Quality of counselors' intake evaluations as a function of client presenting concern.

The effects of type of client concern (vocational or personal-social) and its relationship to intake quality were investigated. University students (n?=?90) presented vocational or personal concerns to intake counselors (n?=?12) at 3 university counseling centers. Intakes of vocational cases were less lengthy, less useful-adequate, and less comprehensive than were intakes of personal cases. There was no difference in clients' ratings of the counseling relationship or of the quality of intakes. Counselors wrote moderately longer intakes of personal-social cases, which contained more information on personality dynamics, presenting problem, and history than did vocational intakes, which contained more on clients' interests and values. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diagnostic and treatment overshadowing of vocational problems by personal problems.

Investigated 165 counseling psychologists' vocational diagnostic and treatment decisions when vocational and personal problems are presented concurrently. Participants assessed the same vocational problem either alone or in conjunction with a personal problem of one-half, equal, or double the severity of the vocational problem. Without consideration for counselors' problem preference, ratings of the vocational problem were equivalent across the 3 personal problem severity levels. However, with preferences considered, counseling psychologists who reported greater preference for working with personal problems, in comparison to vocational problems, were less likely to assess, diagnose, and treat the vocational problem than were counseling psychologists who reported equivalent or reversed problem preferences. This biasing effect occurred when the personal problem was of equal or double the severity of the vocational problem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivations for research on the Negro: Comment.

Letter comments that the author compiled an anthology on the "Psychology of the Negro" and, in doing so, asked various contributors to describe the source of their interest in this problem. Since data of this type are in short supply, a sample of the replies received may be of general interest. These replies are grouped into the following types: theoretical and scholarly interest, exposure to problems, personal motives and values. Since several of the respondents mentioned a combination of factors, the classification is only heuristic. According to the author, from the replies, it is reasonable to hypothesize that the personal values and needs of some psychologists led to their study of the Negro. In addition, the reasons of general intellectual curiosity and the exposure to problems were important motivations for research in this area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor intake judgments, client characteristics, and number of sessions at a university counseling center.

Conducted a study to investigate the variables used by intake counselors at a university counseling center in estimating the number of interviews a client will attend and to assess the accuracy of those estimates. Data collected from 448 cases indicate that counselors relied most heavily on their judgment of the severity of personal problems in estimating the number of interviews clients would attend. The variables investigated accounted for a relatively small amount of the total variance found in the actual number of counseling sessions held. An unexpected finding was that the judged severity of vocational problem was negatively correlated to both the estimated and actual number of interviews. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity, structure, and content of the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory.

The relative contributions of the personal style scales, general occupational themes, and basic interest scales to the concurrent validity, predictive structure, and personality content of the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory were studied. Effect sizes were provided to indicate the overall differentiation between occupational groups for each of the 35 scales. An expected inverse relationship between the predictive power of each of the 3 sets of nonoccupational scales and their occupational specificity was found. Vocational measures of personality represented by the personal style scales and general occupational themes were found to be effective in a familiar hexagonal 2-dimensional space. Although the results supported the incremental validity of the personal style scales, the basic interest scales were found to deal most effectively with the multivariate complexity of vocational interests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Monitoring our services ourselves

A successful model of liaison between the primary and secondary (hospital) levels of health care entails improved co-operation between hospital doctors and general practitioners (GPs). Since its introduction in Denmark in 1991, this approach has been adopted in Sweden and, to a lesser extent, in Norway. Important principles of the model include: 1) both at the primary and secondary level, responsibility for cooperation rests with the physicians themselves; 2) all physicians at both levels are involved; 3) liaison is maintained by selected GPs serving as liaison officers acting in concert under the guidance of a coordinator; 4) liaison officers are responsible for cultivating personal contacts and good relations at hospitals, and promoting interest in and commitment to the system. Evaluation of the model requires both quantitative and qualitative studies. Although few evaluations have been completed, and no definite conclusions can be drawn, the preliminary results of current evaluations in progress in Sweden and Norway are promising, as are the reported experiences of those who use the system. A Nordic ad hoc group has been actively engaged in promoting the quality of primary-secondary health care liaison since 1997.     

Relation of type of problem and expectations of counselor knowledge and understanding to students' gender preferences for counselors.

131 female and 57 male undergraduates rated, for each of 11 vocational and 22 personal problems, whether they expected a male or female counseling psychologist to be more understanding and more knowledgeable in dealing with a problem. Most Ss expressed no preference for psychologist gender for dealing with vocational problems, although males with a preference preferred a male psychologist to a slight degree. For personal-social problems, females expressing a preference showed a consistent pattern of preference for a female psychologist. However, the number of women expressing some degree of preference and the strength of preference varied across problems. Males expressed generally weaker but more varied preferences than females did. The expectancy for psychologist's understanding generally was a stronger and more consistent correlate of preferences than expectations of knowledgeability. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does vocational overshadowing even exist? A test of the robustness of the vocational overshadowing bias.

Vocational overshadowing (P. M. Spengler, D. L. Blustein, & D. C. Strohmer, 1990 ) is a hypothesized underemphasis of clients' career concerns when more interesting, prestigious, or economically rewarding "personal" problems coexist. This study tested the robustness of the vocational overshadowing bias by using an expanded array of case material, by including practicing counseling psychologists (n?=?125) and clinical psychologists (n?=?121), and by assessing the moderating effects of clinician information processing and attitudinal characteristics. Clinical psychologists were more likely than counseling psychologists to underemphasize vocational concerns combined with severe noncareer problems. More complex thinking about career counseling and higher preference for working with career problems were associated with greater attention to clients' career concerns. However, no clear evidence was found for the vocational overshadowing bias by either equal or less severe noncareer problems. Implications of these findings for career counseling and clinical judgment research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of combined counseling and vocational training on personal adjustment.

To evaluate the effects of combined counseling and vocational training on personal adjustment, the Manson Evaluation test was administered to 85 students during the 1st 2 wk. of training and again near termination. The students, ages 17-21 yr., were generally characterized by previous failure in social, academic, and vocational endeavors. All students and classes received individual and group counseling by skilled counselors. Comparisons of "before" and "after" Manson scores revealed consistent and highly significant gains in personal adjustment. The findings are discussed in terms of current governmental efforts to combat socioeconomic problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent and therapist evaluation of behavior therapy in a child psychological clinic.

Obtained evaluations from the parents of 70 children who were treated by psychological interns being trained in behavior therapy. Therapist ratings of specific problem improvement were obtained at close of therapy. Improvement ratings of the same specific problems were obtained from parents approximately 6 mo later. Classification of an S as improved or unimproved depended on the averages of both the therapist and parent ratings of the presenting problems. This procedure indicated overall improvement in 87 and 90% of the cases, based on therapist and parent averages, respectively. Therapists rated 80% of all specific problems improved at termination, as compared to 77% of problems improved as rated by parents at follow-up. Correlation between the improvement ratings of each problem by parent and therapist was highly significant (r = .51). 96% of the parents liked their therapists, and personal characteristics most frequently noted by the parents were warmth, understanding, and sincere interest in the S. The high improvement rates reported by therapists and parents are discussed in regard to previous therapy outcome studies with children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor theoretical orientation as related to intake judgments.

Investigated the relation between the predominant theoretical orientations (self-identified) of counselors and intake interview judgments by asking 12 senior staff counseling psychologists to rate the problems of 1,443 university students who presented themselves for an intake interview on a 5-point scale. Results show that counselors who were humanistically oriented judged that their clients presented more severe educational problems and characterized their clients as more anxious than did the cognitively oriented psychologists. The 2 groups of counselors did not differ in how they judged the severity of personal problems or predicted length of treatment. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical challenges for psychologists conducting humanitarian work.

This article describes the ethical challenges that psychologists face when doing international humanitarian aid work. It is based on personal experience and uses the framework of the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists to reflect on the unique challenges when doing such work. The article is organized around themes of ethical challenges under the following headings: limitation of resources, local political pressure, local cultural and social realities, challenges to confidentiality, problems in obtaining consent, sequelae of colonial history, individual versus population interests, and tolerance of differences in standards. Examples illustrate these points. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Casebook for providers of psychological services": Erratum.

Corrects a statement in the article in the American Psychologist (see record 1988-37041-001), which presented cases to provide clarification of the General Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services as approved by the American Psychological Association Council of Representatives in February 1987. The correction states that the statement (p. 558), "The psychologist recognized the illegality of doing psychological evaluations on minor children without the knowledge and permission of their custodial parent," was overbroad. The legality or illegality of doing psychological evaluations of minor children at the request of noncustodial parents is determined by state law. The correction concludes with the advice that state law and regulations should be carefully researched to determine the legal status of such evaluations at the request of noncustodial parents. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moderators of the congruence and realism of major and occupational plans in college students: A replication and extension.

Utility of gender, traditionality of choice, and gender role identification as moderators of the interest–field congruence and ability-level realism of major and occupational preferences in college students were examined. Measures of vocational interests, academic abilities, and gender role orientation, as well as a statement of college major choice and occupational plans, were obtained in a sample of 592 undergraduates. Results indicated that, contrary to L. K. Wolfe and N. E. Betz's (1981) study, traditionality of choice and gender role were unrelated to interest–field congruence. However, among both men and women, those having masculine-typed and androgynous personality characteristics were most likely to be using their abilities in their choices, whereas feminine-typed persons and those who preferred female-dominated occupations were least likely to be doing so. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lightner Witmer: Father and grandfather?

Comments on P. McReynolds' (see record 83-24764) view of L. Witmer's role in establishing clinics for vocational guidance and for the personal problems of college students also meriting acknowledgement as a precursor of counseling psychology. McWhirter and McWhirter ask the question that in addition to his status as the father of clinical psychology, might Witmer be granted status as the grandfather of industrial/organizational and counseling psychology as well? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey of students' attitudes toward counseling at a predominantly Black university.

A questionnaire survey of 377 students' attitudes toward counseling at a predominantly Black university produced results similar to those reported for predominantly White campuses. The predisposition to seek out counseling services depended on the type of problem. Most Ss were willing to discuss with the counselor matters related to vocational and educational concerns; however, for personal adjustment problems there was significant decline in the frequency with which the counselor's help was sought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mega-analysis of meta-analysis: an examination of meta-analysis with an emphasis on once-daily aminoglycoside comparative trials

Meta-analysis is increasingly performed to try and answer clinical questions around which controversy exists. We performed meta-analyses using three different methods as examples to illustrate problems and points to consider when doing such work. The questions of interest were comparing frequency of nephrotoxicity and clinical effectiveness with once-daily aminoglycoside regimens versus multiple-daily dose aminoglycoside regimens. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were established. Studies were obtained from literature searches, and included published studies and abstracts. The overall odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for nephrotoxicity and clinical effectiveness meta-analyses of these studies using the Mantel-Haenszel-Peto method were 0.70 (0.51-0.94, p = 0.042) and 0.79 (0.59-1.07, p = 0.09), respectively. Analyzing the data by Fisher's combined test and the Mean-P method showed agreement with the other methods' conclusions for nephrotoxicity but not for clinical effectiveness. Meta-analysis is not an exact procedure and contains various problems and inconsistencies. Combining studies of poor quality is not ideal for answering unresolved clinical questions.     

The psychology of working: The clinical context.

Vocational psychology increasingly has identified the centrality of work in people's lives. Yet in clinical practice, vocational and personal issues do not always receive equivalent attention, with vocational concerns often being overlooked. With a case study, the author illustrates several factors that can serve as barriers to the successful integration of work and personal concerns. The benefits of integration are then offered, along with strategies that have been proposed to more effectively address both work and personal issues. The author concludes with specific recommendations for integrating work and personal issues in psychological practice, as well as recommendations for training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adjustment differences between counseled and noncounseled students at a university counseling center.

Investigated whether college students who seek counseling differ in their psychological adjustment from those who do not seek counseling. The Social and Emotional Adjustment scales of the Opinion, Attitude, and Interest Survey were administered to 1,368 freshmen, 341 of whom elected counseling within a 5-yr period. Students seeking counseling for help with personal problems differed significantly on the Social and Emotional Adjustment scales from those who did not seek counseling. However, no differences were found for students who wished to resolve educational or vocational problems and students who did not seek counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)