Return of Genetic Results in the Familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy Research Project

The goal of the Familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy (FDC) Research Project, initiated in 1993, has been to identify and characterize FDC genetic cause. All participating individuals have been consented for the return of genetic results, an important but challenging undertaking. Since the inception of the Project we have enrolled 606 probands, and 269 of these had 1670 family members also enrolled. Each subject was evaluated for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) and pedigrees were categorized as familial or sporadic. The coding regions of 14 genes were resequenced in 311 to 324 probands in five studies. Ninety-two probands were found to carry nonsynonymous rare variants absent in controls, and with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment of 1988 (CLIA) compliant protocols, relevant genetic results were returned to these probands and their consented relatives by study genetic counselors and physicians in 353 letters. In 10 of the 51 families that received results >1 year ago, at least 23 individuals underwent CLIA confirmation testing for their family’s rare variant. Return of genetic results has been successfully undertaken in the FDC Research Project. This report describes the methods utilized in the process of returning research results. We use this information as a springboard for providing guidance to other genetic research groups and proposing future directions in this arena.     

Emphasis on Experimental Procedure,Sex of Subjects and the Biasing Effects of Experimental Hypotheses

For a set of 20 male graduate student Es, the experimental hypotheses held were significant partial determinants of the responses Ss produced for Es. This effect of Es' hypotheses was more marked among Es made more conscious of their experimental procedure when collecting data from female Ss. Male Ss were found to be less susceptible than female Ss to the biasing effects of Es' hypotheses. Unexpected was the finding that for a minority of Es (15%) the data they obtained from their Ss were significantly opposite to the data they expected to obtain.     

The Attribution of Positive and Negative Qualities to Social Actions

This research reports on the manner in which extrinsic qualities are attributed to different forms of social action. Particular concern was given to the question of how such attribution of properties might be related to a person's desire to be involved in the action. Two findings seemed to be relatively clear. First, quite arbitrary qualities are attributed to various social actions with a high degree of consistency. Because these qualities cannot be considered intrinsic to the action, the consistent attribution of such qualities must come from some source other than the actions themselves. Second, of the several qualities examined, the most powerful attributed quality for purposes of social motivation appeared to be the general concept of display. Actions perceived as having a high degree of display potential for an actor were also actions that respondents were willing to commit themselves to or become involved in to a profound degree.     

Scientific naturalism: a great truth that got distorted

Scientific naturalism in the generic sense is the doctrine that there can be no supernatural interruptions of the world’s causal processes. This idea, which emerged in Greece in the 6th century BCE, was formulated most adequately in Plato’s theistic version. However, in appropriating Greek philosophy, Christian thinkers first modified and then rejected its naturalism. Scientific naturalism emerged again in the 18th and 19th centuries, but because of ideas retained from the supernaturalistic mechanism that became associated with science in the 17th century, naturalism appeared in a distorted version, one that is inadequate for science itself as well as incompatible with Christian faith or any other significantly religious view. The great truth of scientific naturalism needs to be rescued from this distorted version of it.     

Play Therapy in Elementary Schools: A Best Practice for Improving Academic Achievement

This pilot study of 1st graders who are academically at risk examined the effectiveness of child‐centered play therapy (CCPT). The experimental group received biweekly, 30‐minute play therapy sessions for 8 weeks. Findings indicated that these 1st graders participating in CCPT (n = 21) demonstrated a statistically significant increase on the Early Achievement Composite of the Young Children's Achievement Test (Hresko, Peak, Herron, & Bridges, 2000) when compared with children in the control group (n = 20). Results support using CCPT as an intervention for academic achievement.     

Research in Counseling: A 10‐Year Review to Inform Practice

This study reviewed 4,457 articles from 1998 to 2007 in American Counseling Association division‐affiliated journals to identify research articles published in counseling; 1,139 articles (25.6%) were quantitatively research based. The authors provide details related to quantitative research publications, including individual journal contribution to the research base, focus areas for research, and independent and dependent variables highlighted by researchers. One summary finding was that only 6% of counseling research articles explored effectiveness of counseling interventions.