Drug use, violence, and victimization among White American, Mexican American, and American Indian dropouts, students with academic problems, and students in good academic standing.

Problem-prone behaviors of White American, Mexican American, and American Indian high school dropouts, students in good academic standing, and students in poor academic standing were surveyed. Generally, dropouts were most involved with drugs, perpetration of violence, and victimization by violence, students in poor standing were the next most involved, and students in good standing were least involved. Ethnicity did not interact with academic status, suggesting that differences between dropouts and students were similar across ethnic groups. Some ethnicity and gender main effects were found. Findings were related to R. Jessor's (see record 1992-23064-001) theory of problem-prone behaviors, to peer cluster theory, and to intervention design. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social skills and cognitive-relaxation approaches to general anger reduction.

Inductive social skills training (ISST), skill assembly social skills training (SASST), and cognitive relaxation coping skills (CRCS) training were compared with a no-treatment control condition for general anger reduction. At 4-wk follow-up, compared with the control group, all treatment groups showed equivalent reductions of the amount of anger experienced in a wide range of situations. ISST and CRCS Ss reported less anger in their worst ongoing provocation than did control Ss, whereas SASST Ss did not differ from Ss of other groups. Treatment groups enhanced anger control equally relative to the control group, but only the CRCS group significantly lowered outward, negative expression of anger, and only the ISST group reduced anger suppression, although active treatment groups did not differ from one another on these measures. The ISST group lowered day-to-day anger more than other groups. No treatment effects were found for nontargeted trait anxiety and assertiveness. Results are discussed in terms of prior findings and the efficacy and flexibility of ISST. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anger reduction in early adolescents.

High-anger 6–8th graders received cognitive-relaxation coping skills (CRCS), social skills training (SST), or no treatment. Compared to the control, CRCS and SST were equally effective in reducing trait, general, and personal–situational anger and outward negative anger expression, as well as increasing controlled anger expression. On other variables, however, CRCS showed some superiority. Although both interventions led to equivalent reductions on one measure of anxiety, CRCS lowered depression, shyness, general deviance, and another measure of anxiety, whereas SST did not and was not significantly different from other groups. CRCS lowered school deviance more than SST. No between-group differences were found on self-esteem, alcohol consumption, or intoxication. Possible explanations of these findings were discussed, along with methodological issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of cognitive and interpersonal-process group therapies in the treatment of depression among college students.

We compared cognitive (CT) and interpersonal-process (IP) group therapies in the treatment of moderate, unipolar depression in college counseling-center clients. Subjects who sought services early in the semester were randomly assigned to CT or IP groups and compared with a waiting-list group composed of subjects who requested services just prior to the Christmas recess. Multivariate analyses revealed no significant differences between treatment and waiting-list conditions. Because the control was confounded by the Christmas holiday, we compared the CT and IP groups directly. Both treatments led to significant reductions in depression and depressed thinking and to increments in self-esteem at midtreatment, posttreatment, and follow-up assessments but did not differ from each other at any other time. There was no evidence of differential effectiveness or mechanisms of therapeutic change as a function of type of treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of anxiety management training and self-control desensitization.

Compared the effects of anxiety management training (AMT) and self-control desensitization (SCD) in reducing targeted (test anxiety) and nontargeted anxieties. Comparisons revealed that AMT and SCD effectively reduced state (worry, emotionality, and state test anxiety) and trait (Debilitating scale of Alpert-Haber Achievement Anxiety Test and test items from the Fear Inventory) debilitating test anxiety and increased facilitating text anxiety (Facilitating scale of the Achievement Anxiety Test) relative to controls. A 6-wk follow-up demonstrated maintenance of debilitating test anxiety reduction. No performance differences were found in analog testing, but Ss receiving treatment had significantly higher psychology grades than those not receiving treatment. Posttreatment findings reveal some nontargeted anxiety reduction for SCD; however, by follow-up both treatments evidenced significant nontargeted anxiety reduction. The results are discussed in terms of remedial and preventive functions met by the self-control interventions; the possibility of treating diverse anxieties within a single AMT group is also considered. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relaxation and cognitive-relaxation treatments of general anger.

Possible increased effectiveness from combining cognitive and relaxation coping skills (CRCS) in the treatment of anger was evaluated by comparing CRCS with relaxation coping skills (RCS) alone and a no-treatment control. Some process variables slightly favored CRCS over RCS. However, in comparison with controls, both CRCS and RCS led to equivalent, significant anger reduction on most indexes. Equivalent rates of clinically meaningful general anger reduction and of maintenance of anger and anxiety reduction were found at 1-yr follow-up as well. Although outcomes for CRCS and RCS were not significantly different, CRCS may be the intervention of choice, especially for group interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relaxation and cognitive treatments of anger.

60 undergraduates, selected on the basis of scores on the Trait form of the State-Trait Anger Scale, participated in cognitive and relaxation coping skill interventions for anger reduction or in a no-treatment control. Ss also completed measures such as the State form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory. By 4-wk follow-up, cognitive and relaxation groups reported significantly less general anger, physical symptoms of anger, daily ratings of anger, and less state anger and tendency to cope with verbal antagonism in response to imaginal provocations than did controls and did not differ from one another. Constructive coping in the imaginal provocations and trait anxiety showed the cognitive condition improved relative to the control, whereas the relaxation group did not differ significantly from other groups. No between-groups differences were found for personal anger situations, depression, or heart rate and coping via physical antagonism in response to provocations. One-year follow-up revealed maintenance of patterns for general anger and anxiety reduction. Results are discussed in terms of the value of applied relaxation for anger reduction. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anger expression in Mexican American and White non-Hispanic adolescents.

This study explored aggressive anger expression in adolescents. A 3-factor model proved best (i.e., Expression through Verbal Assault, Physical Assault Toward People, and Physical Assault Toward Objects). These factors correlated positively with each other and with anger, anxiety, and depression. Correlations of aggressive anger expression styles with anger were larger than their correlations with anxiety and depression. Gender, ethnicity, and developmental effects were found; males reported more physical assault on people than females, and White non-Hispanic and older youths reported more verbal assault than Mexican American and younger, students. Both middle and high school students reported greater verbal assault than physical assault on objects which, in turn, was higher than physical assault on people. These findings suggest that adolescent aggressive anger expression is not unidimensional, but is more differentiated and meaningfully related to gender, ethnicity, and developmental status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treatment effectiveness of anxiety management training in small and large group formats.

The relative efficiency of anxiety management training (AMT) in a large group was compared to AMT in small groups and to a wait-list control. Ss were 67 undergraduates selected on basis of scores on the Trait scale of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Immediately after treatment, small-group AMT Ss reported significantly less general anxiety than controls. Follow-up at 7 wks revealed maintenance of this reduction of general anxiety and a further significant improvement on the Psychological Screening Inventory. In all comparisons, large-group AMT was not significantly different from either small group AMT or controls. No other significant differences among groups were found for personality variables, nontargeted anxieties, or grades. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two procedures for relaxation as self-control in the treatment of communication apprehension.

An in vivo procedure for relaxation as self-control, and a procedure for self-control modification of desensitization (modified desensitization) were compared to a no-treatment control. Ss were 34 female and 4 male undergraduates. Effectiveness was gauged by the reduction of (a) the targeted anxiety (communication apprehension) and (b) the nontargeted fear of negative evaluation and assertiveness. Results show that modified desensitization, compared to the control, significantly decreased communication anxiety and fear of negative evaluation and significantly increased assertiveness. Relaxation as self-control led to significantly decreased communication apprehension, significantly increased assertiveness, and nearly significant reduction in fear of negative evaluation ( p