Investigating the dose-response relationship between motor imagery and motor recovery of upper-limb impairment and function in chronic stroke: A scoping review

The recovery of upper-limb impairment and dysfunction post-stroke is often incomplete owing to the limited time in therapy focused on upper-limb recovery and the severity of the impairment. In these cases, motor imagery (MI) may be used as a precursor to physical therapies to initiate rehabilitation early on when it would be otherwise impossible to engage in therapy, as well as to increase the dose of therapy when MI is used in adjunct to physical therapy. While previous reviews have shown MI to be effective as a therapeutic option, disparity in findings exists, with some studies suggesting MI is not an effective treatment for post-stroke impairment and dysfunction. One factor contributing to these findings is inconsistency in the dose of MI applied. To explore the relationship between MI dose and recovery, a scoping review of MI literature as a treatment for adult survivors of stroke with chronic upper-limb motor deficit was performed. Embase, Medline and CINHAL databases were searched for articles related to MI and stroke. Following a two-phase review process, 21 papers were included, and data related to treatment dose and measures of impairment and function were extracted. Effect sizes were calculated to investigate the effect of dosage on motor recovery. Findings showed a high degree of variability in dosage regimens across studies, with no clear pattern for the effect of dose on outcome. The present review highlights the gaps in MI literature, including variables that contribute to the dose-response relationship, that future studies should consider when implementing MI.     

Using Small-Group Instruction to Improve Students' Reading Fluency: An Evaluation of the Existing Research

Reading fluency is necessary for reading comprehension, but approximately 40% of U.S. fourth-grade students have inadequate reading fluency skills. Because small-group (SG) instruction is often used as a first line of intervention for struggling readers, SG instruction targeting deficiencies in text reading fluency ought to be part of every school's intervention toolbox. The authors summarize the existing research on instruction and interventions that specifically targets reading fluency and is implemented by an adult with 3 or more students at once. Key findings revealed that most studies used a single-case design, nearly all studies were rated positively in terms of methodological quality, and the majority of participants significantly improved as a result of receiving SG intervention. Furthermore, of the five studies examining comparable SG and 1-on-1 interventions, 79% of the students performed equally well from both interventions. Implications and several recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Ethical Leadership: An Integrative Review and Future Research Agenda

Over the past decade, ethical leadership has increasingly become one of the most popular topics in the areas of leadership and business ethics. As a result, there now exists a substantial body of empirical research addressing ethical leadership issues, but the findings reported by this body of research are highly fragmented. The topic has advanced to the stage where a review and synthesis of existing literature can provide great value and help move the scholarly conversation forward. The primary purposes of this article are to (a) review empirical findings from the ethical leadership literature utilizing a framework consisting of the antecedents, mediators, moderators and outcomes of ethical leadership, and (b) suggest a set of interesting research opportunities, thereby facilitating future investigation. We base our synthesis on a review of 62 empirical studies on ethical leadership that were published between 2005 and mid-2015.     

Highlighting the Way Forward: A Review of Community Mental Health Research and Practice Published in AJCP and JCP

Articles published in the two most prominent journals of community psychology in North America, the American Journal of Community Psychology (AJCP) and Journal of Community Psychology (JCP), provide a clear indicator of trends in community research and practice. An examination of community psychology's history and scholarship suggests that the field has reduced its emphasis on promoting mental health, well‐being, and liberation of individuals with serious mental illnesses over the past several decades. To further investigate this claim, the current review presents an analysis of articles relevant to community mental health (N = 307) published in the American Journal of Community Psychology (AJCP) and Journal of Community Psychology (JCP) from 1973 to 2015. The review focuses on article characteristics (e.g., type of article and methods employed), author characteristics, topic areas, and theoretical frameworks. Results document a downward trend in published articles from the mid‐1980s to mid‐2000s, with a substantial increase in published work between 2006 and 2015. A majority of articles were empirical and employed quantitative methods. The most frequent topic area was community mental health centers and services (n = 49), but the past three decades demonstrate a clear shift away from mental health service provision to address pressing social issues that impact community mental health, particularly homelessness (n = 42) and community integration of adults with serious mental illnesses (n = 40). Findings reflect both the past and present state of community psychology and suggest promising directions for re‐engaging with community mental health and fostering well‐being, inclusion, and liberation of adults experiencing serious mental health challenges.     

A Systematic Scoping Review of the Choice Architecture Movement: Toward Understanding When and Why Nudges Work

In this paper, we provide a domain‐general scoping review of the nudge movement by reviewing 422 choice architecture interventions in 156 empirical studies. We report the distribution of the studies across countries, years, domains, subdomains of applicability, intervention types, and the moderators associated with each intervention category to review the current state of the nudge movement. Furthermore, we highlight certain characteristics of the studies and experimental and reporting practices that can hinder the accumulation of evidence in the field. Specifically, we found that 74% of the studies were mainly motivated to assess the effectiveness of the interventions in one specific setting, while only 24% of the studies focused on the exploration of moderators or underlying processes. We also observed that only 7% of the studies applied power analysis, 2% used guidelines aiming to improve the quality of reporting, no study in our database was preregistered, and the used intervention nomenclatures were non‐exhaustive and often have overlapping categories. Building on our current observations and proposed solutions from other fields, we provide directly applicable recommendations for future research to support the evidence accumulation on why and when nudges work. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Older adult research in the Journal of Counseling Psychology,The Counseling Psychologist,and Counselling Psychology Quarterly: A 15-year review and implications for research

In preparing for an aging global population, older adults’ well-being has become an urgent priority across the world. Counseling psychologists have also called upon the field for more empirical attention on older adults. Yet, a review of the literature revealed that older adults were represented in less than 2% of all the articles in the Journal of Counseling Psychology (JCP) and The Counseling Psychologist (TCP) from 1991 to 2000. The current study presents a follow-up review of older adult research in counseling psychology literature between 2001 and 2015 in the following mainstream journals: Counselling Psychology Quarterly (CPQ), JCP, and TCQ. Results suggest a decline in the past 15 years, with less than 1% of the total articles in JCP, TCP, and CPQ devoted to older adults. Most of the studies employed cross-sectional survey research design to examine predictors of mental health. A number of studies focused on culture-specific experiences of diverse older adults. Implications and suggestions for future research on older adult issues are discussed in relation to the principles and interests rooted in the field of counseling psychology.     

The Perks of Being Relational: Reviewing The Perks of Being a Wallflower

This article reviews The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Halfon, Smith, Malkovich, & Chbosky, 2012), a coming-of-age film about 3 high school students attempting to survive school, find themselves, and connect with others. The authors provide a synopsis of various portions of the film and identify important aspects of relational-cultural theory (RCT) within its plot, such as growth-fostering relationships, controlling images, and relational images. Various characters’ plotlines are discussed in relation to what RCT identifies as paramount tenets of human development and mental health. The authors also briefly discuss other counseling issues touched on within the film (i.e., affectional identity, sexual assault, and relational violence).     

Theory of Mind in Infants and Young Children: A Review

Theory of mind, or mindreading, refers to our uniquely human capacity to infer what is in other people's minds. Recent research suggests that “implicit” elements of this ability can be seen as early as the second year of life, in infants’ spontaneous helping, communicative, and eye‐gaze behaviours. More “explicit” verbally mediated mindreading skills emerge in the preschool period, and these are positively linked to social competence. Research with typically developing children as well as those with autism spectrum disorders suggests that exposure to conversation about mental states promotes theory of mind development.