Though distress in couple relationships is common, many partners are resistant to formal interventions (e.g., couple therapy; couple and relationship education) due to time constraints, financial costs, and stigma. The relationship checkup offers a new alternative developed to address these concerns, but the limited research of this format warrants additional exploration. This study presents findings from qualitative research of couples’ and their clinicians’ experience with this format. Using a convenience sample, ten couples were recruited along with the six clinicians who administered the intervention. Partners were interviewed together and their clinicians individually using a semi-structured interview. Using a phenomenological approach, each interview was then analyzed and coded to explore couple process in the intervention. Prevalent themes that epitomized couples’ experience as identified by the couples include couple motivation, therapeutic environment, internal and external change, and program response. Themes that emerged among clinicians included couple characteristics, couple motivation, therapeutic relationship, and therapeutic change. Themes between couples and clinicians were compared, and considerable agreement was found between participant and clinician themes. These themes indicate that the intervention was successful in a number of ways, including facilitating change in couple relationships, attracting couples in various states of distress, allowing couples to overcome the typical obstacles to treatment, while fostering a more positive attitude towards future treatment. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Identifying positive behavioral interventions for students who display disruptive behavior in the classroom has become a critical issue for schools due to the high frequency of these behaviors and recent changes in legislative requirements. To address this issue, the present study investigated the utility of brief experimental analysis approach as a means to identify the most efficient and effective interventions for three students displaying problem behaviors in the classroom. By using a multi-element design, the brief experimental analysis was conducted by randomly applying interventions for three common functions of problem behavior in the classroom: teacher attention, peer attention, and escape from task demand. Then, the effects of the most efficient and effective intervention on on-task, disruptive, and work completion behaviors were compared relative to a baseline condition over time. There were individual differences in responses to the intervention, but all students responded to at least one treatment. Further, an extended analysis of the alternative baseline conditions using a BAB design was applied that included a treatment phase with the hypothesized efficient and effective treatment and a baseline phase. Results showed that selected interventions decreased disruptive behavior and increased on-task and work completion for all three participants over time relative to baseline.

The present study investigates the role of attachment in a time-limited marital therapy. The study explores Brief Contextual Modular Psychotherapy (BCMT). This approach to practice provides a model that integrates principles and techniques from the major psychotherapies. BCMT can be distinguished from other brief therapies by its theoretical integration, its six-session time limit, its specific clinical focus, and its techniques for dealing with dissatisfaction and distress. The therapy sets out practice modules—six-session treatment plans—for a diverse range of presenting issues such as the anxiety disorders, depression, trauma, loss and grief, marriage and the phobias. BCMT emphasises the collaboration of the therapist and the client. A community-based psychological counselling centre has practised BCMT for over ten years, applying it in cases of wide diversity and maladjustment. Prior to this research, a comprehensive analysis of the theory underlying the BCMT model or the theory of change it endorses had not been carried out. The study provides a detailed description of the conceptual and treatment elements of the marital module developed in the treatment manual for BCMT. The study explores how the construct of attachment provides an organising framework or metaperspective for theory construction and therapeutic intervention in the clinical application of this time-limited marital therapy. To achieve this objective, one de-facto and four married couples participated in the time-limited therapy. They completed a questionnaire on adult attachment and also a self-report questionnaire to assess the effectiveness of the therapy. Narrative analysis was used to assess the praxis or the experience of participating in the therapy. The results show that the integrated model provided a treatment method for differing expressions of marital disturbance and psychopathology. Three of the five couples and eight of the ten participants reported positive treatment outcomes. The research sample included the paraphilias, a major depressive episode with postpartum psychosis, the narcissistic borderline syndrome and childhood sexual abuse. The study supports the association between the role of adult attachment styles and intrapsychic responses in conflicted intimate relationships. From the point of view of clinical applications of attachment theory, the research highlights how theoretical ideas can be integrated, specific clinical methods can be incorporated and certain treatment perspectives can be derived from one another. Several implications for the treatment process flow from this integration. The integration of attachment theory in BCMT demonstrates how the therapeutic process progressed through three separate yet interrelated stages: past, present and future. In addition, it led to the identification of three stage-related mourning processes associated with the time-limited therapeutic process: protest, despair and detachment. From a clinical perspective, the research finds that the theoretical and treatment model does not need to be restricted to marital therapy. The findings suggest that the integrated model could be applied across a wide range of presenting issues. By defining the theory of personality and psychopathology and the therapeutic change processes associated with it, the integration of attachment theory results in BCMT taking its place in the literature as a theory of psychotherapy.

Background The European level of alcohol consumption, and the subsequent burden of disease, is high compared to the rest of the world. While screening and brief interventions in primary healthcare are cost-effective, in most countries they have hardly been implemented in routine primary healthcare. In this study, we aim to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of three implementation interventions that have been chosen to address key barriers for improvement: training and support to address lack of knowledge and motivation in healthcare providers; financial reimbursement to compensate the time investment; and internet-based counselling to reduce workload for primary care providers. Methods/design In a cluster randomized factorial trial, data from Catalan, English, Netherlands, Polish, and Swedish primary healthcare units will be collected on screening and brief advice rates for hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption. The three implementation strategies will be provided separately and in combination in a total of seven intervention groups and compared with a treatment as usual control group. Screening and brief intervention activities will be measured at baseline, during 12 weeks and after six months. Process measures include health professionals’ role security and therapeutic commitment of the participating providers (SAAPPQ questionnaire). A total of 120 primary healthcare units will be included, equally distributed over the five countries. Both intention to treat and per protocol analyses are planned to determine intervention effectiveness, using random coefficient regression modelling. Discussion Effective interventions to implement screening and brief interventions for hazardous alcohol use are urgently required. This international multi-centre trial will provide evidence to guide decision makers. / <p>Funding Agencies|European Communitys Seventh Framework Program|259268|The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMW)|200310017|FP7 EC Grant||</p>

Background: This article presents prospective lower bound estimations of findings on prevalence, incidence, clinical correlates, severity markers, co-morbidity and course stability of threshold and subthreshold recurrent brief depressive disorder (RBD) and other mood disorders in a community sample of 3021 adolescents. Method: Data were collected at baseline (age 14–17) and at two follow-up interviews within an observation period of 42 months. Diagnostic assessment was based on the Munich Composite International Diagnostic Interview (M-CIDI). Results: Our data suggest that RBD is a prevalent (2.6%) clinical condition among depressive disorders (21.3%) being at least as prevalent as dysthymia (2.3%) in young adults over lifetime. Furthermore, RBD is associated with significant clinical impairment sharing many features with major depressive disorder (MDD). Suicide attempts were reported in 7.8% of RBD patients, which was similar to MDD (11.9%). However, other features, like gender distribution or co-morbidity patterns, differ essentially from MDD. Furthermore, the lifetime co-occurrence of MDD and RBD or combined depression represents a severe psychiatric condition. Conclusions: This study provides further independent support for RBD as a clinically significant syndrome that could not be significantly explained as a prodrome or residual of major affective disorders.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the usefulness of a 20-minute brief mindfulness meditation in positively affecting mood and attention. Its effects were compared with the effects from a period of distraction and a control condition. The sample consisted of 63 veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Pre-post test of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule were used to assess levels of state anxiety and mood. The Stroop Task was employed as a measure of selective attention. A one-way analysis of variance and split-plot analysis of variance were conducted. To control high comorbidity within this sample, sub-analyses were conducted excluding participants with other psychological or physical conditions. The results revealed that meditators without sleep problems indicated greater selective attention levels. A negative mood decrease was found in all participants regardless of the intervention group assignment. Implications for research and practice were discussed.

A 12-month longitudinal study assessed the emotional reactions of an intercollegiate athletic team to a near fatal bus incident. PANAS-X and the Brief COPE, administered on five occasions, indicated NA declined over time. Most coping strategies showed significant changes in trajectory. Acceptance and Positive Reframing were high across waves. In October 2010, an intercollegiate athletic team and coaching staff were traveling by sleeper bus to an out-of-state match. The team members and coaches were in the back of the bus when they felt the bus swaying and heard the tires hit the rumble strips. The head coach went forward to find the bus driver unconscious and slumped over the steering wheel. Although the bus swerved into the oncoming lane of interstate traffic and back onto the other shoulder, the coach was able to steer the bus and stop it safely on the side of the road. The bus driver had suffered a fatal heart attack; fortunately, the coaches and players survived with only minor injuries. This study is a longitudinal follow up assessing the emotional reactions of the coaches and team to the bus incident across a twelve-month time frame. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - Expanded (PANAS-X; Watson & Clark, 1994) and the Brief COPE (Carver, 1997) were administered on five occasions. Negative affect declined over time, with a larger drop in waves more proximal to the incident. Positive affect demonstrated a curvilinear pattern showing increases on the second and third wave but dropped off at the end of the spring semester 2011 and the beginning of the fall semester 2011. There were significant changes in the coping trajectories for 10 of the 14 coping strategies from the Brief COPE. These data are of particular interest as we could locate no other studies in the published literature of individual athlete or team reactions to traumatic travel incidents, although ESPN (Lavigne, 2010) noted that bus safety should be a concern for team travel.

Alcohol and drug abuse are strong predictors of suicide. While screening methods have proven effective at identifying and treating substance abuse in non-treatment-seeking users (e.g., screening and brief intervention [SBI]), less attention has been given to the co-occurrence of suicidality among this population, including its correlates and etiology. The current study addresses this gap by presenting data from early adult emergency department (ED) patients (mean age = 27; N = 505), screened for substance abuse and suicidal ideation. Prevalence of past year ideation was high (15%). Results demonstrated a significant and positive indirect effect of cocaine use severity on likelihood of suicidal ideation, mediated through family support. The implications for SBI practices in the ED and suicide etiology among non-treatment-seeking substance abusers are discussed.

Riskbruk av alkohol är ett stort problem i dagens samhälle. Sjuksköterskan beskrivs ha goda möjligheter att upptäcka och behandla riskbruk av alkohol i det dagliga arbetet. Studier tyder på att korta interventioner är av stor nytta till sjuksköterskan i sitt hälsofrämjande arbete. Dock visar forskningen att sjuksköterskans aktivitet inom detta område måste utvecklas och att det finns många faktorer som kan påverka uppgiften. Syftet med arbetet var att belysa faktorer som påverkar sjuksköterskans hälsofrämjande arbete gällande individer med ett riskbruk av alkohol. Arbetet utfördes som en litteraturstudie där 13 vetenskapliga artiklar valdes ut, granskades, analyserades samt kodades för att finna påverkande faktorer. De mest återkommande faktorerna som framkom delades in i fyra kategorier. Dessa var sjuksköterskans uppfattning om sin roll, utbildning och kunskap gällande riskbruk av alkohol, organisationens roll och motivationens betydelse samt sjuksköterskans känslor och attityder inför individer med riskbruk av alkohol. Osäkerhet vad det gäller tillvägagångssättet av korta interventioner och dess effektivitet beskrevs av sjuksköterskor i flertalet studier. Rädsla för att utlösa negativa reaktioner hos patienten samt den höga arbetsbelastningen har visat sig vara stora barriärer till utförandet av korta interventioner. Tydliggörandet av sjuksköterskans roll samt mer utbildning inom ämnet behövs för att öka aktiviteten inom området. Vidare forskning bör fokusera på sjukhusmiljö och fler kvalitativa studier behövs för att få en djupare förståelse för svårigheterna att implementera korta interventioner. / Hazardous use of alcohol is a large problem in today’s society. The nurse is described as having good opportunities to detect and treat hazardous use of alcohol in their daily work. Studies show that brief interventions are of great use to the nurse in their health promotion work. However, research shows that the nurses' activity in this area must be improved and that there are many factors that can affect this task. The purpose of this study was to illustrate factors that affect the nurses' health promotion work with regards to individuals with a hazardous use of alcohol. The work was carried out as a literature study where 13 scientific articles were selected, examined, analyzed and coded in order to find important factors. The most recurring factors that arose were divided into four categories. These were the nurses' perception of their role, education and knowledge about hazardous alcohol use, the organization’s role and the importance of motivation and the nurses’ feelings and attitudes towards individuals with hazardous alcohol use. Uncertainty about the approach to use with regards to brief interventions and their efficiency was described by nurses in several studies. Fear of triggering negative reactions in the patient and even the high workload has proved to be large barriers in carrying out brief interventions. Clarification of the nurses' role and more education on the subject is needed in order to increase the activity in the area. Further research should focus on the hospital environment and more qualitative studies are needed in order to get a deeper understanding of the difficulties in implementing brief interventions.

Große Editionen sind beeindruckende Dokumente geisteswissenschaftlicher Produktivität. Die oft vielbändigen, mehrere Regalmeter in Anspruch nehmenden kritischen Ausgaben der Werke kanonischer Autorinnen und Autoren mögen vor allem für ein überschaubares Spezialpublikum erarbeitet worden sein. Nicht zu vergessen ist aber, dass solchen Großunternehmen die Entdeckung oder Wiederentdeckung ganzer OEuvres verdanken ist, dass aus den soliden Gesamtausgaben oft sehr erfolgreiche, von Generationen von Lesern benutzte populäre Ableger hervorgehen, schließlich dass die zuverlässige Bereitstellung historischer Quellen für alle kulturwissenschaftlichen Disziplinen eine unabdingbare Grundlage darstellt. Nicht wenige anspruchsvolle Editionen – ich nenne Namen wie Goethe, Nietzsche, Kleist oder Kafka – haben eine ganz erstaunliche Verbreitung gefunden. Wir dürfen daher mit einiger Bewunderung einen Blick auf und in Werkausgaben werfen, die sich einen Stammplatz in den Regalen der Bibliotheken gesichert haben.