A Comparison of Focused Feedback Techniques in Individual Counseling (open access)

A Comparison of Focused Feedback Techniques in Individual Counseling

The problem with which this study is concerned is a comparison of the effects of three methods of focused feedback upon selected client behaviors in individual counseling. This study has a twofold purpose. The first is to examine which of three methods of focused feedback (videotape, audiotape, or verbal) is most effective in producing selected behavioral changes in clients seen in individual counseling. The second is to compare the effects of the three methods of focused feedback on individual clients with the effects of a traditional individual counseling approach that did not utilize focused feedback.
Date: August 1972
Creator: Bucur, Raymond Roy
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Counselor-Led Group Counseling and Leaderless Group Counseling on Anxiety, Self-Concept, and Study Habits Among High School Seniors (open access)

The Effects of Counselor-Led Group Counseling and Leaderless Group Counseling on Anxiety, Self-Concept, and Study Habits Among High School Seniors

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is the comparison of the effects of two group counseling approaches upon selected counselee characteristics. The purpose of the study was the determination of the relative effectiveness of counselor-led group counseling and leaderless group counseling upon anxiety, self-concept, and study habits and attitudes among high school seniors. Forty of ninety-six Russellville, Arkansas, high school seniors who were referred for group counseling by their high school teachers and counselors were randomly selected as subjects. Thirty of the students were assigned in a random manner to three ten-member experimental groups. Ten of the students were assigned in a random manner to a control group. Following treatment each group was reduced to eight subjects each because of poor participation by a few subjects in each group. The IPAT Anxiety Scale, the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes were administered to all subjects prior to and after ten weeks of treatment.
Date: May 1974
Creator: Birmingham, Donald R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Survey Study of a Human Relations Training Program for a Select Group of Airport Public Safety Officers (open access)

A Survey Study of a Human Relations Training Program for a Select Group of Airport Public Safety Officers

The problem of this study was to survey the perceived effectiveness of a human relations training program for a select group of Public Safety Officers at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. In relation to this select group of Public Safety Officers, the purposes of the study were as follows: (1) to describe the selection procedures, (2) to provide a general overview of the procedures involved in a thirteen-week police training program, (3) to describe the human relations training aspects of the thirteen-week police training program, (4) to describe the public safety officer trainees in terms of their performance on various criteria measurements, (5) to assess and describe the personality characteristics of the Public Safety Officer trainees, and (6) to determine the Public Safety Officers' perceptions of, and reactions to, the human relations training aspects of the thirteen-week police training program.
Date: August 1974
Creator: Hutto, Emmette R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Problems of Mature Women Students Enrolled in a Selected Community College (open access)

The Problems of Mature Women Students Enrolled in a Selected Community College

This study identified the problems of mature college women students, assessed their intensity, and described relationships between the intensity of problems and the following seven demographic variables: number of credit hours for which they were currently enrolled, number of hours previously earned, age range, marital status, number of dependent children, age range of youngest child, and estimated total annual family income range. The Introductory Chapter includes the problem, purposes, research questions, background and significance, definitions, and limitations of the study. Chapter II contains a review of the literature concerning mature women, with a focus on two areas: (a) motivation for enrolling in college and (b) measured personality traits. The need for further research on the problems of mature women is also presented. Chapter III describes the subjects, the development of the questionnaire, procedures for the collection of data, and the method of treatment of the data. The findings are reported in Chapter IV. The summary, conclusions and recommendations are presented in Chapter V.
Date: May 1977
Creator: Smallwood, Kathie Beckman
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Validity and Reliability Study of Value Systems Analysis in Counseling and Psychotherapy (open access)

A Validity and Reliability Study of Value Systems Analysis in Counseling and Psychotherapy

The purposes of the study were (1) to assess the validity and reliability of Values for Helpers, (2) to determine whether the test would be a usable instrument for analysis of value systems of mental health professionals, (3) to provide information on possible utilization of the test as a measurement tool for assessing the quality of relationship skills of helpers, and (4) to provide information of a heuristic nature for future research with Values for Helpers. To accomplish these purposes, the following questions were examined. 1. What are the relationships between the scales of the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values and Values for Helpers? 2. What are the relationships between the scales of the Personal Orientation Inventory and Values for Helpers? 3. What are the relationships between the total scores on Myrick and Kelly's Counselor Evaluation Rating Scale and the scales of Values for Helpers? Conclusions based on the results suggested that (1) there was acceptable reliability for Values for Helpers, (2) the tribalistic and conformist scales of Values for Helpers demonstrated negative convergent validity with the scales of the Personal Orientation Inventory, (3) the existential scale of Values for Helpers demonstrated positive convergent validity with the scales of the Personal …
Date: May 1977
Creator: Rishe, Harvey Lawrence
System: The UNT Digital Library
Perceptions of Drug Education Programs in Selected Oklahoma Schools (open access)

Perceptions of Drug Education Programs in Selected Oklahoma Schools

This study was an investigation of teaching strategies and student outcomes of the drug education program in five pilot schools in Oklahoma as these programs relate to the "ideal" program recommended by drug education experts. This study had a twofold purpose. The first was to determine the differences of the perceptions of students, teachers and administrator toward the drug education program in their own school. The second was to compare this perceived "actual" program with the "ideal" program as described by selected drug education experts. The study centers on five exploratory questions. With the completion of the five exploratory questions, it was concluded that the factors that are descriptive of the "ideal" and "actual" drug education programs can be identified from opinions of persons who have an interest in or responsibility for effective information concerning the drug scene.
Date: August 1978
Creator: Marker, Dan E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Characteristics of Undergraduate Guidance and Counseling Training Programs in the United States (open access)

Characteristics of Undergraduate Guidance and Counseling Training Programs in the United States

This study described undergraduate guidance and counseling training programs in the United States in terms of the number of programs available, their growth trends, and the degrees and courses offered. Selected characteristics of the participants' programs were compared. A model curriculum was developed for training guidance and counseling personnel at the undergraduate level.
Date: August 1980
Creator: Richardson, Floyd Don
System: The UNT Digital Library
History of Guidance in the United States (open access)

History of Guidance in the United States

Among the social sciences, guidance is relatively young, having evolved out of the American social experience with its concern for the welfare of the individual. As an independent discipline, guidance is about seventy years old. However, the foundations for guidance are imbedded in the nation's historical past. Beginning with seventeenth-century New Englanders, who stressed religious and economic reasoning, a systematic approach to occupational selection began. By the close of the colonial period, the precedent of freedom of choice of vocation and educational opportunity was well established.
Date: August 1980
Creator: Picchioni, Anthony Paul
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Psychological Investigation of the Expressed Attitudes of Single Undergraduate College Students Toward Marriage and Family Life (open access)

A Psychological Investigation of the Expressed Attitudes of Single Undergraduate College Students Toward Marriage and Family Life

This study examined the attitudes of undergraduate college students toward marriage and family life. The students in the study lived in college residence halls located in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas in the southwestern portion of the United States. A survey instrument consisting of fifty-eight attitude statements and six demographic items was used to gather information for the study. All of the fifty-eight attitude statements were listed in the following ten cluster areas for easier accessibility: cohabitation and premarital sexual relations, marriage and divorce, childhood and child rearing, division of household labor and professional employment, marital and extramarital sexual relations, privacy rights and social needs, religious needs, communication expectations, parental relationships, and professional counseling services. The six demographic items included age, gender, ethnic background, year in school, parental status, and dating experience .
Date: August 1981
Creator: Martin, Don (Donald Vincent)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Goals of Behavior, Social Interest and Parent Attitudes in an Alternative School (open access)

Goals of Behavior, Social Interest and Parent Attitudes in an Alternative School

This study investigated whether students in an Alternative School differed significantly from students who remain on a regular high school campus on measures of goals of misbehavior which included the factors of attention, power, revenge, inadequacy, and on measures of social interest. This study also investigated whether the attitudes of parents of Alternative School students differed significantly from the attitudes of parents of regular campus students on the factors of confidence, causation, acceptance, understanding and trust.
Date: August 1987
Creator: Downing, Rebecca
System: The UNT Digital Library
Aggression and Social Interest in Behavior Disordered Students (open access)

Aggression and Social Interest in Behavior Disordered Students

This study investigated whether behavior disordered children would decrease aggressive behavior if their social interest were developed. Three hypotheses that were tested predicted that there would be a significant difference between the control group and the experimental group on adjusted mean scores on aggressive behavior on post test scores. The measuring instruments used were the Child Behavior Checklist Parent Report Form, the Child Behavior Checklist Teacher Report Form, and the Child Behavior Checklist Director Observation Form. It was also predicted that there would be a significant difference between the control group and the experimental group on post test adjusted mean scores as measured on the Social Interest Scale. An analysis of covariance was employed to test the data. Behavior disordered students in the experimental group participated in three activities designed to develop their social interest. They participated in peer tutoring, socialization with nursing home residents, and group discussions. Data were collected from parents, teachers, and observers of behavior disordered students in an elementary school in Northwest Louisiana during the summer term of 1987. Teachers did report a statistically significant difference between the experimental and the control groups in the decrease of aggressive behavior. These results are in accord with predictions …
Date: May 1988
Creator: Brown, Deborah D. (Deborah Dairy)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Relationship Adjustment in Marriage as Influenced by Psychological Temperament and Family-of-Origin Socialization Experiences (open access)

Relationship Adjustment in Marriage as Influenced by Psychological Temperament and Family-of-Origin Socialization Experiences

This research examined the influence of psychological temperament and family-of-origin socialization influences on relationship adjustment in marriage. The major goals were to determine: (a) if there was a relationship between the temperament of one mate in the marriage and the temperament of his or her spouse, and (b) if there was a relationship between the marital adjustment scores of a mate relative to either personal temperament or that of his or her spouse. A secondary purpose was to determine if certain family-of-origin socialization experiences influenced adjustment in marriage. One hundred seventy-nine couples (H = 358) completed three test instruments including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Myers, 1962), Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976), and the Socialization Background Questionnaire (Church, unpublished), along with a demographic questionnaire. The subjects, volunteers from 12 churches in a large metropolitan area, had mean ages of 35.3 and 33.6 years for husbands and wives, respectively, and had been married for an average of 10.1 years. Five hypotheses and two research questions were tested at the .05 level of significance. The results gathered did not support the hypothesis that there was a relationship between temperament type and mate selection. Similarly, no support was evidenced for any specific relationship between …
Date: May 1988
Creator: Germann, Heinrich Peter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Marriage Enrichment: the Use of Computers to Teach Communication Skills (open access)

Marriage Enrichment: the Use of Computers to Teach Communication Skills

In this study, a computerized marriage enrichment program that gave couples instruction on communication skills and problem-solving was developed and tested. Couples completed the marriage enrichment courseware together on a computer. Forty couples from a metropolitan area in North Texas volunteered to complete the marriage enrichment courseware. Ten couples were randomly assigned to each of the following four groups: an experimental group that received the pretest followed by treatment and a post-test, a control-wait group that completed pre- and post-tests, an experimental group that received treatment followed by a post-test, and a post-test only control-wait: group. Three hypotheses were generated predicting that experimental subjects would significantly increase their marital communication skills following the treatment and that wives in the pre-test and experimental groups would achieve higher marital communication scores than would husbands. The dependent variable was the score on the Marital Communication Inventory (Bienvenu, 1970). Analyses of variance did not reveal any differences between husbands, wives, and couples at the pre- or post-tests. A three way analysis of variance revealed a significant main effect for treatment (p < .04), but no interaction effects were found. In related findings, a t-test on the post-test minus pre-test difference for wife's scores was …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Ramsay, Annetta
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Interentions for the Treatment of Agoraphobia (open access)

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Interentions for the Treatment of Agoraphobia

The problem with which this investigation was concerned is that of treating agoraphobia with cognitive-behavioral group therapy and cognitive-behavioral group therapy combined with the drug alprazolam (Xanax). The purpose of the research was twofold. The first goal was to determine the relative effectiveness of the two treatment conditions on phobic behavior, anxiety, and depression. A second goal was to analyze the results and make recommendations concerning each of these modalities available to agoraphobics, their families, and to treatment specialists. The research design of this study was a randomized, pretest-posttest, experimental group design. The sample (N = 15) consisted of Group I (N = 7), who received behavioral-cognitive group therapy combined with the medication alprazolam, and Group II (N = 8), who received behavioral-cognitive group therapy only. The treatment included 15, 2-hour weekly group sessions, with the addition of a brief medication evaluation prior to each group meeting for Group I. During these sessions, the subjects received information about agoraphobia in the form of brief didactic segments, treatment materials, homework assignments, group interaction, and various forms of desensitization. Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. Multidimensional behavioral-cognitive group therapy can significantly reduce phobic avoidance, anxiety, …
Date: August 1989
Creator: Self, Carolyn
System: The UNT Digital Library
Developing Social Interest in Juvenile Delinquents (open access)

Developing Social Interest in Juvenile Delinquents

Male youths ages 13-18 incarcerated at two minimum security detention facilities participated in a program to determine if Alfred Adler's concept of social interest could be developed through group interactions led by non-professionals. The youths answered a self-report attitudinal scale, the Sulliman Scale of Social Interest and were rated by their classroom teachers on the Behavior Dimensions Rating Scale as pre-test measures. Volunteers from a liberal arts college sociology classes were randomly assigned to work in male-female pairs over a ten week period of time with the experimental population. These pairs led their constant group of incarcerated youths in ninety minute discussion sessions once per week for the duration of the program. Structured human relations exercises specifically designed to encourage elements of social interest; belonging, cooperation, and significance were assigned for each of the sessions. At the end of ten weeks, the youths in the experimental groups and the control population were tested again on the two scales. The results of Pearson Product Moment Correlations Test indicated no relationship between attitude and behavior for either the experimental or control groups on the pre-test and the post-test. A Mann Whitney U t-test indicated a highly significant increase in the social interest …
Date: August 1989
Creator: Eldridge, Connie
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ethical Knowledge of Counselors: A Survey of the Membership of the Texas Association for Counseling and Development (open access)

Ethical Knowledge of Counselors: A Survey of the Membership of the Texas Association for Counseling and Development

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.
Date: August 1992
Creator: Zibert, Jack (Jack Charles)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hardiness, Coping Style, and Burnout: Relationships in Female Hospital Nurses (open access)

Hardiness, Coping Style, and Burnout: Relationships in Female Hospital Nurses

This study investigated relationships among and between psychological hardiness, coping style, and burnout in 101 female hospital nurses. The third generation (50-item) hardiness scale, scored by the revised scoring procedure, was used to measure hardiness and its components. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used as the measurement for burnout. Coping style was assessed by the COPE Inventory. The components of hardiness, commitment, control, and challenge, were hypothesized to be negative predictors of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and positive predictors of personal accomplishment. In addition, hardiness and its components were postulated to be positively related to adaptive coping styles and negatively related to maladaptive coping styles. Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were thought to be related positively to maladaptive coping styles and negatively related to adaptive coping styles. Personal accomplishment was thought to be positively related to adaptive coping style and negatively related to maladaptive coping style. Simple and multiple regressions were used.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Fusco, Phylann S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
HIV and Duty to Protect: a Survey of Licensed Professional Counselors and Physicians (open access)

HIV and Duty to Protect: a Survey of Licensed Professional Counselors and Physicians

This study was designed to investigate what course of action therapists and physicians report they would take in reconciling their conflicting duties to maintain confidentiality and protect third parties from harm in HIV-related situations. The physicians surveyed were licensed to practice medicine in Texas and board certified in Internal Medicine. The therapists surveyed were licensed professional counselors in Texas and members of one of three selected divisions within the Texas Counseling Association. A survey instrument developed by the researcher was mailed to 200 subjects randomly selected from each group.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Johnson, Laura K. (Laura Kimberly)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Filial Therapy with Incarcerated Mothers (open access)

Filial Therapy with Incarcerated Mothers

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of filial therapy with incarcerated mothers as a method of increasing empathic behaviors with their children, increasing attitudes of acceptance toward their children, and reducing stress related to parenting. Filial therapy, a method of training parents to respond and interact therapeutically with their children, focuses on enhancing the parent-child relationship. The sample population of 22 volunteer subjects was drawn from a pool of incarcerated mothers in the Denton County Jail who had children between three and ten years of age. The experimental group parents, consisting of 12 incarcerated mothers, received 2-hour filial therapy training sessions biweekly for five weeks and participated in biweekly 30-minute play sessions with one of their children. The control group parents, consisting of 10 incarcerated mothers, received no treatment during the five weeks. The three written self-report instruments completed for pretesting and posttesting purposes by both groups were The Porter Parental Acceptance Scale, The Parenting Stress Index, and The Filial Problem Checklist. The parents were also videotaped in play sessions with their child before and after training as a means of measuring change in empathic behavior. Analysis of Covariance revealed that incarcerated mothers in the experimental group had …
Date: August 1995
Creator: Harris, Zella Lois
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Beginnings of Pedophilia: Lifestyles of Juvenile Perpetrators (open access)

The Beginnings of Pedophilia: Lifestyles of Juvenile Perpetrators

This study utilized a qualitative/phenomenological research methodology to study the development of child molestation. Five volunteer male juvenile perpetrators of child molestation and their consenting family members participated in three one-on-one in-depth interviews. The juveniles were referred by juvenile justice departments in Texas. The investigation was pursued along three paths: (1) what factors in the perpetrators' life experiences may have influenced the formation of molesting thought and behavior patterns? (2) how did the perpetrators construe social relationships? (3) in developing sexual preference, what process did the perpetrators utilize to achieve the degree of sexual arousal needed to motivate the act of molestation? During analysis, 16 categories and 9 subcategories were developed from the data; these were evaluated in order to address the lines of inquiry listed above. Factors contributing toward deviancy were identified: these included general environmental factors and relationship issues with both parents and peers. The data also elucidated the perpetrators' characteristic ways of viewing themselves and other people, as well as the strategies that they relied upon to cope with their lives. These same strategies were subsequently used in their molesting. The results revealed that the answers to the investigational questions posed above were synthesized by the individual …
Date: May 1996
Creator: Edmonds, Marilyn S. (Marilyn Sue)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Filial Therapy with Native Americans on the Flathead Reservation (open access)

Filial Therapy with Native Americans on the Flathead Reservation

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of the 10-week filial therapy model as an intervention for Native American parents and their children residing on the Flathead Reservation in Montana. Filial therapy is an approach used by play therapists to train parents to be therapeutic agents with their own children. Parents are taught basic child-centered play therapy skills and practice those skills during weekly play sessions with their children. The purpose of this study was to determine if filial therapy is effective in: 1) increasing parental acceptance of Native Americans residing on the Flathead Reservation of their children; 2) reducing the stress level of those parents; 3) improving empathic behaviors of those parents toward their children; 4) changing the play behaviors of children with their parents who participated in the training; and, 5) enhancing the self-concept of those children. The experimental group parents (N=11) received 10 weekly 2-hour filial therapy training sessions and participated in weekly 30-minute play sessions with one of their children. The control group (N=10) received no treatment during the 10 weeks. All adult participants completed the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale and the Parenting Stress Index. Child participants completed the Joseph Pre-school and Primary Self Concept …
Date: May 1996
Creator: Glover, Geraldine J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Adult Discouragement: Parents of Children with Craniofacial Anomaly (open access)

Adult Discouragement: Parents of Children with Craniofacial Anomaly

The Discouragement Scale for Adults (DSA) was developed to assess for the Adlerian construct of discouragement in adults age 18 years and over. Data were collected from three samples: norm (n=586), presumed discouraged (n=47), and parents of children with craniofacial anomaly (n=105). Five subscales corresponding to life tasks identified in Adlerian literature as work, love, society, self-significance, and spirituality underlie the 60 item DSA. Item selection was based on ratings by five notable Adlerians and item correlations with scale scores. Gender, age, and ethnicity norms were established for the norm, presumed discouraged, and craniofacial samples. Across three samples, no significant ethnic differences were found. Normative findings indicated females are less discouraged than males on the Total DSA, the society and spirituality subscales. Age findings indicated the 18-34 year old sample is more discouraged than other ages on the Total DSA, the work, society, and spirituality subscales. Presumed discouraged findings indicated females are less discouraged than males on the society subscale. Craniofacial findings indicated females are less discouraged on the society subscale, but more discouraged on the self-significance subscale than males. Age findings indicated the 18-34 year old sample is more discouraged than other ages on the self subscale. Research on …
Date: August 1996
Creator: Jones, Melissa Taylor Watson
System: The UNT Digital Library
Adult Discouragement: Traditonal College Students (open access)

Adult Discouragement: Traditonal College Students

This study resulted in the development of the Discouragement Scale for Adults (DSA), an assessment instrument for the Adlerian construct of discouragement in adults more than 18 years of age. The DSA is a 60-item instrument that contains five sub-scales corresponding to five life tasks identified in Adlerian literature as work, love, society, self, and spirituality. Age, gender, and ethnicity norms were established for the DSA using a diverse sample (N=586). Additional normative data was developed with a presumed discouraged sample (N=47), and a special sample of traditional college students aged 18-27 years (N=531). Findings on the norm sample indicated that females are less discouraged than males on the Total DSA and on society and spirituality sub-scales. The 18-34 year old group was more discouraged than other age groups on the Total DSA and on work, society, and spirituality sub-scales. Presumed discouraged sample findings indicated that females were less discouraged than males on the society sub-scale. College student findings indicated that females were less discouraged than males on the Total DSA and sub-scales of love, society, spirituality, and work. A significant difference was found among ethnic groups in self sub-scales. Students with no absences per week were less discouraged than …
Date: December 1996
Creator: Haggan, Paul S. (Paul Stephen)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development of a Discouragement Scale for Adults with Normative Data for Gay Males (open access)

Development of a Discouragement Scale for Adults with Normative Data for Gay Males

According to Alfred Adler, founder of Individual Psychology, a feeling of inferiority is in some degree common to all people. People who are unable to overcome these inferiority feelings by striving for cooperation may become discouraged. Although there are three scales to measure social interest, no scales measuring discouragement for adults was found. Additionally, Adler held basic assumptions regarding homosexuality, and the findings suggest that the assumptions should be reexamined. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, three University of North Texas candidates developed a discouragement scale for adults 18 years of age and older, known as the Discouragement Scale for Adults (DSA). Discouragement was examined relative to the five life tasks. Second, this candidate normed the instrument for the scores of gay male subjects and compared it to the scores of the other subject groups. Since the emphasis was on developing the instrument and norming it for various subject groups, no hypothesis was developed. Data was collected on three subject groups, known as the general norm subjects, the discouraged subjects, and the gay male subjects. Analyses were performed on the scores. Among the analyses, it was found that gay male subjects were slightly more discouraged than the general …
Date: December 1996
Creator: Chernin, Jeffrey N.
System: The UNT Digital Library