The purpose of this study was to re-examine the issue of whether adult children of alcoholics experience more depression, anxiety, and lower self-esteem than do children of non-alcoholic families. This study is a replication of the study of David Dodd, entitled A Comparison of Adult Children of Alcoholic Families with Adult Children from Non-Alcoholic Families. 1990. The measures used in this study were as follows: Children of Alcoholics Screening Test, the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Coopersmith Adult Self-Esteem Inventory, and a questionnaire developed by this writer designed to obtain family history regarding not only alcoholism, but other issues of family dysfunctionality as well. The subjects for this study were 231 students enrolled in the counselor education program at this university, all aged 19 or older. Of the 230 subjects, 31 were male and 199 were female. Eleven males identified themselves as children of alcoholics, as measured by the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test, and 60 females identified themselves as children of alcoholics. Thus, a total of 71 subjects in this study were identified as children of alcoholics. T-tests were conducted to see whether any differences existed between the male and female groups. No significant differences were …

Through a phenomenological qualitative approach, this study examined possible differences of introverted versus extraverted adult female survivors of childhood sexual abuse with regard to the coping mechanisms they chose. Preference modalities of introversion and extraversion were measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and data was collected through a semi-structured interview designed by the researcher. The interview contained questions about the 21 subjects' perceptions of their abuse and the ways in which they coped. Specific coping mechanisms included but were not limited to eating disorders, alcohol and/or drug abuse, high risk behavior, depression, anxiety, and somatic complaints. Results indicated that for both groups, the degree to which each of the individual coping mechanisms was used congregated at the level of "a driven pattern of behavior lasting for at least 7 days" or "on-going use resulting in severe problems". Extraverts showed higher percentages of severe use of the six coping mechanisms than did introverts. Depression was the most frequently used coping mechanism of both the introverts and the extraverts. Introverts showed higher percentages of stopping the use of eating disorders, alcohol/drug abuse, high risk behavior, and depression. Extraverts had higher percentages of discontinued use of anxiety and somatic problems. Introverts reported more …

This study investigated the effects of personality characteristics on emergent leadership in small group settings. Two instruments were used to assess personality factors: The BASIS-A and the California Personality Inventory (CPI). A sociometric tool was developed to elicit leader ranking of female group members. The BASIS-A, was used to test for Taking Charge and Wanting Recognition lifestyles in women who emerged as leaders. The CPI was used to assess female emergent leaders for Dominance and Leadership Potential. The two instruments and a sociometric form were distributed to 115 female graduate counselor-in-training students the last week of their group counseling experience. This survey resulted in 55 respondents (N=55) from eleven discussion groups. It was expected that women who had the highest averaged leader rank would demonstrate higher test scores in Dominance, Leadership Potential, Taking Charge, and Wanting Recognition than women who received a lower averaged leader rank. It was also thought that these four test factors would be highly related. If so, a case would be made to use the BASIS-A as an emergent leader assessment tool because it is consistently based in one psychological theory. No significant effect was found between the highest leader rank and three of the test …

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) continues to be the most accepted approach for the treatment of addictions in the United States. However, due to recent evidence questioning the effectiveness of AA, the need for alternative approaches to the treatment of addictions has become clear. The following research addresses the efficacy of one such alternative, Rational Recovery (RR). Node-Link Mapping (NLM), a graphic communication technique which uses links and nodes as building blocs to facilitate and enhance communication of information as well as awareness in a counseling environment, was implemented to enhance the recovery process. Three groups of ten (10), chemically dependent, adjudicated subjects were exposed to three different treatment approaches at an outpatient counseling center. The Experimental group received RR with NLM, the Comparison group was exposed only to RR, and the Control group continued in treatment according to the protocol of the counseling agency. All subjects were given the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-2 (SASSI-2) as a measurement of symptoms associated with chemical dependency. The subjects were also administered the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (Rotter I-E Scale) to determine locus of control prior to treatment and any change after treatment.

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) is the accrediting body for the field of counselor education. Since the inception of the standards, several individuals have published journal articles reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of CACREP accreditation. The purpose of this study was to do a preliminary survey of the opinions of individuals within CACREP accredited programs to discover the effects of accreditation on programs. The survey of opinions from respondent CACREP accredited programs indicated interesting results. The eleven frequently held beliefs about improvements after accreditation was substantiated by the number, the percentage, and the Chi Square results from respondent programs. Therefore, after CACREP accreditation, most programs reported the opinion that: students have higher grade point averages and test scores; students are younger, learn better, and receive more employment opportunities; a higher percentage of students pass the licensed professional counselor examination; average scores are higher on the nationally certified counselor examination; programs receive more applicants and faculty is more professionally active, publishes more, and presents more. The second part of the survey indicated that a large percentage of respondent programs offer courses beyond the CACREP core curriculum experiences (91%) and that a variety of courses are …

Relationships between parenting styles practiced in individuals' families of origin and the measurement of individuals' spiritual maturity in adulthood were studied. Relationships between gender and the authoritative (facilitative) parenting style comprised the main focus of the study. Participants for this study were recruited from a large, non-denominational Christian church located in north Texas. A total of 300 individuals were randomly selected. A total of 160 individuals filled out the demographic sheet, the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), and the Spiritual Assessment Inventory (SAI). Canonical correlation procedures were performed among the set of SAI scales measuring individuals' spiritual maturity (awareness, instability, grandiosity, realistic acceptance, disappointment, and impression management) and the set of PAQ scales that measure parenting styles (authoritative or facilitative, authoritarian, and permissive) of mothers and fathers. Conclusions about female and male students raised in homes characterized by fathers and mothers with an authoritative (facilitative) parenting style were varied. Female adults raised in homes characterized by fathers and mothers with an authoritative (facilitative) parenting style were not correlated in a positive manner with spiritual maturity. Male adults raised in homes characterized by fathers with an authoritative (facilitative) parenting style demonstrated significance at only a large observed p value and therefore, could …

This is a study conducted in Zimbabwe which compared a group of 50 zvirvere zvechivanhu patients and a group of 50 non-patients in age, sex, marital status, level of education and claims of spirit possession. Claims of spirit possessions and types of spirits, as pointed out by Bennel (1982), were used as symptoms of zvirwere zvechivanhu. The two groups were also compared in symptom dimensions of the SCL-90-R used in the study. The SCL-90-R, developed by Derogatis (1975), is a 90-item symptom check list used to screen people for psychological problems reflected in the nine symptom dimensions of somatization, obsessive/ compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism and in the three global scores of Global Severity Index, Positive Symptom Distress Index and Positive Symptom Total. The subjects were chosen from two different sites, using a systematic sampling method. Three statistical methods were used to analyze the data. The Chi-square was used to analyze data on descriptive variables. The T-test and 2 x 2 analysis of variance were used to analyze the data on symptom dimensions and global scores. The study had one main hypothesis and nine subhypotheses. The main hypothesis was that zvirwere zvechivanhu patients were …

This study examined the effects of Control Theory training upon self-concept and locus of control among students enrolled in the Provisional Admission Program (PAP) at the University of Texas at Arlington. Twenty-nine students randomly assigned to treatment or placebo control groups took the Coppersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (CSSEI-A) and the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (ANSIE) as pre- and posttests. Participants in the placebo control group attended their regular educational program for the same amount of time given to the treatment group. No significant differences were found on the Analysis of Covariance for CSSEI—A or ANSIE scores following the training period. CSSEI-A and ANSIE scores were elevated, indicating that PAP students think of themselves internally as do other college students, regardless of their SAT scores. The results of this study indicate that Control Theory training is insignificantly effective in producing changes in the self-concept and locus of control among PAP students. Control Theory research may need to be carried out with a smaller group size, use larger samples, provide more time to address the issues specific to PAP student needs, include a stronger counseling emphasis to meet their needs, use more sensitive instruments to detect such changes, and allow …

This study examined the relationship among the factors of parental stress, marital adjustment, life event stress, and behavior problems of children and whether the sources and levels of parental stress, marital adjustment, and life event stress differed among families of children with . behavior problems and families whose children did not experience behavior problems. The subjects for this study were 60 mothers and their children from the North Texas metropolitan area chosen from two populations. Group I was composed of mothers of 30 children referred to a university related counseling center for behavior problems. Group II was composed of 30 mothers of children identified as not experiencing difficulty. Each mother completed the Parenting Stress Index (PSI), Short Marital Adjustment Test (SMAT), and Social Readjustment Rating Questionnaire (SRRQ). Hotellings T tests were used to determine whether the groups differed on sources and levels of parenting stress, marital adjustment, and life event stress. The groups differed significantly on the variables of sources and levels of parenting stress but not on marital adjustment or life event stress. The multiple regression technique was used to determine which variable or combination of variables would predict group membership. Parenting stress was found to be the best …

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 …

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 compared divorced custodial mothers and mothers married to the biological fathers of their children on parenting stress, parenting skills, and self-esteem. The relationship between parenting stress, parenting skills, self-esteem, marital status, and life satisfaction was also examined. A total of 63 subjects, including 31 married mothers and 32 single mothers, was administered the Parenting Stress Index, the Parenting Skills Inventory, and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. Subjects also completed a Demographic Data Sheet that included a Likert-type scale designed by the researcher to measure current life satisfaction. All subjects either attended church or lived in a geographic area of North Central Texas that is generally recognized as being somewhat affluent. No significant differences were found on the t-tests comparing the mean total scores of the married and divorced mothers on levels of parenting stress, parenting skills, and self-esteem. A post hoc t-test revealed, however, that the group of married mothers had significantly higher mean total scores on the life satisfaction measure than the group of divorced mothers. Additionally, life satisfaction was found to be associated with parenting stress, parenting skills, self-esteem, and marital status. Specificallly, (a) as parenting stress increases, life satisfaction decreases, (b) as parenting skills increase, life …

This study utilized ethnomethodology to provide a description of the process and the effect of training counselors to incorporate the concepts and techniques of Individual Psychology into play therapy. Transcripts of the training program and of three individual interviews with the nine counselors who participated in the training were made. These transcripts and the journals in which the subjects were asked to chronicle their personal experiences and reactions to the training were qualitatively analyzed. This analysis indicated that most of the subjects reported that their attitudes toward play therapy, toward themselves as play therapists, and toward their play therapy clients had changed after their participation in the Adlerian play therapy training. The majority of subjects also reported that they perceived that their behavior in their play therapy sessions had changed, frequently in the direction of including more creative and active techniques. Qualitative analysis of the transcripts made from videotaped play therapy sessions by the researcher and an outside evaluator indicated that, while some of the counselors' behaviors seemed to have changed after the training, many of the counselors' behaviors did not appear to have been affected by their participation in the training. Possible explanations of the discrepancy between the counselors' …

The Adolescent Discouragement Indicator (ADI) was developed to assess the Adlerian construct of discouragement. The 75-item ADI contains five subscales corresponding to the five life tasks specified in Individual Psychology and is specifically designed to pinpoint the area and degree of adolescent discouragement. Item selection was based on ratings by five prominent Adlerians and item correlation with subscale scores. Age and sex norms for the ADI were established on 225 females and 299 males 12 to 18 years of age. Findings indicate that female adolescents are less discouraged than male adolescents on all scales except the love scale and both sexes reported the least amount of discouragment on the love scale. The only significant difference among the age groups is between the 13-year-olds and the 15, 16, and 17-year-olds on the love scale. An internal consistency coefficient of .95, a 2-week test-retest coefficient of .89, and a 4-week test-retest coefficient of .92 indicates that the ADI is a reliable instrument. Negative and significant (p < .001) correlations between the ADI and Social Interest Index (Greever, Tseng, & Friedland, 1973) and between the ADI and the Social Interest Scale (Crandall, 1975) contribute to construct validity and support Adler's belief that discouragement …

This study investigated the relationship between maladaptive behavior, defined as referral to counseling, and the Adlerian construct of birth order. The birth order variables examined were ordinal position, sex of subject, family density, family size, socio-economic status, intactness of family, age of mother, and sex of sibling. The subjects in this study were 217 school-aged children with academic and/or behavior problems who were referred to an interdisciplinary guidance center. The subjects were assigned to counseling or no-counseling groups on the basis of an interdisciplinary evaluation and staffing, which included an extensive battery of academic and psychological tests.

The purpose of this study is to compare the drug abusing adolescent, along with his family, with a non-drug abusing adolescent and his family by (l) a comparison of the adolescents on measures of self esteem and perceived parental behavior, (2) a comparison of the parents of drug abusing adolescents with the parents of non-drug abusing adolescents on child-rearing attitudes and on distortion in perceived parental behavior, and (3) an identification of the salient factors contributing to the prediction of drug-using behavior in adolescents. The adolescent's self esteem, his perception of parental behavior, the ability of the parents to predict the child's parental perceptions, and the professed parental attitudes toward confidence and responsibility in child-rearing, all combine to suggest a set of factors differentiating the drug abusing adolescent from the non-drug abusing adolescent.

The problem of this study was the negative or positive effects of a partially structured Christian marriage enrichment weekend upon marital communication, marital adjustment, and purpose in life. The results indicated that on all four tests both groups improved significantly over a two-month period but not over a one-week period. The general conclusions to be drawn are two-fold. First, a partially structured Christian marriage enrichment weekend, namely Enjoying Marriage, will probably help a couple improve in communication, adjustment, and purpose in life. Second, only on adjustment and purpose in life can one say that such improvement is based specifically upon the content of the weekend. The reason for this is that a weekend retreat group who received no treatment on marriage also improved in communication and on one specific type of marital adjustment as measured by the Polyfactor Sentence Completion Survey.

Subjects were 2,950 patients who had previously received inpatient treatment for substance abuse at 40 treatment centers in 13 states and were followed up by the Chemical Abuse/Addiction Treatment Outcome Registry (CATOR) via telephone during the 2 years immediately following their treatment. All subjects were contacted every 6 months and asked a series of questions regarding their relapse status, medical utilization, illnesses, injuries, and arrests. Patient status was based on 3 categories: (1) abstinence from any abuse of a chemical, (2) brief relapse of less than 3 months abuse of any chemical, or (3) total relapse of longer than 3 months of any chemical. Findings showed that abstainers had fewer days in the hospital for emotional problems and detoxification. Abstainers also had fewer visits to the hospital for emergency reasons. Males in the brief relapse category had a greater number of injuries than abstainers or total relapsers. Regarding arrests and automobile accidents, no difference was discovered. However, regarding Drunk While Driving (DWI) arrests, abstainers had fewer arrests.

This study utilized an ethnographic methodology to examine and describe the various aspects and processes occurring in a children's group as the members created their own puppets and accompanying puppet plays. Individual and interactive behavior patterns were isolated and analyzed as a means of gaining an in depth understanding of the puppetry process. The puppetry process, in turn, was viewed in terms of information it provided regarding the individual members and the group process. The facilitative and non-facilitative aspects of the procedure were delineated. The adult leader met with a group of six boys, in grades four and five, for 12 one-hour sessions in which they made puppets and then created puppet plays around issues that they had articulated as problems. The group sessions were videotaped and transcribed. The transcriptions were coded in an effort to extensively analyze the puppetry process and the group process, and the ways in which the two processes interacted. An independent observer/rater was utilized in order to provide some validity for the researcher's reported results. The puppet-making task appeared to offer an opportunity for individuals to begin to come together in a common, but individual task. Characteristic styles and individual personality dynamics were evidenced. General …

This study examined the effects of an Adlerian-based parent education program on parental stress and perception of Learning Disabled (LD) childrens' behavior. Forty parents, randomly assigned to treatment or waiting-list control groups, took the Parental Stress Index (PSI) and the Adlerian Parental Assessment of Child Behavior Rating Scale (APACBS) as pre and post tests. Parents in the treatment group attended a six-session Active Parenting program. No significant differences were found on the analysis of covariance for perceived parental stress following the parent education program. Seventy percent of the parents in this study had total PSI scores in the range defined as high stress by the PSI author. All of the PSI Child Domain pretest z scores were elevated indicating that parents perceive their LD children to be demanding, moody, distractible, and unadaptable. LD children's behavior is perceived as unacceptable and does not positively reinforce parents. The elevated z scores on the PSI parent Domain pretest indicate that parents of LD children feel less competent as parents and experience less attachment to their children than do parents of normal children. No significant differences were found on the APACBS following treatment, but 80 percent of the parents in the treatment group did …

Little research has been done on the personality of internal auditors. However, there does exist a negative stereotype. They are seen as hostile and unsympathetic. The purpose of this research was to see if the negative stereotype was indeed true and to see if undesirable behavior could be changed through training.

This study investigated the relationships among the variables of parental stress, parental attitude, and preschoolers' academic, social and emotional maturity. The purposes of the investigation were to measure the relationship between parental stress and parental attitude, and to determine whether parental attitude and parental stress differed in their ability to predict preschoolers' behavioral maturity.

This study examined the relationship between love attitude and marital adjustment across five stages of the marital life-cycle in Nigerian society. The subjects for this study were 202 volunteers from six protestant churches representing six cities in the southern part of Nigeria. An average of 20 couples were representatives of each of the five marital life-cycles. Each of the subjects completed the Love Attitude Inventory (LAI), and the Marital Adjustment Test (short form) (MAT). Wilk's multivariate analysis revealed no significant differences between husbands' and wives' love attitude and marital adjustment across the five stages of the marital life cycle. Multivariate analysis split-plot 5.2 with repeated measures revealed no significant difference for the total sample among the groups, but indicated a significant difference between love attitude and marital adjustment for the total sample using sex as a factor. A univariate test of the MAT and LAI indicated that the MAT accounted for the difference. A canonical correlation indicated a significant positive relationship between husbands1 and wives' marital adjustment and love attitude within each of the five groups. The findings suggest that husbands and wives included in this study have a good understanding of their roles in the marriage relationship and that …

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.