College students (N=144) completed the Affective Sensitivity Scale and conducted peer-counseling interviews with student volunteers. The volunteers responded to the Empathy Scale of the Barrett-Lennard (1964) Relationship Inventory, while interviewers predicted their interviewees' responses. Found a positive correlation between predictive accuracy…

Evaluated the instrumental or empathic responses given by peer counselors (Study 1, N=128) or friends (Study 2, N=48) to undergraduates' personal problems. Instrumental responses were considered more helpful. Students rated peer counselors more likely to give instrumental responses and friends more likely to give empathic responses. (JAC)

Assessed the usefulness of a microtraining package for developing empathic communication skills of peer counselors (N=16) in a therapeutic community of forensic psychiatric patients. Patients were assigned to the skills (empathy training) group, or the attention group, where they viewed counseling films. The skills group gained greater counseling…

The study investigated the relationships between student-therapists' tolerance for ambiguity in visual perception tasks and (a)the positive affect displayed toward them by their clients, (b)measures of improvement in clients' self self-reference statements, and (c)measures of improvement in clients'"adjustment". (Author)

Investigated the effects of group assertive training on aggression in 48 male Black adolescents, and compared the effectiveness of professional and peer counselors. Results suggested that professional counselors and peer counselors are equally effective and that subjects who learn assertive responses will exhibit significantly less aggressive…

Nonprofessional undergraduates rated job interviewee behavior. Results obtained with the student raters paralleled those of professionals. Student subjects discriminated nonverbal behaviors in making evaluations. Implications for future research with students as subjects and the development of peer counseling programs for job interview preparation…

Effects of an eight-hour human sexuality training program on how peer counselors dealt with questions about pregnancy, birth control, or abortion were examined. Peer counselors less frequently functioned as referral agents and more frequently provided direct counseling or counseling plus referral for human sexuality cases but not for control…

Examined effectiveness of two directive academic counseling styles (authoritative versus collaborative) on Asian foreign students' (n=50) ratings of peer counselor effectiveness. High-acculturated students rated authoritative peer counselors higher in overall effectiveness, whereas low-acculturated students rated collaborative peer counselors…

A group of 20 female college peer counselors were compared to 20 female suicide attempters and a control group of 20 nonsuicidal females for personality characteristics and family background, using the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule and a questionnaire. (Author)

High school sophomores (N=104) aspiring to be peer counselors were studied to determine whether trainees, blocked on variables of dependency-independency, would learn helping skills of open-ended comments more effectively from microcounseling using a high-status model or one in which no special status was attributed to the model. Results are…

The effects of two levels of counselor similarity and expertness and two types of clients' problems on perceptions of the counselor's competence were tested in this analogue study. Results indicated that suggestions of expertness led to higher evaluations of counselors for both problems. (Author)

This study attempted to assess the effects of training versus nontraining on high school students' ability to function as peer facilitators in a group setting. Expert judges and peers rated trained subjects significantly higher as group facilitators than they rated untrained students. Results are discussed. (Author)

Examines changes in user service demand at a college-based peer counseling center. More detailed analyses describe changes in both absolute and relative frequency of demand for services, mode of access (telephone or walk-in) to services, and types of problems presented by males and females. (Author)

This study investigated two models of counseling to determine which best facilitates self-disclosure and trust in black college students. One model involved professional counselors; the other consisted of minimally trained peer counselors. Both groups disclosed and trusted at a significantly higher level after treatment. (Author)

The problems with which peer counselors are most effective are identified, paraprofessional training is described, and the professional and paraprofessional roles are clarified. The wider effect of such a program on the university and the program participants is discussed. (Author)