Therapists and Psychotherapy

The Grit and Grist of Psychotherapy: The Inspirations of John Warkentin. Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy, 1981, 17.     

The Practice of Counselling HIV/AIDS Clients

AIDS/HIV has been described as one of the most pressing medical and social problems of this century. A review of the psychosocial and counselling literature relating to it indicates that the predominant psychotherapeutic approach with clients is symptom-focused and presents psychological problems as being inevitable in the course of illness. A systems approach is considered to have a good fit' with HIV-related problems because of issues relating to unpredictability, relationships, interaction, complexity and secrecy which arise in the course of the illness and its management. Some of the counselling tasks of an AIDS counsellor are set out. Consideration of these can help the system (client, family, health care team, counsellor) both to define problems and to find solutions to them without resorting to prior assumptions about either.     

Student perceptions of the effectiveness of education in the responsible conduct of research

Responsible conduct of research (RCR) courses are widely taught, but little is known about the purposes or effectiveness of such courses. As one way to assess the purposes of these courses, students were surveyed about their perspectives after recent completion of one of eleven different research ethics courses at ten different institutions. Participants (undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty, staff and researchers) enrolled in RCR courses in spring and fall of 2003 received a voluntary, anonymous survey from their instructors at the completion of the course. Responses were received from 268 participants. Seventy-seven percent of open-ended responses listed specific kinds of information learned; only a few respondents talked about changes in skills or attitudes. The perception that courses did more to provide information than to foster skills or attitudes was verified in quantitative responses (P<0.0001). Over 75% of the respondents specifically noted that courses were useful in preparing them to recognize, avoid, and respond to research misconduct. The two principal findings of this multi-institutional study are that respondents reported: (1) a wide variety of positive outcomes for research ethics courses, but that (2) the impact on knowledge was greater than that for changes in skills or attitudes.     

Parenting anxiety and stress: does gender play a part at 3 months of age?

In this study, the authors compared 90 pairs of mothers and fathers with respect to aspects of negative emotionality experienced in the early parenting role. Mothers and fathers of 90 healthy 3-month-old infants completed questionnaires pertaining to parenting stress and separation anxiety. Mothers reported significantly higher levels of negative emotionality than did fathers. An interaction effect of parent with child gender on the level of parenting stress was indicated. Mothers of sons reported more stress than did mothers of daughters. The child's gender was not related to the level of separation anxiety expressed by mothers and fathers. The findings suggested that, at 3 months of age, the child's gender plays a role in the parenting experience, but the impact is (a) moderated by the parent's gender and (b) construct-specific (e.g., stress). These findings are in line with a multidetermined model of parenting.     

General Strain Theory and the Relationship Between Early Victimization and Drug Use

This study uses general strain theory to examine the direct and indirect relationship between early victimization and drug use. Few previous studies measure strain as victimization. Also, past studies tend to combine drug use measures with delinquency measures. This study expands this research by operationalizing strain as early victimization and using measures of both frequency and onset of drug use. National Survey of Adolescents data is used to test the hypotheses. The results show that when youth are victimized they will use drugs more frequently and use drugs at a younger age. These relationships were only partially mediated by social bonds and negative emotions.     

Editors’ Overview: Neuroethics: Many Voices and Many Stories

Advances in neuroscience continue to enhance understanding of the brain and provide new tools to take advantage of that understanding. These changes are poised to profoundly alter society. Given that the impact will be felt not only by neuroscientists, but by diverse members of society, it is imperative that conversations engage all stakeholders. Doing so will allow for the sharing of diverse views and perspectives to understand and frame the science, better educate and prepare the public for new developments, and provide a shared approach to identifying and resolving ethical challenges. These were the goals of Neuroethics Week, staged in 2007 by the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology in San Diego, and are the basis for the contributions to this special issue of Science and Engineering Ethics.