Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy最新文献

Behavioral Marital Therapy (BMT) has been found to be an effective approach for the treatment of various marital problems. Even though it has been found to be effective in the treatment of marital problems, there have been questions about the extent of changes in the marital relationship. More theoretical methods, techniques, and research are needed to address concerns about the extent of changes and comparisons need to be made between the effectiveness of BMT and other marital therapy approaches. Recently marital therapists have noted the importance of the therapeutic alliance in marital therapy; the relationship between all members of the therapy, e.g., the therapist and each person of the couple. An approach utilizing BMT, problem-solving, modeling, and methods which are designed to enhance the therapeutic alliance and promote change is discussed. Applications of this new approach are also presented.

Findings from factor analytic studies of self-assessed fears are important for theoretical reasons and for clinical and applied practice. The present review gives a survey of some 38 studies published between 1957 and 1990 that were concerned with analyses of the self-ratings of adult Ss on multi-item measures of fear (Fear Survey Schedules). The question of central importance was whether, on the basis of the studies surveyed, there would be any evidence of the emergence of a general descriptive model of self-assessed fears. The studies were carried out in 12 different countries, with samples comprising either students, other community Ss, (potential) psychiatric patients, non-institutionalized phobic club members, or a combination of the first two groups. Based on previous reviews and data, four a priori major classes of fears were defined: (I) Interpersonal events or situations, (II) Death, injuries, illness, blood and surgical procedures, (III) Animals, and (IV) Agoraphobic fears. In addition, a subsidiary category was used for classifying dimensions falling outside the scope of the a priori categories. Leaving unreliable studies aside, a total of 194 factors were identified in 25 studies: 62 (32%) type I, 58 (29.9%) type II, 31 (16%) type III and 27 (13.9%) type IV dimensions, with only 16 factors (8.2%) falling in the residual category. All 25 studies were able to identify one or more type I or type II dimensions of fear; 88% yielded one or two Animal factors, while three out of four (75%) produced one or more factors relating to Agoraphobic fears. The fact that slightly over 90% (i.e., the great majority) of the dimensions could be classified under one or more of the four a priori categories supports the argument (e.g., Eysenck, 1987) that the sources of phobic fear constitute a very restricted sample of potentially phobic stimuli. The findings are discussed in the context of the preparedness hypothesis. Suggestions for further research in this area are given, as are references to guidelines to conducting valid factor analyses in order to maximize the validity of further findings.

A principal impediment to the use of the token economy as a ward management system is the demand it imposes on staff time for the keeping of behavioral assessment records. A pilot project was undertaken in which microcomputers were operated by ward clients to record and analyze token economy data. Special programming techniques accommodated to the clients' cognitive limitations and allowed clients to enter the raw data into the computer accurately and efficiently.

Computerized data analysis can provide both general summaries of the token economy performance and specific records of token distributions to individual clients by individual staff for particular target behavior. The system has successfully supported five token economies over a five-year period and has been expanded to provide analysis of related ward management data such as behavior assessment scales, incident reports, and seclusion orders.

Addiction is a poorly understood and widely misused concept. Far from providing an explanation of eating disorders, the concept is itself in need of explanation. Addiction is most commonly viewed as a disease, and it is this notion that has been applied uncritically to eating disorders in general and binge-eating in particular. The associations between eating disorders and psychoactive substance abuse are reviewed. The evidence indicates a greater than expected rate of psychoactive substance abuse in patients with eating disorders, and vice versa. Interpretation of these findings is obscured by a number of methodological problems, including inconsistent diagnostic criteria and assessment methods of questionable validity. Family studies show a similar co-occurrence, but suffer from comparable shortcomings. Moreover, comorbidity rates between eating disorders and other psychiatric disorders are higher. Studies of clinical samples might simply reflect the well-known tendency for patients with multiple problems to seek treatment. Consistent with this view, the results of two community studies of eating disorder patients show no significant co-occurrence with substance abuse. Theoretical and therapeutic implications of the addiction model are measured against available evidence on the nature and treatment of eating disorders.