The Influence of Rural and Urban Substance Abuse Treatment Counselor Characteristics on Client Outcomes

ABSTRACT

Focus group data were collected from 28 substance abuse treatment counselors employed in rural and urban areas to examine their perceptions of factors influencing treatment outcomes. The influence of the counselor characteristics (i.e., education, experience, and recovery status) on client outcomes and geographic differences is explored. Focus group data were analyzed by three raters using line-by-line coding, focused coding, and memoing. This analytic approach revealed geographic differences in the counselors’ perceptions of the effect of counselor education, experience, and recovery status on client outcomes. Recommendations for treatment planning and future research are provided.     

The Relationship of Social Support to Functional Limitations,Pain, and Well Being Among Men and Women

The purposes of this study were to assess the relationships of functional limitations, pain and well being to social support (emotional, tangible, informational and integrative) and to assess gender differences in these relationships. Except for integrative support, significant positive relationships were found between types of functional limitations and specific types of social supports among 15 men and 15 women (M = 67 years) with end stage joint disease. Pain was not significantly associated with any social support, but well being was related to informational and emotional supports. As compared to men, the relationships of tangible and integrative supports to well being, pain and functional impairment were signficantly greater for women as was the association of emotional support to limitations in mobility and physical activity. In contrast, women had signif~cantlys maller relationships of emotional support to limitations in ADL and household activities.     

Early Intervention into Addictive and Mental Health Disorders

No abstract available for this article.     

Changes in the association between social housing tenure and child outcomes across cohorts: comparing the millennium and British cohort studies

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, social housing in the UK has increasingly become the preserve of the poorest in society. This paper is the first to investigate how the child outcome penalties associated with social housing tenure have changed over time across UK cohorts. I compare the differences in the cognitive, mental health, and physical health outcomes of children in social housing with children in non-social housing and evaluate whether these tenure differences have changed between the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS) and the 2000 Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). I find that in both cohorts, children in social housing exhibit worse outcomes across all three dimensions (cognitive, mental health, and physical health) than children in non-social housing. For cognitive and physical health outcomes, however, the tenure difference has narrowed between the two cohorts, while for mental health outcomes, the tenure difference has widened. These results suggest that children have experienced a relative worsening in their mental health outcomes across cohorts, but also a relative improvement in both their cognitive and physical health outcomes. The findings suggest that policies aimed at reducing tenure inequalities in child outcomes should focus on mental health development in the early years.     

The Influence of Parent Expectations and Parent-Child Relationships on Mental Health in Asian American and White American Families

Previous studies have suggested that Asian parents’ high academic expectations can lead to negative mental health outcomes among Asian American youth. We explore this hypothesis by analyzing data collected in an affluent, suburban high school with a large Asian American population. We examine the relationships between parent expectations, students’ relationships with their parents, and mental health outcomes among Asian American (predominantly Indian American and Chinese American) and white youth. We find that the quality of parent-child relationships is associated with mental health outcomes and that the association between parent expectations and mental health outcomes is insignificant after controlling for these relationships. We discuss significant differences by race and gender. The findings presented expand our understanding of the influence of Asian parents. They suggest that focusing on improving parent-child relationships, as opposed to altering parents’ expectations, might lead to improved mental health outcomes for Asian American youth, particularly for those in affluent communities.     

Looking Inside the “Black Box”

Abstract

The continued devolution of social welfare systems and services in the U.S. resultsin high stakes program evaluations in the field of family support and early intervention. Programs are expected to utilize evidence-based interventions and to demonstrate effectiveness. A look at implementation helps to differentiate between theories that do not work and programs that are not effective. Methods for identifying program implementation are needed. In a 17-site program evaluation, the author and her colleagues developed a methodology for measuring implementation and demonstrated the effects of differential implementation in understanding program outcomes.     

Choice under complete uncertainty when outcome spaces are state dependent

One central objection to the maximin payoff criterion is that it focuses on the state that yields the lowest payoffs regardless of how low these are. We allow different states to have different sets of possible outcomes and show that the original axioms of Milnor (1954) continue to characterize the maximin payoff criterion, provided that the sets of payoffs achievable across states overlap. If instead payoffs in some states are always lower than in all others then ignoring the “bad” states is no longer inconsistent with these axioms. Similar dependence on overlap of outcome spaces across states holds for the minimax regret and maximin joy criteria.      

Examining fostering readiness in treatment parents

Preservice trainings have the potential to improve treatment parent and youth outcomes, yet researchers have noted the lack of empirical research on the effectiveness of these trainings. Preservice outcomes are typically collected immediately after training completion, with little to no follow‐up assessments at other time points. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal changes treatment parents experience throughout preservice training and after a youth is placed in their home. Secondary data analyses were performed on an archival data set (N = 57) that included demographic information and training participant scores from two standardized measurements that examined their fostering readiness before and after preservice trainings as well as after a youth was placed in the home: Personal Dedication to Fostering Scale and Willingness to Foster Scale. Analyses revealed significant changes for treatment parents' personal dedication to fostering, but no significant changes for their willingness to foster. Treatment parents' fostering readiness scores were compared to a normed sample of foster parents and were found to be significantly higher for their personal dedication scores but not for their willingness to foster. The findings suggest certain treatment parent outcomes may change as a result of preservice training and experience with youth, but additional measurements and outcomes should be examined.