A follow-up of families disputing child custody/access: Assessment,settlement, and family relationship outcomes

In this pilot study, 49 parents who had been involved in a custody and/or access assessment several years previously responded to a structured telephone survey. Information about eventual settlement processes, custody and access arrangements, satisfaction with the clinical assessment, children's adjustment, family relationships, and ongoing family problems was gathered an average of two and one half years after the assessment. Sole custody arrangements evidenced the greatest degree of stability from assessment to follow-up, while joint custody arrangements were more unstable. Visitation was not occurring for a substantial number of children (35%) at follow-up, even when it was recommended on a regular and frequent basis. Although parents reported little or no ongoing contact with their ex-spouse, they also reported continuing concerns and new problems with respect to the other parent or their children. The impact of this form of “parallel parenting” is discussed within the context of high-conflict, multiproblem families.     

Interrater reliability of the DSM-III-R with preschool children

Little attention has been paid to evaluating the use of DSM-III-R with preschool children. Children (N = 510) ages 2 to 5 years who were screened at the time of a pediatric visit were selected to participate in an evaluation which included questionnaires, a semistructured interview, developmental testing, and a play observation. Following the evaluation, two clinical child psychologists independently assigned DSM-III-R diagnoses. For each diagnostic category, kappa and Ycoefficients were calculated; Ycoefficients are less sensitive to base rates of disorders. For overall agreement, the weighted mean kappa (.61), and mean Y(.66) were moderately high. Overall agreement that the child had at least one of the disruptive disorders was substantial (kappa =.64; Y =.65);agreement that there was at least one of the emotional disorders was moderate for kappa (.54), but substantial for Y(.70). Kappa coefficients were higher for major categories of disorder than for specific disorders; however, Ycoefficients did not show a decline for specific disorders. Interrater reliability of DSM-III-R appears to be similar for preschoolers and older children.This study was supported by grant MH46089 from the National Institute of Mental Health.A preliminary report was presented at the Fifth Annual NIMH International Research Conference on the Classification and Treatment of Mental Disorders in General Medical Settings, Bethesda, Maryland, September 1991. We gratefully acknowledge the members of the Pediatric Practice Research Group who participated in this study.     

Coping with an ego-threat: Monitoring and blunting during an intelligence test

This study investigated the predictive validity of the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS; Miller, 1987). Subjects had to work on an intelligence test. During this test, they could observe lights that informed them on how they were performing. There were two conditions: a low-stress condition (n = 37) in which the lights always indicated that the subject was performing well, and a high-stress condition (n.= 33) in which the lights signalled a deterioration of performance. In general, little support was found for the predictive validity of the MBSS.     

Cognitive confrontation and avoidance during a naturalistic medical stressor

This study was undertaken to shed some light on problems that have arisen in measuring cognitive confrontation (monitoring) and cognitive avoidance (blunting) with a self-report questionnaire, the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS; Miller, 1987). For this purpose, variants of both coping styles were studied in a naturalistic setting: 37 women who underwent prenatal diagnosis were interviewed at home about their ways of coping with different stages of the procedure, a few days before they expected the diagnostic results. Interview fragments pertaining to cognitive confrontation and avoidance were selected and analysed by two investigators in order to generate categories of avoidance and confrontation coping strategies. For some of the fragments, inter judge reliability was assessed using new judges. A comparison between the categories found and the kinds of items used in the MBSS shows that in real life more coping variants occur than those represented in the MBSS, in particular variants that involve a combination of cognitive confrontation and avoidance. Implications for the dimensionality of both concepts and for their measurement are discussed.     

A model for the evaluation of the performance of scientists from the developing world,based on journal impact factors

A model is proposed, which can be used to establish sets of impact factors of journals where a specific group of researchers are publishing, such as those used by the Mexican research community. The variations in impact factors between major fields, and even within disciplines pertaining to these fields, were taken into consideration when developing the model. The sets of impact factors can be used as yardsticks to assess the performance of individual scientists in specific fields, provided that these are applied with caution and in combination with other established performance indicators. Her interests are focussed on the scientific research activity of Latin American countries, particulary Mexico, from a scientometric viewpoint.     

The effects of unvocalized music on short-term memory

The studies reported here investigated the role of background music in verbal processing. The experiment was a partial replication of Salame and Baddeley (1989), where the effect of music on the recall of digits, was examined, but included an additional key condition where participants heard instrumental music without the words usually associated with it. In this case we used nursery rhymes. In addition, articulatory suppression was manipulated as a tool to look at the role of working memory in the task. The relationship between long-term memory and working memory was further explored by using an implicit memory task to examine verbal memory effects for words associated with the music but not actually heard. The results indicated that background, instrumental music, long-associated with words, significantly impairs concurrent verbal processing. These long-term memory effects on working memory were, however, not associated with implicit memory effects, and no priming was observed.     

Persistence and the importance of nonreward: Some applications of frustration theory and DMOD

Unfortunately our world does not always reward us when we expect it, and we must learn to deal with nonreward. How do these experiences influence our behaviors and how can we use them to help us? InFrustration Theory: An Analysis of Dispositional Learning and Memory (1992), Abram Amsel has answered these questions; he has summarized over 40 years of exciting research and the development of an elegant theory. He has also reviewed recent applications of frustration theory in such areas as fetal alcohol syndrome and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorders. In this invited commentary, we briefly summarize a mathematical model of frustration theory (called DMOD) and review simulations of the model that highlight the importance of the assumptions based on frustration theory (e.g., aversiveness of unexpected nonreward, counterconditioning). We also review assumptions (e.g., unlearning, passive and active “inhibition,” decline in aversiveness of expected nonreward) that are required if one is to simulate intuitive and counterintuitive phenomena.     

Prevention of depressive symptoms in school children

This paper describes the development and preliminary efficacy of a program designed to prevent depressive symptoms in at-risk 10–13 year-olds, and relates the findings to the current understanding of childhood depression. The treatment targets depressive symptoms and related difficulties such as conduct problems, low academic achievement, low social competence, and poor peer relations, by proactively teaching cognitive techniques. Children were identified as ‘at-risk’ based on depressive symptoms and their reports of parental conflict. Sixty-nine children participated in treatment groups and were compared to 73 children in control groups. Depressive symptoms were significantly reduced and classroom behavior was significantly improved in the treatment group as compared to controls at post-test. Six-month follow-up showed continued reduction in depressive symptoms, as well as significantly fewer externalizing conduct problems, as compared to controls. The reduction in symptoms was most pronounced in the children who were most at risk.     

Counselling in general practice: Clients' perceptions of significant events and outcome

An investigation of clients' perceptions of the change process and outcome of counselling in primary care is presented. Significant events were identified by 51 clients post-session for a mean of 4.7 counselling sessions. Outcome was assessed by clients, through their perceptions of goal attainment and change in quality of life from pre-to post-counselling. Four-hundred-and-nine events were categorized by use of the Therapeutic Impact Content Analysis System (TICAS) and a content analysis system was created to categorize clients' goals. Results showed that ‘reassurance’, ‘problem solution ’, ‘insight’ and ‘involvement’ impacts were reported most frequently by clients. No category of significant events was related to change in quality of life. For 11 clients who set goals in the ‘expression’ category, more ‘reassurance’ and fewer ‘problem solution’ impacts were related to attainment of ‘expression’. Some suggestions are made for the lack of significant relationships with overall measures of outcome and it was suggested that more qualitative analysis of the process of outcome is needed.