The role of consumer ethical beliefs in product‐harm crises

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consumer reaction during a product‐harm crisis by examining the interdependencies that exist among their ethical beliefs as consumers, their attributions of blame, their feelings of anger and finally their purchase intentions towards the affected company. To test the five research hypotheses, a questionnaire containing a hypothetical crisis scenario of a fictitious company was distributed to 277 consumers. Respondents were asked to read the scenario and answer questions regarding their attribution of responsibility to the company, their feelings of anger and their purchase intentions. In order to investigate consumers' ethical beliefs, a Consumer Ethics Scale was also included in the questionnaire. Structural equation modelling revealed a significant, positive correlation between attributions of blame, anger and ethical beliefs. Moreover, anger negatively affects purchase intentions, whereas the attribution of blame was not found to be significantly connected to purchase intentions. In spite of the rational connection between ethics and crisis, there is lack of research correlating these two concepts. Based on this gap in the literature, the current research attempts to connect ethical beliefs with consumer reactions and emotions during product‐harm crises. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Matching therapeutic interventions to drug and alcohol abusers’ stage of motivation: The clients’ perspective

The present study aims to explore the issue of matching the appropriate therapeutic intervention according to the stage of readiness for change in addictive clients, following the model proposed by Prochaska and DiClemente in the 1980s. The study focuses solely on the perspectives of people with drug and alcohol problems, in contrast to previous ones which have been concerned with the researchers’ understandings and postulations of the issue under exploration. One of the most important findings of this study is that participants in the “early” stages of their readiness to change their addictive behaviour, irrespective of their gender or whether they had seen a therapist significantly prefer non-action-oriented therapeutic interventions than action-oriented interventions. Similarly, participants in the “later” stages, showed a significant preference to action-oriented than non-action interventions, irrespective of their gender or previous experience of counselling. It is suggested then that careful assessment of the stage of motivation and individual-tailored intervention should be an essential element of any treatment program for drug and alcohol addicted clients.     

Behavioral Management of Inappropriate Masturbation in an 8-Year-Old Girl

An 8-year-old girl, previously diagnosed with infantile masturbation, was referred and treated for inappropriate masturbation. Treatment involved age-appropriate sexual education, reinforcement contingencies, the use of distraction and redirection, and when necessary, timeout. The inappropriate masturbation behavior was substantially reduced during treatment phase from daily occurrence to occasional occurrence, and at 6-week post-treatment follow-up, inappropriate masturbation was absent.     

Beyond Randomized Controlled Trials in Attempted Suicide Research

There is a lack of evidence about what is the best treatment for people who present to hospital after self harm. Most treatment trials have been small and involved unrepresentative groups of patients which result in inconclusive findings. Here we note some of the characteristics of attempted suicide which make it a difficult subject to study. We describe the problems of doing randomized controlled trials in attempted suicide and outline the advantages and difficulties of randomized controlled trials, Zelen designs, patient preference designs, and cluster randomized trials in attempted suicide intervention trials. Researchers and consumers should consider other research designs when asking what is effective after self harm.     

Development of a Multi-Disciplinary Intervention for the Treatment of Childhood Obesity Based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Along the lines of the evidence-based recommendations, we developed a multi-disciplinary intervention for overweight children 7- to 12-years-old, primarily aiming at helping children to adopt healthier eating habits and a physically active lifestyle. The program combined nutrition intervention, based on a non-dieting approach, with physical activity intervention, implemented through the basic principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), along with parental support. The program was conducted by dieticians with the collaboration of child psychiatrists and pediatricians. Training and regular supervision upon CBT priniciples application was intended to enhance dieticians' efficiency. The intervention is currently being evaluated to determine its effectiveness in treating childhood obesity.     

“Yes,I Have Sometimes Stolen Bikes”: Blindness for Norm‐Violating Behaviors and Implications for Suspect Interrogations

Across two experiments, we studied a phenomenon akin to choice blindness in the context of participants' accounts of their own history of norm‐violating behaviors. In Experiment 1, N = 67 participants filled in an 18‐item questionnaire about their history of norm‐violating behaviors (QHNVB). Subsequently, they were questioned about four of their answers, two of which had covertly been manipulated by the experimenter. Of the 134 manipulations, 20 (14.9%) remained undetected concurrently and 13 were accepted in retrospect (9.7%). In Experiment 2 (N = 37), we inserted a one‐week interval between questionnaire and interview. Twenty‐seven (36.5%) of the 74 manipulations remained undetected concurrently and three were accepted in retrospect (8.1%). Data obtained in a four‐week follow‐up indicated that our manipulations may have long‐term effects on participants' perception of their own history of norm‐violating behaviors. Implications for the occurrence of false confessions during the course of an interrogation are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.