Psychotherapy research: A special issue.

Discusses the impact that the interests of an increased variety of users of psychotherapy research (PTR) have had on the design, conduct, economic support, and presentation of findings of PTR. Since the 1950s and 1960s, PTR has most typically focused on the process and outcome of psychotherapy, with a greater emphasis on outcome than process research. The boundaries of PTR today seem broader when compared to current impressions of the earlier boundaries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Internet versus the telephone: What is telehealth anyway?

How extensive is health care service delivery via the Internet? Should all practicing professional psychologists immediately acquire audio and video Internet capability so they can interact with their patients via this modality? Five hundred and ninety-six practicing psychologists responded to a survey about their use of the telephone and the Internet in their professional practices. Use of the telephone in the delivery of clinical services was nearly universal. However, only 2% of respondents had utilized the Internet or satellite technology in the delivery of health care. Nonetheless, routine use of such technology in service delivery is expected to increase as the technology becomes more universally available and regularly used. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond clinical trials: Generalizing from research to practice.

Suggests that clinical trials, or evaluations of psychotherapy techniques in clinical settings with patient populations, play a pivotal role in treatment research. Well-controlled psychotherapy trials provide a test of what treatment can do under conditions in which procedures such as therapist training and monitoring and the integrity of treatment are optimal. Methods designed to reduce the hiatus in how treatments are implemented, monitored, and evaluated in clinical research and practice include developing standardized assessment and treatment packages that can be implemented by practitioners, altering the manner in which clinical training is implemented and evaluated, training clinicians in strategies to evaluate their own clinical work, and conducting clinical replication case studies as a way to evaluate treatment applications in clinical practice. These alternatives combine standardization, training, evaluation, and clinical practice to help increase the generality of research findings to clinical work and to help merge research and clinical priorities. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The window on psychology's literature: A history of psychological abstracts.

With the rapid expansion of scientific information at the end of the 19th century, disciplines sought ways to keep their members abreast of the relevant research. Those pressures were felt in the science of psychology in the United States, where psychologists developed a bibliographic aid, The Psychological Index, in 1895 only a little more than a decade after G. Stanley Hall opened America's first psychology laboratory. The Index was useful but was only a listing of titles. More information was needed, which led to the development of a journal of abstracts, first published in 1927. This article traces the history of Psychological Abstracts from its origins in the Index to the evolution of the American Psychological Association's electronic information system known as PsycINFO, of which Psychological Abstracts has become an outmoded part. Nevertheless, for most of its 80 years, Psychological Abstracts was psychology's window on the world of research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the AHCPR Depression in Primary Care guidelines: Further considerations for practitioners.

The majority of cases of clinical depression go unrecognized and untreated, despite the fact that depression is an eminently treatable disorder. The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) recently published a set of clinical practice guidelines focused on depression in primary care settings. The review of the literature on which the guidelines are based is thorough and appropriate and should enhance the detection of depression and the quality of pharmacotherapy for depression. However, the guidelines encourage primary care physicians to provide pharmacotherapy to their depressed patients as the 1st line of treatment. The wisdom of this recommendation is questioned and revisions to the guidelines are suggested. Specifically, patients should be informed of the broad array of treatment options available and provided with a more balanced presentation of the potential benefits of psychotherapy for depression. Patients should decide which treatment alternative they wish to undergo. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging, research on aging, and national policy: A conversation with Robert Butler.

Reports on an interview with R. N. Butler (August 10, 1982), who was the first director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), from 1976 to 1982. Butler speaks about the federal role on aging research in the "post-Butler" era (following his resignation from NIA), stressing the importance of behavioral science. He suggests that the National Institute of Health may support more behavioral research than the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration. Butler also expresses views on the 1981 White House Conference on Aging and the 1982 United Nations World Assembly on Aging; the national social, economic, and health policies related to a 4-generational society; nursing home training sites where health care providers can get first-hand experience with the aged; and the role of Medicaid and Medicare in meeting health care cost of the elderly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Outcome assessment of psychotherapy.

ANovember, 1995 Consumer Reports (CR) magazine report and an article by M. E. P. Seligman (American Psychologist, 1995) on psychotherapy use follow in the tradition of federal efforts in 1957 and 1976 to document mental health services utilization. The 1995 reports represent a confirmation of the public's perception and valuing of psychotherapy that is consistent with the overall conclusion from empirical research that "psychotherapy, as a generic process, is demonstrably more effective than no treatment." Lifetime psychotherapy use increased from 14% in 1957 to 26% in 1976 (and is probably higher today). CR data, reconfigured to parallel earlier reports on overall utilization and by provider group, are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is psychologists' involvement in the prescribing of psychotropic medication really a new activity?

How involved in the process of prescribing psychotropic drugs is the average practicing professional psychologist today? The answer is "far more than most people realize." Five hundred ninety-six practicing psychologists responded to a survey reporting the types of professional activities in which they regularly engage. Virtually all responding psychologists reported they were involved in making recommendations for medication evaluations, consulting with physicians about which medications to use with specific patients, and discussing medication-related issues with patients. A generally agreed-on model of psychopharmacology training for professional psychologists should emerge over the next 5 to 10 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rural America: Unique opportunities for health care delivery and health services research.

A general deterioration is occurring in the quality of life of rural Americans, and it is affecting the quality of health and mental health service delivery. About 24% of the U.S. population lives in nonmetropolitan areas where the citizens are older, less well educated, have lower incomes, and are more homogeneous in terms of ace and ethnicity. Medicare and private insurance discriminate against rural services in their reimbursement policies, and there is a shortage of health personnel in rural areas. However, there has been renewed congressional action to meet rural needs. Both the House and Senate have established rural caucuses, and an Office of Rural Health Policy has been established in the federal executive branch. Legislative successes were achieved between 1985 and 1988. Rural initiatives will provide psychology with unique opportunities in the next several years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)