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)     

Factor analytic definitions of vocational motivation.

3 self-report inventories pertaining to vocational motivation, the Occupational Attitude Rating Scales, the Work Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Job Incentive Rankings, were administered to students in an introductory course in psychology. The 11 variables of the combined scales were subjected to a factor analysis. "These factors appeared to provide a comprehensive survey of the dimensions of vocational motivation usually mentioned in theories of occupational choice and vocational adjustment." From Psyc Abstracts 36:05:5LH30C. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An evaluation of group and individual programs in vocational guidance.

60 male college students were divided into 3 groups: 20 received vocational counseling individually, 20 received counseling in groups, 20 received no counseling. All Ss indicated their tentative vocational choices, how certain they were of them, and how satisfied they were with them both before and after the experimental period. With original scores held constant, both group and individual counsellees were significantly more certain of their choices, more satisfied with them, and probably more realistic in them than the controls. "The time-saving quality of the group program, together with its demonstrated effectiveness, argues for the institution of group programs in vocational guidance." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The conservation of human talent.

The history of the application of psychological findings to problems of education, occupational adjustment, and social adjustment is reviewed. Data on occupational choices, social status of various occupations, dissatisfaction with life work, and related matters are presented. 2 case histories are outlined in fair detail. One of these is cited as "a concrete example of the kind of vocational counseling needed to conserve human talent in our society." The other illustrates "a general failure of our society, in the past, to recognize and to utilize 'better than average scholastic and mechanical aptitude' from the time he left school at the turn of the century to the time of a national emergency." Problems involving resistance to hiring properly qualified, physically handicapped persons, failure to utilize the ever increasing number and proportion of older persons in our society, and widespread minority group discrimination are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the role of educational and vocational counseling in reducing and preventing occupational counseling in reducing and preventing occupational maladjustment in our society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Effect of simulated applicant status on Kuder Form D Occupational Interest scores.

How does intent of people taking written tests of vocational interests effect the scores they receive? 4 groups of college students took Kuder's Form D. 3 were instructed to assume they were applying for specific jobs; one was told they were to respond as if in preparation for vocational counseling. Intent of "applicant" can alter scores. Changes in the choice of norms and way of catching bias on the part of Ss were suggested. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4LB37B. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multigroup evaluation of the models and functions of university counseling centers.

The appropriateness of 4 counseling center models (traditional, consultation, vocational guidance, and psychotherapy) and 15 specific counseling center functions for universities with enrollments of 10,000-plus were evaluated by 28 counselors, 16 student personnel administrators, 84 resident assistants, faculty, 187 students, and 21 university administrators. Ss were drawn from a large public university in the East. The traditional model was evaluated most positively by 5 of the subgroups. The most salient findings were (a) in both the models and functions phases of the study, student personnel subgroups rated consultation-related activities as appreciably more appropriate, both in a relative and absolute sense, than did nonstudent personnel subgroups; (b) while the psychotherapy model consistently received the lowest ratings, certain types of personal adjustment counseling received consistently positive ratings; (c) educational-vocational counseling was seen as highly appropriate by all groups, but counselors and student personnel administrators did not feel enough of it was being done, a finding consistent with earlier research. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of a measure of assertiveness.

Presents validity data for the College Self-Expression Scale (CSES), a measure of assertiveness for college students. Data were obtained from 3 samples of undergraduates: (a) 28 male and 47 female dormitory residents; (b) 18 male mathematics majors, 45 male engineering majors, 24 male student legislators, 45 female child development and family relations majors, and 8 female student legislators; and (c) 29 students who sought personal adjustment counseling, 35 who sought vocational counseling, and 32 noncounseled students. The correlation between residence hall counselor ratings and self-ratings of assertiveness was .33. Significant differences were found between self-ratings of assertiveness of student legislators and dormitory groups, but not between dormitory males and engineering and math students. It is not clear whether the CSES does not detect differences among student groups or whether there were no differences between the groups on assertiveness; however, the results indicate the utility of the CSES as a measure of assertiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Tests and assessment.

Reviews the book Tests and Assessment (1985) by Jacqueline Schakel. From its broad title, this book might be classified as a general textbook on assessment for anyone who is learning about testing procedures. Indeed, in the preface, the authors present their book as a text for undergraduate courses on testing in general psychology, and for graduate courses in counseling, vocational, educational, and industrial psychology as well as for "students in counselor education, guidance and counseling, educational administration and other disciplines." Although the book does have some useful general sections on tests and assessment, it is clear that the real audience for this book is less extensive than the authors state. The examples used, tests reviewed, and issues discussed are chiefly for students in personnel and guidance or vocational psychology. If you are such a student or teach assessment courses to students in these programs, read on. Parts of this book may interest you. If you are a school psychologist or teacher of school psychology, you will find this text limited. The overall organization of the book could have been improved by reviewing the theories of person-environment interaction (upon which the authors claim to base their treatment of assessment) before their discussion of specific assessment tools and integrating a discussion of this theoretical basis throughout the book. In summary, this book does not offer the broad treatment of assessment issues and the focus on the kinds of assessment required in schools which are necessary to school psychologists. It provides some useful reviews of tests for guidance and vocational decision making, some concise explanations of assessment concepts, and a well-written section on some specific testing controversies that may be useful to students in the counseling field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quality of counselors' intake evaluations for clients with problems that are primarily vocational versus personal.

Compared the quality of 15 doctoral-level counselors' written evaluations following an initial interview with 113 17–36 yr old college students whose problems were judged to be primarily vocational, personal, or a mixture of the two. Overall, quality of intake evaluations was lower for vocational than for personal problems. Counselors' interest in doing intakes, studying the results of interest inventories, and doing vocational personal counseling related to the quality of their intake evaluations in various ways. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of counselor response behavior on clients' impressions during vocational counseling.

We examined the effects of four counselor response types—self-disclosure, self-involving, empathy, and open question—on subjects' impressions of the counselor during vocational counseling. A total of 201 undergraduate students viewed videotapes of an initial vocational counseling interview, in which the counselor used either self-disclosure, self-involving, empathy, or open-question statements. Using a 2 (counselor sex)?×?2 (client sex)?×?4 (response type) design, a three-way interaction was found in regard to counselor social influence. However, for the most part, a general lack of significance was found across the dependent measures. These results are interpreted relative to vocational counseling and then compared to the literature on personal–social counseling. (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)     

Evaluating Vocational Interventions: A Tale of Two Career Development Seminars.

Formal evaluation of two career development seminars was conducted to determine what kind of vocational interventions were helping what kind of people. Students experienced a wide variety of vocational treatments (e.g., standardized inventories, workbooks, writing exercises, discussions, individual counseling) and were asked to rate the helpfulness of each vocational intervention. No interactions between characteristics of students and treatment ratings were found, but an overall main effect of all treatments on raising students' level of vocational identity was found. Suggestions are made for improving the management and evaluation of career development seminars. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 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)     

A controlled study of variables related to counseling center use.

Investigated the utility of several variables in discriminating between students who sought help at a university counseling center (seekers) and those who did not (nonseekers), when level of personal adjustment was controlled. Interactions between Ss' level of personal adjustment and help-seeking status were also examined. 40 female undergraduates who reported no previous history of formal counseling or psychotherapy were administered several tests including the College Maladjustment Scale. Three variables—alternate sources of help, counseling usefulness, and perceived severity of help-seeker pathology—significantly discriminated seeker from nonseeker Ss. It is suggested that level of Ss' adjustment is an important variable to control in research on the decision to seek help. Attitudinal variables were not powerful predictors of help-seeking behavior. Implications for the delivery of mental health services on the university campus are discussed. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

We have seen the future, but is it us? The vocational aspirations of graduate students in counseling psychology.

In a recent article, Fitzgerald and Osipow documented a trend away from academic settings and vocational psychology and toward private practice and more clinically oriented tasks (such as long-term psychotherapy) among members of Division 17. In this study we extended the exploration of this issue by examining the vocational aspirations of a national sample of graduate students in counseling psychology, using similar methodology. The results document the increasing "professionalization" of counseling psychology, as well as the continued diminution of vocational psychology and career counseling as salient characteristics of the discipline, and are discussed in terms of the pragmatics of the marketplace and possible negative impact on clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of Psychological Help Seeking in Clinical and Counseling Psychology Graduate Students.

Psychologists are often called upon to provide supervision, mentorship, and training to graduate student therapists-in-training. In these roles, psychologists may influence whether graduate students enter personal therapy during their training. This study investigated variables (including perceived faculty attitudes about students in personal therapy) that predict psychotherapy help seeking in clinical and counseling psychology graduate students (N = 262). The findings indicated that confidentiality issues, general attitudes about therapy, and perceptions of the importance of personal therapy for professional development were important predictors of graduate student help seeking. The implications for faculty, supervisors, and mentors of therapists-in-training are discussed. (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)     

Influence of client pretesting on counseling outcome.

Tested 27 college students in 2 groups, 1 prior to and both after counseling. The hypothesis that pretesting would "reactively influence counseling" was partially upheld in that "pretesting was significantly associated with measured adjustment of clients after counseling." (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)