Pretherapy Cognitive Dispositions and Treatment Outcome in Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Insomnia

This study consisted of secondary analyses of data from 2 randomized clinical trials to test whether pretherapy cognitions predict CBT outcomes. The sample consisted of 155 primary insomnia patients with sleep maintenance complaints. Of these, 98 were randomized to CBT, 23 were assigned to progressive muscle relaxation training (PMR), and 34 were assigned to a control (sham therapy or wait-list) condition (CON). All patients completed the Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep Scale (DBAS), a sleep-related Self-Efficacy Scale (SES) and nightly sleep diaries for 2 weeks prior to receiving their assigned treatment. They then completed sleep diaries throughout an 8-week acute treatment period and during a 2-week period at a posttherapy follow-up. A subset of the sample (n = 67) also completed polysomnography immediately before and after completing their assigned treatment. Preliminary regression analyses conducted with a small subset (n = 15) of the patients receiving CBT showed those with relatively high levels of unhelpful sleep-related beliefs (Type 1 patients), as reflected by their pretherapy responses to the DBAS and SES questionnaires, showed markedly greater reductions in nocturnal wakefulness in response to CBT than did those (Type 2 patients) reporting less pronounced sleep-related beliefs. Given these findings, we used the regression equation derived from our initial analyses to dichotomize our entire sample into Type 1 (n = 82; 52.9%) and Type 2 (n = 73; 47.1%) subgroups. Subsequent comparisons showed CBT-treated Type 1 patients had significantly less wake time after sleep onset during most of the 8-week treatment phase than did the Type 1 and 2 individuals assigned to either PMR or CON. Relative to patients assigned to the PMR and CON conditions, CBT-treated Type 1 patients showed better performance across multiple subjective and objective benchmarks of clinically significant improvement, whereas the CBT-treated Type 2 patients did not. Results suggest that insomnia patients' pretherapy cognitive dispositions predict CBT outcome, and those with a pronounced sense of sleep-related helplessness are best suited for this treatment which targets this cognitive stance.     

The development of collective remembering

This essay outlines a sociocultural, developmental approach to collective memory. This work is grounded in Halbwachs' (1950/1980) theory of collective memory and in recent prospective studies of collective remembering within families from early childhood through adolescence. The claim is that the basic process of collective remembering is present from the earliest conversations about the past between parents and children, but it is not until adolescence that collective memory is informed by family stories and by history. There are both positive and negative consequences of collective remembering as a function of the nature of the collective. In conclusion, researchers are urged to broaden their view of the collective in their studies of autobiographical and collective memory.     

Observer ratings of health and sickness: can other people tell us anything about our health that we don't already know?

After administering interviews covering health conditions, physical limitations, optimism, and affect to 851 older adults, interviewers rated the health and sickness of the interviewees. Observers' ratings of health and sickness were more highly correlated with the severity of participants' self-reported health conditions than were participants' self-ratings of health. This finding is likely attributable to participants' self-ratings of health being more highly correlated with their optimism and positive affect than the observers' ratings. Participants rated as sicker and less healthy at baseline were at a 3 times greater risk for mortality over 114 months. This association was independent of participants' self-rated health as well as demographics, self-reported health conditions, years of smoking, physical limitations, body mass index, optimism, and affect.     

Aggression and Fire: Antisocial Behavior in Firesetting and Nonfiresetting Juvenile Offenders

This study examined the association between firesetting and antisocial behavior in 219 juvenile offenders. The study showed, through a series of a priori model comparisons using confirmatory factor analysis, that reliable data on both firesetting (n = 85) and nonfiresetting (n = 134) juvenile offenders best fit a 3-factor model composed of aggressive, nonaggressive, and oppositional antisocial behavior. Although the same general structure of antisocial behavior best fit the data for both groups, the firesetting group exhibited a significantly higher variety and frequency of aggressive and total antisocial acts and an earlier age of index arrest. It is argued that results from this study support a conceptualization of firesetting as accompanying serious and versatile antisocial behavior. Consistency with an early starter pattern of antisocial behavior among firesetting offenders is noted, and evidence suggesting that firesetting is indicative of developmentally advanced, serious, and varied antisocial behavior among troubled youth is discussed.     

Adolescent Neurodevelopment and Psychopathology

Adolescence is a high-risk period for the onset of psychopathology. The occurrence of depression increases markedly in the years following the onset of puberty, and most individuals who are eventually diagnosed with a psychotic disorder show a marked rise in adjustment problems during adolescence. It is well established that puberty involves increases in the secretion of gonadal hormones. More recently, research has shown that stress hormones show a similar normative rise following puberty. Accumulating findings indicate that the postpubescent period is also characterized by significant neurodevelopment; there are changes in brain structure and function that are partially a consequence of hormonal factors. Researchers are now challenged to elucidate the neural mechanisms relating postpubertal neurodevelopment with the elevations in risk for psychopathology that characterize adolescence. One plausible mechanism is the effect of hormones on gene expression. The normal neuromaturational processes observed in adolescence partially reflect the effect of gonadal hormones on the expression of genes that control brain development. Hormone surges following puberty may also trigger the expression of genes that code for brain abnormalities that give rise to mental disorders.     

What is Equity in Education? Reflections from the Capability Approach

While there is a substantial conceptual literature on equality in education, there has been little clarificatory discussion on the term equity, despite its frequent use in policy and planning documents. The article draws out some different ways in which equity can be understood in education. It distinguishes three forms of equity, looking at the social context when major shifts in the meaning of the term took place in English—the fourteenth century, the sixteenth century and the eighteenth century. Terming these equity from below, equity from above, and equity from the middle, the analysis highlights how each helps clarify aspects of the concern with diversity within the capability approach. The conclusion drawn is that all three forms of equity need to be placed in articulation to expand capabilities in education.     

Perceptions of Clients and Counseling Professionals Regarding Spirituality in Counseling

Although current research indicates that psychotherapeutic change both affects and is affected by spiritual concerns, relatively little is known about the degree to which spirituality is used as an intervention in counseling and how it is perceived by clients and mental health professionals. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of clients and professionals regarding the use of spirituality in counseling. The results suggest that more professionals may be using spirituality in counseling than has previously been reported.     

The Traditional Explanation for Resistance Versus Attitude Accessibility

This investigation compared the traditional explanation for the way inoculation confers resistance to influence with an alternative rationale for resistance based on attitude accessibility. Four hundred forty‐three participants took part in the investigation in four phases spanning 54 days. The combined multiple regression and structural equation modeling results suggest that the traditional and alternative explanations for the way that inoculation confers resistance involve separate processes; counterarguing and accessibility appear to be distinct tracks en route to resistance, but the two explanations also are overlapping processes in which elicited threat plays an integral role.     

African and African American Graduate Students' Racial Identity and Personal Problem-Solving Strategies

This study examined differences on the Racial Identity Attitude Scale (RIAS; Helms & Parham, 1985) and the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI; Heppner, 1981, 1988) among 34 African and 48 African American graduate students. Significant differences were found on the preencounter and internalization scales of the RIAS. There were no group differences in coping ability as measured by the PSI. In addition, the African group experienced an acculturation effect as time in the United States was extended beyond 3 years. These differences in racial identity states have implications for cross-cultural counseling.