Daniel W. Edwards

Test-Taking and the Stability of Adjustment Scales

Nonpatient responses to five major adjustment scales were examined at three time-points, two weeks apart. There was no evidence for a systematic increase in adjustment scores due to completing the instruments. Internal consistency coefficients and test-retest stability coefficients for the five adjustment scales show them to have utility for assessing patient groups. Only the SCL-90 showed promise for allowing reliable assessment of individual change over time. All five scales significantly discriminate patient groups from groups of nonpatients. Further research is needed to clarify present results, to determine the clinical significance of various magnitude changes on the scales, and to develop more specific measures of adjustment and symptomatology.

Impulsiveness, impulsive aggression, personality disorder, and spousal violence.

Impulsiveness has become a key concept in thinking about the determinants of violence and aggression. In this study of spouse abusers, the relationship between impulsiveness, impulsive aggression, and physical violence is confirmed. Impulsiveness and impulsive aggression have significant correlations with physical aggression. Impulsiveness and impulsive aggression are also correlated with measures of Borderline Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder. In addition, the measures of Borderline and Antisocial Personality Disorder (PD) are significantly correlated with physical aggression. The violent and non-violent groups differed on impulsive aggression and on Borderline Personality Disorder. A partial replication of Tweed and Dutton’s findings (1998) revealed sub-groups of high- and low-violence men. The high-violence group was very different from the low-violent and the non-violent groups. The high-violence group had higher pathology scores on all clinical scales, except Mania, of the Personality Assessment Inventory. These findings have implications for violence prediction and for treatment of violent men.

Stressful life events and community mental health center patients.

This paper reports on the occurrence of stressful life events prior to treatment and at a follow-up timepoint in a general sample of community mental health center patients. Life events scores from the patients, at both timepoints, are compared with scores from a nonpatient sample drawn from the community. Results indicate that patients before entering treatment tend to experience more events (particularly undesirable ones that could be confounded with psychological condition) than nonpatients. The result is no longer true at the follow-up time point. Findings regarding life events and patienthood are basically the same whether all events are used (i.e., the change score) or undesirable events alone. If, however, only events judged to be unconfounded with psychological condition are considered, we find no difference between patients and nonpatients at either timepoint. Implications of the studys results for the direction-of-effect issue with respect to the stress-psychological disorder relationship are discussed.

Coping and adaptation: A longitudinal study

A longitudinal study of high school boys who varied in their copingpreferences (exploration) revealed differences in adaptations. Documentation of the joint contribution o f different environments and personal coping preferences on adaptations required longitudinal analyses that disclosed significant effects on positive view of other students, on participation in extracurricular activities, on school satisfaction, and on school identification. While minimal support was gained for person-environment transaction theory, advances need to be made in theory and research to develop stronger predictive models.

Sex role-related countertransference revisited. A partial extension.

We attempted to extend two findings obtained at private university clinics to a heterogeneous community outpatient population: an under-representation of male patients in the case loads of beginning female therapists and longer treatment of female patients by beginning male therapists. Data from professional and preprofessional psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers partially replicated the first finding but not the second. The results thus leave open the question of subtle sex role-related countertransference in a large urban community mental health setting.

Brief hotline training. An effort to examine impact on volunteers

In response to community needs and pressures, increasing numbers of small crisis centers and hotline services have emerged. This emergence of services has been possible in part because of the mounting number of eager and interested volunteers. These services want and need training for the volunteers. This article examines the problem of evaluating the kind of information and the kind of training that hotline volunteers were given in a brief training program.

Uniform versus linear T scores on the MMPI²/MMPI in an outpatient psychiatric sample: Differential contributions.

It was hypothesized that the uniform T-score procedure was one possible source of observed differences between the MMPI-2 T scores and the MMPI T scores. MMPI-2 linear T scores were computed for a sample of 200 psychiatric outpatients whose MMPI-2 and MMPI T scores had been determined at the same point in time. Differences created by the uniform technique were slight and did not exceed 1.2 T-score points. Contrary to hypothesis, the uniform T-score procedure reduced the differences between mean MMPI-2 T-scores and the MMPI T scores on 12 of the 16 scales. These data suggest that the differences between the MMPI and MMPI-2 T scores are mainly due to differences between the normative samples

Let's quit stalling and do program evaluation

Five issues have been identified as major impediments to program evaluation. Examination of these issues shows many of them to be resolved in the process of conducting evaluations. It is asserted that only by implementing evaluations will the field move foreward. At the present time much energy is wasted discussing or arguing the five issues and the ideal approach to making program evaluations. Examples are provided from ongoing evaluations that show how the issues are resolved.Five issues have been identified as major impediments to program evaluation. Examination of these issues shows many of them to be resolved in the process of conducting evaluations. It is asserted that only by implementing evaluations will the field move foreward. At the present time much energy is wasted discussing or arguing the five issues and the ideal approach to making program evaluations. Examples are provided from ongoing evaluations that show how the issues are resolved.

Secondary prevention: Serendipitous therapeutic effects for parents of child patients

Documentation of results of treatment in the community mental health centers is necessary in order to maintain the continuation of funding. Short-term treatment of children in such a setting was examined along with its effects on one parent in the family. The sample consisted of 241 children and 222 parents. An adaptation of the National Center of Health Statistics General Well-Being Scale was used in order to assess change in children and parents. There were significant increases in general well-being in both groups. The parents, as well as the children, benefited from therapy, regardless of whether or not they, themselves, received any treatment. Therefore, therapeutic intervention in one family member has been shown to have an effect on at least one other family member.

Child therapy outcome in a community mental health center

Studies by the Davis Child Therapy Effectiveness Project reveal that brief therapy is the norm. A retrospective outcome study in one mental health center shows a large proportion of adjustment reactions. Outcome ratings from therapists, parents and patients show fairly high levels of outcome and significant improvement in rated impairment. The children who were more impaired at intake were found to have the most visits and numbers of visits were unrelated to success in treatment. Examples are provided illustrating the use of parent responses to modify center practices.