Use of Bowen Theory

A theory-based approach to treatment of co-dependency is missing in both fields of chemical dependency and traditional mental health. Bowen family systems therapy is presented as a foundation and framework for treatment goals and interventions. Similarities between the characteristics of low levels of differentiation of self and co-dependency are illustrated.     

Clergy-Perpetrated Sexual Abuse in Ghana: A Media Content Analysis of Survivors,Offenders, and Offence Characteristics

Journal of Religion and Health - While there are no official data and published studies on clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse (CPSA) from Ghana, local media reports continue to show worrying trends of...     

Ismael on the Paradox of Predictability

Philosophia - In this discussion note we argue, contrary to the thrust of a recent article by Jenann Ismael, that resolving the paradox of predictability does not require denying the possibility of...     

Drinking patterns of pathological gamblers before, during, and after gambling treatment

Despite the high co-occurrence of alcohol consumption and gambling, few studies have investigated alcohol use changes during gambling treatment. Using latent growth modeling, we examined weekly alcohol use trajectories of treatment-seeking pathological gamblers across 36 weeks, allowing rates of change to differ across the 12-week pretreatment, during-treatment and posttreatment periods. For these secondary data analyses, we retained drinking gamblers (N = 163) from a combined sample of two randomized clinical trials for the treatment of pathological gambling. Results indicated a decrease in alcohol use corresponding with treatment entry and maintenance of less drinking during treatment and posttreatment. Despite these decreases in alcohol use overall, 31% (50 of 163) of participants exhibited risky drinking during the treatment or posttreatment periods. Gender, age, at-risk drinking (at any point in the 36-week interval), baseline gambling severity, treatment condition, and gambling during treatment predicted latent alcohol use growth factors. Although entry into gambling treatment was temporally associated with reductions in alcohol use in this retrospective analysis, a substantial portion of the sample exhibited at-risk drinking after treatment entry, suggesting that interventions targeting reductions in alcohol use may be useful for this population.     

Behavioral assessment of gambling: an application of the timeline followback method

The Gambling Timeline Followback (G-TLFB), a measure of gambling behavior that uses the timeline followback methodology, was psychometrically evaluated with samples of frequent-gambling young adults. Seven dimensions of gambling behavior were assessed: type, frequency, duration, intent, risk, win-loss, and consumption of alcohol while gambling. The G-TLFB demonstrated adequate to excellent test-retest reliability with a sample of 57 frequent gamblers (r=.75 to.96) and with a group of 34 disordered gamblers (r=.73 to.93). With a separate sample of 58 frequent-gambling participants, convergent, concurrent, and discriminant validity were assessed. The G-TLFB correlated positively with daily self-monitoring reports (r=.59 to.87). The dimensions of frequency and duration demonstrated concurrent validity with gambling screening instruments, and standard drinks consumed while gambling demonstrated concurrent validity with a measure of alcohol misuse. The G-TLFB also demonstrated discriminant validity with demographic variables and a measure of positive impression management.     

Spiritual,but not religious?: On the nature of spirituality and its relation to religion

Recent years have seen a rise in those who describe themselves as “spiritual, but not religious”. At a popular level, there has been a lot of debate about this label and what it represents. But philosophers have in general paid little attention to the conceptual issues it raises. What is spirituality, exactly, and how does it relate to religion? Could there be a non-religious spirituality? In this paper, I try to give an outline account of the nature of spirituality and of religion, and then close with some thoughts on the prospects for a non-religious spirituality.     

A comparison of adaptive psychometric procedures based on the theory of optimal experiments and bayesian techniques: implications for cochlear implant testing

Numerous previous studies have focused on the development of quick and efficient adaptive psychometric procedures. In psychophysics, there is often a model of the psychometric function supported by previous studies for the task of interest. The theory of optimal experiments provides a framework for utilizing a model of the process to develop quick and efficient sequential-testing strategies for estimating model parameters, making it appropriate for developing adaptive psychophysical-testing methods. In this study, we investigated the application of sequential parameter search strategies based on the theory of optimal experiments and Bayesian adaptive procedures for measuring psychophysical variables. The results presented in this article suggest that more sophisticated psychometric procedures can expedite the measurement of psychophysical variables. Such techniques for quickly collecting psychophysical data may be particularly useful in cochlear implant research, where a large set of psychophysical variables are useful for characterizing the performance of an implanted device. It is to be hoped that further development of these techniques will make psychophysical measurements available to clinicians for tuning and optimizing the speech processors of individual cochlear implant patients.     

Traumatic Stress Among Seriously Delinquent Youth: Considering the Consequences of Neighborhood Circumstance

Myriad factors have been found to have an impact on delinquent behavior and traumatic stress. This study proposes a model that tests the relationship between common predictors of delinquency (neighborhood condition, antisocial peer socialization, and exposure to violence) with traumatic stress. Serial mediation was used to test the relationships between these predictors and traumatic stress. Results indicate the mediation effect between neighborhood conditions and traumatic stress significantly reduces the total effect. Implications for traumatic stress in the context of delinquent behavior are discussed.     

The Gym Membership Purchase Task: Early Evidence Towards Establishment of a Novel Hypothetical Purchase Task

The Psychological Record - Hypothetical purchase tasks are a widely used tool to determine the reinforcing value of commodities, especially commodities which are difficult to deliver...