Home Groups with Purpose: Bringing Church Renewal and Strengthening Spiritual Relationships at First Presbyterian Church in Milton, Pennsylvania

The goal of this paper is to develop a strategy for renewal at First Presbyterian Church, Milton, Pennsylvania. The strategy is designed to strengthen spiritual relationships within the church through a home group ministry that facilitates discipleship, fellowship, and ministry within the church. First Presbyterian Church is a two-hundred-year-old mainline church in the northeast. The church has a colorful history of influence in the small town of Milton. Over the last several years, however, decline has threatened the town and the church of mostly aging baby boomers. Church members have limited spiritual friendships and lack opportunities to nurture one another\u27s faith. A recent Natural Church Development survey revealed a lack of passionate spirituality within the church. In order to nurture Christian community, home groups will be introduced to encourage spiritual friendships and discipleship through mutual ministry. This paper contains three major sections. The first section describes the ministry challenges including the state of community relationships in America, and the challenges and opportunities of a small town community and main line church. The second section describes the biblical and theological foundations for relationships within the Christian community. It begins with a review of six books, and then explores biblical images and connectional practices along with a theology of renewal and its practical implications. The final section provides a practical strategy for introducing ongoing home groups at First Presbyterian Church. A plan for leadership development, experimentation, and ongoing evaluation is set forth that is culturally sensitive. The end result should yield a group of leaders within the church who work together to nurture spiritual renewal through home groups. Theological Mentor: Kurt Fredrickson, PhD

How does democracy influence citizens' perceptions of government corruption? A cross-national study

We examine the effect of democracy as an institutional context on individuals’ perceptions of government corruption. To do so, we compile an integrated dataset from the Asian, Afro, and Latino Barometer Surveys and use a hierarchical linear regression model. Our primary finding is that the effect of democracy has different effects on ordinary citizens’ perceptions of corruption in different contexts. In general, people in countries with higher levels of democracy tend to perceive their governments to be more corrupt. However, more importantly, conditional models show that in countries with more developed democratic institutions, individuals with stronger democratic values are less likely to perceive the government to be corrupt. Moreover, people in such countries are less likely to assess their government based on their perceptions of economic situation

Therapist and client perspectives on the alliance in the treatment of traumatized adolescents

Objective: Client ratings of the therapeutic alliance are an important predictor of outcome in the treatment of traumatized adolescents and adults, but less is known about the therapists’ perspective. The aim of this study was to investigate how therapists’ ratings relate to the adolescents’ perspective, how individual therapist and adolescent ratings relate to change in symptoms and treatment satisfaction, and whether discrepant alliance perspectives impact treatment outcome. Method: The sample consisted of 156 youth (mean age 15.1, range 10–18), randomized to trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy or treatment as usual, and alliance ratings from 62 therapists. Alliance was measured midtreatment with the Therapeutic Alliance Scale for Children, and the factor structure of the two scales was analyzed with exploratory factor analyses. A change in posttraumatic symptoms was assessed with the Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS) and the Clinicial-Administered PTSD Scale for Children and Adolescents (CAPS-CA). Results: Therapist and client perspectives on the alliance were significantly, but moderately, associated (intraclass correlations [ICC]=0.54, p<0.001). Both scales predicted adolescent treatment satisfaction but only the client scale was significantly related to change in symptoms. Factor analyses revealed differences in factor structure with therapist ratings organized around bond and task dimensions and adolescent ratings organized by item valence. Higher therapist ratings compared to adolescent ratings predicted higher residual PTS symptoms. Discussion: Although adolescent and therapist alliance ratings are moderately associated, results suggest that the ratings are differentially associated with outcomes. These findings, along with results indicating important differences in factor structure, imply that adolescent and therapist ratings are not interchangeable. Future studies should investigate how therapists can improve their judgments of adolescents’ perceptions of the alliance as an overestimation of the quality of the relationship seems to be negatively related to outcome

Cognitive development and child psychotherapy/ Edit.: Stephen R. Shirk

xv, p. 344: ill.; 22 c

Prediction of Treatment Outcome from Relationship Variables in Child and Adolescent Therapy: A Meta-Analytic Review

Results from 23 studies examining associations between therapeutic relationship variables and treatment outcomes in child and adolescent therapy were reviewed with meta-analytic procedures. Results indicated that the overall strength of the relationship-outcome associations was modest and quite similar to results obtained with adults. This modest association was moderated by 1 substantive factor, type of patient problem, and 5 methodological factors, timing and source of relationship measurement, type and source of outcome, and shared versus cross-source measurement of relationship and outcome variables. Type, mode, structure, and context of treatment did not moderate associations between relationship variables and outcomes. Findings indicated that the association between the therapeutic relationship and treatment outcome was consistent across developmental levels and across diverse types and contexts of child and adolescent therapy. Recommendations for future process research on the therapeutic relationship in child psychotherapy are offered

The Alliance in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy

The therapeutic alliance has a long history in the child and adolescent psychotherapy literature. This article examines prominent views on the alliance with youth and considers a number of issues that distinguish youth alliance from its adult counterpart. A meta-analysis of alliance–outcome associations in individual youth therapy is presented. In order to provide a direct comparison with the adult literature, the review included only prospective studies of individual youth therapy that used an explicit measure of alliance. Results from 16 studies revealed consistency with the adult literature with a weighted mean correlation of .22 (k = 16, n = 1306, p \u3c .001) between alliance and outcome (CI = +/−.06). Although there were trends showing stronger alliance–outcome associations for child versus adolescent therapy and for behavioral versus nonbehavioral therapies, only problem type (substance abuse and mixed problems vs. eating disorders) significantly moderated alliance–outcome associations. Limitations of the research and implications for therapeutic practice are discussed

Cognitive behavioral therapy for depressed adolescents exposed to interpersonal trauma: An initial effectiveness trial.

Four clinical trials have shown that a history of interpersonal trauma is associated with diminished response to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for adolescent depression. An efficacious CBT protocol for adolescent depression was modified to address cognitive deficits and distortions associated with interpersonal trauma. Initial feasibility, acceptability, and treatment impact of the modified treatment (m-CBT) were evaluated in a randomized effectiveness trial conducted in community clinics. Clients were 43 referred adolescents with a depressive disorder and a history of interpersonal trauma. Adolescents either received m-CBT or usual care (UC) therapy. Results indicated that m-CBT was delivered with good fidelity by community clinicians, but that number of sessions completed was attenuated in both m-CBT and UC. Adolescents reported high levels of treatment satisfaction and acceptability for the new treatment. There were significant reductions in depressive symptoms over time, but no differences in outcomes between groups. Although the new treatment produced promising results, it did not outperform UC. Implications for treatment development are considered