Joseph B. Tavormina

Chronically Ill Children: A Psychologically and Emotionally Deviant Population?.

The study evaluated the psychosocial functioning levels of a group of chronically ill (diabetic, asthmatic, cystic fibrotic, and hearing-impaired) children across a battery of standardized personality instruments. The assessments were performed to provide a rigorous test of the popular hypothesis that chronically ill children are especially vulnerable to psychopathology. In contrast to this stereotype, results across measures demonstrated the normalcy rather than the deviance of these children. Although exceptions were noted, the childrens functional strengths and coping abilities noticeably outweighed their weaknesses.

Psychosocial Effects on Parents of Raising a Physically Handicapped Child

The present study assessed the personality styles, attitudes, perspectives, and coping strategies of 133 mothers and 93 fathers of diabetic, asthmatic, crystic fibrotic, and hearing-impaired children. Across measures, both the essential positive adjustment levels and special problems of the sample were demonstrated, such that they formed a distinct group whose functioning fell between that reported for either “normalℍ or poorly-adjusted parents. Furthermore, the presence of the ill child served as the primary contributor to these patterns, with types of illness providing a secondary but significant thrust to its exact extent and scope. Mothers consistently reported more problems and more involvement than fathers, which illustrated their differential roles within these particular families as well as their typical modes of response to the stress of the ill child. Without a doubt, the stress was taking its toll on the parents. Even though they still managed to cope, a focus on the parental needs is necessary in the total management program for the physically ill child.

Relative Effectiveness of Behavioral and Reflective Group Training With Foster Mothers

This article describes group parent training procedures for a sample of 42 foster mothers. Half of the foster mothers were trained in behavioral child-rearing skills, and the other half received reflective group counseling for 8 weeks. Comparison of the two modes of training showed that reflectively counseled mothers improved primarily in parent attitudes, whereas behaviorally trained mothers improved primarily in actual use of appropriate behavioral skills, reporting reductions in problematic child behavior and improvements in overall family functioning. The future use of a combination approach is addressed, as are suggestions regarding how to motivate foster parents and improve their attendance rates. Throughout the 1970s the use of parent counseling and training has grown as a means of employing parents as therapists for their childrens problem behaviors. Tavormina (1974) discussed two major topics of parent counseling: (a) reflective counseling, which emphasizes parental awareness, understanding, and acceptance of the childs feelings, and (b) behavioral counseling, which emphasizes actual observable behavior and the environmental variables that maintain certain behavior patterns. In a comparison of the relative effectiveness of the two procedures (Tavormina, 1975), both had beneficial effects relative to the notreatment control condition, but the behavioral method resulted in a significantly greater magnitude of improvement across attitude and behavior change dimensions. Tavorminas (1975) study trained biological mothers of retarded children, and the present study represents an extension of that study to foster mothers, who differ from other parents along several dimensions. First, these parents are charged with the duty of managing children who are wards of the state, yet they have consistently been implicated as being neither economically nor therapeutically prepared to manage the children entrusted to their care (Levitt, 1973). Second, foster children as a

Social Class and Race Differences in Family Interaction: Pathological, Normative, or Confounding Methodological Factors?

The interaction patterns of 64 well-adjusted family triads, divided into eight equal groups by race, social class, and sex of adolescent, were assessed across observational and self-report measures of family affect, conflict, and dominance. Any social class or race differences similar to those of prior research could not be described as deficits since all families met extensive criteria to assure favorable psychosocial adjustment. However, in contrast to much extant literature, statistical analyses revealed few social class or race effects. In light of the present strict methodological controls, it is suggested that previous findings of race and social class differences might have resulted from uncontrolled sampling, procedural, or measurement factors.

The children of Mexican-American migrant workers: a population at risk?

The present study assessed intellectual, academic, and emotional strengths and weaknesses for a group of Mexican-American children of migrant farm workers. In order to test the vulnerability hypothesis, the test profiles of these children were contrasted with those of two groups of black children with similar demographic makeup. The children of one group (Clinical Black) had been referred previously for a psychological consultation while the children of the other (Nonreferred Black) had not. Across dependent measures, between-groups contrasts tended to describe the scores of the Migrant children as similar to those of the Clinical Black children and significantly below those of the Nonreferred Black children. The findings suggested specific intellectual, academic, and emotional vulnerabilities of the Migrant children and demonstrated the need to develop ameliorative programs for these children.

A Special Foster Care Program: Reimbursement for parents and consultants

The Special Foster Care Program represents a new community placement option for mentally retarded children. In contrast to traditional models of foster care, it involves a comprehensive five-step system designed to maximize effective care delivery. This article describes the method developed for determining fee schedules and reimbursement rates for participants in the program.

Efficacy of the mini‐mult validity scales with prisoners

The authors studied the ability of the Kincannon Mini-Mult validity scales to detect invalid standard MMPI protocols of adult male prisoners. The original MMPI records of 1407 Ss were rescored by use of Kincannons items for the L, F, and K Scales. Analysis consisted of examining the frequency with which the Mini-Mult would detect an invalid protocol when at least one of the original MMPI validity scales also was elevated and invalid. Results indicate that the Mini-Mult failed to detect nearly 75% of the profiles that were invalid due to an elevated F scale on the parent MMPI. Similarly, over 50% of the profiles invalid due to elevated L and/or K scales were not detected by the Mini-Mult. Despite the appealing brevity of this 71-item short form of the MMPI, caution is advised with regard to its use in penal settings.