Jeffrey E. Hecker

Adolescent females who have sexually offended: comparisons with delinquent adolescent female offenders and adolescent males who sexually offend

ABSTRACT Very little is known about adolescent females who commit sexual offenses. In this two-part exploratory study, a sample of 11 adolescent females with sexual offense histories is described. In Study I, the sample is compared to an age-matched sample of 11 adolescent females with non-sexual victim-involved offense histories. The sexually offending group had significantly fewer antisocial behavior problems, such as alcohol or drug use problems, problems with fighting, or problems at school. They began their offense behaviors at younger ages than their non-sex offending delinquent peers. Few differences emerged with respect to attitudes about offense behaviors, such as level of denial. In Study II, the same sample of females with sex offense histories was compared with a group of age-matched adolescent males with sex offense histories. The two sex-offending groups were found to be remarkably similar. There were few differences with respect to psychosocial and criminal histories, antisocial behavior, and variables related to clinical presentation and treatment (e.g., level of denial about offense). Likewise, the two groups are remarkably similar with respect to specific sex offense behaviors. The females, however, appear to have experienced more severe and pervasive abuse compared to the males.

Factor Structure and Validation of the Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol (J-SOAP)

The Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol (J-SOAP) was first developed in 1994 in response to the need for a structured method of assessing risk of recidivism among juvenile sexual offenders (R. A. Prentky, B. Harris, K. Frizzell, & S. Righthand, 2000). Over the ensuing years the scale has been subjected to a series of studies that have sought to examine its psychometric properties and its validity. The current paper reports on results from three of these studies, one of which looks at the factor structure of the items. The other two studies examine concurrent validity by looking at J-SOAP Scales 1 and 2 in relation to the Level of Service Inventory—Youth Version with: Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) (R. D. Hoge & D. A. Andrews, 1996) and other selected variables and discriminant validity by looking at the ability of J-SOAP scales to differentiate between juvenile sex offenders in the community and juvenile sex offenders in residential placement. The revision of the scale is discussed based on the research that has developed the scale and the research that has employed it.

Self-directed treatment with minimal therapist contact: preliminary findings for obsessive-compulsive disorder

The efficacy of a brief intervention for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was examined with nine clients. Treatment consisted of five meetings with the therapists, readings from When once is not enough (Steketee & White, 1990), and self-directed exposure with response prevention. The self-report version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale was the primary dependent measure. Participants who received treatment after a 6-week delay showed stability of severity of OCD over the waiting period. As a group, participants showed statistically significant improvement on the main outcome measures. One-third of the clients met criteria for clinically significant improvement indicating that some individuals suffering with OCD can be helped with a brief intervention.

Self-directed versus therapist-directed cognitive behavioral treatment for panic disorder

This study investigated two approaches to providing cognitive behavioral therapy for panic disorder: self-directed and therapist-directed. Sixteen individuals with panic disorder were randomly assigned to the treatment conditions. All participants were provided with a workbook describing cognitive-behavioral treatment (Mastery of Your Anxiety and Panic by Barlow & Craske). Therapist-directed participants worked through the material over 12 weekly therapy sessions. Therapists met with self-directed participants three times over 12 weeks to assign readings and answer questions. A fourth meeting was devoted to posttreatment assessment. Participants in both conditions improved with treatment and maintained their gains at 6-months follow-up. There were no differences between the treatment conditions on outcome measures. Forty percent and 28.6% of self-directed and therapist-directed participants, respectively, met conservative criteria for high end-state functioning at follow-up.

Comparing Active Pediatric Obesity Treatments Using Meta-Analysis

The current meta-analysis reviews research on the treatment of pediatric obesity focusing on studies that have been published since 1994. Eleven studies (22 comparisons, 115 effect sizes, N = 447) were included in the present meta-analysis. Results indicated that comprehensive behavioral interventions may be improved in at least two ways: increasing the “dose” of behavioral components and increasing parental involvement. Although limited to just one investigation, support for the use of medication was also found. The addition of cognitive therapy techniques did not appear to increase, and possibly detracted from, the efficacy of established treatments.

Cognitive Distortions About Sex and Sexual Offending: A Comparison of Sex Offending Girls, Delinquent Girls, and Girls from the Community

ABSTRACT Cognitive distortions about sexual offending were examined in 11 girls who committed sexual offenses, 12 girls who committed non-sexual criminal offenses, and 21 girls with no history of sexual or non-sexual offending. Participants responded to 12 vignettes that described sexual contact between an adolescent girl and a younger boy. The vignettes varied with respect to the sexual contact portrayed and the victims response. Girls who had sexually offended were more likely to endorse statements reflecting the belief that the offender in a sexually aggressive vignette was not responsible for initiating the sexual contact. In addition, when the victims response to the sexual contact was clearly negative, and the degree of contact was more serious, girls who had sexually offended demonstrated more distorted beliefs about the victim than the other two groups. Similarities and differences between the current findings and studies of distorted thinking in male sexual offenders are discussed.

Mastery of Your Anxiety and Panic and brief therapist contact in the treatment of panic disorder

Twenty-eight individuals with panic disorder were provided with a copy of Mastery of Your Anxiety and Panic II and received either four sessions of group cognitive-behavior therapy (Group) or one meeting with a therapist plus three telephone contacts (Telephone). Between group repeated measures analyses revealed significant improvement over the course of treatment and maintenance of gains over the follow-up period with few treatment by trials interactions. A higher percentage of participants in the Telephone condition achieved high end-state functioning status at posttreatment compared to those who participated in group CBT (72% vs. 24%), but this difference disappeared at 6 months posttreatment (45% vs. 55%). Participants with characteristics of either borderline, dependent, or depressive personality disorders, as assessed by the MCMI-III, were unlikely to achieve high end-state functioning status at posttreatment. Trends in the data suggest that participants who met criteria for panic disorder with agoraphobia, and those with comorbid generalized anxiety disorder, were also less likely to achieve clinically significant outcome. These findings add to the growing literature indicating that self-directed treatment with brief therapist contact is a viable option for many people with panic disorder. Furthermore, the study provides preliminary data suggesting that certain comorbid conditions negatively impact self-directed treatment outcome.

Emotional Processing in the Treatment of Simple Phobia: A Comparison of Imaginal and In Vivo Exposure

Two groups of moderately snake phobic college students were given either imaginal or in vivo exposure treatment. The groups were compared on self-report and physiological measures of fear activation during exposure trials, as well as on within- and across-session habituation of fear responses

The roles of neuroticism and controllability/predictability in physiological response to aversive stimuli

Abstract Ninety-four undergraduate females with either high or low neuroticism scores were selected to view a series of negatively valenced, emotionally arousing slides. Physiological measures of arousal were obtained during the intertrial intervals of the slide stimuli, and subjects rated their overall level of emotional arousal and perception of slide unpleasantness. One-half of the subjects were able to control slide duration and predict slide onset (controllability and predictability group; CandP). The other half of the subjects were unable to control or predict slide stimuli and were yoked to the first group for duration of slides (No controllability and predictability group; NoCandP). This manipulation resulted in 4 experimental groups: high neuroticism/ CandP; high neuroticism/NoCandP; low neuroticism/CandP; and low neuroticism/NoCandP. The relationships between high and low levels of neuroticism and the presence or absence of CandP of the slide stimuli were examined. Results indicated the high neuroticism group was more physiologically and subjectively aroused than the low neuroticism group, but there were no significant differences between groups on the CandP measure or interaction effects. The failure to find interactions or a main effect for CandP appears to indicate that individual difference characteristics such as neuroticism may be more important than stressor characteristics in understanding physiological and subjective arousal following exposure to mildly aversive stimuli.

Perspective taking and adolescent sex offenders: From developmental theory to clinical practice*

Clinical child researchers and practitioners face increasing pressure to more fully incorporate developmental findings and principles into their work. In describing a developmental approach to the assessment and treatment of perspective-taking deficits in adolescent sex offenders, we discuss some of the benefits and difficulties inherent in such integrative efforts. Following an overview of the clinical literature on juvenile sexual offending that focuses on the roles of perspective taking and empathy, we turn to a review of the developmental literature. This literature, particularly the model proposed by Selman, provides a rich conceptual foundation for understanding the relationship between perspective-taking skills and sexual offenses. We then describe our efforts to incorporate this model into clinical practice. The article concludes with an illustrative case example.