EMDR and Emotionally Oriented Couples Therapy

When reviewing past and current research on the role of emotion in couples therapy, there appeared to be a lack of articulation concerning how emotional expressions and relational dynamics are affected by emotional trauma that has not been accessed. The authors demonstrate how emotionally and experientially oriented therapy with couples can be enhanced by accessing stored trauma through the use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). This approach is called Eye Movement Relationship Enhancement (EMRE) therapy and includes key clinical areas such as accessing and tolerating previously disowned emotion, reprocessing emotional experiences, and amplifying couple intimacy. These key areas are discussed and illustrated with case examples.     

Peer and school problems in the lives of urban adolescents: Frequency, difficulty, and relation to adjustment

This study examined the occurrence of problem situations in the peer and school domains and their relation to adjustment among urban adolescents. Students from three urban middle schools (N = 176) serving a predominantly African American population rated 61 problem situations identified in a previous qualitative study and completed measures of adjustment. Ratings of frequency and difficulty confirmed the relevance of these situations for this population. Confirmatory factor analyses suggested that covariation in the frequency and difficulty of problem situations could be represented by separate factors representing peer situations involving friends, other peer situations, and school situations. The number of different problem situations experienced was significantly correlated with physical and relational aggression, delinquency, depression, anxiety, and self-worth. Several of these relations were strongest for peer situations that did not involve friends. There were few gender differences in the strength of these relations.     

The Heart of the Reformation Faith

Abstract: This historical and theological study of Reformation theologians, principally Martin Luther and John Calvin, examines three dimensions of faith: (1) faith as belief; (2) faith as trust; and (3) faith as the indwelling presence of Christ. To the question, “how does faith justify?,” the answer is found in the third, the indwelling of Christ, wherein the justness of Christ is present in the sinful person.     

Practice Guidelines in school psychology: Issues and directions for evidence-based interventions in practice and training

Practice Guidelines have become increasingly popular at the national and international level. Practice Guidelines are a natural extension of the “evidence-based intervention” movement, and could be a mechanism to promote the use of evidence-based interventions within the field of school psychology practice and training. In this paper we review the use of Practice Guidelines in other fields and the promise and potential pitfalls associated with the development and application of Practice Guidelines within the field of school psychology. Recommendations for how to avert some of the difficulties faced by other disciplines in the development and application of Practice Guidelines are discussed. Suggestions for next steps in the profession and future research are noted.     

Children's sensitivity to circular explanations

The ability to evaluate the quality of explanations is an essential part of children's intellectual growth. Explanations can be faulty in structural ways such as when they are circular. A circular explanation reiterates the question as if it were an explanation rather than providing any new information. Two experiments (N=77) examined children's preferences when faced with circular and noncircular explanations. The results demonstrate that a preference for noncircular explanations is present, albeit in a fragile form, by 5 or 6 years of age and that it appears robustly by 10 years of age. Thus, the ability to evaluate the quality of explanations based on structural grounds appears to develop rapidly during the elementary school years.     

A large-scale examination of the nature and efficacy of teachers' practices to engage parents: Assessment, parental contact, and student-level impact

As schools move forward with comprehensive school reform, parents' roles have shifted and been redefined. Parent-teacher communication is critical to student success, yet how schools and teachers contact parents is the subject of few studies. Evaluations of school-change efforts require reliable and useful measures of teachers' practices in communicating with parents. The structure of teacher-parent-contact practices was examined using data from multiple, longitudinal cohorts of schools and teachers from a large-scale project and found to be a reliable and stable measure of parent contact across building levels and localities. Teacher/school practices in contacting parents were found to be significantly related to parent reports of school contact performance and student academic adjustment and achievement. Implications for school improvement efforts are discussed.     

Links Between Life Course Trajectories of Family Dysfunction and Anxiety During Middle Childhood

Using data from three waves of a large Canadian data set, we examine the relationship between two middle childhood trajectory variables, family dysfunction and anxiety. We draw upon family systems theory and developmental psychopathology, while attempting to expand their boundaries by capitalizing on the strengths within both approaches. Our data treatment strategy, guided by the life course analytical framework, included separate multivariate logits to examine this relationship, with and without the extent to, which selected explanatory risk variables predicted belonging to the highest family dysfunction trajectory. We also explored possible interactions between anxiety and explanatory risk variables. Supporting our hypothesis, a prolonged duration of high doses of family dysfunction was associated with the most extreme developmental trajectories of anxious behavior during middle childhood for both boys and girls. This relationship prevailed above and beyond the influence of other correlates of family dysfunction such as marital transition, socioeconomic status, family size, and depressive symptoms experienced by the informant (mostly mothers). Specific details regarding the sample, characteristics of measures, and unspecified estimates and their standard errors per data source are available from the first author in the form of tables and figures.     

Is There an Effective Approach to Deterring Students from Plagiarizing?

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of plagiarism detection software and penalty for plagiarizing in detecting and deterring plagiarism among medical students. The study was a continuation of previously published research in which second-year medicals students from 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 school years were required to write an essay based on one of the four scientific articles offered by the instructor. Students from 2004/2005 (N = 92) included in present study were given the same task. Topics of two of the four articles were considered less complex, and two were more complex. One less and one more complex articles were available only as hardcopies, whereas the other two were available in electronic format. The students from 2001/2002 (N = 111) were only told to write an original essay, whereas the students from 2002/2003 (N = 87) were additionally warned against plagiarism, explained what plagiarism was, and how to avoid it. The students from 2004/2005 were warned that their essays would be examined by plagiarism detection software and that those who had plagiarized would be penalized. Students from 2004/2005 plagiarized significantly less of their essays than students from the previous two groups (2% vs. 17% vs. 21%, respectively, P < 0.001). Over time, students more frequently choose articles with more complex subjects (P < 0.001) and articles in electronic format (P < 0.001) as a source for their essays, but it did not influence the rate of plagiarism. Use of plagiarism detection software in evaluation of essays and consequent penalties had effectively deterred students from plagiarizing.     

Shades of disengagement: high school dropouts speak out

The purpose of this study was to describe how dropouts navigate their educational journeys. Eighty dropouts participated to individual interviews which were recorded and transcribed. The data analysis yielded three broad categories in answering the research question. Setting the stage in the family and the school, the dropouts described their teetering between in and out of school contexts and proceeded to explain how they ended their educational journey. For 20 dropouts, family turmoil represented a pervasive force negatively influencing their schooling. For 24 dropouts, problems in school set the stage for dropping out. Teetering represented juggling strategies to prolongand to sabotage the journey, while the end of the journey occurred as a result of a pivotal moment (48%) or a gradual fade out (52%) from the school context.