Young Asian children with learning and behaviour problems: A family therapy approach

The paper describes work with five Asian families. The children were failing and showing signs of behavioural disturbance at infant or junior school, and it was felt that this could be due to family psychopathology. Communication with the adults presented some difficulty to the therapist, and there was the additional problem of distinguishing between those patterns of behaviour which were pathological and those which were merely unfamiliar. The approach used was pragmatic and based on the assumption that there is sufficient 'psychic unity' between people of different cultural backgrounds to be used therapeutically, even when communication is difficult.     

Experimental evidence for a causal relationship between smoking lapse and relapse

In this study, the authors prospectively evaluated the impact of a smoking lapse on relapse probability. After 4 days of smoking abstinence, 60 smokers were randomly assigned to smoke 5 nicotine-containing or 5 denicotinized cigarettes, or to remain abstinent (no lapse) during a 4-hr time period. Afterward, smoking abstinence was encouraged with monetary incentives, and smoking behavior was tracked for 6 days. Relative to the no-lapse condition, exposure to either of the cigarette types more than doubled the probability of subsequent smoking. Smoking outcomes did not differ between nicotine-containing and denicotinized cigarettes. The data suggest that stimulus factors may play an important role in lapse to relapse processes.     

Counselling at a distance: Challenges and new initiatives

Traditional views of the possibilities of counselling at a distance, mediated by telecommunications technology, are challenged. The current status of telephone counselling is reviewed- it is proposed that the telephone is a vibrant innovative medium for therapeutic work. Computer involvement in therapeutic work is defined, and the issues confronting computer-mediated therapy are contrasted with developments in computer-supported co-operative work. It is concluded that active collaboration between therapists, social scientists and computer scientists is required to develop therapy-specific computer applications to mediate in therapy-at-a-distance.     

BEHAVIORAL COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY: ENCOURAGING LOW-INCOME PARENTS TO SEEK DENTAL CARE FOR THEIR CHILDREN1

The present study examined the effectiveness and cost efficiency of three different techniques to encourage low-income rural parents to seek dental care for their children. The families of 51 children who needed immediate dental care (determined by dental screening at a local school) were placed into three matched groups and randomly assigned to the treatment conditions: One Prompt (Note Only), Three Prompt (Note, Telephone Contact, Home Visit), and One Prompt plus $5 Incentive. The Three Prompt and One Prompt plus $5 Incentive were significantly more effective in initiating dental visits than the Note-Only procedure. Not only was the One Prompt plus $5 Incentive technique effective in producing a slightly larger percentage of initial dental visits compared to the Three-Prompt technique, it also produced a significantly larger number of followup visits. Furthermore, the cost-effectiveness analysis showed the Incentive condition to be less costly than the Three-Prompt condition in encouraging initial dental visits.     

Modification of an impulsive cognitive tempo in emotionally disturbed boys

In order to determine the relative effectiveness of verbal self-instructions and training to delay before responding in modifying an impulsive cognitive style, 15 impulsive emotionally disturbed boys were assigned to one of three groups. The cognitive-training group was given practice in verbal self-instructions, the delay-training group received practice in delaying before responding, and the control group received no training. Posttreatment scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test showed a significant increase in latencies for both the cognitive and delay-training groups. However, only the cognitive-training group, which had recieved practice in verbal self-instructions, made fewer errors following training. Implications for future research and potential treatment strategies for verbal self-instructions are discussed.     

The contribution of Kleinian psychotherapy to the treatment of a disturbed five-year-old girl and her family

The theories of Melanie Klein are incorporated into many family therapy 'models' in regular use, although a detailed understanding of these theories is not an essential part of the repertoire of family therapists. In the present case, however, Klein's theories provided essential insight into the personality development of a five-year-old girl with severely disordered behaviour, as well as a foundation for the treatment offered to her and to her family.     

Self-presentation processes in job analysis: a field experiment investigating inflation in abilities, tasks, and competencies

Although job analysis is a widely used organizational data collection technique, little research has investigated the extent to which job analysis information is affected by self-presentation processes. This study represents the first direct test of the propositions offered by F. P. Morgeson and M. A. Campion (1997) concerning self-presentation in job analysis measurement. Using an experimental design, the authors examined job incumbent response differences across ability, task, and competency statements. Results indicated that ability statements were more subject to inflation than were task statements across all rating scales. Greater endorsement of nonessential ability statements was responsible for the differences. This produced higher endorsement of ability items but lower mean ratings. Finally, frequency and importance ratings of global competency statements were generally higher than decomposed ability and task scales, but required-at-entry judgments demonstrated the opposite relationship.