An International Perspective on the Adaptation of CBT Across Cultures

The cutting edge of psychotherapy research today is primarily cross‐cultural and includes two main areas of work. The first area consists of helping/healing approaches that originate within specific cultures, for example, Naikon therapy in Japan, ho'oponopono among Native Hawaiians, curanderismo among Latino people, and many of the specific practices within the world's major religions (e.g., meditation, prayer, recognising blessings, practising compassion, and helping others). The second area involves exploring whether, and if so how, the evidence‐based practices (EBPs) are relevant to the needs of cultures that were not originally in the minds of the EBPs developers. The preceding study by Bennett‐Levy and colleagues is an excellent example of the kind of research needed in this second area: participatory action research that intentionally seeks the expertise of within‐culture members, ideally the counsellors and researchers themselves. The authors ask exactly the kinds of questions that will move the entire psychotherapy field forward towards applications that are helpful to a much wider range of people.     

Follow the liar: the effects of adult lies on children's honesty

Recent research shows that most adults admit they lie to children. We also know that children learn through modeling and imitation. To date there are no published studies that examine whether lying to children has an effect on children's honesty. We aimed to bridge the gap in this literature by examining the effects of adults' lies on elementary and preschool‐aged children's behavior using a modified temptation resistance paradigm, in which children are tempted to peek at a toy they have been told not to look at, and later given a chance to either admit peeking, or try to conceal their transgression by lying. Prior to being tested, half of the children were told a lie and half were not. We then measured both cheating (peeking) and lie‐telling behaviors. We hypothesized that lying to a child would increase the likelihood that they would both peek at the toy and lie about having done so. Results showed that school‐age children were more likely to peek if they had been lied to, and were also more likely to lie about peeking. In contrast with the school‐age children, there was no difference in peeking or lying for preschoolers who were and were not lied to. These results have important implications for parenting and educational settings.     

On becoming involved with drugs: modeling adolescent drug use over time.

We tested a model of the process of becoming involved with drugs during junior high. The sample included 698 students who were not using alcohol, cigarettes, or marijuana during Grade 7 (T1); the follow-up data points were 12 and 15 months later (T2 and T3). The final model, which predicted 72% of the variance in drug use at T3, provides support for hypotheses drawn from both social and cognitive theories. Weak familial and school attachments fostered use by increasing the likelihood of exposure to pro-drug social influences (drug use offers); weak bonds with school also directly affected cognitive motivations (lower resistance self-efficacy [RSE] and more positive outcome expectancies). In turn, social influences at T1 played a dominant role in initial use at T2, but cognitive motivations were also significant. At T3, prior use assumed the most prominent position. Drug-specific measures of RSE and expected use directly affected later use of that substance. The results indicate that both generic and drug-specific effects are needed to explain adolescent drug use. Implications for prevention programs are discussed.     

Stress in Elite Sports Coaching: Identifying Stressors

This paper presents the first in a series of studies exploring coaches’ experiences of stress within the unique culture of world class sport. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth account of the stressors encountered by elite coaches in the United Kingdom. Six male and six female coaches with international experience were interviewed. Transcribed interviews were inductively content analyzed by three independent researchers. Ten higher-order themes emerged, demonstrating that coaches experienced a wide range of stressors (e.g., conflict, pressure and expectation, athlete concerns, competition preparation, isolation). Conflict within the organization emerged as a key theme, indicating that communication skills might be important in helping coaches function effectively as part of a wider organizational team. Findings also highlight the importance of psychological skills training for coaches to help them cope with the diverse demands of world class coaching.     

The Perception of the Other in International Relations: Evidence for the Polarizing Effect of Entitativity

In an international relations context, the mutual images held by actors affect their mutual expectations about the Other's behavior and guide the interpretation of the Other's actions. Here it is argued that the effect of these images is moderated by the degree of entitativity of the Other—that is, the extent to which it is perceived as a real entity. Two studies tested this hypothesis by manipulating the entitativity of the European Union (EU) among U.S. citizens whose images of the EU varied along the enemy/ally dimension. Results of these studies yielded converging evidence in support of the hypothesized moderating effect of entitativity. Specifically, entitativity showed a polarizing effect on the relationship between the image of the EU and judgments of harmfulness of actions carried out by the EU.     

Infusing Qualitative Traditions in Counseling Research Designs

Research traditions serve as a blueprint or guide for a variety of design decisions throughout qualitative inquiry. This article presents 6 qualitative research traditions: grounded theory, phenomenology, consensual qualitative research, ethnography, narratology, and participatory action research. For each tradition, the authors describe its purpose and key characteristics, outline commonly associated fieldwork activities, describe analytic approaches within the tradition, and then discuss strengths and challenges of the approach.     

Dementia and mental retardation markers on the Rey 15-item Visual Memory Test

This study examined the qualitative errors of repetitions and confabulations on the Rey 15-item Visual Memory Test among 500 psychiatric patients who were divided into groups with (1) low IQ scores, (2) a diagnosis of dementia, and (3) other psychiatric diagnoses. These groups were compared on the presence of confabulated figures and repetitions on the Rey. The low IQ patients had the highest rate for both confabulations (48.2%) and repetitions (43.6%). Demented patients had the next highest rate of confabulations (39.8%) and repetitions (39.8%). The general psychiatric patients had the lowest rates on confabulations (16.2%) and repetitions (26.8%). Chi squared analysis showed that both confabulations and repetitions significantly differentiated these patients of low IQ and demented patients from general psychiatric patients. These results suggest that clinicians who use the Rey 15-item Visual Memory Test and find either confabulated or repeated figures should further explore the possibility that the patient might have low intellectual functioning or dementia.     

Coping, Conflictual Social Interactions, Social Support, and Mood Among HIV-Infected Persons

This study considers the interrelationships among coping, conflictual social interactions, and social support, as well as their combined associations with positive and negative mood. Research has shown that each of these variables affects adjustment to stressful circumstances. Few studies, however, examine this full set of variables simultaneously. One hundred forty HIV-infected persons completed a questionnaire containing measures of coping, social support, conflictual social interactions, and positive and negative mood. Factor analyses showed that perceived social support and conflictual social interactions formed separate factors and were not strongly related. Compared to perceived social support, social conflict was more strongly related to coping behaviors, especially to social isolation, anger, and wishful thinking. Conflictual social interactions were more strongly related to negative mood than was perceived social support. Coping by withdrawing socially was significantly related to less positive and greater negative mood. The findings point to the importance of simultaneously considering coping, supportive relationships, and conflictual relationships in studies of adjustment to chronic illness. In particular, a dynamic may occur in which conflictual social interactions and social isolation aggravate each other and result in escalating psychological distress.     

Characteristics of readmitted psychiatric inpatients

This study examined sociodemographic, diagnostic, psychological, and episode-based variables in a sample of 130 psychiatric patients admitted to treatment at least twice in a 6-yr. period. Short length of initial hospitalization (r = -.30, p < .01) and younger age on initial admission (r = -.20, p < .05) were significantly correlated with frequent hospital admissions. Scores on four of the subscales of the WAIS-R were significantly correlated with readmission, confirming that patients who have fewer cognitive resources are at risk of frequent admissions. A multiple regression analysis combining variables to predict readmission accounted for only 12% of the common variance (r128 = .34, p < .01), however, indicating that a prediction equation with these variables has limited clinical utility.