The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to determine the therapeutic effectiveness of group counseling with visually-impaired elderly adults, and (b) to provide information concerning the effectiveness of group counseling to practitioners in the field. The study reviewed the literature regarding aging and vision, psychosocial reactions to vision loss, and group counseling with the visually-impaired and the elderly. Twenty subjects, who were above age 65 and had recently experienced a severe loss of vision, were selected to participate in the study. Ten subjects were assigned to an experimental counseling group and 10 subjects were assigned to a no-treatment control group. The experimental group participated in 1-1/2 hour group sessions once a week for 10 weeks. Both the experimental group and the control subjects were administered pre- and post-tests. The tests measured depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and life satisfaction.

This study used a qualitative/phenomenological research methodology to examine the perspective of five bulimic subjects about their lives in order to understand the bulimic individual's point of view and develop a clearer picture of the world of the bulimic. This approach involved three interviews for each of the five subjects totalling 22 1/2 hours. The three interviews dealt with the subjects' past and present experiences and their ideas about the future. The qualitative/phenomenological methodology created an in-depth view of each subject's relationship to the beginning of her bulimia and its subsequent development. During the period when the interviews were being transcribed, patterns and concepts emerged and were examined. Nine categories were developed from this data reflecting some of the characteristics of a bulimic's personality. Six research questions were formulated and then answered by evaluating them in the light of the nine categories as well as data and descriptions from the interviews. No one single category was found to be uniquely dominant, but rather the categories tended to appear in a cluster-like fashion depending on the individual personality of the bulimic. The data of this study revealed a distinction between the personality and the behavior of the bulimic. A form with …

The problem of this study was the determination of the relationship between Myers-Briggs personality temperament and extraversion-introversion, and group counseling norms, as reflected by the group counseling outcome measures: Survey of Attraction to Group, self and leader-report Interpersonal Relationship Rating Scale (IRRS), and Sociometric Choice Status Survey. The Mvers-Briggs Temperament Indicator (MBTI) and the four outcome measures were administered to a sample population of 103 graduate and undergraduate counselor education students after completion of a semester-long group counseling experience. Fifteen groups of five to nine members were surveyed. It was expected that group members whose temperaments were compatible with group counseling norms would be more likely to receive confirmation, support, and acceptance in the group, be attracted to the group, receive higher leader and self-report ratings of interpersonal skills, and be more highly valued by other members than would members whose temperaments were incompatible with group norms. It was also thought that extraverts were more likely to be attracted to the group, receive higher self and leader ratings of interpersonal skills, and to be more highly valued by other members than were introverts. No significant relationship was found between temperament and the four outcome measures. Possible explanations for this finding …

Depression is believed to be the most prevalent mental dysfunction among older adults, and depression and anger are frequently linked in theory and in therapy. This study was undertaken to determine whether participation in group counseling sessions would increase awareness and expression of anger and decrease depression levels in women aged 65 and older. Treatment group members were compared to a matching control group. Both groups completed the Anger Self Report Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory. Comparison of the ASR subscale scores, Awareness of Anger, Expression of Anger, Guilt, Condemnation of Anger, and Mistrust, revealed no significant differences between the treatment and control groups. However, the treatment group scored significantly higher on the BDI than did the control group. Analysis of variance of the ASR and the BDI, and the variables upon which the treatment and control groups were matched revealed some significant differences, and comparison of the women in this study with the two groups upon whom the ASR was validated showed this study's older women scored significantly lower than the validation groups on the ASR. The author concluded that six sessions is not long enough to effect change in either anger awareness or expression in older women, …

The problem of this study was to identify variables in the family environment that may describe depressed adolescents' families. This study was based on Adlerian theory. The Family Environment Scale (FES) was used to measure the family atmosphere. The Lifestyle Scale (LS) was used to examine the adolescent's unique system of beliefs, values, and attitudes. The Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (IE) was used to measure the extent of external control exhibited by the adolescents and their parents. The subjects of this study were 31 depressed adolescents from 2 suburban psychiatric hospitals and one of each of the adolescent's parents. The subjects were from a homogeneous socioeconomic population showing no significant variation in the demographic categories of sex, race, chronological birth order, or marital status of the parents. Scores were compared with normative data. Product moment correlations were calculated between the results of the subscales on the 3 instruments. A principal components factor analysis was performed to determine if any patterns existed.

This study was designed to measure ten demographic membership variables of the Texas Association for Counseling and Development (TACD) and the respective relationships of those variables to ethical knowledge. It was also an effort to conduct a global study of the most recent revision (1988) of the AACD Ethical Standards and to find the relative knowledge of these standards by a random sample of 357 counselors in one state counseling organization.

The problem of this study was to assess the impact of growing up in an alcoholic family on adult personality strengths and to determine the perceived levels of autonomy and intimacy in the family of origin. The sample consisted of 115 volunteers, 84 women and 31 men, ages 22 years and older, who had at least one alcoholic parent. The 16 Personality Factor Questionnaires (16 PF) and the Family of Origin Scale (FOS) were administered. A 1 X 3 Chi Square Goodness of Fit analysis was used on each of the 16 personality factors to determine the personality strengths of adult children of alcoholics (ACA). A simple discriminate function analysis was used to determine the degree to which assessed strengths on the 16 PF discriminated self-reported levels of autonomy and intimacy in the family of origin. A multiple regression analysis was used to determine which 16 PF were more closely related to perceived autonomy and intimacy in the family of origin as measured by the FOS.

The problem of this study was to test the differences between adult children from alcoholic families with adult children from non-alcoholic families on levels of depression, self-esteem, and anxiety. The sample consisted of 203 volunteers, all from the Counselor Education Department, 150 females and 53 males, ages 19 and older. Volunteers who were noted as being adult children of alcoholic families numbered 60. Measures used were the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Coopersmith Adult Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI). Multivariate Analysis of Variance was used to test for differences between groups. In addition, a secondary analysis using a one-way MANOVA was used to test for differences between dysfunctional and functional family of origin status on the dependent variables of depression, self-esteem, and anxiety.

Play therapy in a school setting was studied to determine its therapeutic effectiveness on students' reading achievement, self-concept, and locus of control. The sample consisted of 24 students in two first grade classes who had been retained because of low achievement in reading. Instruments used in the study were the Gates MacGinite Reading Test, the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, and the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire. Analysis of covariance, used to test the significance of the difference between the adjusted post-test means of the experimental and control groups, showed that participants in play therapy scored significantly higher in self-concept than did those who were not exposed to treatment. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in reading achievement or locus of control. Since research has shown that low achievers in reading tend to have low self-concepts, it seems reasonable to assume that improved self-concept would be related to improved reading scores. The nature of such a possible relationship needs further study. Recommendations were made for integrating affective components into academic remediation programs, and suggestions for further research were made.

The purpose of this investigation was to critically examine differences in the perceived levels of marital satisfaction among Nigerians living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. A realistic appraisal of this group's perceived levels of marital satisfaction provided the basis for this pragmatic and academically useful study which is especially valuable to professionals involved in cross-cultural counseling.

The relationship between personality type as measured by the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and marital satisfaction as measured by the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (MSI) was examined in this research. Subjects were 100 volunteer couples from a southwestern urban area who were given the MBTI and the MSI. These couples were divided into three groups: 40 were in marital therapy; 30 had satisfactory marriages and had been married seven years or less; 30 also had satisfactory marriages, but had been married more than seven years. The therapy group and the satisfactorily married groups were compared as to the number of MBTI preferences held in common, the strength of these preferences and the length of time married. The extraversion-introversion (E-I) scale and the sensing-judging (S-J) temperament of the MBTI were examined by comparing the spousal combinations in each of the groups. Chi square analysis and a Pearson correlation were used. A one-way analysis of variance was run between six of the scales of the MSI and each of the four MBTI dimensions. A MANOVA was attempted on the relationship between the spousal MBTI combinations and the six MSI scales, but the population was too small for this analysis to be conclusive. …