National attitudes towards mental health treatment: the importance of research evidence

Most conceptualizations of evidence-based practice view it as a “three legged stool” consisting of: the use of best available research evidence, clinical expertise, and client preferences. Although empirical evidence and clinical expertise have received greater empirical attention, relatively little research has systematically explored client preferences. The present study analyzed self-reported treatment preferences for various clinical and non-clinical presentations. Adult participants (n = 1262) residing in the United States were presented with diagnostic vignettes and rated their relative preferences among 5 treatment variables, including: use of an empirically supported treatment (EST), quality of the client–therapist relationship, therapist empathy, therapist experience, and client speaking for the majority of therapy sessions. Results indicated that participants endorsed significant preference for receiving an EST over other treatment variables for all clinical disorders, with effect sizes ranging from small to large depending on the diagnosis. There was slightly greater variability in treatment preferences for non-clinical issues, though participants generally reported greater preference for receiving an EST. Follow-up questions provided further evidence for EST preferences. The implications of these results are discussed.     

The Effects of Scrambling on Spanish and Korean Agrammatic Interpretation: Why Linear Models Fail and Structural Models Survive

Several models of comprehension deficits in agrammatic aphasia rely heavily on linear considerations in the assignment of thematic roles to structural positions (e.g., the Trace-Deletion Hypothesis, the Mapping Hypothesis, and the Argument-Linking Hypothesis). These accounts predict that constructions in languages with rules that affect syntactic structure but preserve relative linear order should be unimpaired. Other models [e.g., the Double-Dependency Hypothesis, (DDH)] do not resort to linearity but are purely structural in conception and therefore should be immune to word-order effects. We tested linear and nonlinear accounts with scrambling structures in Korean and topicalization structures in Spanish. The results are very clear. The (nonlinear) DDH is entirely compatible with the evidence, but the linear accounts are not.     

The client as a self‐aware agent in counselling and psychotherapy

Clients' recollections of their experiences of counselling and psychotherapy were stimulated using the technique of Interpersonal Process Recall. Their reports were analysed in terms of the grounded theory method of qualitative research. The analysis resulted in the interpretation that the core category of their experience is clients' reflexivity, or self‐awareness and agency flowing from it and returning to it. The focus of this paper is directed at the client's reflexivity in response to the counsellor's operations. Its organizing theme is that how clients respond to counsellors' operations depends on what clients desire and what they feel they can say safely. Particular desires arise from an over‐arching desire either to enter into or avoid inner experience. Moreover, the relation with self is influenced by the relationship with the therapist. This complexity makes it difficult to predict responses to non‐directive and directive counsellor performances alike. Vignettes selected from the participants' reports illustrate the theme. Implications for the practice of counselling and psychotherapy are discussed.     

汉字形音信息在韩国留学生判断句义中的作用

本研究旨在探讨以汉语为第二语言的学习者在提取汉字语义时是否受到形音信息的影响。实验以16名在华的韩国留学生作为被试,采用句尾歧义字实验范式,句尾字包括四种条件——符合句义的目标字、目标字的同音字、目标字的形近字和无关控制字,后三种类型的句尾字构成了歧义句。被试的任务是判断句义是否正确。实验结果发现,被试对同音干扰字的反应时明显短于对形近干扰字的反应时,对同音干扰字的判断正确率显著高于对形近干扰字和无关控制字的判断正确率,而形近干扰字和无关控制字无论在正确率还是反应时上均没有显著差异。这个结果表明,以汉语作为第二语言的韩国留学生在阅读汉语时,汉字的语音信息自动激活,并促进语义的提取。     

心理咨询中的期望：概念辨析及理论视角

心理咨询中的期望被视为今后心理咨询过程研究和结果研究的核心变量。文献研究发现,过去的研究缺乏理论指导,对心理咨询中的期望还没有形成系统的认识。本文从社会影响力模型、目标动机理论、人际期望效应模型、人际人格理论和社会认知论定义了五种不同的期望,给出了不同定义下期望的相关实证研究,区别了对心理咨询的期望和当事人的期望。为说明不同理论视角下期望的区别和联系,用“现实－幻想”、“情境－稳定”两组概念辨析了心理咨询中的期望的相关理论并提出了今后该领域的研究方向     

Korean College Students' Personal Perception of Emerging Adulthood and Its Relations with Identity,Psychiatric Symptoms,Smartphone Problems,and Alcohol Problems

Emerging adulthood has recently become one of the hottest topics in the field of adult development, yet the variabilities in the experience of emerging adulthood need further examination. The present study focused on two factors that contribute to the variations of emerging adulthood: first, the impact of personal perception about adulthood; and second, information about Korean college students' identity maturity, depression, anxiety, smartphone problems, and alcohol-related problems. Data from 211 Korean college students indicated that subjective perception of reaching adulthood was significantly related to identity maturity, depression, and anxiety, even after the impacts of chronological age and sex were controlled. Smartphone problems and alcohol-related problems were not associated with the perception of adulthood. These results suggest that the subjective interpretation of reaching adulthood might be more important than chronological age in terms of relationships with psychological well-being.     

Deception in psychotherapy: Frequency,typology and relationship

Deception in therapy has been documented anecdotally through various narratives of therapists. The investigation of its occurrence within therapy has largely been overlooked. We explored the reported frequency of deception within psychotherapy, the types of deception used within therapy, the likelihood of people lying to a therapist compared to other groups of people, and client perceptions of the types of deception that therapists use. Ninety‐one participants were provided with a series of deception examples, asked questions about the use of these types of deception within therapy, and asked generally about their use of deception in therapy. We found that a majority of the participants had been deceptive in therapy, and a majority were willing to be deceptive in future therapeutic contexts. Participants were more likely to use white lies than other forms of deception in therapy. Lastly, participants were less likely to lie to therapists compared to strangers and acquaintances. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

School and individual factors on game addiction: A multilevel analysis

This study investigated the protective or risk factors of game addiction at individual and school-level using multilevel modelling. Data from Korea Children and Youth Panel Survey was used for the analyses. The findings revealed that individual-level variables, including gender, delinquency, family intimacy, stress, self-esteem and self-control, were significant predictors of game addiction. Furthermore, protective school climate contributed to decreasing the level of game addiction and risky school climates positively predicted game addiction. The effect of individual-level variables on game addiction was different depending on the type or level of school-level variables. Based on the findings, implications and suggestions for future studies were discussed.     

A Holistic Client Functioning Profile Comparison of People With Serious Mental Illness

Among a sample of 196 participants, small differences in holistic client functioning, as measured by standardized Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment (Lyons & Walton, 1999) and symptom severity scores, emerged across 3 diagnostic categories of serious mental illness (SMI; i.e., depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia). However, sizable variations in symptom severity were evident across diagnoses of SMI, despite study participants receiving a similar configuration and intensity of recovery-oriented usual-care services. These results may evidence previous concerns surrounding the transdiagnosis of SMI, overlapping criteria and symptomatology among disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and mental health treatment and service practices in the United States. Implications for counselor practice are discussed.