The Rural Hawai'i Behavioral Health Program: Increasing access to primary care behavioral health for native Hawaiians in rural settings.

Health care access issues present significant challenges for rural populations and health providers. Psychology can support improved access and quality of rural health services through the development of integrated behavior health programs within primary care settings. This article reviews a clinical training and service delivery program, the Rural Hawai'i Behavioral Health Program, which has evolved in response to the pressing health needs of Native Hawaiians in rural communities. Native Hawaiian cultural factors and components of the primary care model that have supported the development of this program will be reviewed. Program expansion, sustainability, and treatment efficacy research will be discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative risk of perinatal complications in common childhood disorders.

Perinatal complications have been associated with a myriad of later-developing behavioral, neurological, and psychological disorders. These have included school-related disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, mood and anxiety disorders, and learning disabilities. This article reviews the research that considers the relative risk relationship between prepregnancy, pregnancy, neonatal complications, and later childhood disorders. Specifically, research with the Maternal Perinatal Scale (MPS), which highlights the relative risk ratios of perinatal complications, and later childhood disorders will be reviewed. The MPS is a self-report measure that uses a standardized, structured format to identify perinatal complications. Research using the MPS has revealed that a combination of perinatal complications can increase the relative risk of educational difficulty by up to 6.35 times. Implications for psychological services in the school are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Issues in the transportability of treatment: The case of anxiety disorders in youths.

This article reviews factors working against or in favor of the transportability of manual-based child treatments from research clinics to service practitioners. The review examines client factors, service clinic therapist factors, and researcher factors that may contribute to the reported gap between research and practice outcomes. As requested for this special section, this article uses work with anxiety-disordered youths as an example of a potentially transportable manual-based treatment. Issues and future directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editorial policy for Neuropsychology.

With the publication of Neuropsychology by the Philadelphia Clinical Neuropsychology Group (PCNG) in 1987, it is hoped that PCNG will meet the growing need of practitioners and consumers for both practical and theoretical information regarding service delivery in clinical neuropsychology. In keeping with the PCNG tradition, the aim of Neuropsychology is education: to provide the readership with materials to improve the quality of service delivery to patients with diseases or disorders related to the central nervous system. Basic clinical research on memory, learning, perception, language, sensory-motor functioning and so on are welcome publications in Neuropsychology, as their findings fit well with clinical practice commitments. Case reports, scholarly review articles, reviews of books, software programs, and test materials, and announcements of upcoming events are also welcomed. The intent is to make Neuropsychology a scholarly refereed journal of PCNG and to include articles written not only by PCNG members but other interested individuals as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contemplating the new DSM-V: Considerations from psychologists who work with school children.

The standard psychiatric classification system, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text revision; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000), is about to be updated. This is important because the DSM-IV-TR, a touchstone document for service providers across several disciplines, contains only some of the conditions reported in the vast developmental/learning, psychiatric, and health literature that are known to hamper school success. Practicing psychologists who work with school-age children and those who conduct educational research confront further limitations when using DSM-IV-TR or the commonly used special education scheme (the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act [IDEA], 2004). IDEA has limited heuristic potential because it was devised for educational administrative purposes, whereas the DSM-IV-TR is a medical nosological system with little concern for school issues. Neither system fully informs needed studies of epidemiology, natural history, and disorder-specific causes and treatments. This article provides a rationale for a set of proposed changes to the new DSM-V and explains how adopting these changes will benefit psychologists concerned with understanding and treating school-age children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bilingualism and education.

The concept of bilingualism as applied to individual children and to educational programs is discussed, and the history of research on bilingual children and bilingual education programs in the United States is reviewed. Bilingualism has been defined predominantly in linguistic dimensions despite the fact that bilingualism is correlated with a number of nonlinguistic social parameters. The linguistic handle has served policymakers well in focusing on an educationally vulnerable population of students, but the handle is inadequate as the single focus of educational intervention. Future research will have to be directed toward a multifaceted perspective of bilingualism as a phenomenon embedded in society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social psychological correlates of mental illness and mental health.

If there is ever to be a single comprehensive theory and/or research program concerned with the etiology of mental illness, the widely diversified empirical and theoretical findings will have to be meaningfully integrated. The present paper critically reviews theories and research from the environmental-demographic level and the interpersonal level. The large number of phenotypical relationships reported have led only to vaguely formulated and speculative interpretations suggesting the need for a reformulation which will suggest genotypes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

About the human resources in psychology special issue.

Presents data on the growth of the American Psychological Association, the diversity of its membership, and the activities of its members. Data from 1970 are compared to data from 1980. It is concluded that the magnitude of research and educational, professional, and public service provided by psychologists attests to their significant role in and contribution to American life and industry. The growth in the number of psychologists is further evidence of psychology's value and ability to attract individuals to the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Position statement: Advocacy for appropriate educational services for all children.

Presents the joint postion statement of the National Coalition of Advocates for Students and the National Association of School Psychologists, "Advocacy for Appropriate Educational Services for All Children." From the Statement: P.L. 94-142 (The Education of All Handicapped Children Act) has achieved major goals in serving handicapped children, many of whom had been previously excluded from appropriate educational programs. Since its enactment in 1975, all handicapped children have been guaranteed a free and appropriate education, the right to due process, and individualization of program according to need. We strongly support the continuation of legislation which has mandated these guarantees. We also recognize that serious problems have been encountered as school districts strive to meet these mandates and that quality education is still an elusive goal. Some of these problems reflect difficulties within special education; others appear to be special education issues but have their origins in the regular education system. We propose a new national initiative to meet the educational needs of all children: We propose the development and piloting of alternatives to the current categorical system. This requires reevaluation of funding mechanisms, and advocacy for policy and funding waivers needed for the piloting of alternative service delivery models. It also requires the development of increased support systems and extensive retraining of all school personnel to enable them to work effectively with a broad range of children with special needs within the regular education system. Because of the complexity of these issues, the generation of effective solutions will require a national effort of interested persons and organizations which we hope to generate through this task force. We will actively work toward the collaboration of a wide variety of individuals and organizations, joining together to develop a strong base of knowledge, research, and experience in order to establish new frameworks and conceptualizations on which to base decisions, design feasible service delivery options, advocate for policy and funding changes needed to implement these alternatives, and coordinate efforts and share information for positive change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward achieving multidisciplinary professional collaboration.

The complexity of the clinical, educational, and research situations confronting the health care provider suggests the need for collaboration among professionals. Psychologists, advanced practice nurses, and physicians will have to interface continuously to provide accessible quality care at an affordable price. Intra-, inter-, and multidisciplinary types of collaboration are defined, and characteristics of collaborative clinical, educational, and research endeavors are noted. A community partnership for prenatal care, a rural interdisciplinary training program, and a Department of Defense psychopharmacology training project are described. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dietary protein intake and urinary excretion of calcium: a cross-sectional study in a healthy Japanese population

Efforts in dental research and training have received the contribution of individuals who had no formal training in dentistry, yet they understood the dental field and the educational needs of those who would be engaged in dental research, teaching, and service in industry and academia. Dr. Robert S. Harris (1904-1983) was such a man. What follows is a personal remembrance of his character, his research accomplishments, and his successful educational endeavors in the dental field.     

A narrative and meta-analytic review of helping skills training: Time to revive a dormant area of inquiry.

The authors review previous narrative and meta-analytic reviews on the effectiveness of overall helping skills training programs. The authors then review narrative reviews and conduct a new meta-analysis of specific methods used to teach helping skills within these programs. Our meta-analysis found that, in the aggregate, training methods substantially outperformed no training conditions, and that effect sizes did not vary as a function of trainee educational level (graduate vs. undergraduate students) or the type of criterion measure (interview-based vs. analogue-based empathy measures). Direct comparison of the training methods revealed that modeling outperformed instruction and feedback, and multimethod outperformed single-method training. The authors critique the literature and suggest that the studies in the helping skills literature generally fail to meet contemporary methodological standards, thereby limiting the conclusions that can be drawn. The authors appeal for better research on helping skills training, especially as it is currently practiced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Opiate and cocaine addictions: challenge for pharmacotherapies

Neurobiological and behavioral studies, as well as basic and applied clinical research studies, may all contribute to the development of a pharmacotherapy for a specific addictive disease. This paper reviews recent findings from research work, primarily from one laboratory along with collaborative laboratories, that could have some relevance for the development of pharmacotherapy for cocaine dependency. The much earlier experiences of this laboratory in the development of a pharmacotherapy for opiate addiction will be addressed in the context of providing both some specific suggestions for addictive disease pharmacotherapy development and some warnings about the complexities of the introduction and implementation of a pharmacotherapy once developed. Finally, based on both the earlier perspectives and the more recent research findings, some very specific, though speculative, suggestions will be made about the development of novel pharmacotherapies for early opiate addiction, especially for cocaine abuse or addiction and prevention of relapse to cocaine use. The complex and diverse nature of the challenge for pharmacotherapy for the addictive diseases is presented, including specifically a mandate for broadening educational efforts concerning the basis of addictive diseases and the need for treatment, in parallel with the scientific efforts to develop increasingly sophisticated and targeted pharmacotherapies.     

Roles for psychologists in emerging models of school-related health and mental health services.

Describes contributions of school, clinical, community, and health psychology to emerging school-based and school-linked health and mental health service delivery models. The author contends that these 4 areas integrate well to inform the development and targets of health service delivery approaches in and linked to the schools and to set the stage for defining the emerging and future roles of psychologists providing health and mental health care in these contexts. Emerging and future roles of psychologists as health care providers through schools include roles in development, implementation, and administration of these models, direct and indirect service provision, interfacing of health and educational outcomes, and applied research and evaluation activities. Implications for the education and training of current and future psychologists are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual and empirical bases of conjoint behavioral consultation.

This article describes "conjoint behavioral consultation," a model of service delivery that addresses the shared responsibility among school personnel, families, and other important systems in educational problem solving. In conjoint behavioral consultation parents and teachers are joined to work together to address the academic, social, or behavioral needs of a child for whom both parties bear some responsibility. The conceptual background (incorporating ecological-systems and behavioral theories) and important features of the model are reviewed briefly. Findings from a number of empirical studies, including outcome studies, case studies, process research, and acceptability research, are reviewed. Directions for future research are also explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APA/APAGS Award for Distinguished Graduate Student in Professional Psychology: Julie E. Braciszewski.

Julie E. Braciszewski, recipient of the APA/APAGS Award for Distinguished Graduate Student in Professional Psychology, is cited for her noteworthy efforts to decrease mental health and academic service disparities among low-income, urban African American youth. Braciszewski recognizes that educational achievement is the clearest and most reliable route to breaking the cycle of persistent poverty. She has substantially contributed to research in understanding the needs of inner city children and the processes that contribute to their risk and success. In addition to the citation, a biography and selected bibliography of Braciszewski's works are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The efficacy of psychological, educational, and behavioral treatment. Confirmation from meta-analysis

Conventional reviews of research on the efficacy of psychological, educational, and behavioral treatments often find considerable variation in outcome among studies and, as a consequence, fail to reach firm conclusions about the overall effectiveness of the interventions in question. In contrast meta-analytic reviews show a strong, dramatic pattern of positive overall effects that cannot readily be explained as artifacts of meta-analytic technique or generalized placebo effects. Moreover, the effects are not so small that they can be dismissed as lacking practical or clinical significance. Although meta-analysis has limitations, there are good reasons to believe that its results are more credible than those of conventional reviews and to conclude that well-developed psychological, educational, and behavioral treatment is generally efficacious.     

Individual differences and the design of educational programs.

Reviews the state of knowledge in 4 categories of individual differences in aptitude for learning—cognitive abilities, achievement motivation, vocational and academic interests, and creativity. Specific topics addressed include the taxonomy of intelligence, need for achievement, evaluation anxiety, and information-processing analyses. Ways are examined in which research on individual differences has led or can lead to improvements in various educational functions, including guidance counseling, student selection and advanced placement, design of adaptive instructional systems and teaching strategies, evaluation of educational practices, and the tracking of national human resources. Education is viewed as an aptitude development program in which adaptations that are responsive to individual differences will help provide both equality and optimal diversity of educational opportunity. (88 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anticipations of developments during the next decade which will influence psychology.

"The Education and Training Board is committed to the assumption that educational policy should be forward looking." It is anticipated that within the next decade there will be an increased social demand for psychologists and psychological services. Factors which will bring about this demand include: (1) increased productivity resulting from automation; (2) effects of scientific and technological developments; and (3) the effects of population growth. Among problems anticipated are: (1) the pressure for professional training and orientation; and (2) pressures toward team and program research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)