A Comparison of Two Group Contingencies on Teachers’ Use of Behavior-Specific Praise

The present study evaluated the effects of two reinforcement contingencies on teacher use of behavior-specific praise (BSP) in the classroom. An alternating treatments design was used to compare the implementation of both an independent and interdependent contingency to increase frequency of BSP delivery. Four general education elementary school teachers and their students participated. Teachers’ use of BSP and general praise, as well as, behavior-specific and general reprimands were evaluated. Data were also collected on students’ levels of academically engaged and disruptive behaviors. Both the independent and interdependent conditions resulted in higher frequencies of BSP and reduced the use of both general and behavior-specific reprimands. Student levels of academic engagement increased while disruption decreased across both contingencies. Results of the present study are discussed in terms of related literature and implications for applied practice.

     

Counseling to End an Epidemic: Revisiting the Ethics of HIV/AIDS

In the decades since HIV/AIDS was first identified, medical discoveries have advanced prevention and treatment, and shifting demographics have changed the face of the illness. Despite these changes, the counseling literature on HIV/AIDS and its ethical implications for counselors have remained limited and stagnant. Whereas past discussions have focused primarily on issues of confidentiality, this article addresses multiple ethical implications of HIV/AIDS to reflect current knowledge about the illness and its effects on clients.     

Women's Cognitive,Affective, and Physiological Reactions to a Male Coworker's Sexist Behavior1

Empirical research has documented the attitudinal and behavioral consequences of sexual harassment, but has not examined the physiological consequences. In the present study, we monitored women's autonomic physiological activity while they performed a word‐association task with a male confederate who was either harassing, egalitarian, or submissive. Subsequently, we examined the women's cognitive, affective, and physiological reactions as they prepared and delivered a speech to the same confederate. Results indicate that harassment led to greater cardiovascular reactivity during the word‐association task and to greater cognitive, negative affective, and cardiovascular reactions during the subsequent speech compared with other conditions. Subgroups of harassed women who confronted their coworker, or who blamed themselves for his behavior, also exhibited greater cardiovascular reactivity during both tasks compared to women who did not use these coping responses. We integrate our laboratory results with those obtained in field settings.     

Examining the Factor Structure of the Self-Compassion Scale in Four Distinct Populations: Is the Use of a Total Scale Score Justified?

This study examined the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) using a bifactor model, a higher order model, a 6-factor correlated model, a 2-factor correlated model, and a 1-factor model in 4 distinct populations: college undergraduates (N = 222), community adults (N = 1,394), individuals practicing Buddhist meditation (N = 215), and a clinical sample of individuals with a history of recurrent depression (N = 390). The 6-factor correlated model demonstrated the best fit across samples, whereas the 1- and 2-factor models had poor fit. The higher order model also showed relatively poor fit across samples, suggesting it is not representative of the relationship between subscale factors and a general self-compassion factor. The bifactor model, however, had acceptable fit in the student, community, and meditator samples. Although fit was suboptimal in the clinical sample, results suggested an overall self-compassion factor could still be interpreted with some confidence. Moreover, estimates suggested a general self-compassion factor accounted for at least 90% of the reliable variance in SCS scores across samples, and item factor loadings and intercepts were equivalent across samples. Results suggest that a total SCS score can be used as an overall mesure of self-compassion.     

Advancing prevention research on the role of culture in suicide prevention

Despite evidence of considerable racial/ethnic variation in adolescent suicidal behavior in the United States, research on youth of European American descent accounts for much of what is know about preventing adolescent suicide. In response to the need to advance research on the phenomenology and prevention of suicidal behavior among ethnic minority populations, NIMH co-sponsored the "Pragmatic Considerations of Culture in Preventing Suicide" workshop to elicit through interdisciplinary dialogue how culture can be considered in the design, development, and implementation of suicidal behavior prevention programs. In this discussion paper we consider the three ethnic minority suicide prevention efforts described in the articles appearing in this issue, along with workshop participants' comments, and propose six major areas where issues of culture need to be better integrated into suicidal behavior research.     

When to offer cognitive behavioural or psychoanalytic psychotherapy in an integrated psychotherapy service: Are everyday allocation decisions theoretically congruent?

Different modes of psychotherapy can be an effective form of treatment for a range of mental health problems. Psychotherapy provision in the NHS is organised in a variety of ways, with patient entry to various modes of therapy determined by a range of factors including evidence‐based guidelines and patient or referrer preference. The methods by which patients arrive at a particular mode of psychotherapy are largely unreported. This paper aims to describe this process in one UK NHS psychotherapy service offering cognitive behavioural and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and provides data to inform a discussion on the theoretical congruence of these allocation decisions.