Training parents to implement pediatric feeding protocols

Four different multicomponent training packages were evaluated to increase the treatment integrity of parents implementing pediatric feeding protocols. In Study 1 we exposed 3 parents to a training package that consisted of written protocols (baseline), verbal instructions, therapist modeling, and rehearsal training. Results suggested that the package was successful in increasing treatment integrity of the feeding protocols to high levels. Study 2 investigated three different parent-training packages comprised of components used in Study 1. Two parents were exposed to written protocols, verbal instructions, and modeling; 2 parents were exposed to written protocols, verbal instructions, and rehearsal; and 2 parents were exposed to written protocols and verbal instructions. Results of Study 2 showed that each parent-training package produced very high treatment integrity. Follow-up data in the clinic and home for 5 participants suggested that the results were durable for up to 3 months. These results demonstrate a first step in the transfer and application of research findings into routine clinical practice because we evaluated several methods for training parents to implement behavioral feeding protocols, and we demonstrated that these methods resulted in high levels of treatment integrity in a controlled clinical setting.     

Wisdom and Life Experience: How Grandfathers Mentor Their Grandchildren

This exploratory study uses qualitative methods to focus on the largely unexamined role of the grandfather and to examine men's experiences as grandfathers. We gathered information through both surveys and individual interviews to explore men's feelings and attitudes toward the grandfather role. Of the 51 grandfathers that completed a survey, 20 participated in interviews. Our examination of the data collected reveals the life lessons men teach their grandchildren. The grandfathers in this study expressed strong desires for purposeful involvement in their grandchildren's lives and indicated desires for transferring values to grandchildren and teaching interpersonal relationships. Through this involvement, they educate through life experiences and serve as mentors for their grandchildren. We suggest that this mentoring role makes a positive contribution to the lives of grandchildren and to the identity of grandfathers.     

An approach to preventing coparenting conflict and divorce in low-income families: strengthening couple relationships and fostering fathers' involvement

In the context of current concern about levels of marital distress, family violence, and divorce, the SFI study is evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention to facilitate the positive involvement of low-income Mexican American and European American fathers with their children, in part by strengthening the men's relationships with their children's mothers. The study design involves a randomized clinical trial that includes assignment to a 16-week couples group, a 16-week fathers group, or a single-session control group. Couples in both group interventions and the control condition include partners who are married, cohabiting, and living separately but raising a young child together. This article presents the rationale, design, and intervention approach to father involvement for families whose relationships are at risk because of the hardships of their lives, many of whom are manifesting some degree of individual or relationship distress. We present preliminary impressions and qualitative findings based on our experience with 257 families who completed the pretest, and the first 160 who completed one postintervention assessment 9 months after entering the study. Discussion centers on what we have learned and questions that remain to be answered in mounting a multisite preventive intervention to strengthen relationships in low-income families.     

More than One Way to Get There: Pathways of Change in Coparenting Conflict after a Preventive Intervention

This study explored pathways of change in the levels of conflict couples experienced after Supporting Father Involvement, an evidence‐based, prevention‐oriented couples and parenting intervention that included a diverse low‐income and working class group of participants. Pathways of change were examined for couples with baseline conflict scores that were initially low, medium, and high. The growth mixture model analysis found that the best‐fitting model for change in couples' conflict was represented by three distinctly different change patterns. The intervention was most successful for High‐Conflict couples. This finding contributes to a growing literature examining variations in how relationships change over time and the process of change, especially for couples in distress. This study supports further investigation into the impact and costs associated with universal interventions versus those that target specific groups of higher risk families.     

Retirement among members of the clergy: Findings from a Protestant fellowship

The body of research on retirement has expanded in recent years but the experience of clergy members has received scant attention. In 2009, Knapp, Pruett, and Hicks sought to rectify this situation by conducting an exploratory study that focused on the financial and housing options that will be available to members of the clergy of a nondenominational fellowship when they reach the age of retirement. The present study built upon that foundation and expanded the sample to include ministers within Churches of Christ from multiple states. The results are consistent with the exploratory study and indicate that financial preparedness varies greatly based on factors such as age, years in ministry, size of the church being served, and whether one intends to fully retire. Similarly, housing options vary greatly and are related to financial well-being. The findings reinforce the need for preretirement education for members of the clergy, especially for those who minister in churches that exist outside of a denominational structure that could assist with the entrance into retirement.     

Theory of Mind experience sampling in typical adults

We explored the frequency with which typical adults make Theory of Mind (ToM) attributions, and under what circumstances these attributions occur. We used an experience sampling method to query 30 typical adults about their everyday thoughts. Participants carried a Personal Data Assistant (PDA) that prompted them to categorize their thoughts as Action, Mental State, or Miscellaneous at approximately 30 pseudo-random times during a continuous 10-h period. Additionally, participants noted the direction of their thought (self versus other) and degree of socializing (with people versus alone) at the time of inquiry. We were interested in the relative frequency of ToM (mental state attributions) and how prominent they were in immediate social exchanges. Analyses of multiple choice answers suggest that typical adults: (1) spend more time thinking about actions than mental states and miscellaneous things, (2) exhibit a higher degree of own- versus other-directed thought when alone, and (3) make mental state attributions more frequently when not interacting (offline) than while interacting with others (online). A significant 3-way interaction between thought type, direction of thought, and socializing emerged because action but not mental state thoughts about others occurred more frequently when participants were interacting with people versus when alone; whereas there was an increase in the frequency of both action and mental state attributions about the self when participants were alone as opposed to socializing. A secondary analysis of coded free text responses supports findings 1–3. The results of this study help to create a more naturalistic picture of ToM use in everyday life and the method shows promise for future study of typical and atypical thought processes.     

Busy Streets Theory: The Effects of Community‐engaged Greening on Violence

Lack of maintenance on vacant neighborhood lots is associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress for nearby residents. Overgrown grasses and dense brush provide hiding spots for criminals and space to conduct illicit activities. This study builds upon previous research by investigating greening programs that engage community members to conduct routine maintenance on vacant lots within their neighborhoods. The Clean & Green program is a community‐based solution that facilitates resident‐driven routine maintenance of vacant lots in a midsized, Midwestern city. We use mixed effects regression to compare assault and violent crime counts on streets where vacant lot(s) are maintained by community members (N = 216) versus streets where vacant lots were left alone (N = 446) over a 5‐year timeframe (2009–2013). Street segments with vacant lots maintained through the Clean & Green program had nearly 40% fewer assaults and violent crimes than street segments with vacant, abandoned lots, which held across 4 years with a large sample and efforts to test counterfactual explanations. Community‐engaged greening programs may not only provide a solution to vacant lot maintenance, but also work as a crime prevention or reduction strategy. Engaging the community to maintain vacant lots in their neighborhood reduces costs and may increase the sustainability of the program.     

Increasing variety of foods consumed by blending nonpreferred foods into preferred foods

A treatment with differential or noncontingent reinforcement and nonremoval of the spoon increased the acceptance of one or two of 16 foods for 2 participants with severe food refusal. These differential levels of acceptance were demonstrated empirically in an ABAB design in which A was the presentation of the accepted (preferred) foods and B was the presentation of foods the participants refused (nonpreferred foods). Subsequently, we implemented a blending treatment that consisted of mixing (blending) nonpreferred foods into preferred foods in various ratios (e.g., 10% nonpreferred/90% preferred, 20% nonpreferred/80% preferred). We then presented nonpreferred foods that had been exposed to blending to determine if consumption of nonpreferred foods would increase following the blending treatment. We also conducted periodic reversals in which we presented nonpreferred foods that had not been exposed to the blending treatment. Following initial implementation of the blending treatment, consumption was high for nonpreferred foods that had been blended and low for nonpreferred foods that had not been blended. Consumption increased for all foods (i.e., foods that had been exposed to blending and foods that had not been exposed to blending) after seven or eight foods had been exposed to the blending treatment. Thus, the variety of foods consumed by the participants increased from one or two to 16. These results are discussed in terms of stimulus fading, conditioned food preferences, and escape extinction. DESCRIPTORS: conditioned food preferences, food refusal, negative reinforcement, stimulus fading     

The Role of Meditation in Addiction Recovery

The authors examined the role of meditation as an important component in addiction recovery. Successful addiction recovery is often related to an individual's ability to develop and use a repertoire of coping behaviors, including the ability to maintain an ongoing awareness of one's vulnerability. These learned behaviors serve as reliable alternatives to the routine behavior patterns of individuals who are addicted, which, in the past, have led to often‐repeated destructive outcomes. The authors contend that incorporating meditation into the lifestyle of individuals recovering from addiction provides a consistent means of preparing for inevitable, addiction‐related life challenges and a coping skill that can help maintain equilibrium in living with ever‐present peril.     

Strange bedfellows? Reproductive technology and child development

As new reproductive technologies become more available, parents and professionals alike must struggle increasingly with the issue of the child's knowledge and perception of his or her biologic origins. In this article, several prevailing approaches dealing with disclosure or nondisclosure of this essential fact about the child's existence are presented and examined. Whereas there are no currently available reliable empirical data on the impact of either approach, an interim rationale is proposed, based on accepted child development and psychological maturation principles, which favors well-timed and developmentally appropriate disclosure.