John D. Tyler

Interchangeability of the Working Alliance Inventory and Working Alliance Inventory, Short Form.

Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) ratings were compared with ratings comprising the 12-item WAI, Short Form (WAI-S). Responses were collected from 54 university counseling center client-therapist pairs after the 4th therapy session as well as at a final ratings point. WAI and WAI-S scores were highly correlated and had comparable descriptive statistics, internal consistencies, and subscale intercorrelations within and across rater perspectives. Predictive validity estimates for WAI and WAI-S total scales were also very similar. Fourth-session WAI and WAI-S scores were moderately predictive of therapy improvement ratings. Results support the interchangeability of scores on the WAI and WAI-S scales.

Personality and psychophysiological variables in abusive, neglectful, and low-income control mothers.

This study was designed to systematically investigate personality, psychophysiological, and cognitive appraisal variables in three groups of mothers, i.e., abusive (N = 14), neglectful (N = 13), and low-income control (N = 15). All subjects completed a Mini-Mult, the Repression-Sensitization Scale, the Group Embedded Figures Test, the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist, and the Socialization scale of the California Psychological Inventory. They listened to an audiotape sequence of white noise, tone, and infants cry sounds while cardiovascular and skin resistance measures were recorded. The mothers also rated six dimensions of the infants cry on a semantic differential. The three groups of mothers differed on a variety of personality variables, e.g., on F, Depression (D), Psychopathic Deviate (Pd), Psychasthenia (Pt), and Schizophrenia (Sc) from the Mini-Mult, on their cognitive appraisal of the infants cry, and on skin resistance measures. A combination of personality, psychophysiological, and cry rating variables was entered in a discriminant analysis that was successful in discriminating 80% of the subjects. The two significant discriminant functions were defined primarily by the Pd scale and a cognitive appraisal measure.

Applicability of cognitive-behavior therapy with American Indian individuals

There is little empirical evidence to support the claim that cognitive- behavior therapy (CBT) is an especially suitable treatment for culturally diverse clients. The purpose of this study was to compare the applicability of CBT in a community sample of European American and American Indian individuals. Participants completed the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Applicability Scale (CBT-AS), in which they rated their preference for characteristics consistent with three tenets of CBT. European Americans rated a stronger preference for CBTs focused in-session behavior and structured therapeutic relationship than did American Indians. Both groups rated the active stance domain of CBT as mutually acceptable. On the basis of the findings, several modifications to CBT for therapists working with American Indian clients are proposed for future investigation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Client–therapist agreement on target problems, working alliance, and counseling outcome

It is widely asserted that clients and therapists should agree on which client problems are to be the focus of treatment. According to working alliance theory, client–therapist agreement on therapy objectives contributes to treatment success. However, few empirical studies exist of the relevance of target problem agreement to therapy outcome. We examined the relationships among actual client–therapist agreement on target problems, working alliance (perceived agreement), and therapy outcome. Client–counselor dyads completed target complaint lists and symptom ratings at 3 points during therapy. Improvement and working alliance ratings were also completed after the 4th session and at a final ratings point. Fourth-session target complaint agreement and working alliance contributed to the prediction of therapy outcome. However, actual target complaint agreement was unrelated to working alliance (perceived agreement) ratings. Implications for working alliance theory are discussed.

Locus of Control Differences between Rural American Indian and White Children

Summary Fourth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh grade American Indian and white children were administered the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale. It was predicted that Indians would have a greater tendency than whites to perceive that reinforcements are determined by factors external to themselves. It was also predicted that older children would be more internal than younger children and that Indian girls would be more internal than Indian boys. Support was obtained for all but the third hypothesis.

An Exploratory Examination of Student Dismissals and Prompted Resignations From Clinical Psychology PhD Training Programs: Does Clinical Competency Matter?

How do clinical psychology PhD training programs decide whether a student should be dismissed? Are these decisions related to the students clinical competency or suitability? Accredited, scientist-practitioner clinical psychology PhD training programs were surveyed about their experiences with dismissal decisions and clinical competency evaluations. Average rates of student dismissal and prompted resignations were low (less than 3% and 6%, respectively) but highly variable across programs. The most common basis for dismissals and resignations pertained to clinical competency concerns and academic standards. However, for 29% of programs, documented dismissal criteria did not include expectations for achievement of a prescribed level of clinical skills proficiency. Implications and suggested courses of action are discussed.

Appreciation of risqué cartoon humor in male and female Repressors and Sensitizers

Male and female nondefensive sensitizers, defensive repressors and nondefensive repressors were instructed to rate the degree of humor in each of 40 cartoons. The cartoons, which previously had been equated for funniness, either contained sexual themes or were completely devoid of sexual content. As hypothesized, female repressors rated sexual cartoons as less humorous than nonsexual cartoons. In addition, female sensitizers rated sexual cartoons as funnier than did female repressors. No differences were found for male Ss. Results were interpreted according to an approach-avoidance model of repression-sensitization.

Planning primary prevention strategy

It was hypothesized that the introductions of a new business or industry into a high-poverty-level Indian reservation community would produce conditions that could have both positive and negative effects on mental health. A questionnaire surveying the impact of business location on reservation life was sent to all field offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Survey results supported the expectation that business development may affect community life in a variety of ways. Respondents cited approximately twice as many positive effects as negative ones. Furthermore, it was found that relatively few Indians were actually employed and consequently exposed to either type of effect. Implications of the survey for planning primary prevention strategies which would minimize the pathogenic influences of business development are discussed.