The Impact of Racial Microaggressions on Mental Health: Counseling Implications for Clients of Color

This study examined the relationship between racial microaggressions (subtle and unintentional forms of racial discrimination) and mental health. Results from a large sample (N = 506) indicated that higher frequencies of racial microaggressions negatively predicted participants' mental health and that racial microaggressions were significantly correlated with depressive symptoms and negative affect. Differences in the types of microaggressions experienced by various racial groups (Asian, Latina/o, Black, White, and multiracial) and counseling implications are discussed.     

An Evaluation of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy with Mindfulness (CBTm) Classes and Telepsychology Utility in Rural Community Settings

Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy - Background: Cognitive behaviour therapy with mindfulness (CBTm) classes are a group-based, psychoeducational, clinical service. Early...     

Linkages between Interparental Conflicts and Adjustment of Adolescents in Hong Kong: The Mediating Role of Locus of Control

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Interparental conflicts have long been recognized as a risk factor for maladjustment in adolescents. Many studies have been conducted to examine mediators that...     

A randomized experiment comparing random and cutoff-based assignment

In this article, we review past studies comparing randomized experiments to regression discontinuity designs, mostly finding similar results, but with significant exceptions. The latter might be due to potential confounds of study characteristics with assignment method or with failure to estimate the same parameter over methods. In this study, we correct the problems by randomly assigning 588 participants to be in a randomized experiment or a regression discontinuity design in which they are otherwise treated identically, comparing results estimating both the same and different parameters. Analysis includes parametric, semiparametric, and nonparametric methods of modeling nonlinearities. Results suggest that estimates from regression discontinuity designs approximate the results of randomized experiments reasonably well but also raise the issue of what constitutes agreement between the 2 estimates.     

Let's Talk: Getting Out of the Counseling Center to Serve Hard‐to‐Reach Students

This article describes Let's Talk, a counseling center outreach program. Counselors hold walk‐in hours across campus to engage students who might not otherwise seek counseling. Locations are chosen to reach underserved communities. Counselors offer informal consultation, a less formal alternative to traditional counseling. Este artículo describe Let's Talk (Hablemos), un programa de acercamiento a los centros de consejería. Los consejeros mantienen horas de puertas abiertas sin cita previa en distintos lugares del campus para atraer a estudiantes que de otra forma no buscarían acceso a la consejería. Las ubicaciones se eligen para alcanzar comunidades con servicios insuficientes. Los consejeros ofrecen consultas informales, una alternativa menos formal a la consejería tradicional.     

Positive and negative effects of physical context reinstatement on eyewitness recall and identification

The impact of context reinstatement (CR) on eyewitness recall and identification was explored in this study. Participants viewed a video of a staged theft and, following a 1‐week interval, were asked to identify the culprit and recall the event in either the same or in a different physical environment. Results suggested that CR enhanced the perceived familiarity of the lineup members, which in turn increased participants' willingness to identify someone in the lineup. Although CR significantly improved facial discrimination and identification accuracy when the target was present, it also increased confidence ratings beyond that warranted by the increase in accuracy. In terms of recall, reinstating the study context improved participants' free recall of both central and peripheral details and cued recall of peripheral details. The results were consistent with a (mis)attribution of familiarity and the outshining hypothesis. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Children's self‐reports and parents' reports of internalising and externalising problems in Chinese and Anglo‐Celtic children in Australia

The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and Youth Self‐Report (YSR) are widely used measures of internalising and externalising problems in children and adolescents, but cross‐cultural differences in these problems have not been examined in Australian children of Chinese and Anglo‐Celtic ancestry. Fifty‐nine Chinese (27 boys and 32 girls) and 65 Anglo‐Celtic Australian (35 boys and 30 girls) children aged 10–13 years completed the YSR, and one of their parents completed the CBCL. Cross‐informant agreement between these two measures was also examined. No differences were found between the Chinese and Anglo‐Celtic groups on parents' and children's ratings on any syndrome or overall scales. The overall level of agreement between YSR and CBCL scores was poor in the Anglo‐Celtic group (intraclass correlation coefficient for total problems = 0.33), but there was no agreement between these scores in the Chinese group. Results highlight the need to obtain multiple sources of information in assessments of mental health problems in children from different cultural backgrounds.     

Adherence as a determinant of effectiveness of internet cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety and depressive disorders

Since 2009, the Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression (CRUfAD) has been providing primary care clinicians with internet cognitive behaviour therapy (iCBT) courses to prescribe to patients. Although these courses have demonstrated efficacy in research trials, adherence in primary care is less than half that of the research trials. The present studies pose three questions: first, do course non-completers drop out because of lack of efficacy? Second, can changes in delivery (e.g. adding choice, reminders and financial cost) improve adherence? Last, does clinician contact improve adherence? The results showed that non-completers derive benefit before dropping out; that adding reminders, choice of course and timing, and financial cost can significantly improve adherence; and that clinician contact during the course is associated with increased adherence. It is concluded that improved adherence is an important determinant of effectiveness.     

Do girls and boys perceive themselves as equally engaged in school? The results of an international study from 12 countries

This study examined gender differences in student engagement and academic performance in school. Participants included 3420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th graders) from Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The results indicated that, compared to boys, girls reported higher levels of engagement in school and were rated higher by their teachers in academic performance. Student engagement accounted for gender differences in academic performance, but gender did not moderate the associations among student engagement, academic performance, or contextual supports. Analysis of multiple-group structural equation modeling revealed that perceptions of teacher support and parent support, but not peer support, were related indirectly to academic performance through student engagement. This partial mediation model was invariant across gender. The findings from this study enhance the understanding about the contextual and personal factors associated with girls' and boys' academic performance around the world.     

Child anger proneness moderates associations between child-mother attachment security and child behavior with mothers at 33 months

Child-mother attachment security, assessed via a modified Strange Situation procedure (Cassidy & Marvin, with the MacArthur Attachment Working Group, 1992), and parent-reported child proneness to anger were examined as correlates of observed child behavior toward mothers during a series of interactive tasks (N = 120, 60 girls). Controlling for maternal sensitivity and child gender and expressive language ability, greater attachment security, and lower levels of anger proneness were related to more child responsiveness to maternal requests and suggestions during play and snack sessions. As hypothesized, anger proneness also moderated several security-behavior associations. Greater attachment security was related to (a) more committed compliance during clean-up and snack-delay tasks for children high on anger proneness, (b) more self-assertiveness during play and snack for children moderate or high on anger proneness, and (c) more help-seeking during play and snack for children moderate or low on anger proneness. Findings further our understanding of the behavioral correlates of child-mother attachment security assessed during late toddlerhood via the Cassidy-Marvin system and underscore child anger proneness as a moderator of attachment-related differences in child behavior during this developmental period.