Intercontinental telehealth coaching of therapists to improve verbalizations by children with autism

This study examined the effects of intercontinental telehealth coaching on the mastery of therapists’ skills and improvements in verbalizations by children with autism, testing whether telehealth can be a solution for underserved communities in developing countries such as Georgia‐Sakartvelo in Eastern Europe. Three therapists delivering and three children with autism receiving early‐intervention services from the nongovernmental organization Children of Georgia in Tbilisi participated. Experimenters provided coaching from Virginia, USA to therapists in Georgia‐Sakartvelo. Observers in Georgia‐Sakartvelo and in Virginia conducted the behavioral observations. We used inexpensive communications technology to provide the coaching and a multiple‐baseline design across participants to evaluate the effects of the intervention. Therapists demonstrated improvements in two classes of behaviors: correct command sequences and positive consequences. The children demonstrated improvements with echoics and mands. The study demonstrated that telehealth can be a good model for delivering early‐intervention services to children with autism in underserved and distant regions of the world.     

What Are the Effects of a Parent-Implemented Verbal Responsive Intervention on Preschoolers With Externalizing Behavior Problems?

This research was conducted to assess the impact of a parent-based verbal responsive intervention, aiming to enhance parents’ responsiveness and communication strategies, by way of a sample of parents and their preschool-aged children with a clinical level of externalizing behavior problems. Twenty-one parents received the intervention, consisting of eight 1.5-hour sessions. The study tested the hypothesis that the intervention led to an improvement in parenting variables and a decrease in children’s behavior problems, assessed by a multimethod procedure. The results partially confirmed the prediction, as they showed an enhancement of parents’ responsiveness and parent self-efficacy belief, which are promising findings, but no modifications of negative practices. These effects persisted for 4 months after the intervention. Moreover, a decrease in children’s externalizing behavior problems was reported by parents in a questionnaire, but this was not confirmed by an observational paradigm. This last result seems to show that a parent-implemented verbal responsive intervention is necessary for some children with externalizing behavior difficulties but often insufficient, and has to be part of a multidisciplinary treatment approach.     

Culturally Adapted Psychosocial Interventions for Schizophrenia: A Review

Recent research examining the potential efficacy of culturally adapted interventions for various mental disorders illustrates increasing interest in the integration of cultural perspectives into mental health systems. Despite recent evidence demonstrating that culturally adapted interventions may be more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach, few psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia consider cultural factors that may enhance their efficacy with diverse populations. The aim of this review is to discuss the empirical evidence examining the potential utility of culturally adapted group interventions for schizophrenia, as a means to encourage further work and expansion in this area. Specifically, this article provides an in-depth review of the empirical literature on culturally adapted psychosocial interventions for individuals with schizophrenia and their family members, with a focus on group-based interventions. This review is followed by a discussion of a few cultural constructs that may impact patient and family member functioning, and therefore may be important to address in psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia. Finally, we end this review with a broad discussion of research limitations and potential areas for additional research, clinical implications for adapting EBTs to better address cultural concerns, and a case vignette to illustrate how cultural considerations can be integrated into a traditional multifamily group therapy approach.     

Randomized controlled trial of an intervention to change cardiac misconceptions in myocardial infarction patients

There is converging evidence that changing beliefs about an illness leads to positive recovery outcomes. However, cardiac misconceptions interventions have been investigated mainly in Angina or Coronary Heart Disease patients, and less in patients following Myocardial Infarction (MI). In these patients, cardiac misconceptions may play a role in the adjustment or lifestyle changes. This article reports a randomized controlled trial of an intervention designed to reduce the strength of misconceptions in patients after a first MI. The primary outcome was the degree of change in misconceptions and the secondary outcomes were: exercise, smoking status, return to work and mood (anxiety and depression). Patients in the intervention condition (n = 60) were compared with a control group (n = 67) receiving usual care. Both groups were evaluated at baseline and 4, 8 and 12 months after hospital discharge. There was a significant time-by-group interaction for the total score of cardiac misconceptions. Patients in the intervention group significantly decreased their total score of cardiac misconceptions at 4 months compared with the control group and this difference was sustained over time. Patients in the intervention group were also more likely to exercise at the follow-up period after MI than the control group. This intervention was effective in reducing the strength of cardiac misconceptions in MI patients and had a positive impact on health behaviour outcomes. These results support the importance of misconceptions in health behaviours and the utility of belief change interventions in promoting health in patients with Myocardial Infarction.     

Web-based remote psychological intervention improves cancer treatment

Web-based-remote (WBR) intervention is a new approach that incorporates smart control technology and modern medicine to monitor patient compliance. It is based on computer control and communication technology. This study is to explore the benefits of WBR psychological intervention for cancer treatment. 128 patients diagnosed with cancer by Pathology Department of our hospital between 1 February 2013 and 1 August 2013 were included. Patients were randomly assigned to intervention and control group (n = 64). The Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) was used for the survey. Intervention group received WBR psychological intervention in addition to regular clinical follow-up care. Control group only received regular clinical follow-up care. The QLQ-C30 score was significantly better in the intervention group than the control group when the intervention and control groups were followed for three months. In conclusion, WBR psychological intervention substantially improves the quality of life in patients during cancer treatment.     

Work-anxiety-coping intervention improves work-coping perception while a recreational intervention leads to deterioration: Results from a randomized controlled trial

Work-anxieties are costly and need early intervention. The perception of being able to cope with work is a basic requirement for work ability. This randomized controlled trial investigates whether a cognitive behavioural, work-anxiety-coping group (WAG) intervention leads to better work-coping perception than an unspecific recreational group (RG). Heterogeneous people in medical rehabilitation, who were due to return to work, were interviewed concerning their work-anxieties, and either randomly assigned to a WAG (n = 85) or a RG (n = 95). The participants (with an average of 50 years old [range 23–64]; 51% women; 70% workers or employees, 25% academics, 5% unskilled) followed the group intervention for four or six sessions. The perceived work-coping was assessed by self-rating (Inventory for Job-Coping and Return Intention JoCoRi) after each group session. Although participants had a slight temporary decrease in work-coping after group session two (from M₁ = 2.47 to M₂ = 2.28, d_Cohen = ?.22), the WAG led to the improvement of perceived work-coping over the intervention course (from M₁ = 2.47 to M₆ = 2.65, d_Cohen = .18). In contrast, participants from the RG reported lower work-coping after six group sessions (from M₁ = 2.26 to M₆ = 2.02, d_Cohen = ?.18). It is considered that people with work-anxieties need training in work-coping. By focusing on recreation only, this may lead to deterioration of work-coping. Indeed, intervention designers should be aware of temporary deterioration (side effects) when confronting participants with work-coping.     

Manualised health support interventions: Their efficacy in a South African primary healthcare setting

The study examined the implementation efficacy of a stress-reduction intervention for people living with HIV/AIDS by health care workers in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Informants were 20 health care workers drawn from two health facilities. There were 17 females (85%) and 3 males (15%). Participants engaged in a focus group discussion on their experiences using a theory-based manualised stress-reduction support intervention in primary care settings. Thematic content analysis of the data yielded the following themes characterising costs to faithful implementation: departure from manualised instructions and ad hoc improvisation of theoretical concepts; disruptive power dynamics; lack of grounding in community values; and implementation resource limitations. Manualised intervention implementation efficacy by health workers needs customisation to local culture and health service support services.     

Generalizability and Dependability of a Multi-Item Direct Behavior Rating Scale in a Kindergarten Classroom Setting

Accurate and rapid identification of students displaying behavioral problems requires instrumentation that is user friendly and reliable. The purpose of the study was to evaluate a multi-item direct behavior rating scale called the Direct Behavior Rating-Multiple Item Scale (DBR–MIS) for disruptive behavior to determine the number of administrations necessary to achieve a dependable result. In addition, a study was conducted to determine to what degree the DBR-MIS correlated with a brief rating scale of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder behaviors. Participants were Kindergarten students (n = 18) who were observed and rated over nine 5-min observation periods by 2 raters with minimal training. Results indicated that the DBR-MIS provided reliable estimates of disruptive behavior by the seventh or eighth rating occasion. Correlations between the DBR-MIS and the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder rating scale were weak to moderate. Overall, the DBR-MIS for disruptive behavior efficiently achieved dependable results when screening groups of Kindergarten students in a public school setting.