Risk factors and the Child Behavior Checklist in a child mental health center setting

The relationship between risk factors and the severity and type of childhood disorder, as measured by parent-completed Child Behavior Checklists, was examined for 768 children, ages 4–16, seen at a child mental health center. Regression analyses revealed no significant relationships between any combination of risk factors and the total number of behavior problems, internalizing, or externalizing scores for the entire group, males and females separately, or for the age and sex groupings of 6- to 11- and 12-to 16-yearolds. Chi-square tests revealed no relationship of profile type with any risk factor or with total number of risk factors. Implications for broad-based child assessment and risk factor research within a clinical population are discussed.We wish to thank Orin Bolstad, Linda Magnuson, and Julian Taplin for their assistance in this project.     

A comparison of the relative efficacy of self-control therapy and a behavioral problem-solving therapy for depression in children

Twenty-nine children 9 to 12 years old who were identified as moderately to severely depressed using the Children's Depression Inventory were randomly assigned to either a self-control, behavioral problem-solving, or waiting list condition. The self-control treatment focused on teaching children self-management skills. The behavioral problem-solving therapy consisted of education, self-monitoring of pleasant events, and group problem solving directed toward improving social behavior. Subjects were assessed pre-and posttreatment and at 8-week follow-up with multiple assessment procedures and from multiple perspectives. At posttreatment, subjects in both active treatments reported significant improvement on self-report and interview measures of depression while subjects in the waiting list condition reported minimal change. Results were maintained at follow-up. The general success of the experimental treatments was discussed and recommendations for further treatment components were provided.Second authorship on this article is shared by Drs. Reynolds and Kaslow. The authors would like to thank Mr. Ed Guzwieski, Principal, and the teachers of Oregon Middle School for their cooperation with this study. The authors also would like to thank Mary Wysopal for conducting the posttreatment and follow-up interviews, and Carol Fairbanks for rating the audiotapes.     

Later stages in Experiential Marital Therapy

This is the second of two papers dealing with symbolic-experiential treatment of marital issues. The first—Early Stages in Experiential Marital Therapy — discussed three early stages. This paper discusses regressive work with couples, including engagement with the family of origin.     

“Marital trap analysis”—incompetence,complementarity, and success traps: Identifying potential future dysfunctions based on a couple's current collusive agreements

This paper describes three types of traps or collusive marital agreements-incompetence traps, complementarity traps, and success traps-in which the mates renounce or forgo competent functioning in vital areas of marital roles and experience. It is suggested that responsible clinical work with the couple should include a careful evaluation of such traps and the potential breakdown or dysfunction inherent in each one, and a decision as to whether or not to attempt therapeutic penetration into such collusive agreements even before the couple complain directly about their arrangement.     

A scale for measuring persistence in children

Persistence and its assessment have been studied since the 1920s. One common approach in measuring persistence has been through testing the subject's ability to solve difficult or monotonous problems. Another approach has been through questionnaires. Although persistence is very important in academic achievement and in the general development of personality, no questionnaires have been developed for measuring persistence in children. The present research concerns the development of such a scale. It includes 40 items and was tested on 322 Israeli children aged 7-13. The internal reliability of the scale (Cronbach alpha) was .66, and the test-retest reliability after 6 months was .77. The scale differentiated active gymnasts from non-gymnasts as well as persistent gymnasts from dropout gymnasts. In addition, significant correlations were found between the scale and the need-persistence measure of the Rosenzweig Picture Frustration Study, Locus of Control, and other measures. We discuss these findings along with the significance of persistence in everyday life.     

Love preferences and ideals: A comparison of homosexual,bisexual, and heterosexual groups

Homosexuals, bisexuals, and heterosexuals were compared on self-reported love preferences and ideals. In general, the three groups tended to agree on ideal characteristics of love objects, love relationships, and love related beliefs. Nevertheless, the groups differed significantly on preferences and beliefs related to love-object sex, residential proximity, ethnic background, physical intimacy, freedom from feelings of jealousy, sexual fidelity, emotional intimacy, and the importance of religious or legal acknowledgment.An early version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Family Relations, in San Francisco, October 1984, Journal Series No. 2973 of the Hawaii Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.     

Variables differentiating affective interaction in a family therapy and a control group: Father-child welfare and mother-child emergency affect

In this study of 37 pre-therapy and 23 matched control families who never sought family therapy, father-child welfare affect and mother-child emergency affect were significantly higher in the control families. Control families were found generally to express more Welfare and Emergency emotion. Affective expression between parents did not significantly differentiate the groups.This study has been supported by Grant No. MA-4510 of the Medical Research Council of Canada and was presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, September 1983. The authors wish to express their thanks to Toby Schwartz, Harriet Gold-Kaats, and Terry Tannenbaum-Dascal, who acted as coders and research assistants; Joseph Beltempo, BSc, who helped in the statistical analysis; and James Robbins, PhD, who gave much valuable advice.