Objective: To describe a process for developing low-literacy health education materials that increase knowledge and activate patients toward healthier behaviors. Methods: We developed a theoretically informed process for developing educational materials. This process included convening a multidisciplinary creative team, soliciting stakeholder…

The objective of this preliminary study was to evaluate a novel intensive therapy program in young children with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). Twenty-three children treated at the Mifne Institute in Israel between 1997 and 1999 were assessed. Videos taken before coming to Mifne and after intensive treatment at the institute and before…

Achieving a balance of resources, population and the environment is a major challenge. This booklet offers specific things that can be done to lessen individual environmental impact. Seven sections contain 150 one-paragraph suggestions that cover the topics of: (1) cleaning up the air pollution and combating ozone layer depletion; (2) preserving…

The dilemma of relapse exists for a number of addictive behaviors, and mental health authorities agree that keeping addictive behaviors off permanently is much more difficult than treating the behaviors initially. Several relapse prevention models have been posited and environmental, physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and affective factors have…

This paper examines the ethical question of the use of painful aversive procedures as an intervention with people having severe disabilities and concludes that pain is not an appropriate tool in professional work. It recommends that, when in doubt, professionals avoid causing pain and act, instead, to create the conditions that decrease the…

The use of restitution (requiring the child to compensate for damage he/she causes) and timeout for destructive behavior was investigated with 21 emotionally disturbed children (9 to 13 years old) in a residential school and treatment program. Staff were instructed to interrupt destructive behavior as quickly as possible and use the restitution…

An empirical model was developed to represent the organization of the value-attitude system as postualted by Rokeach, and the model was used to determine the internal consistency of the system, its structure and components, and the extent to which the system permitted the prediction of attitudes from values. (Author)

The strategy of quid pro quo negotiation as it is applied to couple therapy and taught as a problem solving method to couples with unsatisfactory relationships is examined and the theoretical basis for the clinical application of quid pro quo and its potentials as a therapeutic tool presented. (Author)

Reflections on the events of the last 10 years at Harvard include these changes in the Arts and Sciences Faculty -- a different attitude toward students; relaxation of the scholar's code, which specified silence about what one did not know; and a tradition of cowardice. (JH)

Results of the present investigation indicate that when there is no actual change in behavior, knowledge by observers of predicted results is unlikely to alter behavioral recordings. (Author)

Study results indicate that overly powerful extrinsic rewards can reduce intrinsic motivation and suggest that there is a need to control unnecessarily powerful reward systems. (Author/DW)

In this article multiple baseline techniques are offered as applied research strategies for counselors who wish to evaluate the effects of the techniques they are using. (Author)

Despite concern over the co-occurrence of substance use and unplanned pregnancy among adolescents, little information is available about drug use before and during pregnancy in adolescence. The present study examined substance use among a sample of premaritally pregnant adolescents (n=241) who were interviewed as part of an ongoing longitudinal…

The use of play therapy with mentally retarded children and adults is examined. The lack of research on the topic is noted, and information on psychoanalytically oriented play therapy approaches are reviewed. Application of play therapy to mentally retarded clients is explored in terms of two questions: (1) at what level do mentally retarded…