Co‐Occurring Trajectory of Mothers’ Substance Use and Psychological Control and Children's Behavior Problems: The Effects of a Family Systems Intervention

This study examined the effects of a family systems therapy (Ecologically‐Based Family Therapy [EBFT]) on the co‐occurring trajectory of mothers’ substance use and psychological control, and its association with children's problem behaviors. Participants included 183 mothers with a substance use disorder who had at least one biological child in their care. Mothers were randomly assigned to one of the three intervention conditions: EBFT—home, n = 62; EBFT—office, n = 61; or Women's Health Education, n = 60. Participants were assessed at baseline, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months post‐baseline. A dual‐trajectory class growth analysis identified three groups of mothers in regard to their change trajectories. The majority of the mothers exhibited a synchronous decrease in substance use and psychological control (n = 107). In all, 46 mothers exhibited a synchronous increase in substance use and psychological control. For the remaining 30 mothers, substance use and psychological control remained stable. Mothers in the family therapy condition were more likely to show reduced substance use and psychological control compared to mothers in the control condition. Moreover, children with mothers who showed decreased substance use and psychological control exhibited lower levels of problem behaviors compared to children with mothers showing increased substance use and psychological control. The findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of family systems therapy, EBFT, in treating mothers’ substance use, improving parenting behaviors, and subsequently improving child behavioral outcomes.     

Extending Awareness of Catholic Healthcare Ethics Among Junior Clinicians: A Qualitative Study

Journal of Religion and Health - As Catholic healthcare organizations form a substantive part of healthcare delivery in the USA and Australia, ethical standards for Catholic health care were...     

Estimation of a Latent Variable Regression Growth Curve Model for Individuals Cross-Classified by Clusters

The cross-classified multiple membership latent variable regression (CCMM-LVR) model is a recent extension to the three-level latent variable regression (HM3-LVR) model which can be utilized for longitudinal data that contains individuals who changed clusters over time (for instance, student mobility across schools). The HM3-LVR model can include the initial status on growth effect as varying across those clusters and allows testing of more flexible hypotheses about the influence of initial status on growth and of factors that might impact that relationship, but only in the presence of pure clustering of participants within higher-level units. This Monte Carlo study was conducted to evaluate model estimation under a variety of conditions and to measure the impact of ignoring cross-classified data when estimating the incorrectly specified HM3-LVR model in a scenario in which true values for parameters are known. Furthermore, results from a real-data analysis were used to inform the design of the simulation. Overall, it would be recommended for researchers to utilize the CCMM-LVR model over the HM3-LVR model when individuals are cross-classified, and to use a bare minimum of more than 100 clustering units in order to avoid overestimation of the level-3 variance component estimates.     

Pavlovian to instrumental transfer of control in a human learning task

Pavlovian learning tasks have been widely used as tools to understand basic cognitive and emotional processes in humans. The present studies investigated one particular task, Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT), with human participants in an effort to examine potential cognitive and emotional effects of Pavlovian cues upon instrumentally trained performance. In two experiments, subjects first learned two separate instrumental response-outcome relationships (i.e., R1-O1 and R2-O2) and then were exposed to various stimulus-outcome relationships (i.e., S1-O1, S2-O2, S3-O3, and S4-) before the effects of the Pavlovian stimuli on instrumental responding were assessed during a non-reinforced test. In Experiment 1, instrumental responding was established using a positive-reinforcement procedure, whereas in Experiment 2, a quasi-avoidance learning task was used. In both cases, the Pavlovian stimuli exerted selective control over instrumental responding, whereby S1 and S2 selectively elevated the instrumental response with which it shared an outcome. In addition, in Experiment 2, S3 exerted a nonselective transfer of control effect, whereby both responses were elevated over baseline levels. These data identify two ways, one specific and one general, in which Pavlovian processes can exert control over instrumental responding in human learning paradigms, suggesting that this method may serve as a useful tool in the study of basic cognitive and emotional processes in human learning.     

The relationship of microaggressions with alcohol use and anxiety among ethnic minority college students in a historically White institution

Little is known about how microaggressions may impact the health and mental health of college students of color attending historically White universities. In this study, students provided self-report of the number of racial and ethnic microaggressions they had experienced over the previous month, as well as data on anxiety symptoms (Beck Anxiety Inventory), alcohol consumption (Daily Drinking Questionnaire) and consequences (Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index), and self-efficacy to cope with daily hassles (General Self-efficacy Scale) and with high risk drinking situations (Situational Confidence Questionnaire). As expected, students of color reported significantly more microaggressions than their European American counterparts. Microaggressions and self-efficacy were significantly associated with anxiety (Full Model R2 = .20; p < .001), microaggressions and self-efficacy were significantly associated with binge drinking (Full Model R2 = .10; p < .01), and microaggressions, binge drinking events, self-efficacy, and microaggressions × self-efficacy interaction were significantly associated with alcohol related consequences (Full Model R2 = .28; p < .001) among the students of color. Results suggest that microaggressions may represent a health and mental health risk to students of color. Implications of study results and future research directions are discussed.     

Addressing anniversary reactions of trauma through group process: the Hurricane Katrina anniversary wellness workshops

Natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast of the United States in the summer of 2005, have highlighted the need to develop effective post-trauma psychotherapeutic intervention strategies, not only to deal with the immediate psychological aftermath of trauma, but also the long-term effects of anniversary reactions. Governmental responses to Hurricane Katrina relief were greatly criticized for disorganization and delay. Both immediately afterwards and in ensuing months, people's life needs often were not addressed. People-to-people individual and group grassroots efforts, including those provided by mental health professionals, however, did reach local communities to service immediate needs and long-term emotional reactions. The present paper describes one such effort designed to help survivors cope on the occasion of the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Specifically, anniversary reaction group workshops were held to address unresolved emotional issues and to promote healing by encouraging belonging, comfort, security, and resilience. The ultimate goal of these wellness workshops was to assist participants in understanding and resolving their anniversary reactions. Preliminary quantitative and qualitative findings suggested that this workshop format helped participants face their anniversary reactions, address their related psychological sequelae, and deal with their physical displacement. Participants were then able to find the emotional strength to reattach, form new communities, and begin problem solving. These methods, with appropriate cultural modifications, were subsequently used in China, to assist Chinese mental health professionals prepare for the first anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake.     

Multilevel meta-analysis of single-subject experimental designs: A simulation study

One way to combine data from single-subject experimental design studies is by performing a multilevel meta-analysis, with unstandardized or standardized regression coefficients as the effect size metrics. This study evaluates the performance of this approach. The results indicate that a multilevel meta-analysis of unstandardized effect sizes results in good estimates of the effect. The multilevel meta-analysis of standardized effect sizes, on the other hand, is suitable only when the number of measurement occasions for each subject is 20 or more. The effect of the treatment on the intercept is estimated with enough power when the studies are homogeneous or when the number of studies is large; the power of the effect on the slope is estimated with enough power only when the number of studies and the number of measurement occasions are large.     

MPS II: Adaptive Behavior of Patients and Impact on the Family System

Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II), also known as Hunter syndrome, is a chronic and progressive X-linked lysosomal disease that mainly affects males. It occurs in 1 in every 65,000 to 1 in 132,000 births. There are two distinct forms of the disease based on age of onset and clinical course: mild and severe. MPS II affects many organ systems including the nervous, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and respiratory systems. Complications can include vision problems, progressive hearing loss, thickened and elastic skin, mental impairment, and enlarged liver and spleen. We herein focus on the adaptive behavior of individuals with MPS II, and the impact of MPS II on the family system. Outcomes from the Vineland-II Adaptive Behavior Scales showed that the MPS II patient sample experienced significantly lower functioning in communication, daily living skills, socialization, and motor skills compared to normative data. Patients with severe MPS II were found to have significantly lower adaptive functioning in all domains, as compared to those with mild MPS II. Length of time on ERT had no significant relationship to adaptive functioning. Results from the Peds QL Family Impact Module indicated that families of patients with MPS II experienced a lower overall health-related quality of life and overall lower family functioning (including lower emotional and cognitive functioning) than those with chronic illnesses residing in an inpatient setting.     

Couples’ Experiences of Hope When Participating in the Reflecting Team Process: A Case Study

Hope is believed to be influential to therapeutic change. However, no studies have explored couples’ experiences of hope during participation in a reflecting team process. This exploratory case study attends to this gap in the research literature. Three couples reported on their experiences of hope in relation to participating in the reflecting team process as part of their couple therapy. Themes related to hope were identified during three separate stages of the intervention: anticipating, participating in, and debriefing the reflecting team process. Reflecting team experiences related to hope included: seeking new perspectives, maintaining a positive momentum, identifying strengths, normalizing difficulties, presenting inspiring possibilities, providing support, highlighting growth, and strengthening resolve. These findings serve as a foundation for attending to clients’ hope as an active force during the reflecting team process.     

Cognitive-behavioural Anger Management Training for Adults with Mild Intellectual Disability

Although people with intellectual disabilities often display anger control problems, little research has been conducted on the development and evaluation of cost-effective anger management training programs for this special population. This study evaluated the efficacy of cognitive-behavioural anger management for 11 adults with mild intellectual disabilities in a group therapy format. Improvements were evident on self-report measures of anger and self-esteem. Additionally, caregiver reports indicated general improvements in emotional and behavioural adjustment. Limitations of the study are acknowledged, including the absence of a control condition.