An Evaluation of Pharmacological Treatment Combined with Stress Inoculation Training in the Management of oral Lichen Planus

The aim of this pilot study was to examine the effects of the inclusion of a cognitive-behavioral intervention to the pharmacological treatment of oral lichen planus (OLP). Using a randomized controlled clinical trial, 16 patients affected by OLP were treated either with a potent corticosteroid in addition with stress inoculation training or with the drug alone. There were significant differences between the groups regarding the severity of the pathology both at the end of the treatment as well as at one-month follow-up. It is concluded that a cognitive-behavioral intervention might be usefully combined with pharmacological treatment for OLP.     

Effectiveness of Pre-counseling Genetic Education Workshops at a Large Urban Community Health Center Serving Low-Income Chinese American Women

Chinese American pregnant women and women of childbearing age face economic, cultural and linguistic barriers in accessing mainstream health care services. The Charles B. Wang Community Health Center developed a culturally and linguistically competent genetic education workshop for high-risk Chinese American prenatal patients. Patients referred for genetic counseling for thalassemia, abnormal triple screen results, and/or advanced maternal age were recruited to participate in the workshop. The workshop provided basic “genetic 101” education, focusing on topics that were directly relevant to the patients’ reasons for referral. The effectiveness of the workshop was measured using a quasi-experimental design with pre-post surveys administered to intervention and control group participants. The evaluation also included a genetic counselor assessment and a pilot study of genetic counseling appointment length. Overall, workshop participants showed significant increases in knowledge, positive attitude and self-efficacy regarding genetic services as compared to their control group counterparts. The pilot appointment length study data revealed that the workshop reduced the length of the genetic counseling appointment time by 40%. These positive findings suggest that it would be worthwhile to replicate the genetic education workshop at other health agencies serving Chinese-speaking populations and that further evaluation research should be conducted.     

Adolescents' evaluative beliefs of failure: explorations in a Chinese Singaporean sample

Our study explored evaluative beliefs of failure to see whether positive and negative beliefs of failure are bivariate in nature within three domains of an adolescent's life (academic, social, and athletic) and how such beliefs are differentially linked to the importance of a domain, the frequency of failure in a domain, and the extremity of negative emotions experienced when encountering failure in a domain. A total of 163 Chinese Singaporean students in Secondary 3 and 4 (Grades 9 and 10) from two Singapore schools participated in the study by completing a questionnaire. Results from various analyses converged to demonstrate that evaluative beliefs could be distinguished by both valence (positive and negative) and domain (academic, social, and athletic). The six evaluative beliefs were also distinguished from failure attributions. While there was consensus in what constituted negative beliefs of failure across domains, positive beliefs of failure showed some domain specificity, with unique aspects in particular domains (e.g., the inevitability of failure only in the academic domain). Positive and negative beliefs in the different domains were correlated among themselves, but positive and negative beliefs were uncorrelated within (except for academic) and across domains. Positive and negative beliefs were also differentially linked to domain importance, failure frequency, and extremity of negative emotion. Unexpectedly, domain importance was not linked to negative beliefs but was linked to positive beliefs, while positive and negative beliefs showed domain-specific links with failure frequency. As expected, however, negative beliefs were (positively) linked to extremity of negative emotions while positive beliefs were not linked to such extremity. The conceptual, substantive, and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

WISC-III Cognitive Profiles in Children with ADHD: Specific Cognitive Impairments and Diagnostic Utility

This study aimed to investigate the presence of specific cognitive impairments and the diagnostic utility of the WISC-III in children with ADHD. Ninety-eight children with ADHD and 81 children without ADHD matched by age and gender (control group), between the ages of 6 and 12?years, participated in the study. Children with ADHD revealed the most pronounced deficits in the subtests tapping working memory and processing speed. Freedom from Distractibility was the cognitive profile most impaired and that showed the highest diagnostic accuracy to discriminate children with ADHD. The optimal cutoff scores of the most common WISC-III cognitive profiles revealed greater diagnostic accuracy than the traditional approach of full or partial profiles. Taken together, these results suggested that in the context of a comprehensive psychological assessment, the WISC may provide knowledge about the specific cognitive strengths and weaknesses that characterize this disorder and may be useful in the decision-making process relative to ADHD diagnosis.     

African-American clergy's perceptions of the leading health problems in their communities and their role in supporting parishioners' health

This article is a report on a survey of Southern California pastors to learn of their perceptions of the leading health problems in their congregations. Participants (N=41) identified stress, overweight, and obesity as the top three health indicators that effect the health of their congregations. Tobacco use and substance abuse were listed among the top five. From a list of health problems, pastors felt that from the pulpit they could impact parishioners responsible sexual behavior most. Pastors expressed their opinions about the reasons for certain maladies and addictions. The findings indicate room for improvement in building clergy's understanding of the nature of illness and addiction and in empowering them in their role of supporting healthy behaviors in the African-American community.     

The increasing relevance of European rural young people in policy agendas: Contributions from community psychology

Our paper aims to provide a short guide on how community psychologists can contribute to the improvement of rural young people's prospects. After briefly introducing the demographic trends of these young people in continental Europe for the past decade, we list the current challenges faced by rural European young generations, as well as the opportunities emerging for them from the twin transition that can inspire the community psychology field. We then contextualize community psychologists' interventions in this domain according to an ecological-systemic standpoint and by embracing a Participatory Action Research (PAR) perspective on research and practice. We further detail the reasons for adopting a PAR approach in research and practice to address rural young people's challenges and opportunities. Finally, we highlight four potential intermediation missions to uphold community psychologists' rural youth development input, based on the adopted theoretical and methodological standpoint. We conclude that our short guide can facilitate community psychology professionals' complete understanding of rural young generations' prospects, in line with the expected increase in the need for rural young people's participation. Our proposal may also have long-term benefits for rural communities by contributing to the redesigning of intergenerational relationships and securing critical mass.     

Thriving,burnout, and coping strategies of early and later career counseling center psychologists in the United States

We interviewed seven early career psychologists (ECPs) and seven later career psychologists (LCPs) employed at university counseling centers in the United States about their experiences with thriving, burnout, and coping. We analyzed the data using Consensual Qualitative Research. Typical factors that contributed to thriving included recognition for achievement and the climate of counseling center and campus, although the latter was more important for ECPs than LCPs. Typical factors that contributed to burnout included challenges with tasks and responsibilities and challenges related to professional relationships. Finally, interpersonal support (general), self-care, cognitive strategies, and behavioral strategies (typical) were coping strategies used by both ECPs and LCPs, but only ECPs identified using personal therapy. Implications for counseling centers and for research are presented.     

A new apparatus for the study of avoidance conditioning in fishes

An apparatus for the study of avoidance conditioning in fishes is described. The chamber is cylindrical in shape, with shocking electrodes placed above and below the animals, and response is defined as swimming a predetermined distance in either direction along a circumferential path. This apparatus has several advantages over the conventional shuttlebox: (1)There is little constraint on the direction of swimming; (2) the magnitude of response (swimming distance) required for avoidance can easily be varied over a wide range; and (3) variation in the effectiveness of shock with the position of the animal relative to the position of the electrodes is minimized. Some sample data obtained in a free-operant experiment with goldfish are presented.