PTSD Screening
There is a need for psychological services for individuals returning from active military duty. In this article the authors describe two instruments for use in screening for posttraumatic stress disorder. The Primary Care Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Screen (PC-PTSD) is mandated for use in post-deployment health screenings by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL) has been used with active duty military. In this study both measures were shown to be equally valid with active duty military. The PC-PTSD is only four items with yes/no responses and covers re-experiencing, numbing, avoidance, and hyperarousal. The PCL is 17 Likert scale items and is based on the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. It is recommended by the authors that clinicians take into account the stigma associated with reporting symptoms of PTSD with underreporting tendencies. This article might be of interest to clinicians working with individuals returning from military duty to better understand the sensitivity of these instruments.
Bliese, P. D., Wright, K. M., Adler, A. B., Cabrera, O, Castro, C. A., & Hoge, C. W. (2008). Validating the Primary Care Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Screen and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist with soldiers returning from combat. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76(2), 272-281. Reprint requests to Paul D. Bliese at paul.bliese@us.army.mil
Homework Compliance
Client compliance with homework can often be an issue in treatment. The authors discussed barriers to homework completion including task, environmental, therapist, and client factors. Past research shows a moderate level of compliance with homework as well as clients engaging in a cost-benefit analysis to complete homework. Clients’ beliefs about their abilities to successfully complete homework (taking into account past experiences completing similar tasks, feedback, etc.) come into play. The clients’ beliefs about themselves, the therapeutic alliance, etc. are to be taken into consideration. Pertinent case examples are given to show how the barriers are overlapping and there is a discussion of cognitive behavioral therapy measures to assess therapist confidence in homework appropriateness.
Kazantzis, N., & Shinkfield, G. (2007). Conceptualizing patient barriers to nonadherence with homework assignments. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 14, 317-324. Reprint requests to Nikolaos Kazantzis and Gregg Shinkfield at N.Kazantzis@massey.ac.nz
Personality Tests
Psychologists are called on to give personality tests for a variety of reasons, including prescreening for employment. The article is based on the comments about the use of personality tests in personnel selection from a panel discussion of journal editors from Personnel Psychology and Journal of Applied Psychology. The history of using personality tests in industrial organizational psychology is reviewed and the authors answered questions on faking, validity, effective usage, and future areas for research. It was suggested that a combination of a cognitive ability test might improve the validity of a personality test for predicting job performance. The authors also pointed out that face validity is important to the candidates for employment taking the exams. Clinicians might be interested in the intriguing dialog between the authors about the utility of personality tests.
Morgeson, F. P., Campion, M. A., Dipboye, R. L., Hollenbeck, J. R., Murphy, K., & Schmitt, M. (2007). Reconsidering the use of personality tests in personnel selection contexts. Personnel Psychology, 60, 683-729. Reprint requests to Frederick P. Morgeson at morgeson@msu.edu
Organizational Wellness
Psychologists are expanding their services into the corporate workplace. This article reviews the effect of organizational wellness programs, specifically fitness and comprehensive programs, on absenteeism and job satisfaction. Organizations lose vast amounts of money each year because of workplace stress, turnover, absenteeism, and health care costs. Organizational wellness programs attempt to promote good health and correct potential health-related problems. Employee participation in organizational wellness programs was related to lower absenteeism rates and higher levels of job satisfaction. The authors give some examples of cost benefits ratios for organizations that implemented wellness programs that may be useful to clinicians serving in a consulting role or working directly with large organizations.
Parks, K. M., & Steelman, L. A. (2008). Organizational wellness programs: A meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 13(1), 58-68. Reprint requests to Kizzy M. Parks at kizwiz@hotmail.com
Sexual Desire in Intimate Relationships
Clients in couples counseling sometimes struggle with differences in sexual desire. The authors examine approach goals of a positive nature to help maintain sexual desire in relationships. Past studies have found sexual desire was related to relationship satisfaction. This study used approach-avoidance theory to guide the research. Approach goals predicted sexual desire at the beginning of the study and also helped to buffer against declines in sexual desire after 6 months. Approach goals were also associated with sexual desire in general and were more strongly associated with sexual desire for women. Clinicians might find the discussion of the different types of goals beneficial for treatment planning for couples.
Impett, E. A., Strachman, A., Finkel, E. J., & Gable, S. L. (2007). Maintaining sexual desire in intimate relationships: The importance of approach goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(5), 808-823. Reprint requests to Emily A. Impett at eimpett@gmail.com
Pain Treatment
Alternate treatments for pain are gaining in popularity. This study utilized older participants (M = 75 years) from the community with chronic lower pack pain and enrolled them in an 8 week mindfulness meditation program or a wait list control group. The authors provide a description of their protocol and materials used to teach mindfulness to this group. Measures of pain acceptance and physical functioning showed improvement with the program. The participants also continued to meditate 3 months post study demonstrating the potential for long-term gains. This study showed initial promise for alternative therapies for pain. Clinicians might consider developing a similar group as part of their practice or partnering with a physician specializing in pain management as part of their practice.
Morone, N. E., Greco, C. M., & Weiner, D. K. (2008). Mindfulness meditation for the treatment of chronic low back pain in older adults: A randomized controlled pilot study. Pain, 134, 310-319. Reprint requests to Natalia E. Morone at moronene@upmc.edu
Supervision
Clinicians often take on supervisory roles, whether formally to a student, intern, or post-doc or informally through consultation with a colleague. Yet they themselves may or may not have received training in supervision. This article provides strategies for handling conflict in supervision based on responses from supervisors rated as “highly competent.” The authors discuss the importance of a working alliance, anxiety levels in both parties, and clarification of expectations in relation to conflict resolution. Specific strategies for conflict resolution in supervision are presented and may be of special interest to those providing supervision in their practice or to students in training.
Nelson, M. L., Barnes, K. L., Evans, A. L., & Triggiano, P. J. (2008). Working with conflicts in clinical supervision: Wise supervisors’ perspectives. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 55(2), 172-184. Reprint requests to Mary Lee Nelson at mlnelson@education.wisc.edu
Treatments for Anxious Children
Families often present a child as the identified patient in therapy. Treating the child alone versus the family as a whole can be a dilemma. This study compared randomized treatments for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders by individual cognitive behavioral therapy, family cognitive behavioral therapy, or family-based education/support/attention (FESA) and examined treatment gains across home and school environments. Both individual and family CBT were shown to be effective and superior to FESA while greater symptom reduction in the school environment was shown with individual CBT. Anxiety in the mother was shown to be an important moderating variable. The authors further break down the changes seen across and within treatment conditions which might be beneficial for clinicians deciding upon appropriate types of treatments for anxious children. The authors also provide references for manuals for each of the treatment modalities tested in the study.
Kendall, P. C., Hudson, J. L., Gosch, E., & Flannery-Schroeder, E. (2008). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disordered youth: A randomized clinical trial evaluating child and family modalities. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76(2), 282-297. Reprint requests to Philip C. Kendall at pkendall@temple.edu
Home Delivered Therapy
Finding appropriate services to meet the needs of a wide variety of individuals can be a challenge for any clinician, whether striving to provide the services himself/herself or refer out to another provider. This study reviewed home-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy services to individuals age 65 and older. The study focused on older individuals, primarily of African-American descent, who also had limited resources, health issues, and difficulty traveling. Both quality of life reports and psychological symptom reduction were examined. Improvements were shown in both areas. The authors discuss the extension of the use of CBT with a sample with fewer years of formal education as well as provide suggestions for practical implementation of a similar program outside of the research setting.
Scogin, G., Morthland, M., Kaufman, A., Burgio, L., Chaplin, W., and Kong, G. (2007). Improving quality of life in diverse rural older adults: A randomized trial of a -psychological treatment. Psychology and Aging, 22(4), 657-665. Reprint requests to Forrest Scogin at fscogin@as.ua.edu
Understanding the Effects of Methamphetamine Abuse
There has been an increase in the treatment of individuals for methamphetamine abuse over the last 10-15 years. The authors present a literature review of the physiological and psychological effects of methamphetamine abuse with extensive discussion of the neurological effects. There is particular attention paid to difficulties with social cognition, social interactions, depression, and aggression. The authors use the Theory of Mind to help explain how a history of methamphetamine abuse is possibly related to social cognition impairments and then relate this to similar deficits seen with individuals with autism and/or frontal lobe damage. This article may be of interest for clinicians working with clients who are recovering methamphetamine abusers to understand possible short and long term effects on functioning.
Homer, B. D., Solomon, T. M., Moeller, R. W., Mascia, A., DeRaleau, L., & Halkitis, P. N. (2008). Methamphetamine abuse and impairment of social functioning: A review of the underlying neurophysiological causes and behavioral implications. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 301-310. Reprint requests to Bruce D. Homer at Bhomer@gc.cuny.edu
