Clients' suitability for counselling: The perception of counselors working in general practice

This study investigated the attitudes of 112 counsellors in general practice towards various factors concernig the selection of clients. Response indicate that counsellors are influenced, not only by diagnostic criteria, and other factors relating to the client, but also issues relating to the counsellor and the setting in which she or he works. The diagnostic critreria whcih seem to be considered most important are desire for change, motivation for therapty and evidence of psychopathology, althoug there is no clear consensus about the criteria overall. Importance varied according to the age and sex of the counsellor, but not by the experience, training, model of working, desire for further training, or number of sessins available.     

The Effects of Reading Racetracks on the Sight Word Acquisition and Fluency of Elementary Students

The effectiveness of using the reading racetrack drill and practice intervention on the sight word acquisition and fluency of 15 elementary students was examined in two separate experiments. A multiple baseline design across participants was used. The participants were 15 third and fourth-grade students attending a public (n =10) or parochial (n =5) elementary school. Participants included children receiving special education services in a resource room, services for learning difficulties, and those in a general classroom setting. Reading racetracks IS a novel approach which employ error correction, timing, and drill and practice procedures. This strategy also utilized drill and practice probe sheets that resemble an automotive racetrack. The results indicated that during the reading racetrack intervention all of the participants more than doubled their correct rate in oral reading. There was also a marked decrease in the number of errors made by each of the participants in this study. The implications of employing reading racetrack procedures for practitioners are outlined.     

Determinants of Relapse and the Rule Violation Effect in Predicting Safer Sex Goal Violations1

Knowledge of the determinants of lapses into unsafe sex are important parts of HIV prevention interventions. The present study examines the determinants of lapses into unsafe sex, and the role of attribution in predicting lapses into unsafe sex within an HIV prevention treatment program for homosexual men based on the relapse prevention (RP) model (Marlatt & Gordon, 1985). Self-reported negative emotional states and general urges to engage in sex were perceived to precede violations of safer sex goals. Stable and global attributions for a goal violation related to the probability of a second concurrently assessed violation. Prospective analyses indicated that future unprotected oral and anal sex was predicted by current unprotected oral and anal sex. In addition, more stable and external attributions for previous goal violations added to the prediction of future unprotected anal sex. Results are discussed in relation to the RP model, the role of attributions in safer sex goal violations, and treatments to reduce unsafe sexual behavior.     

Ethical Issues in Counselling in Education

It is suggested that there are two quite distinct Systems of ethics and practice in use by counsellors in education: the integrated model, which emphasises viewing the counsellor-institution relationship as theprimary ethical perspective; and the differentiated model, which emphasises the counsellor-client relationship as the starting point for an ethical understanding of the counsellor's role. The implications of these two perspectives for ethical issues relating to sources of referrai, issues of confidentiality, accountability for resources, the implications of role diffusion, and the outcomes of counselling, are examined. The ethical consequences of viewing the two Systems as reconcilable or incompatible are explored.     

Olfactory aversion conditioning and overeating: a review and some data

The present study evaluated the efficacy of olfactory aversion conditioning in the management of overeating problems. 42 overweight female subjects were assigned to one of three treatment conditions: olfactory aversion therapy, attention placebo control, and no-contact control. One experimenter administered the 8-wk. treatment phase. The aversion therapy procedure entailed the pairing of selected target foods (CSs) with noxious odors (UCSs). There were 25 pairings of the CS and UCSs during each weekly session. Four noxious odors were employed, one each week, to prevent habituation to the UCS. The attention-placebo control procedure was identical except that "air" was substituted for the putative UCS of the aversion therapy condition. At the end of the treatment period the aversion therapy group had lost 4.7 lb.; the attention placebo controls had lost 3.6 lb. and the no-contact controls 0.5 lb. The difference between the aversion therapy group and the no-contact controls was significant and that between the attention placebo group and the no-contact controls approached significance. At a follow-up 8 wk. after the end of the treatment period the weights of all groups had risen to pretreatment levels and there were no differences between them. These results indicate that olfactory aversion therapy is not an efficient technique in promoting weight-loss.     

The incidence,prevalence, and severity of behavior disorders among preschool-aged children in day care

This study examined the incidence, prevalence, and severity of 14 empirically derived externalizing (unsocialized aggressive) and internalizing (socially withdrawn) behaviors among 2- through 5-year-olds attending day care. Teacher ratings were obtained for 558 children in the incidence sample and 709 children in the expanded prevalence sample. Within each age, data were cross-tabulated by sex of child and severity of behavior, and chi-square analyses were computed. Results indicated that a substantial proportion of children in the normal preschool population exhibit relatively high severities of selected externalizing and internalizing behaviors; this proportion varied with the age of the child and the behavior rated. Preschool-aged boys were consistently rated as demonstrating greater frequencies of externalizing behaviors than preschool-aged girls. The diagnostic and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Paradoxical Sadness

Three experiments were conducted to examine the theoretical prediction that the intensity of sadness is determined not only by the instigating event but also by factors that impede or deter the function or purpose of sadness. In the first two experiments, participants were asked to read a story designed to induce sadness, and were then given a $1, $2, or $3 gift. In both, reported sadness was higher for persons receiving a $2 gift than for those receiving either a $1 or $3 gift. However, the increase in sadness from the $1 to $2 group failed to reach an acceptable level of significance. In the second experiment, as expected, a $1 gift produced less sadness than did the story by itself, and as in the first experiment, a $2 gift resulted in more sadness than either a $1 or $3 gift. The third experiment replicated the $1 and $2 conditions and obtained a highly reliable effect; sadness was greater among those who received the $2 gift. Measures of positive affect suggested that participants experienced either sadness or positive feelings, not both.     

Proximal Impact of Two First-Grade Preventive Interventions on the Early Risk Behaviors for Later Substance Abuse, Depression, and Antisocial Behavior

We assessed the immediate effects of two universal, first-grade preventive interventions on the proximal targets of poor achievement, concentration problems, aggression, and shy behaviors, known early risk behaviors for later substance use/abuse, affective disorder, and conduct disorder. The classroom-centered (CC) intervention was designed to reduce these early risk behaviors by enhancing teachers' behavior management and instructional skills, whereas the family-school partnership (FSP) intervention was aimed at improving parent-teacher communication and parental teaching and child behavior management strategies. Over the course of first and second grades, the CC intervention yielded the greatest degree of impact on its proximal targets, whereas the FSP's impact was somewhat less. The effects were influenced by gender and by preintervention levels of risk. Analyses of implementation measures demonstrated that greater fidelity to the intervention protocols was associated with greater impact on behavior ratings and on achievement scores, thus providing some evidence of specificity in the effect of the interventions.     

Effects of physical fatigue and cognitive challenges on the potential for low back injury

There is no question that the motor control system will adapt under fatiguing conditions; however, there is documented evidence showing that when fatigued or challenged, the motor control system will, on occasion, perform inappropriate muscle sequencing, increasing the risk of injury, or directly causing injury. Knowing that inappropriate muscle activations can lead to injury, the purpose of this study was to investigate motor patterns during cognitive and physical challenges. Rather than ensure change with severe challenges, milder challenges were purposefully chosen. Eight male subjects performed a low external load task performed near end ROM while in an unchallenged state, and while in three challenged states: passive tissue creep, muscle fatigue and cognitive distraction. Data were collected using EMG of the trunk muscles and angular displacement of the lumbar spine. Comparison of motor control patterns between the unchallenged state and each of the three challenged conditions showed no systematic differences. However, several random anomalies were observed. A case study of a single subject was chosen to show inappropriate motor control during one trial under the cognitive distraction conditions. The response of the motor control system is very individualized and does on occasion produce inappropriate motor patterns. This supports the notion that injury may also occur as the result of random motor control errors as well as predictable, systematic changes.