Multicultural training practices in community psychology programs

Surveyed the directors of 56 community psychology graduate programs to assess multicultural training practices and attitudes. Although most program directors agreed that multicultural training is important in their mission to educate students, less than half the programs (48%) required their students to take any relevant course work and only half of the programs surveyed had any faculty who were members of an ethnic minority group and one third had only one such faculty member. Furthermore, less than half the programs had a combination of training opportunities in place to integrate classroom, research, and field experiences relevant to multicultural issues. Finally, only 23% of program directors believed their training programs were successful for most students, suggesting the need to improve training.     

Creationism in Twentieth-Century America

Creationism in Twentieth Century America: A Ten-Volume Anthology of Documents, 1903–1961 Gen ed. Ronald L. Numbers     

Generalization of parent-training results

Two experiments were conducted to assess the generalized effects of several different parent/teacher training programs. In Experiment I it was found that a brief demonstration of how to teach an autistic child new behaviors was sufficient to teach parents how to teach those children those behaviors. However, generalization to new child-target behaviors did not take place. Another parent training program, which did not demonstrate how to teach any one specific child behavior, but was based on teaching the use of general behavior-modification procedures, was effective in teaching the parents how to teach new child-target behaviors. Experiment II then provided analyses of the individual effects of several components of the generalized training program. The results showed that videotape illustrations of the procedures, without the presence of a master teacher, were sufficient to teach the adults. However, sub-parts of the videotapes produced highly specific training results, with each component changing corresponding areas of the adults' behaviors. Viewing of the entire package was necessary before the adults were able to improve the autistic children's behaviors. The study as a whole suggests the importance of obtaining multiple measures of the effects of parent and teacher training programs, including measures of acquisition and generalization of both adult and child behaviors.     

Protecting Sexual Minority Youth from Research Risks: Conflicting Perspectives

We describe the dilemmas we encountered in the informed consent process for an HIV prevention project targeting Black gay, bisexual, and non-gay identified young men. We highlight the complexities of applying informed parental consent procedures to sexual minority youth and identify some of the challenges that researchers who work with sexual minority youth face when they must balance the needs and rights of this population against the needs and rights accorded to parents by federal guidelines for protecting minor participants in research.     

School programs targeting stress management in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis

Introduction

This meta-analysis evaluates the effect of school programs targeting stress management or coping skills in school children.

Methods

Articles were selected through a systematic literature search. Only randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental studies were included. The standardized mean differences (SMDs) between baseline and final measures were computed for experimental and control groups. Experimental groups were groups that either received an intervention of (a) relaxation training, (b) social problem solving, (c) social adjustment and emotional self-control, or (d) a combination of these interventions. If no baseline measurement was available, SMDs were calculated between final measures of the groups. The overall pooled effect size was calculated and the pooled effect sizes of improvement on stress, coping, (social) behavior, and self-efficacy by random effects meta-analysis. The dependence of the results on study characteristics (i.e. methodological quality and type of intervention) was evaluated using meta-regression analysis.

Results

Nineteen publications met the inclusion criteria of controlled trials for class programs, teaching coping skills or stress management. Overall effect size for the programs was − 1.51 [95% confidence interval (CI) − 2.29, − 0.73], indicating a positive effect. However, heterogeneity was significant (p < .001). Sensitivity analyses showed that study quality and type of intervention were sources of heterogeneity influencing the overall result (p values < .001). The heterogeneity in quality may be associated with methodological diversity and differences in outcome assessments, rather than variety in treatment effect. Effect was calculated per intervention type, and positive effects were found for stress symptoms with a pooled effect size of − 0.865 (95% CI: − 1.229, − 0.502) and for coping with a pooled effect size of − 3.493 (95% CI: − 6.711, − 0.275).

Conclusion

It is tentatively concluded that school programs targeting stress management or coping skills are effective in reducing stress symptoms and enhancing coping skills. Future research should use clear quality criteria and strive for less diversity in methodology and outcome assessment.     

Defining Location in the Mental Health System: A Case Study of a Consumer-Run Agency

In this ethnographic study of a mental health service agency staffed by “consumers,” or fellow “recipients” of services for serious mental illness, the concept of community narrative provides the framework for examining how such an agency preserves its consumer identity while providing services dictated by the established service system. Locating the agency's narrative in its “origins tale,” analysis revealed five principles comprising the agency's identity: a normalizing view of mental illness, a commitment to helping, a dual-valued understanding of the mental health system, and beliefs in recovery and in the significance of employment as a criterion for recovery. Predicted consequences of narrative functioning emerged in social climate and staff expressions of cohesion and commitment. The local meaning of these narrative themes reveals the agency's view of the consumer element in its work and its solution to the dilemma of being both inside and outside of the mental health system.     

Exploring the effects of a youth enrichment program on academic motivation and engagement

This study explores the effects of a youth enrichment program on academic motivation and engagement. Fifty-three students aged 14–16 years participated in the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN). Embedded within the program were workshops revolving around the Student Motivation and Engagement Wheel [Martin (2003a). How to motivate your child for school and beyond. Sydney: Bantam] and strategies aimed at enhancing students’ academic motivation and engagement. Motivation was measured using the Student Motivation and Engagement Scale [Martin (2001). Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling 11, 1–20; Martin (2003b) Australian Journal of Education, 14, 34–49] at the outset of the program, towards the end of the program, and again 6–8 weeks later. Data showed that there were gains on key facets of students’ motivation by the end of the program – gains that were sustained 6–8 weeks later. These gains were demonstrated by boys and girls. Moreover, when compared to a larger weighted sample (2769 high school students), by Time 2 and also by Time 3, significant declines in motivation had been reversed and any pre-existing advantages or parallel strengths of the RYPEN sample over the weighted sample were maintained. Five facets of the program proposed to have contributed to its effectiveness are: the optimistic expectations held by adults, the program’s focus on mastery, the climate of cooperation and the ensuing sense of belonging, the positive relationships that developed amongst students and between students and adults, and embedding school-related elements within a broader enrichment program. Each of these is discussed.     

Adult Influence on the Participation of Peers Without Disabilities in Peer Support Programs

Three peers without disabilities who volunteered to serve as peer supports and were identified by general education teachers as having academic difficulties were studied across three conditions. In baseline, a peer without disabilities worked alone, while the student with severe disabilities was supervised by an adult. In the Peer Support condition, peers without disabilities worked with the student with severe disabilities, and both individuals were supervised by an adult. In the Adult Involvement condition, peers without disabilities were supervised by an adult as in the Peer Support condition, but peers worked separately from the student with severe disabilities. Dependent measures included the active engagement of peers without disabilities and students with severe disabilities, and social interactions between students and peers. Our data indicate that the Peer Support and Adult Involvement conditions resulted in higher, but similar, levels of active engagement for two of three peers without disabilities when compared to baseline. For the third peer, high levels of active engagement occurred across all conditions. Active engagement varied across students with severe disabilities, but was typically highest in conditions where peers without disabilities were involved. For all students with severe disabilities, social interactions were more frequent and longer in the Peer Support condition.     

儿童电视动画片播放效果的研究

本研究运用心理学的研究方法、测量手段和建构因果模型的统计方法 ,评价了儿童电视动画片的传播效果。研究包括三个步骤 :1确定效标和影响动画片传播效果的特征 ;2提出假设的因果关系模型 ;3对模型进行估计、检验和修正。本研究的主要结果是 :动画片的内容和观众的家庭教育状况对观众看动画片的收获有着显著的正效应 ,观众的收视状况对收获有较大的负效应 ;动画片的内容、形式对于观众对动画片的态度有着积极的直接效应 ;态度和收获之间的因果关系是单向的 ,即态度影响收获 ;建立的因果模型能较好地预测和评价儿童电视动画片的传播效果