of acquisition, generalization, or maintenance of social skills with either participant. Limitations of the current study and issues for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Variations on a technique: enhancing children's recall using narrative elaboration training

The current study examined first, whether the positive effects demonstrated by the Narrative Elaboration Technique (NET) could be further enhanced when coupled with mental reinstatement of context (MR), prior to interview, and second, compared the efficacy of the NET at a two‐week delay and a nine‐month delay. In Study 1, 47 children took part as a class in a staged event about safety. Two weeks later they received a single training session, and the following day were interviewed with either the NET (n = 16), NET + MR (n = 17), or in a control condition (n = 14). Children trained with the NET reported approximately twice as much correct information, and were more accurate, than a control group who did not receive NET training, although the combination of the NET + MR did not result in a further significant enhancement of recall. In Study 2, 22 children took part in the safety event, and nine months later received a single training session, and were interviewed the following day with either the NET (n = 11), or in a control condition (n = 11). Children who received the NET training reported more correct information than those who did not. The practical applications of the NET and its variations are discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motives and Barriers for Physical Activity among Low-Income Black Single Mothers

Physical activity is associated with positive health outcomes, yet previous evidence suggests that single mothers, Black women, and those with low-income levels have low rates of physical activity. The purpose of the present study was to examine health status, as well as barriers and motives for physical activity, among low-income, Black single mothers from an intersectionality framework. Participants (n = 32) in this cross-sectional, mixed methods study completed questionnaires to assess physical activity, health status, stress, and barriers to physical activity and then participated in one of six focus groups to explore physical activity motives and barriers. Although participants reported many risk factors for disease including obesity, stress, and family disease history, most participants were not engaging in behaviors that would improve health such as regular leisure-time physical activity. Participants cited being a role model, stress relief, and weight loss as motives for physical activity that were connected to their social identities as low-income, Black single mothers. Chronic stress and stressors, responsibilities associated with single motherhood, and lack of social and community supports were described as barriers to physical activity. Future researchers and practitioners should consider these specific motives and barriers when designing interventions to increase physical activity among low-income, Black single mothers. We recommend that these programs focus on: promoting motives for physical activity that are meaningful and specific to this subpopulation of mothers, reducing stress, and enhancing affordable physical activity opportunities in the community for single mothers and their children.     

Career engagement: bridging career counseling and employee engagement

A model of career engagement is presented to help bridge the gap between career counselors' focus on supporting individuals to find meaningful work and employers' desire for an engaged, productive, and committed workforce.     

Marriage, Autonomy, and the State: Reply to Christopher Bennett

Christopher Bennett has argued that state support of conjugal relationships can be founded on the unique contribution such relationships make to the autonomy of their participants by providing them with various forms of recognition and support unavailable elsewhere. I argue that, in part because a long history of interaction between two people who need each other’s validation tends to produce less meaningful responses over time, long-term conjugal relationships are unlikely to provide autonomy-enhancing support to their participants. To the extent that intimate relationships can provide a unique form of reciprocal support, Bennett fails to show that couples have an advantage over multiple-partner arrangements in doing so.     

Young Women at Risk for Eating Disorders: Perceived Family Dysfunction and Parental Psychological Problems

These results of this study are consistent with theories of eating disorders that highlight the role of family factors in the etiology and maintenance of eating disorders. When 27 young women at risk for eating disorders who scored above the clinical cut-off score on the EDI-II were compared with age and SES matched controls, they were found to obtain more dysfunctional scores on the Family Assessment Device and on ratings of perceived maternal and paternal symptomatology on the SCL-90-R.     

Blueprints and Recipes: Gendered Metaphors for Genetic Medicine

In the face of documented difficulties in the public understanding of genetics, new metaphors have been suggested. The language of information coding and processing has become deeply entrenched in the public representation of genetics, and some critics have found fault in the blueprint metaphor, a variant of the dominant theme. They have offered the language of the recipe as a preferable metaphor. The metaphors of the blueprint and the recipe are compared in respect to their deterministic implications and other associations. The likelihood of the recipe metaphor framing cognition in more useful ways is called into question.     

Pastoral Care in Aged Care Settings: Role and Challenges

Journal of Religion and Health - This mixed methods study explored challenges faced by pastoral care workers. A development phase preceded an on-line survey completed by chaplains and pastoral...     

Creative writing for life design: Reflexivity,metaphor and change processes through narrative

To survive and thrive on the labor market of the 21st century, individuals must construct their identities in a process of meaning making, where identity is co-constructed in the form of a narrative. In order to better understand the nature and elements involved in this career-identity change process the Interpersonal Process Recall interview (IPR) method was used to examine the results of a two-day Career Writing (Lengelle, 2014) intervention. The exploration regarding what prompted changes and how reflexivity was developed, was done by having each of two participants bring in pieces written during the course and having the interviewer ask what thoughts and feelings were remembered at the time of writing. The IPR process revealed that Career Writing enables participants to first enter into feelings, then make sense of those by finding the ‘right’ words to describe them, and experience (by thinking and feeling) that their ‘new story’ makes sense on a gut level and provides meaning. This process is made possible by an internal and an external dialogue where various I-positions (voices within the self) speak and where metaphors and analogies concretely facilitate meaning making.