An Exploration of Sudden Gains in Psychotherapy

Objectives: The aims of this review were to investigate how the criteria used to identify sudden gains (SGs) have been adapted, and what impact these adaptations have on the association between treatment outcomes and SGs. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted followed by data extraction, quality assessment, and a meta-analysis, with two subgroup analyses. Results: A total of 17 papers were identified, which included three adapted SGs criteria. 15 adapted SGs criteria were identified, however the majority could not be included due to being used in fewer than three studies. Quality appraisal found the studies to be of moderate to low quality. The meta-analysis found a significant difference in outcomes between SG and non-SG groups, with an effect size of g = .51. Subgroup analysis between the SGs criteria found that the combined Tang and Gaynor criteria had an effect size of g = .94, whereas the Hardy and Kelly criteria had effect sizes of g = .42 and g = .39 respectively. Conclusions: The extent of the adaptations to the SGs criteria is potentially reducing the validity of SGs research. The differences between the criteria need to be understood further. A strength of the combined Tang and Gaynor criteria may be its strictness combined with its ability to identify early SGs, which creates a good association with treatment outcomes. Moving forwards, SGs research must consider how the SG criteria can be applied in a clinical setting to support the improved treatment outcomes related to SGs

Researching Childhood: Time, memory and Method

About the book: This collection of essays represents some of the most important recent research into changing patterns of family, household and community life. As well examining the experiences of childhood and parenting, it analyses the changing circumstances of young people as they develop their own family and household trajectories, ones which are markedly different to those typically followed by their parents. In addition, the book includes chapters concerned with adaption to other types of change in domestic and community living, including relocation and retirement. Bringing together some of the leading sociologists in the field to explore how these informal social relationships change over time and the life course, it will be essential reading on courses concerned with the family and youth sociology

Inventing adulthoods: a biographical approach to youth transitions

'Inventing Adulthoods' offers a groundbreaking new perspective on young people's experiences of growing up at the turn of the 21st century, arguing that a biographical approach is vital to understanding the holistic and dynamic character of their lives. Based on a study of a diverse group of young people over a 10 year period, the book explores high profile policy issues - education, employment, drugs, violence and well-being. It also considers the significance of things that mean the most to young people themselves: mobility, home, belonging, intimacy and social life

Catching on, wising up and learning from your mistakes: Young people's accounts of moral development

This article examines young people's accounts of their own and others' moral development in Great Britain. The young people understood moral development as a process of moving from the position of a dependent moral learner to an independent moral agent. This process was seen as age related, embodied, and experiential. Through a process of experimentation, of trial and error in recognising and enacting right and wrong which is met with punishment or reward as appropriate, the young person comes to recognise boundaries first set by an authority. The locus of authority moves from being external, where the dependent moral learner trusts in the authority of a teacher, to internal, where trust is in the authority of the self. Crucial elements in this process are trust and reciprocity. As the child moves from dependence on the teacher to dependence on the self, those who wish to have the authority to set moral boundaries must earn respect, and as they wish to be trusted, they must trust in young people. The ubiquitous developmental model of moral development sees the child as in process towards the end of adult moral standing. It is based on an adult subject position, and so when drawn on by young people in their own moral discourse, provides them with no subject position. As a result they find it easier to talk about moral development through descriptions of the behaviour of younger siblings, or themselves when younger, taking the adult subject position

LGBTI + national youth strategy. Report of the consultations with young people in Ireland.

The consultations reached a total of n=3,882 young people from across Ireland (n=3,710 young people completed the SpunOut.ie survey and n=172 young people attended one of seven consultation events) representing a cross-section of young people, including those who identified as a member of the LGBTI+ community, and those who did not. More than two-thirds (69%) of the survey respondents identified as LGBTI+, 29% did not, and one in 10 was unsure. Nearly all (93%) of the young people who attended the consultation events identified as LGBTI+. While the young people represented nearly every county in Ireland, most spent much of their time in urban areas. The consultations focused on three questions: 1. What is positive about being a young LGBTI+ person in Ireland today? (Positives) 2. What issues are faced by young LGBTI+ people in Ireland today? (Issues) 3. What changes would improve the lives of young LGBTI+ people? (Changes) Poor health and well-being, particularly mental health and a culture of drug and alcohol misuse culture within the LGBTI+ community, was identified as an issue in both the survey and during the consultation events. Other health issues raised included: The need for improved access to health services for transgender people, including access to counselling, hormones and surgery