Showing papers on "Psychological intervention published in 1984"

The social and emotional adjustment of immigrant children: a review of the literature.

Abstract: This article reviews the existing research on the prevalence of social and emotional adjustment problems among immigrant children examines the findings on the kinds of adjustment problems exacerbated by migration or particular to immigrant school children and reviews and assesses effectiveness of intervention programs developed specifically to aid such children. Also considered is a theoretical framework which would facilitate conceptualizing the process of immigration among children their particular needs and how these might best be met by primary and secondary preventive mental health interventions. (authors)

Behavior Disorders of Childhood

Abstract: 1. Introduction. 2. The Developmental Psychopathology Perspective. 3. Influences and Risks in the Developmental Process. 4. Research: Its Role and Methods. 5. Classification, Assessment, and Treatment. 6. Anxiety Disorders. 7. Mood Disorders. 8. Conduct Problems. 9. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. 10. Language and Learning Disorders. 11. Mental Retardation. 12. Autism and Schizophrenia. 13. Disorders of Basic Physical Functions. 14. Psychological Factors Affecting Medical Condition. 15. Evolving Concerns for Youth.

The Prevention of Cigarette Smoking in Children: A Comparison of Four Strategies

Abstract: Adolescent cigarette smoking remains a serious public health problem. Recent preventive efforts have concentrated on the social influences which encourage smoking onset. They appear more effective than earlier efforts which considered primarily the long term health risks of smoking. In spite of this progress, it has not been possible to identify the necessary or sufficient conditions for the reported treatment effects due largely to issues of research design. We report data from two consecutive studies designed to address this problem. In each study, four treatment strategies were compared for their effectiveness in deterring smoking onset and in minimizing future smoking levels. In the second study, an untreated reference condition was also included. Approximately 7000 students participated in the two studies. Baseline data were gathered in September of the seventh-grade year, interventions were conducted during the full year, and post-test and followup data were collected annually beginning in May of that year. These data suggest that a program which teaches specific skills to resist social pressures to begin smoking and which teaches students about the short term physiological consequences of smoking is more effective than a program which concentrates on long term health consequences. Perhaps most important, the use of same-age peer leaders as teachers appears to be a necessary condition for successful use of this intervention program.

Modifying and Developing Health Behavior

Abstract: The literatures on both behavior modification and behavioral development have engendered innovations in public health programs, addressing problems of patient adherance to preventive and therapeutic regimens, delay in seeking diagnosis of illness symptoms, risk-taking behavior, and other aspects of lifestyle associated with health. Because most of this literature derives from psychology, there has been a distinct bias in the construction of interventions, pointing them directly at individuals, usually in a counseling or small group mode of delivery. These developments served public health well enough during a decade or so when the preoccupation was with utilization of health services and medical management of chronic diseases. With the publication of the Lalonde Report in Canada in 1974, the passage of Public Law 94-317 in 1976 in the United States, and similar initiatives in other English-speaking and European countries, the recognition of the greater complexities of lifestyle development and modification in the absence of symptoms has taken hold. Policy makers and public health workers seek a more efficient and equitable set of strategies to meet the behavioral health challenges of modern society without placing the entire weight of responsibility for behavior on the individual or on therapeutic practitioners. Concurrently, on a more global scale and in the developing countries, a concern has emerged for strategies that give individuals, families, and communities a greater role in deciding their own health priorities. The convergence of these two trends--one seeking to distribute responsibility for lifestyle more equitably and the other seeking to distribute responsibility for planning health programs more equitably --calls for policies, strategies, and interventions that will place similar emphasis on health education and organizational, economic, and environmental supports for health behavior. The combination of these elements of support for behavior calls, in turn, for research and more inventive applications of theory from sociology, political science, economics, and anthropology. Public health workers will need to become more conversant and facile in these social sciences, as they have in psychology and its applications in the recent past.

'Psychosocial' interventions with families and their effects on the course of schizophrenia: a review.

Abstract: Recent interest in the way social factors influence the course of schizophrenia has led to attempts to monitor and manipulate these factors. The work on the Expressed Emotion of the relative has been especially influential in this area. A number of studies have now been conducted in which a psychosocial intervention has been employed in an attempt to prevent relapse after discharge from hospital. These studies are reviewed with an emphasis on their methodological adequacy and on the nature of the intervention used. Recent studies have demonstrated a positive result for psychosocial interventions used in combination with neuroleptic medication. However, analysis of these studies does not allow us to conclude that we can identify the 'active ingredients' in these psychosocial treatment regimes. Although there is cause for optimism, further investigation is required.

The use of relaxation-mental imagery (self-hypnosis) in the management of 505 pediatric behavioral encounters.

Abstract: This report assessed outcomes of hypnotherapeutic interventions for 505 children and adolescents seen by four pediatricians over a period of one year and followed from four months to two years. Presenting problems included enuresis, acute pain, chronic pain, asthma, habit disorders, obesity,

Human Development and Intervention in Childhood Psychopathology.

Abstract: Changes sought by interventionists can be influenced by the classes of changes labeled "development." We argue there are several features of the child's developing physical, psychological, and behavioral characteristics that suggest the sorts of interventions that may be efficacious and the ones that may be less efficient or counterproductive. Illustrations are drawn from the literatures pertinent to such topics as systematic desensitization, cognitive-behavioral self-control therapy, interventions for social isolates, and parent training programs, and involve preventive as well as remedial/therapeutic interventions. The combined efforts of developmentalists and interventionists may contribute to clarifying one of the major issues in human development today, that of constancy and change over the life course.

Designing Interventions for the Helping Professions

Abstract: Thomas's book is a synthesis of many influential technologies including social research and development, programme evaluation, experimental social innovation and planning. It presents concepts, logic and methodology of intervention design for practioners, administrators and researchers whose task is evolving new human service interventions for purposes of remediation or prevention. The book is a handbook for practitioners, and a text for students of social work and public health, psychology, rehabilitation, behavioural medicine and counselling.

Definitional, parametric, and procedural considerations in timeout interventions and research.

Abstract: This article reviews definitional, parametric, and procedural issues which must be considered to optimize the effectiveness of timeout, an intervention frequently used with exceptional students. Th...

Marital Disruption: Effects on Behavioral and Emotional Functioning in Children

Abstract: Recent research has demonstrated the importance of assessing the effects of marital disruption on the psychological functioning of children in the context of family characteristics and situations. However, few studies have been able to address this issue in a study of a community population. This article examines the effects of marital disruption on behavioral and emotional functioning in a cohort of thirdgrade children, using ratings of psychological functioning obtained at three time periods from multiple sources. The findings suggest that marital disruption has some negative consequences for children's adjustment in certain areas of functioning. The implications for mental health interventions are discussed.

Handbook of mental illness in the mentally retarded

Abstract: I Nature of the Dual Diagnosis.- 1. The Nature and Incidence of Mental Illness in Mentally Retarded Individuals.- 2. Dual Diagnosis of Mental Retardation and Mental Illness: An Overview.- 3. Need Assessment and Service Planning for Mentally Retarded-Mentally Ill Persons.- II Treatment and Management Interventions.- 4. Use of Behavior Therapy with the Mentally Retarded in Community Settings.- 5. Modified Individual and Group Treatment Approaches for the Mentally Retarded-Mentally Ill.- 6. Specific Psychopharmacological Approaches and Rationale for Mentally Ill-Mentally Retarded Children.- 7. Treatment Strategies in the Habilitation of Severely Mentally Retarded-Mentally Ill Adolescents and Adults.- 8. Multimodal Treatment of Mental Illness in Institutionalized Mentally Retarded Persons.- III Special Systems of Services.- 9. Value-Based Programming for the Dually Diagnosed: The Rock Creek Model.- 10. A Model Inpatient Psychiatric Program: Its Relationship to a Continuum of Care for the Mentally Retarded-Mentally Ill.- 11. A Plan Designed to Deliver Services to the Multiply Mentally Handicapped.- 12. A Model Day-Treatment Service for the Mentally Retarded-Mentally Ill Population.- 13. A Home Intervention Program for Mentally Retarded-Emotionally Disturbed Individuals and Their Families.- IV Training Challenges.- 14. Training Mental Health Personnel in Mental Retardation.- 15. Teaching Behavior Modification Skills to Paraprofessionals.- 16. New Challenges in Social Work Practice with the Mentally Retarded.- V Research and Future Directions.- 17. Psychiatric Research in Mental Retardation: Current Status and Future Directions.- 18. A Broader Perspective: Applying Modern Mental-Retardation Service-System Principles to All Chronically Disabled Persons.- Author Index.

Telephone counseling and crisis intervention: A review

Abstract: The empirical research pertaining to the effectiveness of telephone counseling and referral systems personnel was critically reviewed. The assessment was organized according to several evaluation strategies that researchers have utilized to evaluate effectiveness. These strategies included, for example, client self-reports, client "shows" versus "no-shows" following referral, data pertaining to suicide rates, counselor ratings of personal effectiveness, and phone workers' ability to offer empathy to clients. It was concluded that discussions of effectiveness should be constrained by a careful consideration of the specific index of efficacy chosen by investigators as well as methodological issues associated with current research in this area. There is reason to believe that the availability of telephone crisis services may be related to reduced suicide rates among young white females. Also, there is a significant need to empirically associate counseling technique and indices of effectiveness with substantive measures of client outcome in future research. Additional topics reviewed include the probable differential effectiveness of lay workers with various presenting problems of clients, and the role that training and maturity seem to play in successful interventions. Guidelines for the use of evaluation techniques which coincide with service goals are also offered.

Four useful interventions in brief family therapy

Abstract: At the Brief Family Therapy Center we have developed some interventions that have repeatedly been found useful. Once a generalizable intervention is designed for a particular case and found effective, the team attempts to replicate by using it in other appropriate situations. When a pattern of usefulness emerges, it is time to think about and study what is going on that makes the intervention useful. The purpose of this paper is to describe four such interventions, the situations in which to use them or not use them, and our thinking about what is going on in each example.

Crimes against discharged mental patients in board-and-care homes

Abstract: A survey of 278 persons discharged from mental hospitals who were living in board-and-care homes showed that one-third of them had been victims of crime during the preceding year. In a comparison of nonvictims, victims of theft, and victims of violence, it was found that victims of violence were younger, were more active socially, reported more psychopathology and less satisfaction with their lives, and engaged in more criminal behaviors themselves than the other groups. Both victim groups used emergency mental health services more than nonvictims did during the preceding year. Strategies for future research and interventions are discussed. Language: en

Cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy: An existential-psychological approach

Abstract: The purpose of this presentation is to propose a paradigm for cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy based on existential philosophy that may be applicable to and can be adapted to apply in cultures around the world. Counseling and psychotherapy have similar functions, i.e., to alleviate.distress, to reintegrate the client into his or her culture and to enable the client to respond to cultural roles and to me~et cultural expectations. In general, counseling facilitates and fosters effective problem-solving and psychotherapy is concerned with changing persons, their modes of experience and behavior, i.e., personalities. Since no clear dividing line can be drawn between these two activities, it is fair to assume that there is a great degree of similarity between these two activities (Draguns, 1981). Cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy has been an area of interest for nearly two decades in the United States (Sue, 1983). A number of approaches to cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy have been proposed (Sue, 1977; 1978; 1981; Sue, S., 1981; 1983; Arredondo-Dowd and Gonsalves, 1980; Malpass, 1977)along with a number of proposals for counselor preparation (Triandis, 1975; Pedersen, 1976, reference note 3; Sue, 1981). The focus of these approaches has been on majorityminority relations and helping individuals develop skills to work with the ethnically different. In general, the literature available does not address the philosophical assumptions that people hold. The focus of these approaches has been on theory and practice issues. Sue (1983) points out that: (a) information is still lacking regarding the relationship of knowledge of culture and skill development in therapeutic interventions; (b) the discussions of differences between ethnic groups overlook and ignore 'within group' differences; and (c) lack of actual experience and information with the specific ethnic groups leads to inadequately prepared counselors and therapists. Clearly, the work of two decades in the United States on cross-cultural counseling is providing some guidelines for cross-cultural counseling interventions. The lack of a philosophy to understand human beings seems to be one of the most pervasive deficits in the models proposed in the United States. Counseling and psychotherapy are not simple technical activities. The assumptions inherent in

Perinatal mortality in rural India: intervention through primary health care. II Neonatal mortality.

Abstract: Early neonatal mortality is unacceptably high in most developing countries. A large majority of births in rural areas of these countries occur at home, attended by relatives or traditional birth attendants and without easy access to skilled professional care. Under these circumstances cause of death has to be based on lay descriptions of terminal events. Analysis of cause of death shows that 74% of the early neonatal deaths are amenable to intervention. Admittance to hospital of the "at risk" neonates is not practicable. Intervention through primary health care can be effective if based on scientific principles and offered through female community health workers. Objectives of domiciliary care given by these workers should be to educate and guide the mother to protect the delicate newborn from the effects of adverse environmental conditions, to ensure adequate nutrition, and to prevent infections. Interventions supporting beneficial traditional cultural practices as well as simple techniques for care of the newborn are discussed.

Method of evaluating and improving ambulatory medical care.

Abstract: The usefulness of an action-research model is demonstrated in the evaluation and improvement of ambulatory medical care in a variety of settings: solo office practice, prepaid capitation multiple-specialty group practice, and medical school hospital-based outpatient clinic practice. Improvements in the process of medical care are found to relate directly to the intensity and duration of planned interventions by the study group and are demonstrated to follow organizational changes in the participating sites--primarily managerial and support services initiated by policy decisions in each study site. Improvement in performance approaching one standard deviation results from the most intense intervention, about one-half standard deviation at the next level of intervention, and virtually no change from a simple feedback of performance measures. On the basis of these findings and other operational and research efforts to improve physician performance, it is unlikely that simple feedback of performance measures will elicit a change in behavior. However, noncoercive methods involving health care providers in problem identification, problem solving, and solution implementation are demonstrated to be effective.