The media are widely acknowledged as important in sex and relationship education, but they are usually associated with "bad" effects on young people in contrast to the "good" knowledge represented by more informational and educational formats. In this paper we look at sex advice giving in newspapers, magazines and television in…

Introduction: Nowadays we are looking for help and answers to our questions more and more often on the Internet. People use social networks to search for communities or groups whose members experience similar difficulties. These are often online groups that focus on psychological problems, domestic violence, etc. Members receive instant feedback…

A major characteristic of the 21st century with significant implications on career decision making is the growing prevalence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Challenges involving ICT-based self-assessment and self-help interventions aimed at facilitating career decision making are discussed. Specifically, this article focuses…

Objective: The Internet and other electronic media may provide one part of a solution for reducing disparities in the availability of medical services. From a patient-centred perspective, an individual with a chronic, degenerative condition may ask what information is available that I can use to manage changes in my functional capacity over time,…

This study analyzes narratives of cyber-porn users and defines major patterns of distress as self-reported by contributors to a self-help group in the Internet. It applies narrative analysis methodology to 2000 messages sent by 302 members of an Italian self-help Internet community for cyber-porn dependents ("noallapornodipendenza").…

Background: This study investigated whether providing self-directed and web-based support for parents enhanced the effects of viewing a reality television series based on the Triple P--Positive Parenting Programme. Method: Parents with a child aged 2 to 9 (N=454) were randomly assigned to either a standard or enhanced intervention condition. In…

Several randomised controlled studies have shown the efficacy of Internet-based self-help treatments. These studies have centred their attention on axis I (efficacy) of the Guidelines for Empirically Validated Treatments, although there are a few studies that also take into account axis II (effectiveness). The aim of the present work was to test…

This work presents a self-help, Internet-based telepsychology program for the treatment of public speaking fears. The system is comprised of 3 parts: The "assessment protocol" gives the patient information about his or her problem (i.e., amount of interference it creates in his or her life, severity, degree of fear and avoidance). The…

Sixty-four individuals with social phobia (social anxiety disorder) were assigned to a multimodal cognitive-behavioral treatment package or to a waiting list control group. Treatment consisted of a 9-week, Internet-delivered, self-help program that was combined with 2 group exposure sessions in real life and minimal therapist contact via e-mail.…

This study evaluated a 9-week Internet-based self-help program for people suffering from social phobia. After confirming the diagnosis with a structured clinical interview for the "DSM-IV" (SCID) by telephone, 26 participants were treated with a multimodal treatment package based on cognitive behavioural therapy plus weekly therapist…