Decreasing Neuroleptic Doses in Older Adults with Schizophrenia

This prospective study of 27 older adults, residing in long-term care facilities, examined the effects of reducing neuroleptic medications to the point of controlling symptoms and reducing side effects. Schizophrenia is a challenging health care condition that leads to delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and a host of other symptoms. Unfortunately, medications control many of the symptoms but cause unwanted side effects unless monitored closely and regulated to each person's needs. This study addresses six research questions related to the reduction of neuroleptic medications. Study findings related to neuroleptic medication dose reduction were encouraging. Additionally, the findings strongly suggest that health care providers working with older adults with the diagnosis of schizophrenia would benefit from planned educational programs about behavior, observations, and medications.     

Job Requirements Biodata as a Predictor of Performance in Customer Service Roles

A job requirements approach to biodata item specification, similar to the content-valid job analysis approach developed by Pannone (1984), is used to predict customer service. Applicants rate the extent to which their current and previous jobs involve tasks and behaviours that have been identified through an analysis of the target job. On a sample of 245 employees in an international hotel, the criterion-related validity of job requirements biodata compares favourably with traditional construct-oriented biodata measures of customer service, cognitive ability and personality (Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Extroversion). The job requirements approach provides a simple, direct and content-valid method of biodata item specification. As the approach can also be tailored for particular jobs or organizations, validity is also potentially optimized.     

Mandated Reporting of Abuse/Maltreatment of Older Adults: A Primer for Counselors

Maltreatment of older adults is a serious and underrecognized problem. Every state and 6 Canadian provinces have enacted legislation to protect vulnerable older adults from abuse, and many require that mental health professionals report disclosures of abuse to authorities. However, these laws have received little attention in the counseling literature. This article examines the scope of maltreatment of older persons and describes the content of elder abuse and elder maltreatment laws, with special focus on counselors' responsibilities to report maltreatment to authorities. It concludes with strategies for assessing maltreatment and with implications of these laws for confidentiality and informed consent.     

Suicidal ideation among adolescents in relation to recalled exposure to violence

The relationship between exposure to violence and vulnerability to suicide among adolescents was examined. The topic was initiated by the rapid increase in adolescent's exposure to violence and the sparse systematic research available on its relationship to attitudes about life and death. The study's main hypothesis is that high levels of exposure to violence are associated with high suicide risk according to two conceptual paradigms-Fear of Death and Attraction and Repulsion to Life. Eighty-five adolescents were administered three self report questionnaires. The questionnaires assessed levels of exposure to violence, fear of death, and attitudes towards life and death. Those who had been exposed to a high level of violence reported attitudes synonymous with the profile of an individual at risk for suicide (low fear of death, low repulsion to death, and low attraction to life; high repulsion to life and high attraction to death).     

Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) can be treated effectively with cognitive-behavioral therapy. When working with clients who have GAD, therapy can focus on four central areas that help to promote therapeutic change. The initial focus of therapy is on developing a sound therapeutic alliance and educating the client about anxiety symptoms. Skills training focuses on relaxation training and cognitive changes that can help clients confront their worries in a constructive manner. Then, exposure to internal and external aspects of the anxiety can help clients test and refine their coping skills. Finally, because of the chronic nature of GAD, relapse prevention strategies can be used to help maintain treatment gains over time. These strategies allow a broad but flexible treatment plan that can be adapted to the unique needs of each individual client.     

Suicidal ideation among adolescents in relation to recalled exposure to violence

The relationship between exposure to violence and vulnerability to suicide among adolescents was examined. The topic was initiated by the rapid increase in adolescent's exposure to violence and the sparse systematic research available on its relationship to attitudes about life and death. The study's main hypothesis is that high levels of exposure to violence are associated with high suicide risk according to two conceptual paradigms-Fear of Death and Attraction and Repulsion to Life. Eighty-five adolescents were administered three self report questionnaires. The questionnaires assessed levels of exposure to violence, fear of death, and attitudes towards life and death. Those who had been exposed to a high level of violence reported attitudes synonymous with the profile of an individual at risk for suicide (low fear of death, low repulsion to death, and low attraction to life; high repulsion to life and high attraction to death).     

Encouraging People With Mood Disorders to Attend a Self‐Help Group1

Using an intervention based on referent power, self‐help sponsors sought to encourage attendance at self‐help meetings. They encouraged patients with major depression or bipolar disorder to attend self‐help meetings following their hospitalizations. The intervention successfully increased the attendance of the experimental group compared to those in the control group. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Object representation and predictive action in infancy

Previous research has shown that 6‐month‐old infants extrapolate object motion on linear paths when they act predictively on fully visible moving objects but not when they observe partly occluded moving objects. The present research probed whether differences in the tasks presented to infants or in the visibility of the objects account for these findings, by investigating infants’ predictive head tracking of a visible object that moves behind a small occluder. Six‐month‐old infants were presented with an object that moved repeatedly on linear or nonlinear paths, with an occluder covering the place where all the paths intersected. The first time infants viewed an object’s motion, their head movements did not anticipate either linear or nonlinear motion, but they quickly learned to anticipate linear motion on successive trials. Infants also learned to anticipate nonlinear motion, but this learning was slower and less consistent. Learning in all cases concerned the trajectory of the object, not the specific locations at which the object appeared. These findings suggest that infants form object representations that are weakly biased toward inertial motion and that are influenced by learning. The findings accord with the thesis that a single system of representation underlies both predictive action and perception of object motion, and that occlusion reduces the precision of object representations.     

Latinx Mental Health Scholars' Experiences with Cultural Adaptation and Implementation of Systemic Family Interventions

An increasing number of culturally adapted family-level interventions address mental health disparities with marginalized populations in the United States. However, with these developments many barriers have arisen, such as challenges with degree of cultural fit, engagement, and sustainability. We conducted 12 elite phenomenological interviews with mental health scholars involved in prevention and intervention family research with various Latinx communities within and outside of the United States. These scholars discussed their experiences of overcoming barriers in their research. We used thematic analysis to code and analyze participant responses, and our findings support the gaps in previous literature and highlight potential pathways to overcoming barriers in cultural adaptation research. Themes included the need for: (a) better understanding of the intersection between culture and context; (b) community-centered approaches to addressing implementation challenges; and (c) structural changes within institutional, governmental, and political levels. We discuss implications for researchers and practitioners working with Latinx families.     

Concealability beliefs facilitate navigating intergroup contexts

Living in a diverse world requires the ability to navigate intergroup contexts. However, interacting with outgroup members can cause anxiety that leads to lower-quality interactions and avoidance of future contact. One reason people experience this anxiety is the concern that others will judge them on the basis of an identity. These concerns may be reduced among people who believe the identity is unperceivable by others. The belief that one's identity is concealable may therefore reduce intergroup anxiety and ease people's experiences in intergroup contexts. The present work tests this proposition in two studies and finds that individual differences in concealability beliefs are negatively associated with intergroup anxiety and positively associated with the propensity to initiate intergroup contact and with the quantity and quality of people's cross-group friendships. Materials, data, and code for both studies and a pre-registration for Study 2 are available online ( https://osf.io/4cjhg/ ).