Behavioral medicine: What the books say.

Presents a 4?-page bibliography of textbooks, monographs, and edited volumes on behavioral medicine that were published between 1973 and 1983. Topics covered include general issues of body–mind interaction, technique, or procedure; diagnosis, treatment, and intervention for focused clinical problems such as chronic pain, hypertension, and compliance; and pediatric and adolescent health concerns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-racial psychotherapy: What the therapists say.

41 White and 37 Black psychotherapists with an average of 8.2 yrs' experience completed a 41-item questionnaire regarding psychotherapy with same- and opposite-race clients. White Ss did not experience racial issues in psychotherapy with the same salience that Black Ss did, yet they reported higher levels of subjective distress in cross-racial treatment. This distress focused on negative attitudes of clients, therapists' feelings of not being able to help or confront opposite race clients, or being oversolicitous or too distant with opposite-race clients. Both therapist groups reported equivalent abilities to empathize with opposite-race clients, but Blacks and Whites differed on a number of questions of racial attitudes and stereotyping. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What more can I say? In reply to Hutchinson, one last comment from Spiers.

Responds to the comments of G. L. Hutchinson (see record 1984-30434-001) that errors of fact and reasoning mar the present author's (see record 1981-24833-001) criticism of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery. It is suggested that a further examination leads to the conclusion that Hutchinson has made errors of fact and reasoning and that the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery should not be relied upon for clinical purposes without statistically valid, reliable replication studies. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling patients to quit smoking. What to say, when to say it, and how to use your time to advantage

Helping patients stop smoking is one of the most important--and frustrating--services primary care physicians can provide. Many physicians are reluctant to spend time talking about tobacco use with patients who show little or no interest in changing their habits. Fortunately, specific technique have been identified that can make the task easier. This article from the distinguished Nicotine Dependence Center of the Mayo Clinic looks at the "best practices" for dealing with nicotine dependence.     

What teachers say and do to support students' autonomy during a learning activity.

Teachers with an autonomy-supportive style rely on different instructional behaviors to motivate their students than do teachers with a controlling style. In the present investigation, the authors tested which of these instructional behaviors actually correlated positively or negatively with students' autonomy. The authors used Deci, Spiegel, Ryan, Koestner, & Kauffman's (1982) teacher-student laboratory paradigm to randomly assign 72 pairs of same-sex preservice teachers into the role of either teacher or student. From videotapes of the 10-min instructional episode, raters scored 11 hypothesized autonomy-supportive behaviors and 10 hypothesized controlling behaviors. Correlational analyses confirmed that students perceived the functional significance of 8 instructional behaviors as autonomy supports and 6 instructional behaviors as autonomy thwarts. The discussion focuses on the interpretation and classroom implications of these data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What should we say to our patients? On the wording of therapists' comments.

Discusses the effect on the patient and therapeutic process of various ways of phrasing comments—an important and overlooked aspect of how change can be facilitated or impeded. Emphasis is placed on ways of conveying one's message to help the patient hear and confront what is being said in a productive way, in contrast to presenting the same message and arousing resistance and anxiety and lowering the patient's self-esteem. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What you say and how you say it: The contribution of speech content and voice quality to judgments of others.

14 groups of undergraduates (2 for each of 7 conditions) made judgments based on separated channels (speech content, voice quality, face alone, and body alone) and judgments based on combined channels (speech, face plus speech, and face plus body plus speech). Ss observed (via videotape) and heard (via audiotape) the spontaneous behavior of 15 stimulus persons in 2 types of interview situations and rated various aspects of the behavior. In Study 1, criterion judgments were based on a task similar to answering a phone. In Study 2, they were similar to watching TV. In Study 3, a complete set of behavioral clues was the basis of the criterion judgments. Results show that correlations between separated and combined channels varied significantly, depending on the kind of behavior judged. Judgments of honestly described positive feelings based on nonverbal channels were highly correlated with judgments of the whole person, while most speech-content judgments were uncorrelated. Judgments of stimulus persons' lied-about negative feelings were less influenced by nonverbal behavior. Judgments based on content of what was said were most highly correlated with how the person making the statement was judged. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do as I do, not as I say: A behavior-analytic approach to supervision.

There is a limited amount of empirical data on how to train therapists. This article first presents limitations in commonly used training procedures. It then describes a training methodology based on contingent shaping, using video feedback to increase responsiveness to the ongoing client-therapist interactions. The approach attempts to overcome some of the problems encountered when teaching therapy by using primarily rule-governed or direct instruction. The authors describe the therapeutic approach used in this research, provide a clinical illustration of the training procedure, and discuss the role direct instruction plays in this training model. A methodology for determining whether the therapist's behavior changes as a result of training is described, as well as a method for identifying the relationship between the therapist's behavior and subsequent changes in client responding. This methodology is broadly applicable and can be empirically tested and compared with other approaches for its utility in training therapist effectiveness and changing client behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What American Psychological Association leaders have to say about Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

What do American Psychological Association (APA) leaders have to say about the new journal Psychology of Religion and Spirituality? A survey was sent to 204 current APA council representatives and divisional residents, yielding 63 completed questionnaires (31% response rate). Respondents generally affirmed the importance of religion and spirituality as topics of inquiry in psychology. Although not highly religious themselves, respondents recognize religion and spirituality as important aspects of human diversity. In considering the new journal, current APA leaders who responded to the survey are particularly interested in articles relating religion and spirituality to health and coping and articles considering cross-cultural and interfaith issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal care receptivity and its relation to perinatal and neonatal mortality. A rural study

A longitudinal study was conducted on 212 pregnant women from May 1987 to April 1988. Maternal Care Receptivity (MCR) "an innovative approach" was adopted for the assessment of maternal care services provided to pregnant mothers at their door steps. During follow-up, scores were allotted to each of the services rendered and antenatal status of pregnant women. Depending on the score--MCR was classified as high (11 to 8), moderate (7 to 4) or poor (3 to 0). Perinatal and neonatal deaths were recorded and an inverse relationship between MCR and perinatal and mortalities was observed (z = 5.46, p < 0.0001). Significantly, no perinatal or neonatal deaths occurred in women with high MCR. One of the most important cause of high PNMR and neonatal mortality rate in developing countries is poor MCR, i.e., under utilization of even the existing maternal health services. The main reasons for this under utilization appear to be poverty, illiteracy, ignorance and lack of faith in modern medicine.     

Lumbar disk prolapses and radiological spinal intervention. What do the randomized controlled trials say?

We searched the Medline database and examined 11 randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy of treating lumbar herniated discs by injection with chymopapain or by automated percutaneous discectomy. Our findings show that chemonucleolysis with chymopapain is a documented treatment which is better than placebo, but consistently inferior to surgical discectomy. The two randomized controlled trials to evaluate automated percutaneous discectomy fail to show efficacy that is any better than would be expected from a placebo response. We conclude that surgical discectomy is the best treatment option for a herniated disc when conservative efforts have failed.     

Preinternship preparation in psychological testing and psychotherapy: What internship directors say they expect.

What levels of preinternship training in testing and psychotherapy do internship directors expect students to have as they enter internship? This study addressed the question by surveying internship directors of all members of the Association of Postdoctoral and Internship Centers and asking them to specify the numbers of testing and psychotherapy experiences they believe an intern candidate should have prior to entering the internship. The results demonstrate similarities and differences in director expectations and have implications for preinternship students, graduate programs, and internships themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal attitude toward pregnancy and the risk of neonatal death

OBJECTIVES: Reduced options for fertility control over the past decade have increased the rates of unwanted pregnancy. We evaluated whether a woman's negative attitude toward her pregnancy increased the risk of perinatal mortality, in a large, prospective cohort study. METHODS: The association between attitude toward the pregnancy and perinatal mortality was evaluated in a longitudinal cohort study of 8823 married, pregnant patients enrolled from 1959 to 1966 in the Child Health and Development Studies. RESULTS: Women who reported during the first trimester of prenatal care that the pregnancy was unwanted were more than two times more likely to deliver infants who died within the first 28 days of life than were women reporting accepted pregnancies. A positive attitude toward pregnancy was not associated with fetal death or post-neonatal death. CONCLUSIONS: These data, collected when induced abortions were illegal, may have important implications for the 1990s. If maternal attitude toward the pregnancy is associated with neonatal mortality and abortion laws change such that access is restricted, infant mortality may increase because a greater proportion of births will be unwanted.