A randomised wait list-controlled pre–post–follow-up trial of a gratitude diary with a distressed sample

In a randomised wait list-controlled trial with repeated measures pre-, post- and follow-up design, participants (N = 109) with a current self-reported diagnosis of an anxiety disorder and/or depression, took part in an internet-based study. After completing a three-week gratitude diary returning participants had lower scores on measures of depression, anxiety, stress and perceived sleep difficulties and higher scores on a measure of subjective well-being than immediately pre-intervention. At three-week follow-up depression and sleep scores for returning participants were no longer significantly different from pre-intervention, however, improvements for subjective well-being and stress at post-intervention were maintained. At follow-up anxiety scores had not only been maintained but had improved significantly beyond post-intervention results. Intention to treat analyses were conducted and provided support for most completer results. Differences between the two sets of analyses are discussed below. This trial provides support for the use of gratitude diaries as an intervention with distressed populations.     

Relationships between the U.S. Secret Service and the behavioral and social sciences

The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The Secret Service investigates crimes related to U.S. currency, credit card fraud, forgery of government obligations, and other related violations. However, the Secret Service is perhaps best known for its protective and investigative responsibilities involving the President and Vice President of the United States, members of their immediate families, and visiting foreign dignitaries. During the past 22 years, concern for protective responsibilities has provoked occasional and sometimes fruitful dialogue between the Secret Service and members of the professional behavioral and social sciences communities. This article describes the evolution and future possibilities of that relationship by providing: (a) a brief history and overview of the Secret Service, focusing on its protective and investigative responsibilities, (b) an analysis of the recent contributions of the behavioral and social sciences to the Secret Service, and (c) an assessment of current and future directions to be taken in the professional behavioral sciences intramural and extramural research programs recently established by the Secret Service.     

Staff support strategies to increase the involvement of individuals with disabilities in meal preparation

In recent years, residential services for persons with disabilities have changed radically, reflecting a shift from custodial care to habilitation and community participation. This has resulted in a significant shift in the roles of direct-care staff. Improvement of staff performance is recognized as a major objective of agencies providing residential support to persons with disabilities. This study examined the gap between existing technologies of support and performance of direct-care staff, and focused on participation in an important activity of daily living, meal preparation. This study compared initial, baseline levels of participation to levels of involvement observed during three experimental intervention phases introduced sequentially within a multiple-baseline design: staff prompting by interventionists, staff self-management, and staff training. Increases from baseline levels of participation were observed for all five participating staff-resident dyads. High levels of variability were observed in some dyads and amounts of increase differed across dyads. Findings are explained in terms of dyad-specific information. A model of staff performance is presented along with implications for high-quality residential service.