Development of a Clinical Guide to Enhance Care for Suicidal Patients.

Suicidal thoughts and behavior are common among mental health patients and are a source of stress for clinicians, who typically receive limited formal training on suicide. The U.S. Air Force initiated a project to enhance care and increase practitioner confidence when working with suicidal patients. A clinical guide was developed containing 18 recommendations for assessing and managing suicidality, strategies for meeting the recommendations, and clinical tools to facilitate quality care. Training opportunities and marketing efforts accompanied distribution of the guide. This initial article reviews the guide's development, content, and evaluation plan as a model that other health care systems, clinics, or training programs can follow to enhance care for suicidal patients. Outcome data will be presented in a follow-up article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The practice of forensic psychology: A look toward the future in light of the past.

In a 1987 American Psychologist article, Tom Grisso summarized the state of forensic psychological assessment, noted its limitations and potential, and offered suggestions for researchers and practitioners interested in contributing to its future. Since that time, there have been many important developments in the field of forensic psychology, as well as in clinical psychology more generally, some of which were anticipated and recommended by Grisso, and some of which were not. Forensic psychology is now at a crossroads, and the specialty must make an effort to respond to current challenges if it is to aid in the administration of justice by assisting legal decision makers. The need to distinguish between and identify levels of forensic knowledge and practice, establish guidelines for practice, educate legal consumers, and devote more attention to treatment issues in forensic contexts is highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Family Bereavement Program: Efficacy evaluation of a theory-based prevention program for parentally bereaved children and adolescents.

This article presents an experimental evaluation of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP), a 2-component group intervention for parentally bereaved children ages 8-16. The program involved separate groups for caregivers, adolescents, and children, which were designed to change potentially modifiable risk and protective factors for bereaved children. The evaluation involved random assignment of 156 families (244 children and adolescents) to the FBP or a self-study condition. Families participated in assessments at pretest, posttest, and 11-month follow-up. Results indicated that the FBP led to improved parenting, coping, and caregiver mental health and to reductions in stressful events at posttest. At follow-up, the FBP led to reduced internalizing and externalizing problems, but only for girls and those who had higher problem scores at baseline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Meaning of Pain: A Key to Working With Spanish-Speaking Patients With Work-Related Injuries.

A client's response to a work-related injury can often pose unique challenges to both the client and the therapist during the healing process. The experience of pain and suffering, which are strongly mediated by ethnic and cultural variables, plays a central role in recovery from injuries acquired in a low status, low paid job. This article explores the role of pain and suffering in the lives of Spanish-speaking Mexican, Mexican American, and Central American workers who struggle to overcome work-related injuries and disabilities. A series of clinical themes organize an exploration of the meaning of pain in such settings, and case examples are used to highlight their common presentations in therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Women, sex, and HIV: Social and contextual factors, meta-analysis of published interventions, and implications for practice and research.

This article is focused on examining social and contextual factors related to HIV-risk behavior for women. Specifically, this article has three main purposes: to review the literature on selected social and contextual factors that contribute to the risk for the heterosexual transmission of HIV and AIDS, to review and conduct a meta-analysis of HIV-prevention interventions targeting adult heterosexual populations, and to suggest future directions for HIV-prevention intervention research and practice. Results suggest that the HIV-prevention interventions reviewed for this article had little impact on sexual risk behavior, that social and contextual factors are often minimally addressed, and that there was a large gap between research and the practice of HIV-prevention intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acceptance of personality interpretations: The "Barnum effect" and beyond.

The "Barnum effect" is the phenomenon whereby people willingly give their approval and acceptance of personality interpretations purportedly derived from the results of assessment procedures. The research over the last 25 yrs relative to this acceptance phenomenon is reviewed. Characteristics of clientele who accept such interpretations are summarized, with the deduction that it is of questionable usefulness to study such personality characteristics independent of situational factors that elicit acceptance. These factors are examined, with the conclusion that clientele acceptance cannot be construed as validation of either the clinician or his assessment procedures. Implications of the acceptance phenomenon for the clinical diagnostic process are discussed. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)