A National Survey of Family Physicians: Perspectives on Collaboration With Marriage and Family Therapists

Recognizing the fit between family medicine and marriage and family therapy (MFT), members of both fields have made significant advances in collaborative health research and practice. To add to this work, we surveyed a nationwide random sample of 240 family physicians (FPs) and asked about their perspectives and experiences of collaboration with MFTs. We found that FPs frequently perceive a need for their patients to receive MFT-related care, but their referral to and collaboration with MFTs were limited. Through responses to an open-ended question, we gained valuable information as to how MFTs could more effectively initiate collaboration with FPs.     

Marriage and family therapist interns' experiences of growth

Few studies have investigated therapist interns' growth experiences, both personal and professional, and the interplay between them. This qualitative study explored the reciprocal process of growth during clinical training: the personal life experiences that affect professional growth and the professional/clinical experiences that affect personal growth. Thirteen marriage and family therapist interns, using Internet discussion formats, identified numerous personal, clinical, and professional growth experiences. Implications of this study, illustrating the recursive and interactive flow between therapists' personal and professional growth, are presented.     

Social Self‐Control,Externalizing Behavior,and Peer Liking Among Children with ADHD‐CT: A Mediation Model

This study investigated the role of externalizing behavior as a mediator of the relation between social self‐control and peer liking among children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder‐combined type (ADHD‐CT). A model was proposed whereby externalizing behavior would fully statistically account for the direct relation of social self‐control to peer liking. One hundred seventy‐two children ages 7.0–9.9 years with ADHD‐CT were rated by their teachers regarding their social self‐control and by their parents and teachers regarding their rates of externalizing behavior. Same‐sex classmates provided ratings of overall liking. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the proposed model. Results supported the proposed model of externalizing behavior as fully statistically accounting for the relation of social self‐control to peer liking. This study demonstrated the crucial role that externalizing behaviors play in the social impairment commonly seen among children with ADHD‐CT.     

Change resistance moderates existence and longevity biases

Evidence has been found for existence and longevity biases—inferences of goodness from prevalence or longevity. We argue these biases actually emerge among change-resisting individuals. Our evidence suggests change-accepting individuals can even demonstrate a reversal of these biases. In two studies, change-resisting individuals’ attitudes were suggestive of existence and longevity biases while change-accepting individuals significantly reversed this pattern by evaluating long-standing or prevalent objects less favorably. Finally, we reanalyzed data from the existence and longevity biases literature previously reported in Social Influence. We found Americans identifying as more Republican—thus theorized as more change-resisting—were those who favored a long-standing practice. Altogether, we argue that existence and longevity biases emerge depending on individuals’ change resistance, indicating an important theoretical expansion.     

Genito-Pelvic Pain Through a Dyadic Lens: Moving Toward an Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Model of Women’s Sexual Dysfunction

Researchers and clinicians alike widely acknowledge the inherently interpersonal nature of women’s sexual dysfunctions given that both partners impact and are impacted by these difficulties. Yet theoretical models for understanding the role of interpersonal factors in women’s sexual dysfunctions are severely lacking and have the potential to guide future research and inform more effective interventions. The most widely studied sexual dysfunction in women that has espoused a dyadic approach by including both members of affected couples is genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder (GPPPD). In this article we use the example of GPPPD to introduce a novel interpersonal emotion regulation model of women’s sexual dysfunction. We first review current knowledge regarding distal and proximal interpersonal factors in GPPPD. Then, we describe our theoretical model and consider relevant pain and sex-related research on emotion regulation processes—emotional awareness, expression, and experience—in the context of GPPPD, including sexual function, satisfaction, and distress. Next, we review how existing theories from the fields of chronic pain and sex and relationships research have informed our model and how our model further builds on them. Finally, we discuss the implications of our model and its applications, including to other sexual dysfunctions in women.     

Comparing Experimental Designs for Benchmark Dose Calculations for Continuous Endpoints

The BMD (benchmark dose) method that is used in risk assessment of chemical compounds was introduced by Crump (1984) and is based on dose-response modeling. To take uncertainty in the data and model fitting into account, the lower confidence bound of the BMD estimate (BMDL) is suggested to be used as a point of departure in health risk assessments. In this article, we study how to design optimum experiments for applying the BMD method for continuous data. We exemplify our approach by considering the class of Hill models. The main aim is to study whether an increased number of dose groups and at the same time a decreased number of animals in each dose group improves conditions for estimating the benchmark dose. Since Hill models are nonlinear, the optimum design depends on the values of the unknown parameters. That is why we consider Bayesian designs and assume that the parameter vector has a prior distribution. A natural design criterion is to minimize the expected variance of the BMD estimator. We present an example where we calculate the value of the design criterion for several designs and try to find out how the number of dose groups, the number of animals in the dose groups, and the choice of doses affects this value for different Hill curves. It follows from our calculations that to avoid the risk of unfavorable dose placements, it is good to use designs with more than four dose groups. We can also conclude that any additional information about the expected dose-response curve, e.g., information obtained from studies made in the past, should be taken into account when planning a study because it can improve the design.     

THE VOICES OF CHILDREN: PREADOLESCENT CHILDREN'S EXPERIENCES IN FAMILY THERAPY

Although family therapists often include children in therapy sessions, they rarely consider the child's wishes regarding participation or ask children for their impressions of therapy. In this study, 16 children between the ages of 5 and 13 who had participated in at least four family therapy sessions were interviewed to determine their perspectives on the experience. The children made it clear that they wished to be involved in a meaningful way in therapy and that they wanted to come to sessions even when they were not the focus. Feedback from these children is used to suggest ways family therapists might enhance their effectiveness with families with children.     

Tests for high-dimensional covariance matrices using the theory of U-statistics

Test statistics for sphericity and identity of the covariance matrix are presented, when the data are multivariate normal and the dimension, p, can exceed the sample size, n. Under certain mild conditions mainly on the traces of the unknown covariance matrix, and using the asymptotic theory of U-statistics, the test statistics are shown to follow an approximate normal distribution for large p, also when p?n. The accuracy of the statistics is shown through simulation results, particularly emphasizing the case when p can be much larger than n. A real data set is used to illustrate the application of the proposed test statistics.