Parent training with high-risk immigrant chinese families: a pilot group randomized trial yielding practice-based evidence

We studied the efficacy and implementation outcomes of a culturally responsive parent training (PT) program. Fifty-four Chinese American parents participated in a wait-list controlled group randomized trial (32 immediate treatment, 22 delayed treatment) of a 14-week intervention designed to address the needs of high-risk immigrant families. Parents were eligible for intervention if they were Chinese-speaking immigrants referred from schools, community clinics, or child protective services with concerns about parenting or child behavior problems. Retention and engagement were high with 83% of families attending 10 or more sessions. Results revealed that the treatment was efficacious in reducing negative discipline, increasing positive parenting, and decreasing child externalizing and internalizing problems. Treatment effects were larger among families with higher levels of baseline behavior problems and lower levels of parenting stress. Further augmentation of PT to address immigrant parent stress may be warranted. Qualitative impressions from group leaders suggested that slower pacing and increased rehearsal of skills may improve efficacy for immigrant parents unfamiliar with skills introduced in PT.     

Disentangling the adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder endophenotype: parametric measurement of attention

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) persists frequently into adulthood. The decomposition of endophenotypes by means of experimental neuro-cognitive assessment has the potential to improve diagnostic assessment, evaluation of treatment response, and disentanglement of genetic and environmental influences. We assessed four parameters of attentional capacity and selectivity derived from simple psychophysical tasks (verbal report of briefly presented letter displays) and based on a "theory of visual attention." These parameters are mathematically independent, quantitative measures, and previous studies have shown that they are highly sensitive for subtle attention deficits. Potential reductions of attentional capacity, that is, of perceptual processing speed and working memory storage capacity, were assessed with a whole report paradigm. Furthermore, possible pathologies of attentional selectivity, that is, selection of task-relevant information and bias in the spatial distribution of attention, were measured with a partial report paradigm. A group of 30 unmedicated adult ADHD patients and a group of 30 demographically matched healthy controls were tested. ADHD patients showed significant reductions of working memory storage capacity of a moderate to large effect size. Perceptual processing speed, task-based, and spatial selection were unaffected. The results imply a working memory deficit as an important source of behavioral impairments. The theory of visual attention parameter working memory storage capacity might constitute a quantifiable and testable endophenotype of ADHD.     

Factors affecting the involvement of teachers in guidance and counselling as a whole-school approach

This study explores factors affecting the involvement of regular secondary school teachers in the whole-school approach to guidance and counselling by interviewing 12 secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. Emerging themes include teachers' ownership of their role in student guidance and counselling, the alignment of their disposition with education policies, school missions and culture, and their philosophy in education. Findings of what these teachers are actually doing in guidance and counselling are presented. Implications for policy-makers, administrators and leaders for comprehensive guidance and counselling programmes are drawn from constraints that limit interviewees' full potential in assisting students.     

A Pilot Study of Psychotherapist Trainees' Alpha-Amylase and Cortisol Levels During Treatment of Recently Suicidal Clients With Borderline Traits

Psychotherapists often experience stress while providing psychotherapy, in particular when working with difficult presentations such as suicidality. As part of a larger study on the treatment of recently suicidal college students with borderline traits, 6 therapists in training collected their own salivary samples for alpha-amylase (AA) and cortisol (C) analyses immediately before and after sessions with 2 selected clients. On average, samples were collected for the same therapist-patient dyad throughout the year-long study to ensure that data reflected therapist responses across stages of treatment. Therapists also completed a working alliance questionnaire and rated perceived session difficulty immediately after each selected session. Contrary to expectations, therapists demonstrated elevated levels of stress as measured by AA and C at presession relative to postsession levels. Greater session difficulty was related to more pronounced declines in AA, whereas a stronger working alliance was linked to more pronounced reductions in C. Results suggest that physiological stress responses while working with recently suicidal clients with borderline traits occur primarily in terms of session anticipatory anxiety, whereas AA and C changes may be affected differently by factors such as session difficulty and working alliance. This is a pilot study, limited by its sample size, but the design, findings, and inclusion of physiological measures present an initial step in an essential line of research.     

The Role of Judaism in Family Relationships

This article explores the religious and social underpinnings of family as a central social structure to Jewish life. Torah and Talmudic sources, conceptual papers, and empirical research that address the relevance of family to Judaism are examined. Suggestions for working with Jewish families in a therapeutic setting are provided. Este artículo explora los fundamentos religiosos y sociales de la familia como estructura social central en la vida judía. Se examinan fuentes de la Torah y el Talmud, ensayos conceptuales e investigaciones empíricas que tratan la relevancia de la familia en el judaísmo. Se proporcionan sugerencias para trabajar con familias judías en un entorno terapéutico.     

Internal Consistencies and Structural Analysis of the MMPI-2 PSY-5 Facet Subscales in Chinese Population

Using the normative data set of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 of the People’s Republic of China, this study examined the psychometric properties of the Personality Psychopathology Five facet subscales recently developed by Arnau et al. (2005). The internal consistency reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the Psy-5 were found to be unsatisfactory. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that both item-to-facet factor structure (except the PSYC domain facets subscales) and facet-to-domain factor structure fit the data poorly. These findings suggested that the PSY-5 facet subscales may not be reliable and valid in population independent of those used to derive them. Thus, the utility of these facet subscales in clinical and research settings is premature at least for Chinese people at the present time.     

论《乐论》与《乐记》的根本区别——兼论占星学对于先秦儒家礼乐思想的冲击与整合

The core idea of On Yue (《乐论》) is that Yue makes people harmonious (乐和同), and Li shows people’s differences (礼别异). And the core idea of Yueji (《乐记》)is that the great Yue is a kind of harmony of sky and earth (大乐与天地同和), and the great Li has the same order to the sky and earth (大礼与天地同节). There are some essential differences between these two books. On Yue (《乐论》) systematically discussed and developed the early Confucian thought of Li (礼) and Yue (乐), and concentrated on Xunzi’s view of social reality then. Yu...     

北宋文人士大夫穿道服现象论析

道服,即道教服饰。隋唐时期,文人士大夫穿道服的现象零星出现,至五代而形成社会风气,北宋蔚为大观,形成了文人士大夫在不同时间、不同场合穿道服的独特现象。文人主要在两种时空穿道服:一是在职官员非公务的私人生活中;一是贬官或无仕的在野文人日常生活中。他们所穿道服既来源于道士服饰中的"常服",又发生了变异。这一社会文化现象是道教世俗化对文人影响在服饰方面的重要表现,这一现象的背后有其深刻的文化意蕴:带有道教信仰意味;是闲适生活方式的象征;代表了一种与世俗礼仪相对的处世态度。     

文化生活脚本理论及其研究进展

为了解释人对于生活事件的回忆出现的记忆隆起现象,出现了文化生活脚本理论。文化生活脚本是文化上共享、关于重要生活事件发生时间及顺序的知识。它是规范事件的图式,可以用来检索和叙述个人过去经历的过程。文章综述了文化脚本的研究及其进展,并对进一步的研究提出了设想。