Reducing Phobic Behavior Near Water and Increasing Water Approach Skills

Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death worldwide, and the highest rates are among children. The purpose of this study was to utilize a multi‐component intervention to increase water skills for three typically developing children, who had a history of fear of swimming, and to evaluate changes in both phobic behaviors and positive affect. The intervention, comprised of goal setting, self‐monitoring, behavioral skills training and positive reinforcement, was used in community pools to teach basic water skills. Results suggest that the intervention was successful in increasing the participant's water skills and positive affect while intervals with phobic behaviors decreased. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating the role of anxiety sensitivity in barriers to cessation and reasons for quitting among smokers with asthma

The aim of the present study was to examine the unique predictive ability of anxiety sensitivity (AS) in terms of perceived barriers to cessation and smoking cessation motives among daily smokers with asthma (n = 125, 54% male, M_age = 37.7 years, SD = 12.1). As hypothesized, after controlling for the effects of race, asthma control, negative affect, and smoking rate, AS significantly predicted greater barriers to cessation, and reasons for quitting related to health concerns and self-control. Contrary to hypotheses, AS did not significantly predict external reasons for quitting. These findings suggest that smokers with asthma who are fearful of physiological arousal may be a particularly ‘at-risk’ population for smoking cessation difficulties due, in part, to greater perceived barriers to cessation. Interventions focused on enhancing intrinsic motivation for quitting and reducing AS may be most effective for this population.     

The Contribution of Executive Function to Source Memory Development in Early Childhood

Age-related differences in episodic memory judgments assessing recall of fact information and the source of this information were examined. The role of executive function (EF) in supporting early episodic memory ability was also explored. Four- and 6-year-old children were taught 10 novel facts from two different sources (experimenter or puppet), and memory for both fact and source information was later tested. Measures of working memory, inhibitory control, and set shifting were obtained to produce an indicator of children's EF. Six-year-olds recalled more fact and source information than did 4-year-olds. Regression analyses revealed that age, language ability, and EF accounted for unique variance in children's fact recall and source recall performance. These findings suggest a link between episodic memory and EF, and we propose that developmental investigations should further explore this association.     

A new perspective on human reward research: How consciously and unconsciously perceived reward information influences performance

The question of how human performance can be improved through rewards is a recurrent topic of interest in psychology and neuroscience. Traditional, cognitive approaches to this topic have focused solely on consciously communicated rewards. Recently, a largely neuroscience-inspired perspective has emerged to examine the potential role of conscious awareness of reward information in effective reward pursuit. The present article reviews research employing a newly developed monetary-reward-priming paradigm that allows for a systematic investigation of this perspective. We analyze this research to identify similarities and differences in how consciously and unconsciously perceived rewards impact three distinct aspects relevant to performance: decision making, task preparation, and task execution. We further discuss whether conscious awareness, in modulating the effects of reward information, plays a role similar to its role in modulating the effects of other affective information. Implications of these insights for understanding the role of consciousness in modulating goal-directed behavior more generally are discussed.     

Practical Aspects of Recruitment and Retention in Clinical Trials of Rare Genetic Diseases: The Phenylketonuria (PKU) Experience

Bringing treatments for rare genetic diseases to patients requires clinical research. Despite increasing activism from patient support and advocacy groups to increase access to clinical research studies, connecting rare disease patients with the clinical research opportunities that may help them has proven challenging. Chief among these challenges are the low incidence of these diseases resulting in a very small pool of known patients with a particular disease, difficulty of diagnosing rare genetic diseases, logistical issues such as long distances to the nearest treatment center, and substantial disease burden leading to loss of independence. Using clinical studies of phenylketonuria as an example, this paper discusses how, based on the authors’ collective experience, partnership among clinicians, patients, study coordinators, genetic counselors, dietitians, industry, patient support groups, and families can help overcome the challenges of recruiting and retaining patients in rare disease clinical trials. We discuss specific methods of collaboration, communication, and education as part of a long-term effort to build a community committed to advancing the medical care of patients with rare genetic diseases. By talking to patients and families regularly about research initiatives and taking steps to make study participation as easy as possible, rare disease clinic staff can help ensure adequate study enrollment and successful study completion.     

Linking Genetic Counseling Content to Short-Term Outcomes in Individuals at Elevated Breast Cancer Risk

Few studies have linked actual genetic counseling content to short-term outcomes. Using the Self-regulation Model, the impact of cognitive and affective content in genetic counseling on short-term outcomes was studied in individuals at elevated risk of familial breast-ovarian cancer. Surveys assessed dependent variables: distress, perceived risk, and 6 knowledge measures (Meaning of Positive Test; Meaning of Negative Test; Personal Behavior; Practitioner Knowledge; Mechanisms of Cancer Inheritance; Frequency of Inherited Cancer) measured at pre- and post-counseling. Proportion of participant cognitive and affective and counselor cognitive and affective content during sessions (using LIWC software) were predictors in regressions. Knowledge increased for 5 measures and decreased for Personal Behavior, Distress and Perceived Risk. Controlling for age and education, results were significant/marginally significant for three measures. More counselor content was associated with decreases in knowledge of Personal Behavior. More participant and less counselor affective content was associated with gains in Practitioner Knowledge. More counselor cognitive, and interaction of counselor cognitive and affective content, were associated with higher perceived risk. Genetic counselors dominate the content of counseling sessions. Therefore, their content is tied more closely to short term outcomes than participant content. A lack of patient communication in sessions may pose problems for understanding of complex concepts.     

Stress and worry: examining intolerance of uncertainty's moderating effect

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), or the way an individual perceives, interprets, and reacts to uncertainty in life, has been frequently investigated in relation to anxiety and worry. While a substantial body of research suggests that individual differences in IU foster stress and anxiety, IU's involvement as a potential moderator in the relation between stressful events and worry has only recently been investigated. Therefore, the present study examined the moderating effect of IU on the relation between daily hassles and worry as well as major life events and worry in a sample of 1092 young adults. Results revealed that IU showed a significant moderation effect in the relation between daily stress and worry. More specifically, when the two factors were examined individually only inhibitory IU served as a moderator between daily stress and worry. While major life events significantly predicted worry, no moderation effect was found for this relation. These findings highlight the need to better understand the mechanisms through which IU impacts worry and contributes to anxiety.     

The Impact of Supervision Training on Genetic Counselor Supervisory Identity Development

Supervision is critical to the training of genetic counselors. Limited research exists on the influence of supervision training and experience on the development of genetic counseling supervisors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of supervision training in addition to supervisory and clinical experience on supervisory identity development, and the perceived confidence and competence supervisors have in their own supervisory skills. In addition, we explored genetic counselors’ (N?=?291) interest in and barriers to training as well as perspectives on requirements for supervisors. Results indicated clinical experience, supervision experience, and formal supervision training are positively associated with genetic counselors’ supervisory identity development as measured by the Psychotherapy Supervisory Development Scale (PSDS) (p?ρ?=?0.42, p?p?相似文献   

Teachers as therapeutic agents: perceptions of a school-based mental health initiative

Teacher–child relationship building (TCRB) is a play-based professional development programme adapted from kinder training and filial therapy. Intended for early education teachers and students, TCRB is designed to strengthen the teacher–child relationship, improve student behaviour, enhance academic involvement and develop teachers' classroom management skills. In the current study, we utilised a phenomenological approach to examine teachers' perceptions of the initial implementation of TCRB through identifying individual and collective perspectives in the summation of themes. Findings indicated that the teachers perceived the TCRB model to be informative, well organised, appropriately structured and effective in enhancing teacher–child relationships, improving classroom management skills and reducing behavioural problems among child participants. Limitations of the study, implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.