A comparison of three treatments for the outpatient alcoholic

The abuse of alcohol is a complex behavior pattern exhibited by approximately nine million people in this country (Tarter & Sugarman, 1976) and has become a field of interest to science, industry, and the helping professions. Estimates of spontaneous recovery among alcoholics vary drastically. In 1971 the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism began sponsorship of a comprehensive alcoholism treatment program located in 45 community centers throughout the nation. Using a multiple criterion measure of improvement, their report (Rand Corporation, 1976) estimated the rate of spontaneous improvement for alcoholics to be as high as 53%. In reviewing the rates of spontaneous improvement from a number of studies, Baekland (1977) states, It thus appears that depending on the patient\u27s personal and social assets, there is a 2-15% spontaneous improvement rate in alcoholics who do not receive formal treatment (P 390). Unlike the Rand Report, Baekland used total abstinence ·as the measure of spontaneous improvement. The present study sought to compare the relative effectiveness of group administered covert sensitization with traditional insight-oriented group therapy in treating alcoholism. To control for the effects of relaxation training, therapist contact, favorable outcome expectancy, and the act of imaging (variables inherent in the covert sensitization procedure but not controlled for in the previously cited outcome studies), a relaxation placebo control group was employed which was empirically evaluated for its credibility. It was hypothesized that subjects in all three groups would show significant improvement over time on each of the dependent measures, and that subjects receiving covert sensitization would show significantly greater improvements than subjects receiving traditional group therapy or the relaxation placebo treatment. No differences were expected between group therapy and the relaxation placebo treatment

Children’s coping with in vivo peer rejection: An experimental investigation

We examined children's behavioral coping in response to an in vivo peer rejection manipulation. Participants (N=186) ranging between 10 and 13 years of age, played a computer game based on the television show Survivor and were randomized to either peer rejection (i.e., being voted out of the game) or non-rejection control. During a five-min. post-feedback waiting period children's use of several behavioral coping strategies was assessed. Rejection elicited a marked shift toward more negative affect, but higher levels of perceived social competence attenuated the negative mood shift. Children higher in depressive symptoms were more likely to engage in passive and avoidant coping behavior. Types of coping were largely unaffected by gender and perceived social competence. Implications are discussed. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Children’s Feedback Preferences in Response to an Experimentally Manipulated Peer Evaluation Outcome: The Role of Depressive Symptoms

The present study examined the linkage between pre-adolescent children’s depressive symptoms and their preferences for receiving positive vs. negative feedback subsequent to being faced with an experimentally manipulated peer evaluation outcome in real time. Participants (n = 142) ages 10 to 13, played a computer contest based on the television show Survivor and were randomized to either a peer rejection (i.e., receiving the lowest total ‘likeability’ score from a group of peer-judges), a peer success (i.e., receiving the highest score), or a control peer evaluation condition. Children’s self-reported feedback preferences were then assessed. Results revealed that participants assigned to the negative evaluation outcome, relative to either the success or the control outcome, showed a significantly higher subsequent preference for negatively tuned feedback. Contrary to previous work and predictions derived from self-verification theory, children higher in depressive symptoms were only more likely to prefer negative feedback in response to the negative peer evaluation outcome. These effects for depression were not accounted for by either state mood at baseline or mood change in response to the feedback manipulation

A comparison of three treatments for the outpatient alcoholic

The abuse of alcohol is a complex behavior pattern exhibited by approximately nine million people in this country (Tarter & Sugarman, 1976) and has become a field of interest to science, industry, and the helping professions. Estimates of spontaneous recovery among alcoholics vary drastically. In 1971 the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism began sponsorship of a comprehensive alcoholism treatment program located in 45 community centers throughout the nation. Using a multiple criterion measure of improvement, their report (Rand Corporation, 1976) estimated the rate of spontaneous improvement for alcoholics to be as high as 53%. In reviewing the rates of spontaneous improvement from a number of studies, Baekland (1977) states, It thus appears that depending on the patient\u27s personal and social assets, there is a 2-15% spontaneous improvement rate in alcoholics who do not receive formal treatment (P 390). Unlike the Rand Report, Baekland used total abstinence ·as the measure of spontaneous improvement. The present study sought to compare the relative effectiveness of group administered covert sensitization with traditional insight-oriented group therapy in treating alcoholism. To control for the effects of relaxation training, therapist contact, favorable outcome expectancy, and the act of imaging (variables inherent in the covert sensitization procedure but not controlled for in the previously cited outcome studies), a relaxation placebo control group was employed which was empirically evaluated for its credibility. It was hypothesized that subjects in all three groups would show significant improvement over time on each of the dependent measures, and that subjects receiving covert sensitization would show significantly greater improvements than subjects receiving traditional group therapy or the relaxation placebo treatment. No differences were expected between group therapy and the relaxation placebo treatment

Too calloused to care: an experimental examination of factors influencing youths' displaced aggression against their peers.

People often displace their aggression against innocent targets. Notwithstanding the merits of previous research on displaced aggression, critical gaps remain. First, it is unclear whether and how situational and dispositional factors interact to influence displaced aggression. Moreover, it is unclear whether engaging in direct aggression increases or decreases displaced aggression. To address these gaps, the present experiment investigated how situational factors (provocateur availability, provocation intensity) and dispositional factors (callousness, trait aggressiveness) jointly influence displaced and direct aggression in male adolescents. Participants (N = 175, Mage = 13.1 years) completed a personal profile that was allegedly evaluated by peer judges. After randomly receiving mild or strong negative feedback, participants could aggress against these peer judges as well as against other innocent peers (direct and displaced aggression) or against innocent peers only (displaced aggression). Results showed that displaced aggression occurred only when the negative feedback was strong and participants could not retaliate directly. Higher levels of callousness specifically predicted more displaced (but not direct) aggression. However, the potentiating effects of callousness emerged only when the negative feedback was strong. This finding highlights the importance of examining disposition by situation interactions in displaced aggression research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)