Treatment integrity of school-based interventions with children in the journal of applied behavior analysis 1991-2005

We reviewed all school-based experimental studies with individuals 0 to 18 years published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) between 1991 and 2005. A total of 142 articles (152 studies) that met review criteria were included. Nearly all (95%) of these experiments provided an operational definition of the independent variable, but only 30% of the studies provided treatment integrity data. Nearly half of studies (45%) were judged to be at high risk for treatment inaccuracies. Treatment integrity data were more likely to be included in studies that used teachers, multiple treatment agents, or both. Although there was a substantial increase in reporting operational definitions of independent variables, results suggest that there was only a modest improvement in reported integrity over the past 30 years of JABA studies. Recommendations for research and practice are discussed.     

Issues in group work with older lesbians

This article outlines considerations in group interventions with older lesbians. It is intended for mental health professionals who work—as leaders, supervisors, and consultants—with various kinds of groups in their professional practice, including therapy, psychoeducational, support, growth, recreational, and self-help groups. First, unique issues in the life circumstances of older lesbians are addressed. Next, five case examples are presented that illustrate the usefulness of group interventions with this population. The article concludes with recommendations for effective practice.     

Importance of Morality in Mindfulness Practice

As the result of secularization and adaption of mindfulness practices from Buddhism, elements specific to culture and religion have been removed, now drawing criticism that mindfulness training has lost its original ethical characteristics. This article argues that the lack of formal coverage of morality in mindfulness‐based programs does not imply that morality plays no part, and that participants independently contextualize their mindfulness practice by drawing on their own sense of morality. Therefore, awareness of the role of morality in mindfulness practice is important for counselors, who can assist their clients with integrating their mindfulness practice with their own worldviews and ethical frameworks.     

Innovation,research integrity,and change: A conflict of interest management framework for program developers

Psychology and the social sciences have an important role to play in developing innovative solutions to pressing global mental health and social problems. Programs developed by psychologists and other social scientists have immense potential to alleviate suffering and to promote healthy human development across the lifespan. In order to realise this potential program developers must manage the research and development challenges involved in testing an intervention, evaluating, and then preparing it for wider dissemination and scaling. Particular challenges and conflicts can occur in managing the joint roles of being a program developer and a researcher evaluating an intervention or innovation. This article examines the management of various forms of conflicts of interest that have the potential to produce bias and decrease the confidence of policy makers, funders, practitioners, fellow researchers, and the public in the value of psychological interventions. We argue that best practice guidelines are needed to assist developers negotiate the predictable, sometime unavoidable but challenging conflicts of interest that arise in the research process.     

INCREASING HANDICAPPED PRESCHOOLERS' PEER SOCIAL INTERACTIONS: CROSS-SETTING AND COMPONENT ANALYSIS

The purposes of our study were: (a) to train a set of observationally determined social behaviors via peer initiation; (b) to determine if effects generalized across classroom settings and to directly intervene if generalization did not occur; and (c) to analyze components of the peer-initiation intervention. After baseline, nonhandicapped preschool children (confederates) were taught to direct social initiations to the three handicapped preschool-aged students. Teachers prompted the confederates to engage the students in social interaction when necessary and rewarded the confederates with tokens. Confederates' initiations to the students resulted in increased frequencies of positive social interaction. There was no generalization to other classroom settings, and the intervention was subsequently implemented in a second and third classroom. Next, the confederates' token reinforcement system was withdrawn, with no apparent deleterious effects on the confederates' or students' social interactions. When teachers substantially reduced their prompts to the confederates, students' social interactions decreased. Finally, reinstatement of teacher prompts resulted in increases in the confederates' social initiations and, consequently, the positive social interactions of the students.     

A systematic review and meta‐analysis of tertiary interventions in clinical burnout

Clinical burnout is one of the leading causes of work absenteeism in high‐ and middle‐income countries. There is hence a great need for the identification of effective intervention strategies to increase return‐to‐work (RTW) in this population. This review aimed to assess the effectiveness of tertiary interventions for individuals with clinically significant burnout on RTW and psychological symptoms of exhaustion, depression and anxiety. Four electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, PsychINFO, PubMed and CINAHL Plus) were searched in April 2016 for randomized and non‐randomized controlled trials of tertiary interventions in clinical burnout. Article screening and data extraction were conducted independently by two reviewers. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated with random‐effects meta‐analyses. Eight articles met the inclusion criteria. There was some evidence of publication bias. Included trials were of variable methodological quality. A significant effect of tertiary interventions compared with treatment as usual or wait‐list controls on time until RTW was found, HR = 4.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.15–9.45; however, considerable heterogeneity was detected. The effect of tertiary interventions on full RTW was not significant, OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 0.59–2.98. No significant effects on psychological symptoms of exhaustion, depression or anxiety were observed. In conclusion, tertiary interventions for individuals with clinically significant burnout may be effective in facilitating RTW. Successful interventions incorporated advice from labor experts and enabled patients to initiate a workplace dialogue with their employers.     

儿童的性别刻板印象威胁及其干预

刻板印象威胁即令污名群体的成员在消极刻板印象领域中表现下降的一种现象, 考察儿童性别刻板印象威胁能为从源头干预性别刻板印象威胁提供可能。基于此, 从儿童性别刻板印象威胁的产生(产生条件和产生时间)、操纵、影响(对女孩的影响和对男孩的影响)及干预(多重身份、沙文主义、积极榜样和反刻板印象)进行论述。未来研究可以从地域文化、研究对象、干预措施和研究领域等方面继续拓展。     

Trying to be happier really can work: Two experimental studies

Does the explicit attempt to be happier facilitate or obstruct the actual experience of happiness? Two experiments investigated this question using listening to positive music as a happiness-inducing activity. Study 1 showed that participants assigned to try to boost their mood while listening to 12?min of music reported higher positive mood compared to participants who simply listened to music without attempting to alter mood. However, this effect was qualified by the predicted interaction: the music had to be positively valenced (i.e. Copland, not Stravinsky). In Study 2, participants who were instructed to intentionally try to become happier (vs. not trying) reported higher increases in subjective happiness after listening to positively valenced music during five separate lab visits over a two-week period. These studies demonstrate that listening to positive music may be an effective way to improve happiness, particularly when it is combined with an intention to become happier.     

Adding “Circle of Security – Parenting” to treatment as usual in three Swedish infant mental health clinics. Effects on parents’ internal representations and quality of parent‐infant interaction

This study presents effects of adding Circle of Security‐Parenting (COS ‐P) to an already established comprehensive therapeutic model for early parent‐child intervention in three Swedish infant mental health (IMH ) clinics. Parents’ internal representations and quality of parent‐infant interaction were studied in a clinical sample comprised of 52 parent‐infant dyads randomly allocated to two comparable groups. One group consisted of 28 dyads receiving treatment as usual (TAU ) supplemented with COS ‐P in a small group format, and another group of 24 dyads receiving TAU only. Assessments were made at baseline (T1), 6 months after inclusion (T2) and 12 months after inclusion (T3). Changes over time were explored in 42 dyads. In the COS ‐P group, the proportion of balanced representations, as assessed with Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI ), significantly increased between T1 and T3. Further, the proportion of emotionally available interactions, as assessed with Emotional Availability scales (EA ), significantly increased over time in the COS ‐P group. Improvements in the TAU ‐group were close to significant. Limitations of the study are mainly related to the small sample size. Strength is the real world character of the study, where COS ‐P was implemented in a clinical context not otherwise adapted to research. We conclude by discussing the value of supplementing TAU with COS ‐P in IMH treatment.