Direct and Indirect Psychosocial Outcomes for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their Parents Following a Parent-involved Social Skills Group Intervention

Objective: This study examined the direct and indirect outcomes of a social skills group intervention for children with high functioning autism spectrum disorders and their parents. Method: Thirty-five children and their parents participated in_the program evaluation. Children and parents completed measures of child social skills and problem behaviors. Children reported on their self-concept, and parents reported on their psychological acceptance and empowerment. Results: Results indicate significant increases in overall child social skills according to parent and child report, in child general self- worth, and in parent service empowerment and psychological acceptance. Conclusion: While past program evaluations of social skills groups highlight changes in social competence, taking a broader perspective on the types of positive outcomes suggests potential benefits for both child and parent

Heterocentric Language in Commonly Used Measures of Social Anxiety: Recommended Alternate Wording

A number of self-report measures of social anxiety contain language that appears to assume heterosexuality. It is unclear how such items should be answered by individuals who are not exclusively heterosexual, which may lead to inaccurate measurement of symptoms, perpetuation of stigma, and alienation of respondents. More specific wording could improve measurement accuracy for sexual minorities as well as heterosexual respondents. Gender-neutral wording was developed for items containing the phrase “opposite sex” in commonly used self-report measures of social anxiety (Interaction Anxiousness Scale [Leary, 1983], Social Avoidance and Distress Scale [Watson & Friend, 1969], Social Interaction Anxiety Scale [Mattick & Clarke, 1998], and Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory [Turner, Beidel, Dancu, & Stanley, 1989]). Undergraduate college students (N = 405; mean age = 19.88, SD = 2.05) completed measures containing original and revised items. Overall, results indicated that the alternate-worded items demonstrated equivalent or slightly stronger psychometric properties compared to original items. Select alternate-worded items are recommended for clinical and research use, and directions for future research are recommended

Sex Offender Community Notification Law Reform: A Call for More Active, Consistent, and Detailed Information about High-Risk Offenders

There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding the enforcement of sex offender registration and community notification laws. A major argument against such laws involves the lumping of all sex offenders into a single category, which hinders offender management and public safety. Further exacerbating this problem is the fact that less than 35% of state registries provide the information necessary for citizens to make informed decisions regarding their safety, such as the victim’s age or gender. In some cases, law enforcement will go door-to-door and in other cases, community members need to look up information on their own. Misinformation and inconsistencies can cause unnecessary angst among community members. Therefore, states should consider the value of enacting uniformed legislation that is more active in its pursuit to provide consistent and detailed information about high-risk offenders and the offense(s) committed. This will better enable community members to more effectively form their own risk assessments and make better informed decisions

Parent Empowerment and Mental Health: Understanding Parent Perceptions of the Educational Experience

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are important partners with schools in ensuring effective education, and it is important to examine the factors that influence parent perceptions of their children’s educational experience. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations among parent empowerment, parent mental health, and perceptions of children’s educational experience in 176 parents of children with ASD. Parent empowerment and mental health were found to be significant predictors of parents’ perceptions of their child’s educational experience. The importance of understanding constructs such as empowerment and mental health and how they relate to school satisfaction is discussed

Employment polarization and the role of the apprenticeship system

This paper studies the effects of the apprenticeship system on innovation and labor market polarization. A stylized model with two key features is developed: (1) apprentices are more productive due to industry-specific training, but (2) from the firm’s perspective, when training apprentices, technological innovation is costly since training becomes obsolete. Thus, apprentices correlate with slower adoption of skill-replacing technologies, but also less employment polarization. We test this hypothesis on German regions given local variation in apprenticeship systems until 1976. The results shows no employment polarization related to apprentices, but similar displacement of non-apprentices as in the US