Family enhancement of cognitive style in anxious and aggressive children

Previous research has shown that anxious adults provide more threat interpretations of ambiguous stimuli than other clinic and nonclinic persons. We were interested in investigating if the same bias occurs in anxious children and how family processes impact on these children's interpretations of ambiguity. Anxious, oppositional, and nonclinical children and their parents were asked separately to interpret and provide plans of action to ambiguous scenarios. Afterwards, Each family was asked to discuss two of these situations as a family and for the child to provide a final response. The results showed that anxious and oppositional children were both more likely to interpret ambiguous scenarios in a threatening manner. However, the two clinic groups differed in that the anxious children predominantly chose avoidant solutions whereas the oppositional children chose aggressive solutions. After family discussions, both the anxious children's avoidant plans of action and the oppositional children's aggressive plans increased. Thus, this study provides the first evidence of family enhancement of avoidant and aggressive responses in children. These results support a model of anxiety that emphasizes the development of an anxious cognitive style in the context of anxiety-supporting family processes.This research was supported by grants from The National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, The University of Queensland, and The Myer Foundation of Australia. The authors would like to thank the families, all the anxiety project staff, and Candi Peterson for her helpful feedback in the draft of this paper.     

Relapse prevention treatment for liver transplant patients

This paper explores the utility of relapse prevention therapy (RPT) for transplant candidates with substance use disorders. Similarities and differences between this population and the general substance abuse patient population are discussed and suggestions are made for modifying the RPT treatment protocol. Major issues include the source and intensity of motivation for treatment, the nature of the therapeutic relationship, the type and severity of psychosocial consequences that may have been experienced as a result of substance use, and the patient's perception of the problem (addiction versus liver disease). Recommendations are made to provide empathy and support around medical concerns, motivate them for sobriety, and work to build collaborative relationships between team members and patients. Patients need to see the RP therapists as working to help them maintain sobriety and obtain a transplant, not as policing their drug use.     

The Internet and sexuality education: Tapping into the wild side

To see whether observing information exchanges in “cyberspace” had a positive effect on computer usage and attitudes, students in an advanced undergraduate sexuality class were given an Internet project. Their pre- and postproject computer attitude and utilization reports were compared with those of a traditional computer usage research methods course taught by the same instructor. Overall, the e-mail/Internet project did not have a positive effect on computer usage and attitudes, whereas the more traditional computer as research tool usage taught in the methods class did have a positive effect.     

Student Socio-Economic Status and Counselor Contact in Junior High School

Cumulative records over 3 years for 196 junior high school sophomores were analyzed to assess the effect of socio-economic status of students on counseling exposure. Statistical significance was found between socio-economic status of the student and both the frequency with which he was referred to the counselor and the problem areas discussed. Frequency of counselor contact was not significantly associated with student socio-economic status. Where the counselors initiated the interviews, they apparently did so only in keeping with administrative policies. The differences that did occur arose when parents or, less frequently, the students themselves, initiated the interviews. Here, socio-economic status appeared to play a crucial and singular role.     

Increase in mastery levels using a computer-based tutorial/simulation in experimental psychology

A computer program was written in PCPilot to teach a unit in basic concepts in experimental design. The graphics-based program includes both tutorials and simulations. The students who used the program had significantly higher test scores than those in another class who did not; they reported that they enjoyed learning to use the program.     

Natural Disasters and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Short-Term versus Long-Term Recovery in Two Disaster-Affected Communities1

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults following disaster-precipitated family relocation was investigated in a longitudinal study of family and individual response to natural disasters. Adult participants included 78 women and 77 men in two communities. Psychosocial adjustment was measured at two points in time: at 4 months and 16 months after the disaster. Instruments used for assessing stress-related symptomatology included the Horowitz Impact of Event Scale (HIES) and the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). Major findings included: (a) levels of short-term stress symptomatology and diagnosable PTSD were substantial in both communities; (b) significant decrements in these levels occurred by 16-months postdisaster;(c) substantial gender differences (greater levels for women) were apparent in both short- and long-term PTSD response rates; and (d) patterns and levels of PTSD symptoms were different in the two communities. Findings have implications for the interpretation of PTSD within the context of family- and community-level variables.     

The Biological Findings in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Review1

In this paper the authors review the literature on biological and treatment studies of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and present current unifying hypotheses regarding the pathophysiology. The psychophysiological studies stress overarousal, while endocrine studies suggest a decreased Cortisol production in denial and low symptom states with increases in highly symptomatic states. Suggestive evidence is provided that PTSD is associated with permanent changes in brain mechanisms involving the locus coeruleus, amygdala, and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. Drug treatments are promising but not fully satisfactory as yet. Directions for further research are provided.     

A ToolBook computer program to develop course objectives and assessment measures

College courses are generally developed because of current fashion in the field and/or student and faculty interest in some topic without reference to departmental or programmatic goals. Current calls and needs for accountability in higher education demand a more organized approach. A computer program, ToolBook 1.53, which provides information to the instructor about systematic development of courses and assessment of student outcomes, is described. The program supports the construction of outcome-oriented learning objectives and corresponding assessment techniques. Instructors who used this program to learn about how to construct such objectives showed an increase in knowledge and evaluated the program positively. Using the information provided in this program leads to an integrated approach to course design and development in which course objectives are linked to the college mission statement through departmental or program objectives.     

Children's control over attention to phonological and semantic properties of words

A study is reported in which children from 5 to 9 years old were examined as they gained awareness and control over the phonological and semantic properties of isolated words. Children were asked to match a stimulus words on the basis of either its sound or its meaning under conditions that varied in their support for the correct answer. The results are presented as discriminability data, indicating the child's ability to distinguish these properties under the different experimental conditions. Although all the children could select either of these properties in a simple control condition, adding various levels of distraction interrupted their ability to attend to the requested feature. In the age range examined, the youngest children were unable to attend selectively to either feature, older children adopted a default or bias to phonological properties, and only the oldest children were able to attend to meaning as well as sound. Even for the oldest children, however, performance was far from perfect.