Importance of Therapist Use of Social Reinforcement with Parents as a Model for Parent-Child Relationships: An Example with Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses attention on the therapeutic relationship in parent-child therapy by using social reinforcement with parents and children as it relates to Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). As in other therapy contexts, it is argued that having the therapist serve as a mediator of social reinforcement facilitates client change, After discussing different aspects of PCIT, we discuss the therapeutic relationship as viewed through other theoretical frameworks. This is followed by a discussion of the role of social reinforcement in the parent-child relationship. We then discuss at methodological and applied levels, the importance of therapist accuracy and consistency in the delivery of reinforcement as a means of changing the parent-child relationship. Next, this is followed by a discussion of the therapist-to-parent-to-child sequential chain of behaviors involved in PCIT. Finally, suggestions for future empirical studies are considered.     

Emotional intelligence (EI), conflict resolution patterns,and relationship satisfaction: Actor and partner effects revisited

This study tested for actor and partner effects in the relationship between ability-based EI and adaptive marital relationships and satisfaction employing a standard dyadic design involving 100 young heterosexual couples. Participants were assessed on the MSCEIT along with measures of conflict resolution patterns and perceived marital satisfaction. A series of path analyses provided support for actor effects—but not partner effects—in the association of EI, assessed as ability, and marital variables. Overall, the data provide only partial support for the common claim and some prior research suggesting that EI plays a pivotal role in marital relationships.     

Fostering Resilience among Couples Coparenting a Young Child with Autism: An Evaluation of Together We Are Stronger

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a 4-week caregiver training program designed to promote resilience among couples raising a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Seven couples with a child between the ages of 3 and 9 completed a group-based training focused on values, communication, coparenting, and managing stress. Pre-post assessment of parenting stress, dyadic satisfaction, coparenting, life satisfaction, and hope showed that although parenting stress did not decrease, significant increases were observed in dyadic cohesion, coparenting, and hope. Implications for the development of couple-focused interventions to promote resilience among parents raising a child with ASD are discussed.     

Does scientific thinking lead to success and sanity? An integration of attribution and attributional models

A motivational model is introduced that integrates conceptions of attributional antecedents with those of attributional consequences, and suggests that it is functional to make realistic attributions. This model is applied to the analysis of achievement behaviour and depression. The use of a new experimental paradigm designed to test the model's assumptions demonstrates that realistic attributions maximise performance. The model was also used to investigate whether depressives are more realistic than non-depressives. This research revealed that depressives draw more "pessimistic" conclusions from covariation information than non-depressives. In addition, depressives expect their partners to make more negative attributions about the depressives' outcomes than their partners in fact do. However, these negative views could not be traced back to faulty inferences from covariation information. Finally, research is described showing that, in addition to depressogenic attributions, certain evaluative cognitions need to be present in order to trigger depressive mood reactions.     

Dialectical Behavior Therapy in the Treatment of Abusive Behavior

Summary

Research suggests that a subset of men who abuse their partners have characteristics associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) has shown promise as a treatment for BPD, and thus may be useful for these men. This paper describes how DBT principles might be applied to address the problem of partner abuse, including discussion of why one might expect DBT to be a helpful treatment model for this population, and how implementation of the model might be designed.     

Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment of School-Refusing Children: Maintenance of improvement at 3- to 5-year follow-up

Although evidence is accumulating on the immediate or short-term efficacy of cognitive-behavioural strategies in the treatment of school refusal, no studies have been reported on the long-term efficacy of this treatment approach. An earlier randomized clinical trial conducted by the authors demonstrated the efficacy of a manual-based cognitive-behavioural treatment program for school refusal relative to waiting list controls. We now report findings of a 3- to 5-year follow-up investigation of the treatment group. In general, results support the long-term efficacy of the treatment program, with children showing maintenance of improvements in school attendance and school adjustment. Methodological limitations of the follow-up investigation are emphasized.     

Expressed Emotion,Appraisal and Coping by Patients with Recent-onset Schizophrenia: A Pilot Investigation

This pilot study sought to follow up on indications that patients from households with high levels of expressed emotion (EE) differ from those from households with low levels of EE in ways not assessed in typical symptom rating profiles. We examined how patients appraised and coped with a prominent societal stressor. Soon after the start of the Gulf War, 22 patients with recent-onset schizophrenia living in Los Angeles appraised the stressor and completed a coping questionnaire. Results indicated that patients from high-EE homes were likely to use emotion-based confrontational methods to cope with the crisis, while patients from low-EE environments were likely to use avoidance and denial. Patients from high-EE homes thus coped with this non-familial, societal stressor in a way similar to the way in which they have been observed to cope with family conflict: they more readily expressed their anger and frustration than patients from low-EE homes. These pilot data suggest that increased attention should be directed toward those patient behaviours that may be associated with either an increase or decrease in negative affective behaviour from relatives. It may also be fruitful to consider more broadly the adaptive and maladaptive features of the preferred coping strategies of patients from high-EE and low-EE environments.     

Oedipal aspirations and phallic fears: on fetishism in childhood and young adulthood

The main theoretical position on fetishism remains that outlined by Freud, the splitting of the ego and castration anxiety being central to the establishment of the fetish. The dangers and attractions of an oedipal resolution are outlined in the case of 'Stanley', an older adolescent whose nappy wearing, transvestism and obsession with pregnant mothers and their babies brought him to therapy. The paper demonstrates some of the technical difficulties in such work, the slow ego-structuring that is necessary, the patient's swift perception of danger at any failure of attunement by the therapist and subsequent flight to the perverse defence, and the impetus that acceptance of oedipal gain may bring to development. Die wesentliche theoretische Position bezüglich Fetischismus bleibt die von Freud umrissene, dass Ichspaltung und Kastrationsangst bei der Etablierung des Fetischs zentral sind. Es werden die Gefahren und Anziehungspunkte einer ödipalen Lösung im Fall von 'Stanley' dargestellt, einem älteren Jugendlichen, den sein Windeltragen, Transvestismus und Besessenheit mit schwangeren Müttern und ihren Babies zu Therapie brachte. Der Artikel zeigt einige der technischen Schwierigkeiten in solch einer Arbeit, das langsame Ich-strukturieren, das notwendig ist, die schnelle Gefahrenwahrnehmung des Patientens bei jeglicher Missanpassung des Therapeutens und die darauffolgende Flucht in perverse Abwehr, und den Antrieb, den das Akzeptieren des ödipalen Gewinns zur Entwicklung bringen kann, auf. Des conceptions théoriques du fétichisme, la plus connue reste encore celle proposée par Freud, dans laquelle le clivage du moi et l'angoisse de castration sont à l'origine de la mise en place de l'objet fétiche. Les dangers et les charmes d'une résolution ?dipienne sont esquissés à travers le cas de û Stanley ý, garçon en fin d'adolescence qui entreprend une thérapie en raison de certains de ces comportements?:?il aime porter des couches, il se travestit et il est obsédé par les femmes enceintes et leurs bébés. L'auteur souligne quelques-unes des difficultés techniques posées par ce travail, la lenteur avec laquelle il faut laisser se structurer le moi, la perception rapide par le patient d'un danger imminent dès que sa thérapeute n'est plus tout à fait en accordage avec lui, sa fuite alors vers une défense perverse, et la stimulation que l'acceptation des enrichissements ?dipiens peut entraîner pour son développement. La posizione teorica principale sul feticismo resta quella illustrata da Freud, secondo la quale la scissione dell'Io e le ansie di castrazione sono determinanti alla formazione del feticcio. I pericoli e le attrazioni di una risoluzione del complesso edipico sono illustrate nel caso di 'Stanley', un tardo adolescente arrivato in terapia perche' usava i pannolini, si travestiva e aveva un' ossessione per le donne incinte e i loro bambini. L'articolo tratta di alcune delle difficolta' tecniche in questo tipo di lavoro, della lenta e necessaria ricostruzione dell'Io, della rapida percezione del pericolo del paziente quando egli sente una mancanza di sintonia con il terapeuta e la conseguente fuga verso difese perverse, e dell'impeto che l'accettazione dei vantaggi edipici possono portare allo sviluppo.     

Economic Adversity and Depressive Symptoms in Mothers: Do Marital Status and Perceived Social Support Matter?

Over the past decade there has been increasing interest in the idea that marriage and perhaps other forms of interpersonal support can buffer the negative effects of poverty. The current study tests the hypothesis that marital status, perceived social support and neighborhood collective efficacy can moderate the effects of economic adversity on depressive symptoms among parents. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to analyze data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Participants were 1,957 mothers of minor children. Analysis of main effects revealed associations between neighborhood SES (β = ?0.69, SE (0.15), p < .001), family income (β = ?0.11, SE (0.05), p = .02) financial strain (β = 0.51, SE (0.18), p = .004), being single (β = 0.63, SE (0.24), p = .009) and perceived social support (β = ?0.22, SE (0.03), p < .001) on depressive symptoms. The hypothesis that interpersonal resources can buffer the effects of economic adversity was not supported. There were no significant interactions between marital status and economic adversity. There was a significant interaction between perceived social support and neighborhood level socioeconomic status (β = ?0.07, SE (0.03), p = .04) but the effects of social support were weakest in neighborhoods characterized by low socioeconomic status.     

Gay and Lesbian Couples in Italy: Comparisons with Heterosexual Couples

Assessing couple relationships across diverse languages and cultures has important implications for both clinical intervention and prevention. This is especially true for nontraditional relationships potentially subject to various expressions of negative societal evaluation or bias. Few empirically validated measures of relationship functioning have been developed for cross‐cultural applications, and none have been examined for their psychometric sufficiency for evaluating same‐sex couples across different languages and cultures. The current study examined the psychometric properties of an Italian translation of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory – Revised (MSI‐R), a 150‐item 13‐scale measure of couple relationship functioning, for its use in assessing the intimate relationships of gay and lesbian couples in Italy. Results for these couples were compared to data from heterosexual married and unmarried cohabiting couples from the same geographical region, as well as to previously published data for gay, lesbian, and unmarried heterosexual couples from the United States. Findings suggest that, despite unique societal pressures confronting Italian same‐sex couples, these relationships appear resilient and fare well both overall and in specific domains of functioning compared to heterosexual couples both in Italy and the United States.