Interpersonal Skills Training to Reduce Aggressive and Delinquent Behavior: Limited Evidence and the Need for an Evidence-Based System of Care

The prevention of aggressive and delinquent behavior during childhood and adolescence is one of the highest priorities for public health and crime prevention. The most common approach to preventing or treating these conduct problems has been to provide interpersonal skills training to the affected youth. This paper reviews all randomized controlled trials evaluating interpersonal skills training programs as an intervention to reduce conduct problems. Research shows that such programs have weak empirical support as isolated interventions. An alternative evidence-based system of care is described. Such a system would include behavioral parent training and behavioral classroom-based interventions for young children at risk of developing problems, as well as multisystemic family therapy or multidimensional treatment foster care for chronic delinquents. Within such a network of services, interpersonal skills training could play an important supportive role. Such a system holds the greatest promise for reducing the prevalence of aggressive and delinquent behavior in communities.     

BRIEF HIERARCHICAL ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL TREATMENT COMPONENTS WITH CHILDREN IN AN OUTPATIENT CLINIC

Seven parents conducted assessments in an outpatient clinic using a prescribed hierarchy of antecedent and consequence treatment components for their children's problem behavior. Brief assessment of potential treatment components was conducted to identify variables that controlled the children's appropriate behavior. Experimental control via a brief reversal was achieved for 6 of the 7 children, (1 child continued to behave appropriately following initial improvement in behavior). For these 6 children, improved behavior occurred with changes in treatment components. Our results extend previous studies of direct assessment procedures conducted in outpatient clinic settings.     

Differential patterns of post-shelter placement as a function of problem type and severity

Changes in placement restrictiveness, as a function of problem type and severity, were examined in a sample of 154 children departing a shelter for runaway and homeless youth. Six problem types were identified using a principal components analysis of youth-reported personal and family problems. Four of the six factors obtained represented youth problem types interpreted as reflecting antisocial/conduct problems, victimization by abuse, risk of suicide, and rebellious youth behaviors. The two remaining problem types were interpreted as a chaotic/aggressive family type and a mixed pattern of youth aggression and parental skill deficiency. An analysis of the problem types indicated that youth at higher risk for suicide, and those who came from more dysfunctional families, departed to living environments that were more restrictive than their placements at entry.     

A BRIEF COMPONENT ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL TREATMENT PACKAGES IN AN OUTPATIENT CLINIC SETTING WITH YOUNG CHILDREN

The purpose of this study was to develop outpatient clinic assessments that allowed us to assess multiple treatment variables, produce relatively quick effects, and isolate active treatment components. Assessment began by evaluating a treatment package consisting of antecedent and consequence variables followed by a component analysis to determine the separate effects of the treatment variables. Three examples of the findings are presented.     

Recognition of partial regularity in words and sentences

The involvement of morphological representations in reading Swedish and Dutch was explored using a lexical decision task and a sentence continuation task. In Experiment 1, letter strings were studied which were composed of a root and derivational suffix, a nonroot and suffix, a root and nonsuffix, or a nonroot and nonsuffix. Latencies in identifying nonword items increased as the letter strings became morphologically regular. In Experiment 2, subjects chose among pairs of continuations to a sentence. One choice offered at a given point was acceptable in context, while the other was acceptable, or contained an inappropriate stem, an inappropriate inflection, or both together. The latency to choose a correct continuation increased as the foil offered became morphologically appropriate. The results show that use of morphemic representations in reading as reported by Caramazza et al. (1988) extends from the identification of single morphs to the integration of information across phrases.     

Correlates of loneliness in nonreferred and psychiatrically hospitalized children

We investigated psychosocial correlates of loneliness using self- and caretaker-reports in 6–12 year old nonreferred and psychiatrically hospitalized children. In Phase 1, 109 nonreferred children completed self-report measures of internalizing problems, mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and teachers completed the CBCL-Teacher's Report Form. In Phase 2, a similar assessment battery was completed for 109 psychiatrically hospitalized children. Results indicated a moderate to strong relationship between loneliness and self-reported depression, hopelessness, low self-esteem, and anxiety. Children reporting high and low levels of loneliness were not differentiated by parent or teacher reports. Lonely children had lower IQs than their non-lonely peers.     

Braille literacy as a human right: A challenge to the “inefficiency” argument against braille instruction

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) affirms a right to education for disabled persons and aims to ensure braille instruction for blind individuals. However, there is evidence that braille instruction is often circumvented or abandoned early in CRPD nations because it is perceived as an inefficient learning medium for blind students. This perception persists despite insufficient empirical evidence and a lack of understanding of the efficiency of reading versus listening for learning in sighted individuals. We therefore investigated the efficiency of learning written versus spoken words in blind and sighted samples. Participants (23 blind, 20 sighted) studied the written definitions of 70 rare English words in successive rounds, presented in conjunction with written or spoken wordforms. Blind participants learned with equal efficiency across modalities, whereas sighted participants learned spoken words more efficiently. The findings indicate the inefficiency argument against teaching braille is groundless, both because braille word learning is not less efficient than auditory word learning for blind individuals, and because reading is valued in the education of sighted individuals despite its apparent inefficiency in that population.     

Can philosophy be an academic discipline?

Richard Rorty notoriously maintained that philosophy is not an academic discipline. He thought that the only viable candidate for philosophy to be an academic discipline—where philosophy consists in a collection of permanent, pure topics—depends on a Cartesian conceptual framework. Once we overcome this framework, he maintained, there will be nothing left to be the distinct subject matter of philosophy. This article argues that there is a conception of philosophy that can be an academic discipline, even if we take Rorty's challenge seriously. It remains even if we overcome the Cartesian conceptual framework. In the end the article goes beyond Rorty's challenge and considers two further criteria for philosophy to be an academic discipline: that it have a distinct method, and that it be able to be done for the public good. The article argues that philosophy can fulfill these two criteria, and therefore that it can be an academic discipline.     

父母养育压力对儿童问题行为的影响:养育方式的中介作用

本追踪研究旨在考察父母养育压力对儿童问题行为的影响方式是否存在差异。被试为364名。6个月时, 父母报告各自的养育压力;24个月时, 父母报告各自的养育方式;48个月时, 父母分别报告儿童的问题行为。结果发现, 母亲养育压力可直接显著正向预测学前期儿童的外显问题行为;父亲的养育方式在其养育压力与学前期儿童的内隐和外显问题行为之间起到了完全中介作用。这表明, 母亲早期养育压力可直接影响学前期儿童的外显问题行为;而父亲养育压力完全通过其养育方式影响学前期儿童的内隐和外显问题行为, 且严厉起主要作用。     

大学生心理行为问题的识别:基于潜在剖面分析

为探索潜在剖面分析(latent profile analysis, LPA)在心理行为问题识别上的应用, 对12718名大学生进行心理普查, 并对644名学生由心理咨询师、辅导员和兼职班主任对其心理状况进行评定, 采用评定结果和阳性症状检出率作为"黄金标准"分析了诊断的敏感度与特异度。结果发现:(1)潜在剖面分析发现本研究大学生样本的心理行为问题可划分为三个亚群体:风险组、困扰组和健康组, 分别占比9.86%、19.15%和70.99%;(2)风险组表现为突出的精神症状(Z≥2.6SD), 有61.21%的被试出现阳性症状, 远高于困扰组的38.28%和健康组的8.36%;此外, 困扰组以认知与情绪症状为主;(3)潜在剖面分析方法比传统划界分数方法在敏感度上能提高8.93%~35.26%, 更为科学有效。