The Best Kept Secret in Counseling: Single‐Case (N = 1) Experimental Designs

Counselor education has been repeatedly faulted for failing to adequately train counselors in research methodology, generally, and practice‐relevant methods, specifically. Continued emphasis and education in the use of group experimental design methodology, which is by definition insensitive to the exigencies of everyday practice, will have little effect on counseling practice. It is ironic that single‐case (N = 1) design developed for use in practice settings continues to be the “best kept secret” in counseling. Single‐case (N = 1) designs offer a scientifically credible means to objectively evaluate practice and conduct clinically relevant research in practice settings. A 7‐component model for establishing the use of single‐case design research methods in counseling programs is presented.     

The prematurity stereotype: Empirical evidence and implications for practice

The prematurity stereotype is defined as a set of biased beliefs about infants who are identified as having been born prematurely. This article reviews studies that have explored how this prematurity stereotype may negatively influence adults' perceptions of, expectations for, and behavior toward premature infants. The findings from these studies are considered in the context of more general knowledge about how expectations can influence behavior and result in self-fulfilling prophecies. Recent research designed to investigate how prematurity stereotyping can be reduced also is described and evaluated. Finally, the implications of this program of research for intervention with parents of premature infants and suggestions for future research directions are discussed.     

Stepparents’ Attachment Orientation,Parental Gatekeeping,and Stepparents’ Affinity-Seeking with Stepchildren

Remarried stepfamilies are a sizable portion of American families; in a 2011 Pew Center survey, 42% of respondents reported at least one stepfamily member. Family clinicians and researchers suggest that stepparents’ ability to develop close bonds with stepchildren may be critical to the well-being of couple and family relationships. Using actor-partner interdependence models to analyze dyadic data from 291 heterosexual remarried stepfamily couples, we explored factors related to stepparents’ efforts to befriend their stepchildren. Specifically, we evaluated how remarried parents’ gatekeeping and stepparents’ perceptions of their attachment orientations were associated with their own and their spouse's perceptions of stepparents’ affinity-seeking behaviors. Securely attached stepparents and stepparents with anxious attachment orientations engaged more frequently in affinity behaviors than did stepparents with avoidant attachment orientations; there was no difference between securely attached and anxious stepparents. Stepparents’ reports of parents’ restrictive gatekeeping were strongly and negatively associated with both stepparents’ and parents’ reports of stepparent affinity-seeking (actor and partner effects). Parents’ reports of their own restrictive gatekeeping were also negatively (but more weakly) associated with parents’ reports of stepparent affinity-seeking. Implications for families, clinicians, and relationship researchers and theorists are discussed.     

Parents' perceptions of parenting

Much has been written about parenting practices from a theoretical perspective, but we know very little about what parents believe about parenting. This article begins with an overview of parenting theory, reviews briefly studies that have attempted to identify parenting characteristics, and provides a rationale for the use of the scaling techniques known as Q-methodology for rank-ordering statements of parenting behavior.     

Improving session attendance in mental health and substance abuse settings: a review of controlled studies

Patient nonattendance to scheduled sessions results in excessive costs to mental health and substance abuse providers and compromises the care of clients. This paper presents a comprehensive review of interventions that have been shown to increase session attendance rates in these settings. Unique to other review papers, reliability estimates were performed in the selection and evaluation of obtained studies. Reliability of article selection and evaluation strategies was excellent (.80 to .88). Study results indicate several attendance improvement methods appear to be particularly promising, such as scheduling appointments promptly, reminder letters and telephone calls, soliciting patient commitment, and helping to resolve obstacles to attending the session. The specific manner in which these interventions are implemented appears to influence session attendance rates. Moreover, some attendance improvement interventions are clearly effective in some settings, but not others. Specific recommendations are provided in light of the study findings.     

Does rule recursion make melodies easier to reproduce? If not, what does?

Two experiments examined the effects of variations in melodic rule structure and rhythm upon the ability of musically sophisticated listeners to reproduce auditory patterns. These experiments were designed to evaluate different theoretical perspectives on auditory pattern perception and the role of rule structure in perceiving and remembering. Predictions of a coding model, which emphasizes the impact of rule recursion, were contrasted with those of an accent model, which emphasizes the relative timing of melodic and temporal accents. Effects of recursive (hierarchical) and nonrecursive (linear) rule arrangements were studied in contexts where pattern contour differences were controlled for. Rhythm was also varied. Measured pauses were inserted between certain tones to make a rhythm compatible or incompatible with melodic rule phrases. Experiment 1 showed that pattern simplicity was determined not by rule recursive codes, but by the number and timing of contour changes and melodic rule breaks. Experiment 2 examined additional effects of rhythm on listeners' response to rule recursion and melodic phrasing in melodies of equivalent contour. Although modest effects of rule recursion appeared, these effects were again outweighed by large performance differences due to the relative timing of changes in contour and melodic rule structure. Implications of the accent model for dynamic attending are discussed in the context of a new proposal involving temporal phasing of accents.     

Nancy J. Hirschmann on the Social Construction of Women's Freedom

Nancy J. Hirschmann presents a feminist, social constructionist account of women's freedom. Friedman's discussion of Hirschmanns account deals with (1) some conceptual problems facing a thoroughgoing social constructionism; (2) three ways to modify social constructionism to avoid those problems; and (3) an assessment of Hirschmann's version of social constructionism in light of the previous discussion.     

A Model of Racialized Sexual Harassment of Women in the UK Workplace

This paper examines Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women’s experiences of sexual harassment in the UK workplace from the perspective of frequency and types of sexual harassment and characteristics of the harasser; ethnic and cultural influences; power, fear of reprisals, and reporting behavior. Using a snowballing technique, in depth interviews with 17 BAME women who had experienced or witnessed BAME sexual harassment reported that they were frequently sexually harassed by men from the same ethnic background. The fear of job loss, reprisals from male family members and negative organizational consequences resulted in over three quarters of the women not reporting incidents. Key questions regarding the factors and influences that are inherent in racialized sexual harassment are integrated into a model.