We report a randomized trial of a revised Behavioral Family Systems Therapy for Diabetes (BFST-D) intervention. Families of 104 adolescents with diabetes were randomized to standard care (SC) or to 6 months of an educational support group (ES) or BFST-D. Family communication and problem-solving skills were assessed at 0, 6, 12, and 18 months by…

Discusses a study designed to investigate the substructure of everyday social conversation which allows for judgments of competent communicative behavior or "communicative competence". Descriptions of perceived communicative competence characteristics are provided. (MH)

Although most information exchanged in an initial interaction is superficial, relationships often develop or terminate depending on the evaluations made during the first three to four minutes of a conversation. In order to investigate the content and process levels of the information exchanged during the initial interactions, 90 subjects watched…

Presents the foundation of a communicator style construct which is stipulated to include communication variables which reflect the "way one verbally and paraverbally interacts to signal how literal meaning should be taken, interpreted, filtered, or understood." (MH)

Since much of the recent literature concerning leadership has emphasized the study of verbal interactions among leaders and other group members (ignoring the role of nonverbal communication), a study was undertaken to investigate several aspects of nonverbal communication in leadership. Specifically, it examined whether (1) leadership messages…

These seven original essays by noted behavioral scientists were prepared for a symposium held at Eridale College (University of Toronto), and concern the causes, functions, and dysfunctions of human affective communication. The empirical findings and theoretical statements in the essays provide a framework for development of a psychological…

Twelve groups of five to seven college students each were randomly formed and assigned one of two decision-making tasks as part of a study of the relational, or control, dimension of interpersonal communication. Group discussions were recorded and transcribed for analysis of act, interact, and double interact patterns. Results indicated…

Examines how personnel from eleven health professions communicate with patients about pain, and concludes that health professionals lack skills and a viable model for communicating about pain. (MH)