Showing papers in "Journal of Counseling Psychology in 2002"

Criterion validity, severity cut scores, and test-retest reliability of the Beck Depression Inventory-II in a university counseling center sample.

Abstract: The criterion validity of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; A. T. Beck, R. A. Steer, & G. K. Brown, 1996) was investigated by pairing blind BDI-II administrations with the major depressive episode portion of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I; M. B. First, R. L. Spitzer, M. Gibbon, & J. B. W. Williams, 1997) in a sample of 137 students receiving treatment at a university counseling center. Student BDI-II scores correlated strongly (r =.83) with their number of SCID-I depressed mood symptoms. A BDI-II cut score of 16 yielded a sensitivity rate of 84% and a false-positive rate of 18% in identifying depressed mood. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to produce cut scores for determining severity of depressed mood. In a second study, a sample of 46 student clients were administered the BDI-II twice, yielding test-retest reliability of.96.

The career development of Mexican American adolescent women: A test of social cognitive career theory.

Abstract: This study tested R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, and G. Hackett's (1994) model of career choice with 364 Mexican American adolescent women. Path analyses were run to determine the influence of contextual and social cognitive variables on career aspiration, career choice prestige, and traditionality. Partial support for the model was evidenced as nontraditional career self-efficacy, parental support, barriers, acculturation, and feminist attitudes predicted career choice prestige. Acculturation, feminist attitudes, and nontraditional career self-efficacy predicted career choice traditionality. Feminist attitudes and parental support predicted career aspiration. The paths between nontraditional career interests and the 3 outcome variables were not supported. Finally, none of the background contextual variables in this study predicted nontraditional career self-efficacy. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Validating the Cross Racial Identity Scale

Abstract: Validation work on the Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS; B. J. Vandiver et al., 2000) is described in 2 studies using African American college students. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis supported the presence of 6 CRIS subscales. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis provided support for a 2-factor higher order model of the 6 CRIS subscales and the nigrescence model. Correlational analyses between the CRIS and the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (R. M. Sellers, M. A. Smith, J. N. Shelton, S. A. J. Rowley, & T. M. Chavous, 1998). supported the convergent validity of the CRIS. CRIS subscale scores were not meaningfully linked to social desirability or personality traits but were differentially linked to self-esteem.

Predictors of Satisfaction with Counseling: Racial and Ethnic Minority Clients' Attitudes toward Counseling and Ratings of Their Counselors' General and Multicultural Counseling Competence.

Abstract: One hundred twelve college students of color who sought and terminated mental health treatment at their campus counseling center were asked to indicate their (a) attitudes toward counseling, (b) ratings of their counselors' general counseling competence, (c) ratings of their counselors' multicultural competence, and (d) satisfaction with counseling. Results revealed that these students' counseling attitudes and perceptions of their counselors' general and multicultural competence each accounted for significant variance in their satisfaction with counseling. Of particular note was the finding that racial and ethnic minority clients' ratings of their counselors' multicultural counseling competence explained significant variance in satisfaction ratings beyond the variance previously accounted for by their general counseling competence ratings. Moreover, results revealed that clients' ratings of their counselors' multicultural counseling competence partially mediated the relationship between general counseling competence ratings and satisfaction with counseling.

Stability and Change in Adult Attachment Style over the First-Year College Transition: Relations to Self-Confidence, Coping, and Distress Patterns.

Abstract: This study explored whether patterns of stability or change in adult attachment styles were associated with corresponding changes in self-confidence, problem coping styles, and distress. Two hundred seven students completed measures of the key variables near the start and toward the end of their freshman year. Participants were classified into change groups on the basis of their successive scores on a measure of adult attachment style. Results indicated that (a) change group had significant main effects on self-confidence ratings and problem coping styles, and (b) time and change group had significant main and interaction effects on the set of distress measures. Implications of the findings for an attachment theory-informed perspective on the transitional adjustment of entering freshmen are discussed.

Voices of the Forgotten Half: The Role of Social Class in the School-to-Work Transition.

Abstract: This study examines the impact of social class on the school-to-work (STW) transitions of young adults in working-class occupations. Using an exploratory, qualitative research methodology, interviews were conducted with 10 men and 10 women to examine the role of social class in the STW transition. All participants were working in low-skilled jobs and grouped into 2 cohorts based on their family’s socioeconomic background: higher socioeconomic status (HSES) and lower socioeconomic status (LSES). The findings indicate that social class played an important role in the participants’ STW transition. Individuals from the HSES cohort expressed greater interest in work as a source of personal satisfaction, higher levels of self-concept crystallization, greater access to external resources, and greater levels of career adaptability compared with their LSES counterparts. I was forced into this way of life. It’s like I was forced to drop out of

Psychotherapy Using Distance Technology: A Comparison of Face-to-Face, Video, and Audio Treatment

Abstract: This study compared selected process and outcome variables across 3 modes of psychotherapy: faceto-face, real-time video conference, and 2-way audio (analogous to telephone). Results from 80 randomly assigned clients suggested that differences in process and outcome among the 3 treatments were small and clinically promising in comparison with the untreated control group. Experimental comparisons of process and outcome in distant versus face-to-face conditions may influence the future practice of psychology. Conventional wisdom insists that, for most purposes, the therapist and client must be in the same room. Overall, our training as psychologists has emphasized face-to-face contact as the ideal. It will be interesting to discover whether this is true. Moreover, what conditions are required to establish psychological contact with another person and, in fact, what constitutes psychological contact at all, are salient questions in the age of Internet discourse (e.g., Kraut et al., 1998). These research questions are significant for therapist training, choice of treatment, and application of previous research findings. Our effort to compare face-to-face, video, and audio individual therapy addressed two aspects of substitutability. On the process side, the working alliance was examined in all three conditions. Bordin (1979) conceptualized this alliance as the emotional bond between client and therapist, the quality of client and therapist involvement in the tasks of therapy, and the amount of concordance on goals between therapist and client. Reviewing studies of the predictive validity of the alliance variable, Henry, Strupp, Schacht, and Gaston (1994) found empirical support for alliance– outcome associations no matter how outcome was measured, who measured it, or what psychotherapeutic school of thought was represented. These reviewers entertained “the hypothesis that the alliance is a causal ingredient of change” (p. 485). On the outcome side, several assessments were combined, following the advice of Strupp and Hadley (1977) that evaluation of outcome should include multiple sources of information (therapist and client) and multiple targets for change (symptom change, satisfaction level, problem resolution). As implied above, our research questions were straightforward: Does level of working alliance differ according to mode of delivery (face-to-face, audio, or video)? Does outcome differ according to mode of delivery and in comparison to a no-treatment wait-list control group?

The Role of Faculty Mentors in the Research Training of Counseling Psychology Doctoral Students

Abstract: This study investigated research mentoring experiences of counseling psychology doctoral students as predictors of students’ research productivity. The authors also assessed the research training environment and research self-efficacy as influences on research productivity. Participants were 194 third- and fourth-year counseling psychology doctoral students. Results indicated that the research training environment predicted students’ research mentoring experiences and their research self-efficacy. Both research mentoring experiences and research self-efficacy mediated the effect of the research training environment on research productivity. Analyses showed no significant differences in these relationships by student gender or scientific stature of training programs. Research training of counseling psychology doctoral students has received increased scrutiny in the last 2 decades. This scrutiny stems, in part, from the observation that few counseling psychologists conduct research after completing their doctoral requirements despite training in a scientist–practitioner model (Brems, Johnson, & Gallucci, 1996). Although research suggests that individual factors, such as personality and interests, play a major role in research attitudes and productivity (e.g., Kahn & Scott, 1997; Krebs, Smither, & Hurley, 1991; Mallinckrodt, Gelso, & Royalty, 1990), theorists have also proposed that the research training environment plays an influential role in shaping counseling psychologists’ perceptions of research (Gelso, 1997).

Profiles of attribution of importance to life roles and their implications for the work–family conflict.

Abstract: Cluster analysis identified 3 groups of individuals who differed systematically on attributions of relative importance to work and to family roles. Participants were 213 married computer workers and lawyers, 126 men and 87 women. Questionnaires gathered data on attributions of importance to life roles, work-family conflict, spousal and managerial support, and flexibility of working hours. In addition to variation between members of the 3 profiles for level of work-family conflict, differences were also found for age, hours working at job and home, and spousal support. Findings also indicated meaningful differences between the profiles for 2 types of conflict: work → family and family → work. Results suggest that simultaneous analysis of relative importance attributed to life roles enables more precise understanding of work-family conflict.

Mediational and deviance theories of late high school failure: Process roles of structural strains, academic competence, and general versus specific problem behavior.

Abstract: Understanding and preventing high school failure is a national priority. Structural strain and general deviance theories attempt to explain late high school failure. The authors tested the hypotheses that general (vs. specific) deviance and academic competence mediate the relationships between structural strain factors (gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status [SES]) and 12th-grade high school failure. Independent variables of structural strain and mediational variables of drug use, sexual involvement, school trouble, delinquency, and academic performance were assessed in a sample of 754 8th graders and used to predict 12th-grade high school dropout and number of missed months of school (reflecting a latent construct of High School Failure) in the 12th grade. High school failure was directly predicted by earlier General Deviance, poor Academic Competence, low Family SES, and tobacco use. All ethnic and gender differences in high school failure were mediated by deviance and academic ability or accounted for by Family SES discrepancies.

Development of interests and competency beliefs: A 1-year longitudinal study of fifth- to eighth-grade students using the ICA-R and structural equation modeling

Abstract: The relative influence of interest and self-efficacy beliefs on each other over 1 year was examined in 2 longitudinal samples of students, I of elementary school students (Grade 5, N = 126) and 1 of middle school students (Grade 7, N = 221). Interest and competence ratings on the Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional scales (J. L. Holland, 1997) were assessed using the Inventory of Children's Activities-Revised (T. J. G. Tracey & C. C. Ward, 1998). Responses were examined using structural equation modeling, and the results demonstrated that there were changes both in the structure and level of interest and competence ratings over time. The circumplex structure was found to become more prominent over time, especially by 8th grade, and overall mean levels of interest and competence ratings decreased over time. Interest and competence ratings were found to predict each other equally over time. Finally, there were significant grade, gender, time, Time × Grade, and Time × Gender effects on the scale score means. Results are discussed with respect to implications for interest development and assessment.

Associations Between Working Models of Attachment and Conflict Management Behavior in Romantic Couples

Abstract: The goal of this study was to specify relations between internal working models of attachment (IWM) and conflict management behaviors in a sample of young adults involved in romantic relationships. One hundred forty-five romantic couples were recruited to address this goal. All participants were administered the Adult Attachment Interview (C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1996) and observed across 2 experimental conditions designed to simulate waiting room and conflict management contexts. As expected, individual differences in IWM predicted positive and negative conflict management behavior. The IWM of the young women predicted more positive behavior across interactions, whereas the IWM of the young men predicted more negative behavior in the conflict management condition. Individuals who were unresolved regarding loss or trauma and who displayed considerable attachment insecurity were particularly vulnerable to more negative behavior, particularly in terms of exhibiting controlling behavior.

Self-Esteem as a Moderator Between Perceived Discrimination and Psychological Distress Among Women

Abstract: The relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress was investigated within a social comparison theory framework. Predictions of a variant of social comparison theory—relative deprivation theory—as well as predictions from the stress-buffering literature pertaining to the moderating effects of self-esteem were tested using samples primarily composed of European American women. Results regarding the theorized self-protecting roles of personal self-esteem (Study 1) and collective self-esteem (Study 2) indicated mixed support for personal self-esteem and consistent support for collective self-esteem as moderators of the discrimination– distress relationship. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for theory, practice, and research pertaining to the impact of discrimination and social stigma. Historically, in the study of prejudice and discrimination, the majority of the empirical focus has been on understanding the variables associated with prejudiced beliefs and discriminatory behavior on the part of the perpetrator. As a result, over the span of more than half a century, a substantial body of research that articulates the personal characteristics, social structures, and psychological processes associated with the development and maintenance of prejudiced attitudes and discriminatory behavior has been amassed (e.g., Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, & San

Spirituality and Psychological Adaptation among Women with HIV/AIDS: Implications for Counseling.

Abstract: Survey interviews with 230 predominantly African American and Puerto Rican low-income women who were living with HIV/AIDS in New York City revealed high levels of spirituality and spiritually based coping with HIV. Both spirituality indicators positively correlated with the frequency of receipt of HIV-related social support; they were negatively related to recent drug use. Two hierarchical regression analyses that controlled relevant covariates indicated positive correlations between the spirituality indicators and psychological adaptation (i.e., a composite measure of depressive symptomatology, mood states, mastery, and self-esteem). The beneficial effect of spiritually based coping persisted even when other types of coping were controlled. The discussion considers implications for counseling women living with HIV as well as for research and theory in the area of spiritually based coping.

Out at work: The relation of actor and partner workplace policy and internalized homophobia to disclosure status

Abstract: Those who identify as gay male or lesbian must make decisions about whether to disclose their sexual orientation in work environments that may be discriminatory. As part of a larger Web-based survey of love, work, and health in gay male and lesbian couples, the authors examined the predictors of individuals' workplace disclosure status in 118 couples. Findings indicated that, at the individual level, having a workplace nondiscrimination policy and less internalized homophobia were positively associated with the extent to which an individual was out at work. Beyond these individual effects, an individual's disclosure status at work was also positively associated with her or his partner having a workplace nondiscrimination policy and less internalized homophobia. The implications for counseling and for wider interventions at the policy level are discussed.

Association Between Childhood Physical and Emotional Abuse and Disordered Eating Behaviors in Female Undergraduates: An Investigation of the Mediating Role of Alexithymia and Depression

Abstract: Although disordered eating behaviors are relatively common among college women, many questions about their etiology remain. In the present study, structural equation modeling was used to investigate potential mediating associations among variables previously found to be associated with the continuum of disordered eating behaviors in a large sample of college women. Results indicated that family conflict, family cohesion, and childhood physical and emotional abuse and neglect were not directly associated with disordered eating. Rather, their association with disordered eating was mediated by alexithymia and depression. These results were cross-validated in a second sample of college women. These data highlight the complexity of disordered eating and provide future directions for the prevention and treatment of the continuum of disordered eating behaviors.

Testing Cross's revised racial identity model: An examination of the relationship between racial identity and internalized racialism.

Abstract: This study tested William Cross’s (1991, 1995) revised racial identity model. The relationship between racial identity attitudes and internalized racialism was examined in 153 African American college students attending a historically Black university. Participants completed the Cross Racial Identity Scale (B. J. Vandiver et al., 2000) and the Nadanolitization Scale (J. Taylor & C. Grundy, 1996). Findings indicated that the pre-encounter racial identity attitudes of miseducation and self-hatred, and immersion– emersion anti-White attitudes, were positively related to beliefs in the mental and genetic deficiencies of Blacks as well as the sexual prowess of Blacks. Pre-encounter assimilation attitudes were negatively related to beliefs in the natural abilities of Blacks, whereas internalization Afrocentricity attitudes were positively related. These results provide support for Cross’s revisions of his racial identity model. Perhaps no other topic in the multicultural counseling and psychology literature has been as heavily researched with African Americans as that of racial identity. During a span of over 30 years dating back to Cross’s (1971) seminal contribution, research on racial identity has increased considerably. A review of dissertations pertaining to African Americans reveals that racial identity has been an increasingly popular area of inquiry for graduate students. These studies have overwhelmingly relied on the original nigrescence model (Cross, 1971). The original nigrescence model described developmental stages that Blacks in America go through to obtain a psychologically healthy Black identity. In the original model, there were five stages (pre-encounter, encounter, immersion– emersion, internalization, and internalization commitment). The model was then operationalized using the Racial Identity Attitudes Scale (RIAS; Parham & Helms, 1981). The RIAS currently has three different versions (RIAS, RIAS-B, and RIAS-L) and has been the subject of a number of psychometric investigations that have raised concerns about the validity of the instruments (Fisher, Tokar, & Serna, 1998; Ponterotto & Wise, 1987;

Identifying the Antecedent in the Relation Between Career Interests and Self-Efficacy: Is It One, the Other, or Both?

Abstract: Social– cognitive career theory (R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1994) postulates that changes in self-efficacy precede changes in interests, but the cross-sectional nature of most research has precluded the examination of temporal precedence in the relation between these variables. The authors assessed college students’ career interests and self-efficacy at 3 separate times over the course of an academic year and examined the temporal nature of the relationship using a cross-lagged panel design. Structural equation modeling with observed variables generally revealed a reciprocal relationship between the 2 constructs over time, but the temporal precedence was inconsistent across time periods. The authors discuss these results in the context of A. Bandura’s (1986) self-efficacy theory and provide recommendations for theory refinement and career counseling practice.

Adult attachment orientations and college student distress: Test of a mediational model

Abstract: A model for predicting college student distress that included measures of negative life event impacts, adult attachment orientations, and several indexes of self-organization was tested. Results demonstrated that, controlling for age and negative life impacts, attachment anxiety along with 2 self-organizing predictors (self-splitting, self-concealment) each made unique contributions and collectively explained nearly half of the variance in student distress. In addition, self-splitting and self-concealment effectively mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and distress. Implications for the counseling of distressed college students are discussed.

An examination of efficacy and esteem pathways to depression in young adulthood.

Abstract: Models of self-efficacy and self-esteem pathways to depression were examined in 405 college students. Both models showed excellent fit to the data. The more parsimonious model indicated that efficacy and esteem variables were related to depressive symptoms indirectly through their relationships to the intermediate adjustment variables of career indecision and shyness. Career indecision and shyness were, in turn, directly related to depressive symptoms, although these relationships were small. The strongest predictor of depressive symptoms was global self-esteem. For men and women, respectively, the model accounted for 61% and 64% of the variance in shyness, 28% and 37% of the variance in career indecision, and 41% and 48% of the variance in depressive symptoms. The data thus suggest the importance of both cognitive (efficacy) and affective (esteem) aspects of self-appraisal.

Effectiveness of telephone counseling: A field-based investigation.

Abstract: The use of the telephone has become an increasingly popular mode for providing counseling. However, little is known about its effectiveness. This study is an initial effectiveness study on telephone counseling. Participants (N = 186) who had received counseling from a telephone counseling service rated the effectiveness of telephone counseling and the quality of their counseling relationship. Generally, respondents indicated that telephone counseling was helpful for both global and specific improvement and that they were satisfied with the counseling they received. Respondents also rated the counseling relationship and level of interpersonal influence similarly to face-to-face counseling studies measuring the same attributes. The telephone counseling results are given in the context of face-to-face counseling data from other studies.

Across Academic Domains: Extensions of the Social-Cognitive Career Model.

Abstract: In the present study, the authors investigated the academic subject matter domain specificity of the social-cognitive career choice model (R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1994). The relationships between self-efficacy, goals, outcome expectations, and interests were examined across the subject areas of art, social science, math/science, and English to see if the predicted relationships hold for subject domains other than math/science. Previously validated scales in each of the subject domains were used in a survey of undergraduates (N = 952) in introductory psychology classes at 2 Midwestern universities. Structural equation modeling was used to test 4 different models. The results indicated support for the social-cognitive career model relationships in each of the 4 subject areas and revealed that these relationships are remarkably similar across subject areas. Some modifications in the model were made, including the use of 4 background variables examined in the study.

Impulsivity, Coping, Stress, and Problem Gambling among University Students.

Abstract: The authors investigated whether coping styles moderated the relationship between (a) impulsivity and stress and (b) stress and gambling behavior and tested whether impulsive persons who use avoidant or emotion-focused coping under high-stress conditions are most likely to gamble. Among 202 university student volunteers, 33% of men but only 3% of women reported problem or pathological gambling, and neither stress, impulsiveness, nor coping predicted gambling among women. Among men, impulsiveness, task coping, and emotion coping accounted for significant and unique variance in gambling. For higher task coping and lower emotion-focused coping, impulsiveness had a weaker relationship to gambling. Additionally, among nonimpulsive men, emotion-focused coping in high stress conditions was most likely to result in gambling.

Asian American Client Adherence to Asian Cultural Values, Counselor Expression of Cultural Values, Counselor Ethnicity, and Career Counseling Process.

Abstract: This study investigated the relationships among client adherence to Asian cultural values, counselor expression of cultural values, counselor ethnicity, and career counseling process with Asian American college students. Clients who had high adherence to Asian cultural values evaluated Asian American counselors as more empathic and credible than did clients with low adherence to Asian values, and clients who had low adherence to Asian cultural values evaluated European American counselors as more empathic than did clients with high adherence to Asian values. Contrary to expectations, clients rated the session with a European American counselor as more positive and arousing than the session with an Asian American counselor. Limitations and implications of the results are discussed. Recognizing the growing number of ethnic minorities in the United States and their tendency to prematurely terminate from counseling services, multicultural counseling researchers have increasingly examined the relationships among cultural variables, such as acculturation and ethnic identity, and the quality of counseling process (Atkinson, Morten, & Sue, 1998; Sue, 1990). One particular group of people that has received attention in this endeavor has been Asian Americans. As of 2000, there were over 10.2 million Asian Americans in the United States, representing 3.6% of the total population (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2001). These numbers represent an increase of 46% since 1990, making Asian Americans the second fastest growing ethnic group in the United States (after Hispanic Americans). Given these statistics, it is likely that there will be greater demands in the future from Asian Americans for culturally relevant and sensitive psychological services. In addition, because Asian Americans comprise individuals ranging from those whose ancestors immigrated to the United States in the 1850s to those whose parents immigrated to the United States after the passing of the Immigration Act of 1965 and those who have immigrated just recently, the need to account for within-group factors that are related to the quality of counseling process is especially salient. The goal of the present study was to investigate the relationships among three cultural factors, client adherence to Asian cultural values, counselor’s expression of cultural values and counselor ethnicity, and the quality of career counseling process.

Development and Use of the Helping Skills Measure to Assess Client Perceptions of the Effects of Training and of Helping Skills in Sessions

Abstract: The Helping Skills Measure (HSM) was constructed to assess client perceptions of the helping skills used by beginning helpers in sessions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated 3 scales (Exploration, Insight, Action) that were internally consistent and moderately to highly intercorrelated. Scores on all 3 HSM scales increased after training in helping skills. Client perceptions of helping skills contributed significantly to the prediction of client evaluation of session quality beyond the contribution of client perceptions of the therapeutic relationship. Hence, the HSM can be used to evaluate client perceptions of helper skills and the effects of helping skills training. Although helping skills are often taught to both undergraduate and graduate students, the research on the effectiveness of these programs has focused primarily on graduate students (see Baker, Daniels, & Greeley, 1990). Furthermore, research on helping skills at all levels has dramatically decreased in recent years. Clearly, if we are to continue to teach these courses, we need more research demonstrating that students, especially undergraduate students, can learn and implement helping skills. One probable reason for the decline of research on helping skills training is the difficulty in determining what criteria to use to assess whether trainees have learned the skills. Early researchers (e.g., Anthony & Hill, 1976; Gormally, Hill, Gulanik, & McGovern, 1975; Schroeder, Hill, Gormally, & Anthony, 1973) asked trainees to write responses to scripted client vignettes and then examined changes in ratings of the quality of their responses. Reviewers of this literature (e.g., Gormally & Hill, 1974), however, criticized the use of ratings of written responses because these are easily influenced by demand characteristics (e.g., students may be able to learn to respond well in writing but that does not mean that they can perform these skills in sessions with clients).

Relational influences on career paths: Siblings in context.

Abstract: This investigation examined participants' perceptions of sibling relational influence on career exploration and decision making. Career path influence on sibling relationships and times when these relationships were most important also were explored. Individual interviews were conducted with urban commuter college students, and narrative data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research methods as described by C. E. Hill, B. J. Thompson, and E. N. Williams (1997). Consistent with attachment theory (J. Bowlby, 1982) and literature on social support (C. E. Cutrona, 1996), one of the most prominent factors associated with relational influence was multidimensional social support. Predictable differences were found in relational influence between participants' most important siblings and other siblings.

Origins, Consequences, and Management of Countertransference: A Case Study

Abstract: Insight into the construct of countertransference may be gained by studying the relationships among its constituents. Toward that end, a single therapy dyad was analyzed for 13 sessions. Client verbalizations predicted to trigger countertransference reactions were studied in relation to their possible consequences, and the potential mitigating role of countertransference management was explored. Results suggest that when client material touches upon a therapist’s unresolved issues, it may affect the therapist’s avoidance behavior as well as the working alliance, session impact, and the therapist’s perceptions of his or her own social influence attributes. Effective countertransference management may enhance session depth and client perceptions of the working alliance. Findings are discussed in light of implications for therapy, theory development, and future research. Since Freud’s (1910/1959) initial identification of countertransference as a pivotal factor in therapy, countertransference has been theoretically defined, dissected, and conceptualized in dozens of ways (for informative reviews, see Hayes & Gelso, 2001; Orr, 1954/1988; Wolstein, 1982). Despite the definitional controversy that has perpetually surrounded countertransference, there is widespread agreement about its clinical significance. Consistent with current theoretical and empirical literature (Gelso & Carter, 1994; Gelso & Hayes, 1998), for the purposes of this study, we defined countertransference as “those responses to the patient which, while prompted by some event within the therapy or the therapist’s real life, are primarily based on [the therapist’s] past significant relationships; basically, they gratify [the therapist’s] needs rather than the patient’s therapeutic endeavors” (Langs, 1974, p. 298). Inherent in this definition is the recognition that countertransference may be acute or chronic (Reich, 1951). Acute countertransference occurs “under specific circumstances with specific patients” (Reich, 1951, p. 26). It may be likened to “state” countertransference that arises sporadically in the therapist. Chronic countertransference, on the other hand, is more typical for a particular therapist. Such countertransference is played out frequently, almost indiscriminately, with a multitude of clients; it is akin to “trait” countertransference. Historically, it was believed that countertransference behavior was to be avoided at all costs (Freud, 1910/1959). In contemporary

Effects of Asian American client adherence to Asian cultural values, session goal, and counselor emphasis of client expression on career counseling process.

Abstract: Seventy-eight Asian American college students who were experiencing career uncertainty engaged in a counseling session with a European American female counselor who focused on either immediate resolution of the problem or insight attainment through exploration of the problem and who emphasized client expression of either cognition or emotion. Clients with high adherence to Asian cultural values perceived increased counselor empathic understanding and stronger client– counselor working alliance than did clients with low adherence to Asian values. Clients who were exposed to the immediate resolution condition perceived stronger working alliance than did clients exposed to the insight attainment condition. Among clients with high adherence to Asian values, those in the expression of emotion condition perceived greater counselor cross-cultural competence than did those in the cognition condition.

Client Articulated Avoidance Goals in the Therapy Context.

Abstract: This research investigated the relationship between clients' pursuit of avoidance (relative to approach) therapy goals and change in subjective well-being (SWB) from the beginning to the end of therapy. Results indicated that clients with more avoidance therapy goals evidenced a smaller increase in SWB over the course of therapy than those with fewer avoidance goals. Mediational analyses indicated that avoidance therapy goals predicted lower therapist satisfaction, lower therapist satisfaction predicted lower perceptions of therapy effectiveness (perceived problem improvement and perceived goal progress), and these lower perceptions of therapy effectiveness proximally predicted the observed change in SWB. Ancillary analyses linked the adoption of avoidance therapy goals to early parental loss through separation/divorce or death.

Cross-cultural differences in vocational interests: Between-group differences on the Strong Interest Inventory.

Abstract: This study was designed to examine the vocational interests among members of the same racial/ethnic group who differ in age, educational level, and professional attainment. Student samples of African Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and American Indians (n = 3,637) completing the Strong Interest Inventory (L. W. Harmon, J. C. Hansen, F. H. Borgen, & A. L. Hammer, 1994) were compared with the racial/ethnic minority professionals in the 1994 criterion group and a 10% sample of the Caucasian professionals (n = 1,699). The largest effect size was found for sex differences in interests. Student samples had significantly lower scores on all 6 Holland themes than professionals.