Objective: Although behavioral weight-loss interventions produce short-term weight loss, long-term maintenance remains elusive. This randomized trial examined whether learning a novel set of "stability skills" before losing weight improved long-term weight management. Stability skills were designed to optimize individuals' current…

Objective: The study compared the efficacy of 2 behavioral interventions to ameliorate organization, time management, and planning (OTMP) difficulties in 3rd- to 5th-grade children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method: In a dual-site randomized controlled trial, 158 children were assigned to organizational skills training…

Objective: Despite a large evidence base indicating that cognitive skills programs can reduce reoffending in individuals without mental illness, there have been no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to determine their effectiveness in mentally disordered offenders (MDOs). In the first RCT of a cognitive skills program for MDOs, we aimed to…

Research was undertaken to compare problem-solving treatment for primary care (PST-PC) with usual care for minor depression and to examine whether treatment effectiveness was moderated by coping style. PST-PC is a 6-session, manual-based, psychosocial skills intervention. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in 2 academic, primary care…

Gatekeeper-training programs, designed to increase identification and referral of suicidal individuals, are widespread but largely untested. A group-based randomized trial with 32 schools examined impact of Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training on a stratified random sample of 249 staff with 1-year average follow-up. To test QPR impact, the…

Reviews literature on impact of psychotherapy supervision on therapist effectiveness. Notes that beginning trainees tend to value and benefit from supervisor support while later trainees gravitate toward technical guidance, and that this cycle may be repeated with continuing experience. Presents preliminary data to suggest that early supervisory…

Although the subject has been debated and examined for more than 3 decades, it is still not clear whether all psychotherapies are equally efficacious. The authors conducted 7 meta-analyses (with a total of 53 studies) in which 7 major types of psychological treatment for mild to moderate adult depression (cognitive-behavior therapy, nondirective…

Assessed unique treatment effects of training controlled drinking skills in a chronic alcoholic population of veterans (N=62). Results of a six-month posttreatment follow-up revealed that subjects in the drinking skills condition had significantly fewer abstinent days and more abusive drinking days than subjects in the untrained condition. (LLL)

Conducted meta-analytic review of 27 studies on social skills training with schizophrenics, addressing magnitude of treatment effects relative to outcome measures, extent of generalization and maintenance of treatment effects, and impact of diagnostic clarity and training variations. Found that social skills training had strong, positive impact on…

Chronic psychiatric patients (N=7) who were enrolled in a partial-hospitalization program and had difficulty solving interpersonal problems received group skills training. Multiple-baseline design demonstrated training effectiveness through improved problem solving on trained situations and through skill generalization to novel, untrained…

Evaluated effects of problem-solving skills training (PSST) and parent management training (PMT) on 97 children referred for severe antisocial behavior. Found that, compared to PSST condition or PMT condition, combination PSST and PMT condition led to more marked changes in child and parent functioning and placed greater proportion of youth within…

The effects of several attitudinal, cognitive skill, and personality variables in response to auditory and visual hallucination suggestions to hypnotic subjects are assessed. Cooperative attitudes toward hypnosis and involvement in everyday imaginative activities (absorption) correlated with response to auditory and visual hallucination…

Compared treatment combining graduated exposure to fear-provoking situations and other-focused social skills with graduated exposure alone and with controls in 52 adults suffering from extreme shyness. Subjects receiving combination treatment improved significantly more on measures of community functioning and therapist ratings than did other…

Two studies were conducted with college students to clarify the previously reported relationship between skill versus chance activity preferences and the locus of control scale. (Author)

Evaluated the effects of overt rehearsal and homework practice on covert modeling treatment of social skills. Nonassertive clients (N=79) received a combination of overt rehearsal and homework practice. Clients who engaged in homework practice and/or overt rehearsal of assertive behavior within the treatment sessions made consistently greater…