Family-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Treatments for Suicidal Adolescents and Their Integration With Individual Treatment

A considerable research base underscores the importance of family functioning in the risk for and treatment of adolescent suicidal thoughts and behaviors. This paper reviews the extant empirical literature documenting associations between features of the family context and adolescent suicidal thoughts and behaviors. A case example is provided to illustrate how family factors may guide case conceptualization and treatment planning for suicidal adolescents. In light of the growing support for treatment approaches predicated on the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), the paper focuses on many of the common family treatment elements, notably interventions with parents across treatment studies with adolescent suicidal populations. A specific treatment known as CBT for Suicide Prevention (CBT-SP; Stanley et al., 2009) serves as an exemplar for how interventions with parents may be applied in the context of an integrated intervention for teen suicide. The paper reviews issues salient to the implementation of key components of treatment with parents and addresses specific treatment considerations and challenges.     

Does theory of mind performance differ in children with early‐onset and regressive autism?

A deficit in theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to infer the mental states of others, has been implicated as one of the major characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); however, little attention has been devoted to possible differences in ToM ability within ASD. The current study examined ToM performance in children with early-onset autism and regressive autism in comparison to typically developing children. Results indicated that children in the regressive autism group performed significantly better than the early-onset autism group on the non-verbal appearance-reality task. Additionally, Fisher's exact tests indicated a pattern of lowest scores in the early-onset group and highest scores in the typically developing group, whereas the regressive autism group tended to score in between the early-onset and typically developing groups. The apparent heterogeneity in ToM performance within ASD could account for the lack of universality in ToM ability found in previous studies.     

Analysing user’s reactions in advice-giving dialogues with a socially intelligent ECA

In this paper, we investigate the user’s reactions to received suggestion by an Embodied Conversational Agent playing the role of artificial therapist in the healthy eating domain. Specifically, we analyse the behaviour of people who voluntarily requested to receive information from the agent, and we compare it with the results of a previous evaluation experiment in which subjects were not properly motivated to interact with the agent because they were selected for evaluating the system. This study is part of an ongoing research aimed at developing an intelligent virtual agent that applies natural argumentation techniques to persuade the users to improve their eating habits.     

Critical Incidents in Multicultural Training: An Examination of Student Experiences

This study examined critical incidents in graduate students' multicultural counseling training. Trainees (N = 59) were asked to describe a critical incident and their multicultural training environment by responding to a critical incident protocol and the Multicultural Environment Inventory‐Revised (D. B. Pope‐Davis, W. M. Liu, J. Nevitt, & R. L. Toporek, 2000). Results and implications of the study are discussed. Este estudio examinó incidentes críticos en los estudiantes graduados de entrenamiento de asesoramiento multicultural. Le pidieron a los aprendices (N = 59) a describer un incidente crítico y su ambiente multicultural del entrenamiento respondiendo a un protocolo del incidente crítico y El Ambiente Multicultural Inventario‐Revisado (D. B. Pope‐Davis, W. M. Liu, J. Nevitt, & R. L. Toporek, 2000). Los resultados y las implicaciones del estudio se discuten.     

VTLOGANL: Coding and analyzing videotaped data

Researchers using videotape as a primary means of data collection need flexible yet easy-to-use procedures and equipment for the time-consuming task of coding and analysis. The VTLOGANL program (for VideoTape LOGging ANaLysis) slaves a video deck to the computer system, allowing the researcher to code, in real time, video-recorded events of either a pulsed or duration nature. VTLOGANL’s innovative database design frees the researcher to define up to 9,999 different codewords for each project, organizing any combination of up to 30 of those codewords for each elapsed second of logging time. Reporting features, including data export and import, allow the researcher to examine quickly questions of codeword frequency, event duration, sequencing, and overlap, according to the requirements of the research design.     

Developing conceptions of racism among young white adults in the context of cultural diversity coursework

Despite substantial research on racial attitudes and racial identity development among young white adults, little is known about the development of their conceptions about racism. The present study assessed a five-step, empirically based contextualist model of the development of conceptions about racism in young white adults, adapted from the research of Perry (1970), Kitchener and Fischer (1990), and others. A total of 55 young white adults participating in cultural diversity coursework responded to questionnaires about the nature and causes of racism and responses were classified according to the five-step model. Results indicated that many first-year white college students think about racism in dualistic terms, comparable to those described by Perry (1970) in some first-year students' epistemological concepts. Over a semester, many students showed transitions to higher steps, conceptually integrating more dimensions of the problem. Such developmental transitions may be highly context-specific. Implications for educational interventions are discussed.     

The impact of training in sexual counselling for drugs workers upon HIV related risk behaviours and attitudes among injecting drug users

Forty-five drug-using clients attending two drug services at a London hospital were interviewed before and after a training programme on sexual counselling delivered to staff working at the two units. Following staff training, clients reported increased interaction during counselling with staff on sexual issues. Results indicated that drug use and injecting behaviours were unaflected by the stag training and that changes in sexual behaviour were modest. Attitudinal changes were more substantial with more positive attitudes emerging to limiting the number of sexual partners and towards the use of condoms. The value of observed attitudinal changes and the importance of decision-making processes of clients for harm minimization are discussed     

Creating embryos for research

ABSTRACT The 1987 Amendment to the Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act (Vic) allows the creation of embryos specifically for research purposes, as long as the proposed experiment takes place within 24 hours. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there is aany significant ethical difference between creating embryos specifically for research and using those that are surplus from the new reproductive technologies. The relevant arguments in this debate can be grouped under three heads: those focussing on the embryo; those focussing on the possible consequences of these practices and those focussing on the women who donate the eggs.