From Resistance to Buy-In: Experiences of Clinicians in Training Using Feedback-Informed Treatment

In this qualitative research study, the authors use grounded theory analysis to examine the experiences of clinicians in training and use client feedback to inform treatment. Twenty-six marriage and family therapy graduate students in their first or second semester of clinical practicum participated in this study. Participants were trained in eliciting and responding to client feedback at the end of every therapy session. At the end of the semester, participants reflected on their learning experience. Participant experiences reflected a developmental learning process beginning with significant challenges followed by positive clinical changes and positive clinician changes, culminating in overall buy-in regarding the importance of client feedback for nearly all clinicians. The results support the literature that client feedback directly informs the therapeutic process while suggesting important recommendations for training new clinicians in learning to use client feedback.     

Challenges in Supporting Community Implementation of Science-based Programs: A Critical Review of Local Partnerships for Success Plans

This paper provides the opportunity to consider local challenges to implementing science-based programs. Wandersman et al. (American Journal of Community Psychology 2008) define three systems necessary to effectively implement science-based programming. These systems include the Prevention Support System, which is responsible for assisting communities in implementing effective practices; the Prevention Research System, which is responsible for developing and packaging prevention programming; and the Prevention Delivery System, which is responsible for delivering services. The authors conduct a content analysis related to six county level efforts to implement science-based programs in Ohio. These counties are part of a larger Ohio initiative referred to as Partnerships for Success. The authors suggest that local officials are quite skilled at accessing the Prevention Research System and providers at the local level represent an effective service delivery system. The authors contend that the Prevention Support System in these counties is capable of enhancing several functions related to local infrastructure but is deficient in other important elements.     

Biological and caregiver correlates of behavioral inhibition

The aim of this study was to explore the relationships among measures of behavioral inhibition, physiological reactivity, and caregiver attitudes. Measures comprised of heart rate; survey assessments of caregiver empathy with the child, appropriateness of caregiver developmental expectations of the child, and use of positive discipline techniques; and observational measures of behavioral inhibition were gathered in a laboratory setting on 72, 5–6‐year old children. It was found that heart rate and behavioral inhibition were positively correlated (0.595), whereas behavioral inhibition was negatively correlated with caregiver attitudes of empathy (?0.356), appropriate expectations (?0.366), and use of positive discipline techniques (?0.275). However, there was no correlation between heart rate and caregiver attitudes. These data suggest that physiological reactivity to novel stimuli and caregiver attitudes of empathy, appropriate expectations, and use of positive discipline techniques conjointly influence behavioral inhibition in early childhood. Further, these three caregiver variables accounted for significant variance in children who had high reactive physiological profiles associated with inhibited behavior patterns, but did not display such patterns. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Responsibility Attribution And Helping Behaviour In The Ash Wednesday Bushfires

The theoretical and empirical literature on the attribution of responsibility and helping behaviour suggests that a causal relationship exists between the perception of a victim's responsibility for his or her distress and the observer's willingness to help. This relationship was examined in a study of the attributions Victorians made and the amount of help (donations) given to the victims of the Ash Wednesday bushfires. The survey responses of 372 subjects indicated that although many people attributed a considerable degree of responsibility to the victims, attributions were unrelated to subsequent helping behaviour. Instead, helping was mediated by feelings of personal obligation to lend assistance and feelings of sympathy for the victims. It is argued that attribution theory may not be relevant to serious situations where norms for helping are highly salient.     

Exploring the Meaning of Spirituality and Spiritual Care in Chinese Contexts: A Scoping Review

Journal of Religion and Health - Spirituality is recognised as a fundamental aspect of health and nursing care. Yet, there are few studies exploring how this concept may be understood outside of...     

Alien demonology: The Christian roots of the malevolent extraterrestrial in UFO religions and abduction spiritualities

Initially, the sacralisation of the extraterrestrial led to an understanding of the alien as a fundamentally benevolent, messianic figure—a ‘technological angel’. This was largely because of the Cold War environment in which much UFO religion arose. Those attracted to the myth looked beyond a politically and militarily unstable planet to extraterrestrial saviours. Furthermore, because UFO religions have their roots in the Theosophical tradition, the religious understanding of the extraterrestrial tended to be fundamentally indebted to the concept of the wise and benevolent ascended master. The aim of this article is to examine the technological angel's foil. The central thesis is that, in their construction of the malevolent alien, UFO religionists and abductees turn not to Theosophy and Eastern religious traditions but to the myths and symbols of Christian demonology. Moreover, in exploring the origins and nature of the demonologies of contemporary UFO religions and abduction spiritualities, the article also draws attention to the importance of popular culture in the West, which, itself influenced by the Christian tradition, contributes to the formation of both popular demonology and also UFO mythology, which are in turn synthesised in UFO demonologies.     

Additive effects of inhibiting attention to objects and locations in three-dimensional displays

One of the processes thought to underlie visual selection works by biasing attention away from either recently examined locations or objects. The extent of this “inhibition” is greatest when the inhibited object and the inhibited location coincide. In Experiment 1, rectangles are presented stereoscopically at different depths but at similar positions horizontally and vertically. Here, any inhibition should be based solely on a spatial code, as the objects, the rectangles are clearly separate objects. In Experiment 2, the corners of the rectangles are joined to produce a single cuboid that extends in depth space. Now inhibition based on both spatial and object codes should be seen because even when on different depth planes the cue and target are associated with the same object. Consistent with our understanding of the additive effects of inhibition of space and object codes, the extent of inhibition in the second study is almost double that of the first. The results further suggest that space-based inhibition operates within a two-dimensional representation while object-based inhibition utilizes a three-dimensional representation.     

Age-related differences in acquisition of perceptual-motor skills: working memory as a mediator

Aging is associated with reduced performance on information processing speed, memory, and executive functions tasks. Although older adults are also less apt in acquiring new perceptual-motor skills, it is unclear whether and how skill acquisition difficulties are associated with age-related general cognitive differences. We addressed this question by examining structural relations among measures of cognitive resources (working memory) and indices of perceptual-motor skill acquisition (pursuit rotor and mirror tracing) in 96 healthy adults aged 19-80 years of age. Three competing structural models were tested: a single (common) factor model, a dual correlated factors model, and a hierarchical dual-factor model. The third model provided the best fit to the data, indicating age differences in simple perceptual-motor skill are partially mediated by more complex abilities.