Therapist multicultural competence, Asian American participants' cultural values, and counseling process.

Asian Americans drop out of mental health treatment at a high rate. This problem could be addressed by enhancing therapists' multicultural competence and by examining clients' cultural attitudes that may affect the counseling process. In the present study, we used a video analogue design with a sample of 113 Asian American college students to examine these possibilities. The result from a t test showed that the session containing therapist multicultural competencies received higher ratings than the session without therapist multicultural competence. In addition, correlational analyses showed that participant values acculturation was positively associated with participant ratings of counseling process, while the value of emotional self-control was negatively correlated. The results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis did not support any interaction effects among the independent variables on counseling process. All of these findings could contribute to the field of multicultural competence research and have implications for therapist practices and training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Metareflections on the roles and functions of counseling psychologists.

Responds to comments by C. E. Watkins (see record 1984-32564-001) concerning the present author's (see record 1984-16046-001) discussion of the differing roles of counseling and clinical psychology. Although the 2 specialties share a number of professional activities and client groups, it is suggested that they are partially differentiated by the inclusion of normal populations in counseling treatment and severely disturbed populations in clinical psychology. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflections on the roles and functions of counseling psychologists.

In response to R. Tipton's (see record 1984-16046-001) study of the perceived roles and functions of counseling psychologists, the present author argues that there is a major discrepancy between the field's avowed interest and actual involvement in preventive, vocational, and developmental issues. It is suggested that counseling psychology should either expand training and practice in these areas or admit that it is increasingly uninterested in these areas and expand professional roles in the areas of psychotherapy and psychodiagnostics. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ratings of journals by and for personality psychologists.

Rank ordered reference sources used by the authors selected by editors of the Annual Review of Psychology to cover the field of personality during 1970–1976 and found the assessment to be more reliable than D. Koulack and H. J. Keselman's (see record 1976-24649-001) ratings based on responses of American Psychological Association members. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ratings of psychological journals by and for industrial-organizational psychologists.

Studied the reference sources used by selected authors covering topics in the industrial-organizational field which appeared in 9 contributions in the Annual Review of Psychology (ARP) in the years 1970 to 1976. Seven of these are compared with rank orders in the 1950's and 1960's based on available data. Consumer and engineering psychology are considered separately and are not included in the tabulated data. Also included is a comparison of the ARP rank orders with the study of D. Koulack and H. Keselman (see record 1976-24649-001). This study for the industrial area is shown to be 16 yrs behind the times as far as contemporary industrial-organizational psychology is concerned. The source materials based on the ARP yield significant information concerning the status and changing trends of the field and can serve as a frame of reference for thinking about and carrying out investigations in the field. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group counseling expectations among Asian American students: The role of culture-specific factors.

The present study investigated the influence of loss of face and acculturation on the group psychotherapy expectations of Asian American students (N?=?134) with the Positive Attitudes subscale from Y. S. Slocum's (1987) Group Therapy Survey. Results showed that loss of face was not a significant predictor of positive attitudes toward group counseling, whereas acculturation was. U. Kim's (1988) measure of acculturation was based on J. W. Berry's (1980) model, which posits four acculturation statuses: assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization. Of the 4 scales, only the integrationist status significantly predicted positive attitudes toward group counseling. Counseling and research implications of the results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A bilinear multidimensional measurement model of Asian American acculturation and enculturation: Implications for counseling interventions.

Several unilinear and bilinear dimensional measurement models of Asian American acculturation and enculturation were tested with confirmatory factor analysis. Bilinear models of acculturation consistently outperformed the unilinear model. In addition, models that articulated multiple dimensions (i.e., values and behavior) exhibited a better fit to the data than did unidimensional models. The degree to which Asian Americans adhered to the values and behavior associated with each culture differed. Specifically, there was a small relationship between values and behavior in the Asian cultural orientation, whereas there was a moderate relationship between values and behaviors in the Western cultural orientation and between Asian behavior and Western behavior. Present findings suggest that the way in which Asian Americans negotiate the acculturation and enculturation process is likely nuanced and complex. Implications for working with Asian Americans and future directions for research are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Process and outcome evaluation of an on-line support group for Asian American male college students.

This study examined the process, outcome, and utilization patterns of an on-line support group (OSG) for Asian American male college students. Outcome measures indicated that the group participants felt supported, perceived the discussion topics as relevant, felt comfortable and connected to other group members, and preferred using aliases instead of their real identities. The discourse contained a high proportion of self-disclosure and provision of information, and more than half of the messages (58%) were responses to messages of other group members. These findings suggest that many of the components of group process theorized to be essential for effective groups can take place in OSGs. There were no significant posttest differences between the OSG (n?=?16) and control group (n?=?16) in ethnic identity or collective self-esteem. Implications of these findings for improving mental health and counseling services for culturally diverse populations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Genetic counseling: A developing area of interest for psychologists.

This article presents genetic counseling as a challenging field for psychologists. Developments in the field affect individual and public conceptions of the basic issues of reproduction and pregnancy, health and illness, and normality and abnormality. Genetic counseling provides a uniquely structured setting in which to examine major psychological topics, such as coping with threatening events, family dynamics, reactions to uncertainty, risk perception, and decision making. Psychological aspects of genetic counseling are presented on several key issues, including meanings of genetic information, patients' and families' coping with a genetic condition, recall and comprehension of information conveyed in genetic counseling, and decision making. Four roles are delineated for psychologists in this new field: providing direct services to counselees, consulting with counseling teams, training genetic counselors, and researching the psychological aspects of genetic counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training international students from developing nations as psychologists: A challenge for American psychology.

Argues that psychology training programs must be internationalized if the field is to avoid becoming the study of Western behavior. Examples from the 1st author's training experience are used to illustrate problems confronting students from developing countries. Strategies for implementing a transcultural training program are discussed. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adapting cognitive-behavioral therapy for Mexican American students with anxiety disorders: Recommendations for school psychologists.

Mexican American students are the fastest growing group in U.S. public schools. There is a growing body of research indicating that Mexican American families underutilize mental health services and are more likely to drop out of care prematurely when they do seek help. These findings may indicate that our health care system is not providing ethnic minorities with culturally competent care. Although cognitive?behavioral interventions are considered to be evidence-based treatments for child anxiety disorders, previous protocols have not taken cultural factors into account. This article discusses how to adapt cognitive?behavioral therapy (CBT) for Mexican American students with anxiety disorders. Working within the Psychotherapy Adaptation and Modification Framework (PAMF), this article offers adaptation principles that may guide school psychologists in implementing CBT strategies when working with Mexican American youth and their families. A case study is provided illustrating how cultural modifications of CBT can lead to positive outcomes for Mexican American students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Race/ethnicity, color-blind racial attitudes, and multicultural counseling competence: The moderating effects of multicultural counseling training.

Increasing trainees' multicultural counseling competence (MCC) has been a hot topic in counseling. Scholars have identified predictors (e.g., race/ethnicity, color-blindness) of MCC, and educators provide multicultural training for trainees. Using a sample of 370 psychology trainees, this study examined whether multicultural training (a) moderated racial/ethnic differences on MCC and (b) changed the relationship between color-blindness and MCC. Results indicated a significant interaction effect of race/ethnicity (i.e., White vs. ethnic minority) and multicultural training on multicultural awareness, but not on multicultural knowledge. Specifically, at lower levels of training, racial/ethnic minority trainees had significantly higher multicultural awareness than their White counterparts; at higher levels of training, no significant difference was found. Described differently, more training significantly enhanced Whites' multicultural awareness, but did not enhance racial/ethnic minority trainees' awareness. Additionally, there was a significant interaction effect of color-blindness and multicultural training on multicultural knowledge, but not on multicultural awareness. The association between color-blindness and multicultural knowledge was stronger at higher levels of multicultural training than at lower levels of training. Alternatively, the effect of training on enhancing knowledge was stronger for those with lower color-blindness than for those with higher color-blindness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An ecological perspective on smoking among Asian American college students: The roles of social smoking and smoking motives.

Using electronic diaries, the present study examined the roles of social smoking and smoking motives in relation to cigarette use patterns among Asian American college smokers. Multilevel modeling results showed that participants smoked more cigarettes when smoking with peers than when smoking alone. Participants' coping (but not social) motives moderated the within-person associations between smoking with peers and the cigarettes smoked during a smoking episode. The findings support the utility of an ecological perspective in examining the dynamic interaction between smoking motives and the social settings of cigarette use, and call for further research on the social smoking behaviors in diverse populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonverbal communication: A cross-cultural comparison of American and Japanese counseling students.

Examined the nonverbal acuity of mental health professionals from 2 countries in a cross-cultural study. A nonverbal picture test that measures recognition of affective states was administered to 47 American and 36 Japanese counseling students. The 120-item instrument, devised for a previous study, consisted of posed pictures of American-born graduate students representing 15 specific emotions. The pictures and cuts of pictures contained 4 sections of the body—face, arms, silhouette of body posture (with the facial expression obscured), and whole body. Emotional state labels selected by Ss in this study were compared with the answers previously designated by a panel of American judges of nonverbal information. Thus, the score attained by an S was the number of correct matches with the American judges. Results from the total nonverbal test score show that (a) females were more accurate in judging nonverbal cues than males and (b) American Ss had a higher accuracy rate than Japanese Ss. Results on the 30-item subtest of facial expressions are examined. The ranking of emotional states for each group by number of correct responses yields a fairly similar list. The resulting recognition of emotions from facial pictures is compared to findings from a previous cross-cultural study. Implications regarding cross-cultural communication and cross-cultural counseling interactions are discussed, as are suggestions for further research. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological maladjustment among Asian and White American college students: Controlling for confounds.

Differences in psychological maladjustment among foreign-born Asian-, U.S.-born Asian- and White-American college students were examined, after controlling for variables that have been confounded with ethnicity (i.e., demographics, response set, and personality style) in previous studies. Psychological maladjustment was measured in terms of both intrapersonal and interpersonal distress. Results indicated that foreign-born Asian-American students differed from White-American students on levels of social desirability, other-directedness, and extraversion. However, even after controlling for differences on these variables, greater levels of intrapersonal and interpersonal distress were found for foreign-born Asian-American students. The findings suggest (1) that for Asian-Americans there are ethnic differences in psychological maladjustment that covary with generation level, and (2) that these differences cannot be solely attributed to cultural variations in response or personality styles. Implications for counseling with Asian-American students are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physician-assisted dying: Review of issues and roles for health psychologists.

The authors review the recent empirical and theoretical literature on physician-assisted dying (PAD) since implementation of the Oregon Death With Dignity Act (ODDA) in 1997. The authors provide a brief overview of end-of-life practices; consider ethical and practical issues regarding PAD; outline governments' acts and health care organizations' current codified principles regarding PAD, including the American Psychological Association's goal to increase the visibility of psychology in end-of-life issues; examine recent data pertinent to ODDA implementation and psychologists' attitudes regarding PAD; and outline potential roles for health psychologists responding to requests for PAD and implementing PAD (where it is legal). Health psychologists can assume at least 4 roles regarding PAD: (a) policy advocates, (b) educators, (c) practitioners, and (d) researchers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in the motivational beliefs of Asian American and non-Asian students.

This investigation explored differences in motivational beliefs of 154 Asian American and 372 non-Asian 9th graders. Students completed surveys indicating their academic beliefs and later responded to a novel task to assess their achievement behavior. The difference in type of beliefs between the two groups explained, in part, their achievement behavior. Asian American students' fear of the consequence of academic failure best explained their performance. However, this variable least explained the results for non-Asian students. Asian American students reported lower levels of self-efficacy beliefs, yet significantly outperformed their non-Asian counterparts on the task. The fear of academic failure better explained achievement motivation for Asian Americans than did self-efficacy beliefs. A major implication of this investigation is that motivational beliefs elicit different responses in different cultural–ethnic groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strategies for implementation of the multicultural guidelines in university and college counseling centers.

University and college counseling centers (CCs) can play an important role in the implementation of the American Psychological Association's "Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists." CCs are major providers of psychological services within institutional settings. In addition, CCs offer professional training programs, conduct research, and advocate for institutional change. Implementing the Multicultural Guidelines requires CCs to infuse multicultural perspectives into all CC functions and to become multiculturally competent organizations. Strategies for implementation of the Guidelines are presented regarding beginning the process, ongoing issues, and anticipated challenges. Examples of applications are provided. Implementation of the Guidelines calls for commitment to a long-term process to promote multiculturalism within both the CC and its home institution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on the training of clinical and counseling psychologists.

"In June of 1958, letters were sent to the department chairmen of the 24 institutions approved by the APA Education and Training Board to train PhD psychologists in both the clinical and counseling specialties… . One-third of the 24 institutions are known to differentiate definitely in course requirements between the two specialties, while only one-eight are known to differentiate definitely in the preliminary examinations used for the two specialties… . Only three of the institutions definitely differentiate between the specialties in terms of both course requirements and preliminary examinations… . it seems obvious that little differentiation is being made between the two specialties in our major training institutions even though these institutions are approved to train for each of the specialties." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)