Kevin R. Ronan

Multisystemic treatment: a meta-analysis of outcome studies.

Multisystemic treatment (MST) is a family- and home-based therapeutic approach that has been found to be effective in treating antisocial youths and that has recently been applied to youths with serious emotional disturbances. In light of the increasing dissemination of MST, this review examines the effectiveness of MST by quantifying and summarizing the magnitude of effects (treatment outcomes) across all eligible MST outcome studies. Included in a meta-analysis were 7 primary outcome studies and 4 secondary studies involving a total of 708 participants. Results indicated that across different presenting problems and samples, the average effect of MST was d = .55; following treatment, youths and their families treated with MST were functioning better than 70% of youths and families treated alternatively. Results also showed that the average effect of MST was larger in studies involving graduate student therapists (i.e., efficacy studies; d = .81) than in studies with therapists from the community (i.e., effectiveness studies; d = .26). In addition, MST demonstrated larger effects on measures of family relations than on measures of individual adjustment or peer relations.

Impacts of the 1945 and 1995–1996 Ruapehu eruptions, New Zealand: An example of increasing societal vulnerability

Over the past 50 yr the risk to society from volcanic eruptions has increased sharply due to an increased population, more developed and diversified economies, and a more technologically advanced infrastructure. This fact is demonstrated vividly by the impacts from the two largest eruptions of the twentieth century from the cone volcano of Ruapehu, which suggest that the vulnerability of key sectors in New Zealand society has increased by one to two orders of magnitude over this period. Both the 1945 and 1995–1996 eruptions included explosive phases that dispersed ash over a wide area of the North Island for a period of several months. Individual ash falls were only a few millimeters thick in communities within 150 km of the volcano and only trace amounts were found in communities farther away. The 1995–1996 eruption caused similar physical effects to the 1945 eruption but had considerably greater social and economic impacts. The greatest contribution to the cost of the 1995–1996 eruption, estimated in excess of

A model of household preparedness for earthquakes: how individuals make meaning of earthquake information and how this influences preparedness

130 million (New Zealand dollars), was the impact on the alpine tourist industry in the central North Island, essentially nonexistent in 1945. Other significant impacts were felt by the rapidly growing aviation and electricity-generation sectors. The cost of any future eruption of the same magnitude is likely to grow as the vulnerability of our society increases at a rapid rate.

Dissemination and effectiveness of multisystemic treatment in New Zealand: a benchmarking study.

One way to reduce the risk from earthquakes is for individuals to undertake preparations for earthquakes at home. Common preparation measures include gathering together survival items, undertaking mitigation actions, developing a household emergency plan, gaining survival skills or participating in wider social preparedness actions. While current earthquake education programmes advocate that people undertake a variety of these activities, actual household preparedness remains at modest levels. Effective earthquake education is inhibited by an incomplete understanding of how the preparedness process works. Previous research has focused on understanding the influence individual cognitive processes have on the earthquake preparedness process but has been limited in identifying other influences posed by the wider social contextual environment. This project used a symbolic interactionism perspective to explore the earthquake preparedness process through a series of qualitative interviews with householders in three New Zealand urban locations. It investigated earthquake information that individuals are exposed to, how people make meaning of this information and how this relates to undertaking actual preparedness measures. During the study, the relative influence of cognitive, emotive and societal factors on the preparedness process was explored and the interactions between these identified. A model of the preparedness process based on the interviews was developed and is presented in this paper.

Bibliotherapy Practice and Research

The transportability of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) for the treatment of juvenile offenders in a community-based context was examined in the current study. Results of this New Zealand study showed that significant pre- to posttreatment improvements occurred on most indicators of ultimate (i.e., offending behavior) and instrumental (i.e., youth compliance, family relations) treatment outcomes. Reductions in offending frequency and severity continued to improve across the 6- and 12-month follow-up intervals. In comparison to benchmarked studies, the current study demonstrated a more successful treatment completion rate. Additionally, overall treatment effect sizes were found to be clinically equivalent with the results of previous MST outcome studies with juvenile offenders and significantly greater than the effect sizes found in the control conditions. The findings of this evaluation add to the growing body of evidence that supports MST as an effective treatment for antisocial youth.

Can Between-Session (Homework) Activities Be Considered a Common Factor in Psychotherapy?

Recent years have witnessed an upsurge in the therapeutic use of books. With its initial roots in psychodynamic theory, available models emphasize features of the relationship between the personality of a reader and the cognitive and affective experience offered through literature. This article explores the historical development of bibliotherapy focusing on its use in therapeutic practice and associated research. The current authors suggest that the field of bibliotherapy is in need of development with regard to more methodologically stringent forms of validation, notwithstanding meta-analytic findings in some areas. Additionally, coherent taxonomies and theory-driven practice models are particularly needed to underpin increased rigor in answering scholarly questions. With these caveats in mind, and in light of findings in recent years, bibliotherapy does hold promise as a useful adjunct for the busy practitioner and client. Highlighted throughout the article are the suggested benefits of bibliotherapy as well as a call for practitioners to consider the value of pragmatic evaluation of bibliotherapy within the context of managing their own local practice.Recent years have witnessed an upsurge in the therapeutic use of books. With its initial roots in psychodynamic theory, available models emphasize features of the relationship between the personality of a reader and the cognitive and affective experience offered through literature. This article explores the historical development of bibliotherapy focusing on its use in therapeutic practice and associated research. The current authors suggest that the field of bibliotherapy is in need of development with regard to more methodologically stringent forms of validation, notwithstanding meta-analytic findings in some areas. Additionally, coherent taxonomies and theory-driven practice models are particularly needed to underpin increased rigor in answering scholarly questions. With these caveats in mind, and in light of findings in recent years, bibliotherapy does hold promise as a useful adjunct for the busy practitioner and client. Highlighted throughout the article are the suggested benefits of bibliotherapy a...

Concluding causation from correlation: comment on Burns and Spangler (2000).

A common goal for psychotherapies is to enable patients to improve their functioning and reduce distress in the situations and interpersonal contexts in which their problems exist. Although generally associated with behavioral, cognitive, couples, and family therapies, the use of the time between consultation sessions through therapeutic activities is implicit to all psychotherapies. This special series in Journal of Psychotherapy Integration represents an initial effort to make explicit the role of between-session ‘homework’ assignments in behavioral, client centered, cognitive, experiential, interpersonal, psychodynamic, and systemic approaches. Expert theoreticians, researchers, and practitioners present theoretical and clinical case examples to illustrate homework’s role in assisting patient therapeutic progress. We synthesize themes from the issue in a concluding piece in the interests of facilitating future theoretical and empirical work on homework in psychotherapy integration.

Behaviourally‐based interventions for children following volcanic eruptions: an evaluation of effectiveness

This commentary critiques the study conducted by D. D. Burns and D. Spangler (2000) in which the relationship between homework compliance and therapy outcome was estimated using structural equation modeling (SEM). Although the authors of the commentary advocate the use of SEM, they suggest greater caution in the indiscriminate endorsement of a causal relationship based on (a) correlational data and (b) retrospective accounts of the main predictor variable within a cross-sectional design. This discussion also highlights a need to address the issue of therapist competence in homework administration. The results of Burns and Spanglers report are consistent with existing empirical evidence suggesting that compliance with homework facilitates therapeutic outcome. However, the gold standard for determining causal inferences rests on prospective, experimental research rather than on retrospective, correlational models.

Hazard perceptions and preparedness of Taranaki youth

Represents the first systematic attempt to examine the effects of school‐based interventions on children’s self‐reported PTSD‐related distress and coping ability following a series of volcanic eruptions in a sample of 112 children. Pretreatment assessments carried out after the eruptions revealed that time was more of an ally for PTSD symptoms than for active coping ability. In terms of randomly assigned intervention conditions, both an exposure and a cognitive behavioural intervention were found to lead to significant improvement in both PTSD‐related distress and coping ability. In terms of effect sizes (Cohen’s d), the coping scores changed more following the one‐hour intervention than they had during the entire two‐month pretreatment interval; PTSD‐related scores changed over half as much as during the two‐month pretreatment interval. In addition, at four‐month follow‐up, either children continued to improve (PTSD‐distress scores) or gains were maintained (coping scores). Treated children’s PTSD and coping scores were significantly more adaptive than those of untreated children. Finally, multiple regression analyses did not reveal any significant, prospective predictors of treatment responsivity. Includes consideration of the value of self‐report methodologies at the “early gates” of a multiple gating intervention model and the value of collaborations between scientists in the wake of a disaster.

Child maltreatment: Prevalence, risk, solutions, obstacles

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between participation in hazard education programs and levels of hazard awareness, risk perceptions, knowledge of response‐related protective behaviour and household preparedness.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire examining various measures including participation in hazard education programmes, risk perceptions and household preparedness was delivered under teacher guidance to high school students in three different locations in the Taranaki Region of New Zealand. A total of 282 valid questionnaires were returned. Data were analysed by means of chi‐squared, t‐test and ANOVA.Findings – Students who have participated in hazard education programmes are more likely to have better knowledge of safety behaviours and higher household preparedness. However, even with hazard education, some aspects of hazard awareness and the uptake of family emergency plans and practices were found to be poor. Overall, hazard education was found to be ...