MARITAL THERAPY: QUALITIES OF COUPLES WHO FARE BETTER OR WORSE IN TREATMENT

To evaluate the effectiveness of couples therapy and determine the characteristics and qualities of couples who fare best in treatment, 139 couples presenting at a nonlaboratory sliding-fee clinic in Dallas, Texas, were evaluated. Observational and self-report measures of the Beavers Systems Model were taken at the first session and, for some subjects, at termination. Therapists also rated the couples on goal attainment and on dimensions of the therapeutic alliance. Not surprisingly, there was a direct association between number of sessions and goal attainment, with couples attending only one or two sessions having the lowest goal attainment. There were also significant family functioning qualities associated with success: more competent couples fared better in therapy. Another consistent finding was that couples with no children did better in treatment than those who were also parents. It is interesting that remarried couples without children did best in treatment, followed by first-married couples with no children, first-married couples with children, and, finally, remarried couples with children. Implications for screening and clinical work with couples are presented.     

CROSS-ETHNIC FAMILY DIFFERENCES: INTERACTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF WHITE,BLACK, AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES1

Previous sociological and psychological research has reported differences in patterns of interaction between ethnic groupings of families; much of this literature has been confounded by methodological shortcomings and social class differences between the ethnic groups. This study utilized observational ratings of family interactions using the Beavers Interactional Scales, comparing interactional qualities of 89 White, 79 Black, and 18 Mexican-American families. Importantly, no significant global Competence or Style differences were found between groups, but differences in theoretically important component qualities of Competence and Style generally supported previous literature and clinical reports. Implications for therapists dealing with families of different ethnic groups are also addressed.     

The Anatomy of Hope

Hope and despair are antonyms that describe a person's emotional state, determine whether one receives a psychiatric label, and whether one experiences others as potentially loving or threatening. Patients come to the therapist, bereft of a sense of self-esteem and personal potency, seeking the gift of hope which the therapist, who treasures life, is uniquely qualified to give. The cultivation of hope and the abolition of despair are prime ingredients in psychotherapy, yet have received little attention in the therapeutic literature. This article examines the nature and origin of hope and despair.     

A Functional Analysis of Non-Vocal Verbal Behavior of a Young Child With Autism

The functions of an American Sign Language response were experimentally evaluated with a young boy diagnosed with autism. A functional analysis procedure based on that reported by Lerman et al. (2005) was used to evaluate whether the target sign response would occur under mand, tact, mimetic, or control conditions. The target sign was observed most often in the mand and mimetic test conditions, very seldom in the tact test condition, and never in the control condition. These results support those reported by Lerman et al. and extend previous research by evaluating a non-vocal verbal response using a brief multi-element arrangement with a single control condition. The implications for language assessment and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

A pilot test of a self-guided,home-based intervention to improve condom-related sexual experiences,attitudes, and behaviors among young women

Objective: To conduct a pilot test of a brief, self-guided, home-based program designed to improve male condom use attitudes and behaviors among young women. Participants: Women aged 18–24 years from a large Midwestern University reporting having had penile–vaginal sex with two or more partners in the past 3 months. Sixty-seven enrolled; 91.0% completed the study. Methods: A repeated measures design was used, with assessments occurring at baseline, immediately post intervention (T2), and 30 days subsequent (T3). Results: Condom use errors and problems decreased, condom-related attitudes and self-efficacy improved, and experiences of condom-protected sex were rated more positively when comparing baseline with T2 and T3 scores. Further, the proportion of condom-protected episodes more than doubled between T1 and T3 for those in the lowest quartile for condom use at baseline. Conclusion: This low-resource, home-based program improved condom-related attitudes and promoted the correct and consistent use of condoms.     

A Systems Model of Family for Family Therapists*

A family model that provides a classification system for family therapists is presented, based on an integration of family systems research in healthy and disturbed families and clinical data. The model provides tools for cross-sectional, process-oriented family assessment derived from consideration of family competence in task performance and family operating style. Seven family types result-optimal, adequate, midrange centripetal, midrange centrifugal, midrange mixed, severely dysfunctional centripetal and severely dysfunctional centrifugal. Identifying characteristics of each type are provided, and intervention strategies and approaches are discussed that follow logically from the assessment.     

Serum cholesterol levels in college students: opportunities for education and intervention

Elevated serum cholesterol levels have been shown to be associated with premature atherosclerosis in adolescents and young adults. The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends cholesterol screening for all adults aged 20 years or older, but normative data on the college-age population are limited. At a university where lipid profiles are made available to students in selected health/wellness courses, the authors analyzed and summarized lipid profiles on 1,088 undergraduates. Mean total cholesterol levels were similar for men (165 +/- 33 mg/dL) and women (168 +/- 27 mg/dL). The men, however, had significantly lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol than the women. One hundred twenty-one students (11.1% of the sample) had elevated serum cholesterol levels (LDL-C > or = 130 mg/dL). Cholesterol screening can be used as an educational tool for college students to reinforce the link between lipid levels and health habits.     

AGE-OF-RECALL EFFECTS ON FAMILY-OF-ORIGIN RATINGS

Family rating scales, particularly those tapping one's view of family of origin, rely heavily on one's summary impressions, perceptions, and recall of the family. Previous research has demonstrated that fairly consistent age, gender, and parent/offspring differences exist in ratings of current family functioning, but little information exists on such differences in rating one's family of origin. The present study had college-age subjects rate current family, family when they were elementary-school age, and family when they were 16 years old. Subjects were 141 college students (93 women, 48 men) who completed the self-Report Family Inventory (SFI) of the Beavers Systems Model of Family Functioning separately for the three specified recall periods (age 10, age 16, and current family). Significant differences were found between age-of-recall groups, with recall ratings from age 10 significantly more competent, cohesive, and less conflicted than those from age 16; current family ratings were intermediate. Relatively few gender by age interactions were significant. Implications for the use and interpretation of family ratings and family-of-origin scales are discussed.