Does Live Supervision Make a Difference? A Multilevel Analysis

While the benefit of live supervision on clinical training is largely unquestioned, research that examines how live supervision affects the therapeutic process is lacking. Although marriage and family therapy has embraced this method of supervision, there is little empirical evidence suggesting it "works." This study uses hierarchical linear modeling to examine how therapy cases utilizing live supervision affect perceptions of progress on the problem. Findings indicated that live supervision does appear to make a difference for therapists' ratings of progress on the problem over the course of therapy; however, clients did not rate their progress as improving to the same degree. Implications for the use of live supervision as well as limitations of the study are discussed.     

Perceptions of "impingement" and marital satisfaction among wives of retired husbands

Initial pilot interviews with women whose husbands were in the first year of retirement revealed that problems of "impingement"--perceptions of husbands as intruders into their worlds-as-lived--were cited, in response to open-ended items, as the most difficult aspect of husbands' retirement. An impingement index, consisting of items constructed from those responses, was administered to the original panel of 83 women whose husbands were now in the fourth year of retirement, and to a new panel of 61 women whose husbands had been retired for one year. Paired T-tests revealed one significant difference in perceptions of impingement between the two groups of wives, and not in the expected direction. Indeed, wives in year 4 were more often bothered by some impingement conditions than wives in year 1, and these were significantly related to self-assessments of marital satisfaction. Results have implications for "adjustment" to life transitions, including situations that may inhibit initiation of adaptive responses, degree of investment in social roles, and issues of expectation.     

A Primer for the Use of Multilevel Models in Couple and Family Therapy Research

This article serves as a primer for understanding how to use multilevel modeling (MLM) techniques in couple and family therapy outcome and process research. It outlines the use of HLM and Mplus—two of many software programs that can perform multilevel modeling—and provides an applied example of using MLM to investigate the use of postsession feedback on couple satisfaction and change, as well as the influence of trauma on the use of postsession feedback. Two graduate students in COAMFTE accredited PhD programs read the primer and provided questions to the first author that arose. Answers to these questions have been incorporated throughout the explanation of this methodological approach in hopes of addressing common stuck points for those using MLM.     

Boosting the input: 9-month-olds’ sensitivity to low-frequency phonotactic patterns in novel wordforms

To learn their first words, infants must attend to a variety of cues that signal word boundaries. One such cue infants might use is the language-specific phonotactics to track legal combinations and positions of segments within a word. Studies have demonstrated that, when tested across statistically high and low phonotactics, infants repeatedly reject the low-frequency wordforms. We explore whether the capacity to access low-frequency phonotactic combinations is available at 9 months when pre-exposed to wordforms containing statistically low combinations of segments. Using a modified head-turn procedure, one group of infants was presented with nonwords with low-frequency complex onsets (dr-), and another group was presented with zero-frequency onset nonwords (dl-). Following pre-exposure and familiarization, infants were then tested on their ability to segment nonwords that contained either the low- or the zero-frequency onsets. Only infants in the low-frequency condition were successful at the task, suggesting some experience with these onsets supports segmentation.     

Barriers to Women's Advancement in Underground Coal Mining

Abstract This paper uses a middle‐range feminist theory by Reskin and Roos (1987) to examine how the sexualization of work relations, along with formal practices governing promotion at a large coal mine in central Appalachia, has led to job‐level sex segregation underground. Analyses of qualitative data from nonparticipant observation, in‐depth interviews with 10 coal mining women, and company documents reveal that sexualization represents men's power to stigmatize women as inferior workers and to maintain the stereotypes for assigning work to women. Formal practices, particularly training, seniority, and posting and bidding procedures, legitimize the process of matching women workers with gender‐typed jobs. Coal mining women's resistance is reflected in their awareness of how men's stereotypes are used and in their continual individual efforts to prove their competence as coal miners.     

The Family System and Depressive Symptoms during the College Years: Triangulation,Parental Differential Treatment,and Sibling Warmth as Predictors

Guided by Bowen theory, we investigated the relationships between parent–child triangulation, parental differential treatment (PDT), sibling warmth, and individual depressive symptoms in a sample of 77 sibling dyads, aged 18–25 years, recruited through undergraduate classes at a U.S. public University. Results of the actor–partner interdependence models suggested that being triangulated into parental conflict was positively related to both siblings’ perception of PDT; however, as one sibling felt triangulated, the other perceived reduced levels of PDT. For both siblings, the perception of higher levels of PDT was related to decreased sibling warmth and higher sibling warmth was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. The implications of these findings for research and the treatment of depression in the college‐aged population are discussed.     

The Motherhood Penalty at Midlife: Long‐Term Effects of Children on Women's Careers

The authors build on prior research on the motherhood wage penalty to examine whether the career penalties faced by mothers change over the life course. They broaden the focus beyond wages to also consider labor force participation and occupational status and use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Women to model the changing impact of motherhood as women age from their 20s to their 50s (n = 4,730). They found that motherhood is “costly” to women's careers, but the effects on all 3 labor force outcomes attenuate at older ages. Children reduce women's labor force participation, but this effect is strongest when women are younger and is eliminated by the 40s and 50s. Mothers also seem able to regain ground in terms of occupational status. The wage penalty for having children varies by parity, persisting across the life course only for women who have 3 or more children.     

The Clinician as Neuroarchitect: The Importance of Mindfulness and Presence in Clinical Practice

Interpersonal neurobiology provides a framework from which to examine the incorporation of mindsight and mindfulness into clinical practice, employing the brain’s capacity for neuroplasticity to move oneself and one’s clients toward greater well-being. Through the lens of interpersonal neurobiology, this article will examine the benefits of mindfulness for clinicians, clients, and the therapeutic relationship. Lasting changes associated with mindfulness practices, including the hypothesized potential to alter one’s previously insecure attachment patterns, will also be discussed. An explanation of how to cultivate mindfulness by starting with presence and sustaining the practice with compassion will then be presented. Finally, practices that cultivate growth within the therapist–client relationship will be explained, along with clinical applications and recent research demonstrating the neural correlates of these practices and how they are effective at the level of the brain itself.     

Promoting Election-Related Policy Practice Among Social Work Students

Political involvement is an integral component of the social work profession, yet there is no explicit reference to social work participation in election-related activities in either the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics or the Council on Social Work Education Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. Social work education may offer an opportune time to shape crucial patterns of future electoral participation among social workers. This study examines BSW, MSW, and PhD student electoral involvement during the 2012 presidential election and ways social work program administrators across the country encouraged students to acquire skills and experience in election-related policy practice during the election season. Findings indicate that the extent of opportunities offered to students varied widely across programs as well as across types of electoral activities.     

Toward Culturally Sensitive Financial Education Interventions with Latinos

ABSTACT

To expand the financial capability of Latinos, culturally sensitive interventions are needed. A literature search was conducted to examine how financial education interventions have been used to improve financial outcomes for Latinos. Just 7 peer-reviewed intervention studies were identified, suggesting a substantial gap in knowledge in this area. Although conclusions about the effectiveness of financial education interventions with Latinos are limited, each study finds positive changes in financial attitudes or behaviors. Using Resnicow’s (1999) cultural sensitivity framework, surface and deep structure methods of tailoring financial education were identified. Implications for designing and testing culturally sensitive financial education interventions are discussed.