Audiographic communication for distance counselling: a feasibility study

To explore the feasibility of conducting counselling or therapy that involves image making via the Internet, and simultaneously to identify new issues to consider when implementing online counselling services, 10 people selected for their relevant expertise were invited to use an audiographic telecommunication system and to comment on it. Content analysis of focus group discussions and interviews yielded the following significant issues: (a) concerns about technical failure, (b) relevance for people with disabilities, (c) the need for clinical procedures and communication guidelines, and (d) lack of shared physical presence. The co-researchers considered this form of distance delivery to be viable, and identified parameters that would ensure safe and ethical delivery. Implications for practice and future development are discussed.     

Stress and Coping: A Comparison of Self-Report Measures of Functioning in Families of Young Children with Cerebral Palsy or No Medical Diagnosis

We analyzed data from 87 mothers of children ages 15 to 44 months with cerebral palsy (CP) or no diagnosis, who completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Parenting Stress Index, Support Functions Scale, and Inventory of Social Support. Principal components analysis of the 15 subscales from the 5 measures revealed few cross-measure loadings. Mothers of children with CP (severe or mild) reported higher levels of parenting stress than did mothers of controls. However, cluster analysis of self-report measures yielded a 5-cluster solution, with no diagnostic group differences across clusters. That is, there were no overall differences in self-reported family functioning according to presence or severity of the child's disability. The results are discussed in terms of the organization of family systems and their relationship to child diagnosis. Clinical implications for assessing and working with families are noted.     

SIMPLIFIED HABIT REVERSAL TREATMENT FOR CHRONIC HAIR PULLING IN THREE ADOLESCENTS: A CLINICAL REPLICATION WITH DIRECT OBSERVATION

Three developmentally normal adolescents with chronic hair pulling were treated with a simplified habit reversal procedure consisting of awareness training, competing response training, and social support. Treatment resulted in an immediate reduction to near-zero levels of hair pulling, with one to three booster sessions required to maintain these levels. The results were maintained from 18 to 27 weeks posttreatment, although 1 participant reported difficulty at follow-up. The effectiveness of simplified habit reversal and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Automatic and Controlled Processes in the Analytisis of Hierarchical Structure

Targets are identified faster if they appear at the same level (global vs. local) as the target on the previous trial. This effect has been attributed to a controlled attentional process wherein participants attend to the level containing the target on trial n − 1, thus facilitating performance if target level repeats on trial n. An alternative explanation (Lamb & Yund, 1966) is that automatic activation of level-specific neural mechanisms is responsible. The controlled-process hypothesis predicts better performance whenever target level is predictable, because participants can anticipate, and thus attend to, the appropriate level. The automatic-process hypothesis predicts better performance when target level repeats, regardless of target-level predictability. In the present studies, level repetitions facilitated performance regardless of target-level predictability. The data support the automatic-process explanation of level repetition and other attentional effects. The data illustrate how an automatic process can give rise to performance that seems to reflect more cognitive or strategic mechanisms.