Neil B. McGillicuddy

Long-Term Success in Mediation*

This article reports the results of a study of the antecedents of long-term success in community mediation. Seventy-three mediation sessions were recorded and content analyzed. The participants were interviewed at two points: immediately after mediation and 4 to 8 months later. No relationship was found between the quality of the agreements—i.e., the extent to which they solved immediate problems- and long-term success as measured by compliance, improved relations between the parties, and the absence of new problems. On the other hand, joint problem solving by the disputants was related to complainant perceptions of improved relations with the other party. Also respondent perceptions that the mediation had been fair and that all the problems had come out were related to all aspects of long-term success in the eyes of the complainant. The latter results support a procedural justice analysis of mediation and underline the importance of mediator attention to the respondent.

Development of a skill training program for parents of substance-abusing adolescents

This report discusses the development of a coping skill training program for parents of substance-abusing adolescents and presents preliminary data on the effects of the program on parent functioning and adolescent substance use. The behavioral-analytic model of program development was used to sample representative problematic situations experienced by parents of substance-abusing adolescents, obtain an effectiveness-scaling of responses to these situations, and derive alternate forms of a situational role-play measure of parental coping. These situations and scoring guidelines were then used to create the skill training program. Parents of substance-abusing adolescents not in treatment subsequently were randomly assigned in a pilot investigation to either a skill training or delayed treatment condition. Skill training resulted in significant improvement in parental coping skills relative to delayed treatment. Moderate to large improvement in the parents report of their own functioning, family communication, and the teens marijuana use also favored the skill training group.

Preliminary Evaluation of a Coping Skills Training Program for Those with a Pathological-Gambling Partner

Individuals living with a pathological-gambling partner can experience significant psychological distress. In this report, we conduct a preliminary evaluation of a coping skills training program (CST) for this population. Twenty-three individuals experiencing stress from living with a pathological-gambling partner who was not in treatment were randomly assigned to either CST or a delayed treatment control (DTC) condition. CST consisted of ten, weekly individual sessions to teach more effective coping skills. At the end of the treatment/delay period, CST participants, relative to those in DTC, showed a large improvement in coping skillfulness that appeared to mediate a corresponding large significant reduction in depression and anxiety relative to DTC. Partner gambling during the period decreased in both conditions but did not differ between them, nor did partner help-seeking differ. CST shows promise as an effective treatment for individuals distressed as a result of a partner’s gambling problem. Larger, longer-term evaluations of the intervention, and comparison with alternate treatment models are needed.

Substance use in individuals with mental retardation

Alcohol and drug use among individuals with mental retardation (MR) has received little empirical attention. Two studies are reported: In Study 1, individuals (n = 122) with MR were surveyed regarding their personality characteristics, alcohol and drug use, and skills to avoid substance abuse. Results indicate that although the majority of participants did not drink alcohol, among those who did, the ratio of misusers to users was nearly 1:1. In addition, misusers were deficient in specific skill areas. In Study 2, participants (n = 84) were randomly assigned to receive a prevention program in either (a) assertiveness building, (b) modeling and social inference, or (c) a delayed treatment, control condition. Results suggest that each program, at least in the short-term, improved substance knowledge and enhanced skills. Overall, these results suggest that substance use interventions focused toward individuals with MR may be beneficial.

The Role of Caucusing in Community Mediation

A theory is presented about the functions of caucusing (private meetings between the mediator and disputant) in mediation. Empirical results that confirm and extend a number of propositions from the theory are also presented. Two coders, content analyzing both mediator and disputant behavior, observed 51 hearings at the Dispute Settlement Center of Western New York. Results indicated that disputants in caucus sessions employed less direct hostility, provided more information, and proposed more new alternatives than in joint sessions. Mediators, in parallel fashion, were more likely to request information and to challenge the disputants to come up with new alternatives. Mediators also exhibited more freedom to violate the neutrality norms during caucus sessions, giving greater support to the side that originally filed the complaint. These results support the use of caucusing as a route to issue identification and problem solving. However, other results showed that disputants were especially likely to boost their own position and put the other party down during caucus sessions, suggesting that mediators must be wary of what they learn from one party when the other is out of the room.

Agreement between Parent and Adolescent Reports of Adolescent Substance Use

ABSTRACT This study examined the correspondence between parent and adolescent reports of the adolescents substance use in a population of parents concerned about, and experiencing problems resulting from, their teens substance use. Seventy-five parents and their adolescents (76% not in treatment; 24% in treatment) were interviewed separately regarding the teens recent use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs. Irrespective of adolescent treatment status, fair-to-good congruence was found on cigarette and marijuana use, alcohol use frequency, and overall substance use frequency. Poor congruence was found on the incidence of alcohol and other illicit drug use, and the quantity of alcohol consumed per drinking day. Multiple regression analysis revealed that poorer congruence on substance use frequency occurred when the teen was younger, when the parent scored low on monitoring and high on psychological distress, and when the parent used alcohol more frequently. Results indicate that parental awareness of teen substance use varies with the substance used and its measurement. In the absence of a cooperative teen, however, parental report of the frequency of adolescent substance use appears to serve as a fair-to-good proxy.

The spouse situation inventory: a role-play measure of coping skills in women with alcoholic partners.

This article reports on the psychometric evaluation of the Spouse Situation Inventory (SSI), a role-play measure of coping skills in women with alcoholic partners. The study examined the generalizability, alternate form reliability, test-retest reliability, and construct validity of the measure in 472 women from both treatment and nontreatment populations. The SSI had acceptable generalizability and reliability. SSI performance also had predicted relationships with measures of general escape coping, alcohol-related coping behaviors, the womans drinking, the partners drinking in the treatment group, and the partners problem recognition in the nontreatment group. The SSI shows promise as a reliable and valid measure of coping skills in this population and has direct implications for development and evaluation of skill training programs.

Perceptions of Firmness and Strength in Negotiation

Subjects first observed a pair of negotiations between two confederates of the same sex, and then negotiated with one of these confederates. Those who had observed their opponent follow a matching strategy conceded more than those who had observed their opponent follow either a tough or soft strategy. Confederates using a matching strategy were rated as stronger than those using a soft strategy and fairer than those using a tough strategy. These results support an attributional explanation for a previous finding that use of a matching strategy tends to encourage concessions from an adversary. Other results suggest that observers of negotiation view the parties they are observing as contrasting in strength and fairness.

Web-based coping skills training for women whose partner has a drinking problem.

Spouses whose partner has an alcohol use disorder can experience considerable psychological distress. Yet, because of social, financial, relationship, and psychological barriers they often remain hidden and underserved. To partially reduce treatment barriers for this population, this study evaluated the short-term efficacy of a self-paced, web-delivered coping skills training program for women experiencing distress as a result of living with a partner with an alcohol use disorder. Participants (N = 89) were randomly assigned to either 8 weeks of an Internet-administered coping skills training program (iCST), or an 8-week delayed treatment control (DTC). Participation in, and satisfaction with iCST was high. At the end of the 8-week access/delay period, iCST participants exhibited a significantly higher level of coping skills relative to DTC, d = 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI; .64, 1.51], and reported significantly fewer depressive symptoms, d = -.65, 95% CI [-1.21, -.35], and situational anger, d = -.70, 95% CI [-1.62, -.64]. Moreover, iCST appeared to prevent an increase in symptoms among those with low baseline symptom levels; DTC did not. Skill acquisition appeared to partially mediate changes observed. Online coping skills training may be an effective way of reaching and helping a large number of this frequently underserved population.

Psychometric evaluation of the parent situation inventory: a role-play measure of coping in parents of substance-using adolescents.

This article reports on the generalizability, reliability, and construct validity of the Parent Situation Inventory (PSI), a role-play measure of coping skills in parents experiencing problems from an adolescents drug and alcohol use. Generalizability was robust (.80) and alternate form and test-retest reliability were satisfactory. PSI skillfulness was negatively related to the parents own substance use and to the adolescents alcohol use. The PSI shows promise as a reliable and potentially valid measure of coping in this population and has direct implications for developing and evaluating skill-based parent training programs.