Effectiveness of an Educational and Support Program for Family Members of a Substance Abuser

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between marital adjustment and congruency of couple preference regarding wife employment. Implications for marriage and family therapists are emphasized. Husband, wife, and couple scores were obtained on the Marital Status Inventory and Dyadic Adjustment Scale for eight work pattern categories. The first four (Dual-Career, Dual-Work, Pre-Dual-Career, Traditional Single-Career) were current couple work patterns perceived as desirable by both spouses. The last four categories (Incongruent Dual-Career, Incongruent Dual-Work, Incongruent Pre-Dual-Career, Incongruent Traditional Single-Career) were current couple work patterns that one spouse, in conflict with the other spouse, perceived as undesirable. In addition, number and ages of children and number of wife work hours were analyzed for their effects on marital adjustment in these couples. The results of this study indicate that marital adjustment is negatively influenced only when the wife wants to work in her career, is not employed, and her husband does not want her to be employed now or in the future. Possible reasons for these findings and suggestions for further research are included.     

Does calling it “Morgan's way” reduce student learning? Evaluating the effect of person-presentation during comparison and discussion of worked examples in mathematics classrooms

Mathematics textbooks sometimes present worked examples as being generated by particular fictitious students (i.e., person-presentation). However, there are indicators that person-presentation of worked examples may harm generalization of the presented strategies to new problems. In the context of comparing and discussing worked examples during extended classroom instruction, the current study compared the impact of person-presentation to strategy labels on students' posttest accuracy and ratings of strategy generalizability. Five algebra teachers and their 168 students used worked examples either presented using fictitious students or with a strategy label during a multiweek unit on equation solving, with teachers randomly assigned to condition. All students compared and discussed the worked examples. In this context, we found no effect of condition on student accuracy at posttest, nor on their ratings of the generalizability of the presented strategies. We discuss why previously found negative effects of person-presentation may not have extended to this context.     

Can Children with Autism Recover? If So, How?

Although Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are generally assumed to be lifelong, we review evidence that between 3% and 25% of children reportedly lose their ASD diagnosis and enter the normal range of cognitive, adaptive and social skills. Predictors of recovery include relatively high intelligence, receptive language, verbal and motor imitation, and motor development, but not overall symptom severity. Earlier age of diagnosis and treatment, and a diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified are also favorable signs. The presence of seizures, mental retardation and genetic syndromes are unfavorable signs, whereas head growth does not predict outcome. Controlled studies that report the most recovery came about after the use of behavioral techniques. Residual vulnerabilities affect higher-order communication and attention. Tics, depression and phobias are frequent residual co-morbidities after recovery. Possible mechanisms of recovery include: normalizing input by forcing attention outward or enriching the environment; promoting the reinforcement value of social stimuli; preventing interfering behaviors; mass practice of weak skills; reducing stress and stabilizing arousal. Improving nutrition and sleep quality is non-specifically beneficial.     

Advancing the assessment of parent-child interactions: development of the Parent Instruction-Giving Game with Youngsters

This study investigates the validity of the Parent Instruction–Giving Game with Youngsters (PIGGY), a newly developed direct-observation system. The PIGGY is a derivative of the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System II [DPICS-II; Eyberg, S. M., Bessmer, J., Newcomb, K., Edwards, D., Robinson, E. (1994). Manual for the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System-II. Social and Behavioral Sciences Documents (Ms. No. 2897)] and the Behavior Coding System [BCS; Forehand, R. L., McMahon, R. J. (1981). Helping the noncompliant child. New York: Guilford Press] and utilizes a format similar to the more structured Compliance Test [Roberts, M. W., Powers, S. W. (1988). The Compliance Test. Behavioral Assessment, 10, 375–398]. Using the PIGGY, parents provide standardized commands to their child (e.g., “Put the book on the table”). The parenting skills used to gain compliance (e.g., instruction giving, praise, discipline techniques) as well as child behavior (e.g., noncompliance) are coded on an observation form. In Study 1, 14 “noncompliant” and 14 “compliant” children and their mothers were selected based on parent report of child behavior. The PIGGY differentiated between the two groups on repeat commands, defiant child behavior, and overreactive parenting. Other forms of validity are also reported. In Study 2, the PIGGY was used to monitor the effectiveness of behavioral parent training with a mother and her 3-year-old daughter with oppositional-defiant disorder. Changes in both child and parent behavior were reflected in PIGGY scores. Overall, these studies suggest that the PIGGY may be valuable as both a screening tool and a measure of response to treatment.     

The use of indigenous interviewers in a study of latino men who have sex with men: A research note

The use of indigenous researchers has long been practiced in ethnographic research; a similar use of indigenous personnel has not been as commonly undertaken in interview studies of men who have sex with men (MSM). This research note reports on the use of indigenous interviewers in a study of Latino MSM’s perceptions about sexual relationships and behaviors. The full study explores sexual relationships among Latino MSM, and HIV risk behaviors undertaken by a population of MSM residing in a community in southern California. This research note describes both the strengths and limitations that arise from employing indigenous interviewers for improving the overall quality of sensitive data. Benefits discussed include improved access to an otherwise highly restricted group, enhanced rapport-building capabilities, and greater understanding of language unique to the study population. Limitations discussed include the use of previously untrained interview personnel and age and gender issues.     

Out of sight,out of mind: racial retrieval cues increase the accessibility of social justice concepts

Photographs provide critical retrieval cues for personal remembering, but few studies have considered this phenomenon at the collective level. In this research, we examined the psychological consequences of visual attention to the presence (or absence) of racially charged retrieval cues within American racial segregation photographs. We hypothesised that attention to racial retrieval cues embedded in historical photographs would increase social justice concept accessibility. In Study 1, we recorded gaze patterns with an eye-tracker among participants viewing images that contained racial retrieval cues or were digitally manipulated to remove them. In Study 2, we manipulated participants’ gaze behaviour by either directing visual attention toward racial retrieval cues, away from racial retrieval cues, or directing attention within photographs where racial retrieval cues were missing. Across Studies 1 and 2, visual attention to racial retrieval cues in photographs documenting historical segregation predicted social justice concept accessibility.     

Student Evaluations and Gendered Expectations: What We Can't Count Can Hurt Us

Does teacher's gender impact students' evaluations? We critically evaluated the research literature and concluded that the form gender bias takes may not be easily detectible by quantitative scales. To explore this possibility, we did a qualitative analysis of the words that 288 college students at two campuses used to describe their best- and worst-ever teachers. Although we found considerable overlap in the ways that students talked about their male and female teachers, we also saw indications that students hold teachers accountable to certain gendered expectations. These expectations place burdens on all teachers, but the burdens on women are more labor-intensive. We also saw signs of much greater hostility toward women than toward men who do not meet students' gendered expectations.     

Accuracy in parameter estimation for targeted effects in structural equation modeling: sample size planning for narrow confidence intervals

In addition to evaluating a structural equation model (SEM) as a whole, often the model parameters are of interest and confidence intervals for those parameters are formed. Given a model with a good overall fit, it is entirely possible for the targeted effects of interest to have very wide confidence intervals, thus giving little information about the magnitude of the population targeted effects. With the goal of obtaining sufficiently narrow confidence intervals for the model parameters of interest, sample size planning methods for SEM are developed from the accuracy in parameter estimation approach. One method plans for the sample size so that the expected confidence interval width is sufficiently narrow. An extended procedure ensures that the obtained confidence interval will be no wider than desired, with some specified degree of assurance. A Monte Carlo simulation study was conducted that verified the effectiveness of the procedures in realistic situations. The methods developed have been implemented in the MBESS package in R so that they can be easily applied by researchers.