Investigating gender differences in the factor structure of the Gudjonsson Compliance Scale

Purpose: The Gudjonsson Compliance Scale (GCS) remains, in terms of its psychometrics, an under-researched instrument, in which gender differences in particular have been insufficiently examined. The aim of this research was to therefore investigate the effect of gender on the factor structure of the GCS. Method: The GCS was administered to 441 females and 250 males. The data were factor-analysed, with 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-factor solutions tested and compared. Procrustean rotation was applied to the male factor loading matrix to investigate structural equivalence across gender. Results: Although a 3-factor solution was the best fit to the male GCS data, a 4-factor solution was the most acceptable fit to the female data. Whilst each of the factors had a high degree of determinacy, the identity coefficients indicated that these factors differ non-trivially across gender. Conclusion: The GCS may measure different aspects of compliance across males and females, which may explain the gender differences in compliance found within the literature to date. The work also allows insight into why males and females may end up complying with police requests, which might ultimately help to inform strategies, implemented by police, to manage vulnerable general population suspects and witnesses. There is a need now to further investigate the structure of compliance across ethnic groups and/or countries where the GCS is administered

Establishing mand emergence: The effects of three training procedures and modified antecedent conditions

This study examined the effects of a modified antecedent during probes for emergent mands following listener versus tact training for children with autism. Eight students, aged 7 to 11, were trained to respond to 3 sets of relational responses (front/back, left/right, on/under), each assigned a nonsense label. Three training types were evaluated: listener training, tact training, and listener– tact training combined. Following the experimental training, probes for emergent mands were conducted under modified antecedent conditions. Results showed that modified antecedent conditions were critical in demonstrating mand emergence for some participants

National Survey to Identify Mental Health Topics in Entry-level OT and OTA Curricula: Implications for Occupational Therapy Education

Mental health has been identified as a priority practice area for occupational therapy. However, recent research suggests that the number of occupational therapy practitioners working in mental health is declining. The purpose of this survey research study was to examine the extent to which occupational therapy (OT) and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) programs include mental health topics in their curricula. A link to an on-line survey was sent to program directors of OT and OTA programs in the United States. A total of 105 programs fully completed the survey (33% response rate). All of the respondents (n=105) reported that their curricula included content related to adult mental health conditions and interventions and 98.1% (n=103) included content related to 11 child and adolescent mental health conditions. Programs varied in how explicitly they focused on specific intervention strategies to support or improve mental health. Focused pre-service curricular content and intentional fieldwork experiences may help to ensure that OT practitioners are inducted into mental health settings and equipped to meet practice demands. Entry-level OT and OTA programs cover a broad range of mental health-related topics. More research is needed to understand why some topics are included in curricula at greater rates than others

Perceptions of Occupational Therapy Involvement in School Mental Health: A Pilot Study

Background: Mental health providers outside of occupational therapy, including those who work in school systems practice, often do not fully understand the contribution that occupational therapy practitioners can make to the delivery of mental health services. Method: The purpose of this mixed methods pilot study is to describe how instructional support staff from one special education cooperative learned about occupational therapy’s role in school mental health and to explain how this education changed the instructional support staff members’ perceptions regarding the involvement of occupational therapy practitioners in school-based mental health services. Results: Instructional support staff\u27s perceptions about occupational therapy changed as a result of the training. Discussion: Occupational therapy practitioners can be viewed as valuable members of the school mental health team if other practitioners are educated about their scope of practice

Saline irrigation spells relief for sinusitis sufferers

Recommend nasal irrigation to patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. Large-volume, low- pressure saline irrigation decreases the severity and frequency of symptoms. Stength of recommendation: B: Single well-done randomized controlled trial (RCT)