Minimal Treatment Approaches for Concerned Significant Others of Problem Gamblers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this study was to examine the efficacy of minimal treatment interventions for concerned significant others (CSOs) of problem gamblers. One hundred and eighty-six participants (82% females, 56% spouses) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: the first minimal intervention group received a self-help workbook [based on behavioral principles, modified from the Community Reinforcement and Family Therapy (CRAFT) model] and the second minimal intervention group received the workbook plus telephone support. The control condition received a treatment resource information package. Overall, all participants reported significant improvement in personal and relationship functioning and gambling behavior and consequences at the 3- and 6-month follow-up. The data demonstrated differences in favor of the interventions in three areas: days gambling, satisfaction with the program, and number who had their needs met. There was no difference in the number who had entered treatment. It may be that CSOs require more guidance and follow-up support to achieve these goals using the CRAFT procedures and strategies.     

Combining Dyslexia and Mothering: Perceived Impacts on Work

Previous studies have provided an insight into the lives of disabled mothers, but little attention has been paid to disabled working mothers. This paper draws on interviews with women who had a formal diagnosis of dyslexia, to discuss: particular difficulties when combining work and mothering; the perceived positive impacts on work and education, of becoming a mother; unsupportive managers; what some mothers found helpful in order to maintain work; and the diversity between experiences. We conclude that for those already on a career path before having children, some of their experiences could have been seen as an amplification of what other working mothers face. However, a difference was that the added time taken up with mothering meant they became more vulnerable to ‘exposing’ their impairment at work. In contrast, for dyslexic women who were yet to attain a high status in education and work, motherhood encouraged them to initiate their career.     

Cultivating Compassion for Self and Others: A School-Based Pilot Study for Peer-Nominated Caring Adolescents

Many have called for school-based student programs that teach skills related to self-care and caring for others. Here, such a program for peer-nominated adolescents was developed and piloted virtually at one high school during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of a longitudinal, quasi-experimental evaluation of the program showed high-quality program implementation and promising program impacts. Effect sizes indicated moderate to large program impacts on improvements in adolescents' self-compassion, sense of interdependence, and perspective-taking, and female adolescents' interoceptive awareness, compared to controls. No group differences in compassion for others were found. The need for more research on programs that help adolescents balance compassion for the self and for others is discussed.     

Aggression in toddlers: Associations with temper loss and parent-child conflict

Using a normative US sample of 477 mothers of 6- to 24- month-old children, we explored the relations among toddlers’ physical aggression, child temper loss, and parent-child conflict to gain a better understanding of how aggression develops from infancy to toddlerhood. An inventory of specific aggressive acts was subject to factor analysis to test whether the acts clustered as hypothesized. Consistent with our hypothesis, confirmatory factor analyses supported the distinction between the two types of aggression, directed and exploratory physical aggression. Although the two types were correlated, they showed differential associations with temper loss and parent-child conflict consistent with theory. Directed aggression had a relatively stronger relation with child defiance and temper loss than did exploratory aggression. Moreover, the association between directed aggression and defiance was stronger for older children. The findings from this cross-sectional study provide preliminary support for two forms of early aggression that may differ in trajectory and context.