Abstract This study proposes a model for meeting increasingly mandated outcome research objectives in a university counseling center setting. It is proposed that counseling centers utilize their existing intake forms, along with an annual satisfaction survey to determine the effectiveness of counseling services. Effectiveness is defined as improvement and measured by the reduction of the symptoms or presenting concerns with which the client initially presented. It also introduces the Relative-Change Index (R-Chi) as an objective way to quantify intra-individual change occurring as a result of therapy. This new mathematical procedure allows for a more meaningful assessment of the client's degree of improvement, relative to their potential for improvement. By re-administering the problem checklist, routinely included as part of the initial paperwork for each client at intake, again post-therapy, it is possible to quantify improvement by measuring the difference in distressing concerns. Additionally, including a subjective, retrospective survey question asking the client to indicate their perceived rate if improvement at follow-up provides construct validity and allows for correlational comparisons with R-Chi. Results suggest that student/client ratings of the degree to which the services they received satisfactorily addressed their presenting concerns were significantly rated to their R-Chi score. This model suggests that …

Children's response to a resistance-to-temptation (RTT) task was investigated under three punishment threat conditions: negative consequence, removing an anticipated reward, and no explicit punishment. Ninety first and second graders participated in the RTT task and seventy-three parents completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children and the Psychopathy Screening Device. As only 4% of children transgressed, results are unclear. Hypotheses tested using approximations of transgression showed no differences in RTT. Children with temperaments characterized by hyperactivity, impulsivity, attention problems, and conduct problems (HIA-CP) had the highest levels of psychopathic traits compared to all others. In addition, spanked children were rated as having significantly more behavioral problems than non-spanked children. Limitations of the current study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Among the goals of the neuropsychological assessment are to detect the presence of brain damage, localize which areas of the brain may be dysfunctional and describe subsequent functional impairments. The sensitivity of neuropsychological instruments in carrying out these functions is a question of some debate. The purpose of this study is to determine the utility of lateralizing indicators from the WAIS-III, McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND) and Haptic Visual Discrimination Test (HVDT), from the McCarron-Dial System Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (MDS), in ascertaining the presence or absence of brain damage as well as location of lesion. The classification accuracies of using performance level indicators from these tests and lateralizing indicators, alone and together, were compared.

Voluntary turnover has become a problem for many organizations in today's society. The cost of this turnover reaches beyond organizational impact, but also affects the employees themselves. For this reason, there has been a plethora of research conducted by both academicians and practitioners on the causes and consequences of voluntary turnover. The purpose of this study is to test the validity and generalizability of the job embeddedness model of voluntary turnover to the information technology (IT) industry. The IT field has been plagued with high turnover rates in recent years. In this study, the job embeddedness model (Mitchell et al., 2001) is applied to a population sample consisting of health care information technology employees.

Recent research found insomnia is a risk factor for psychiatric disorders in adults. To see if the same would be true in adolescents, the current study re-analyzed data from a national longitudinal study collected by ADDHealth that evaluated health behaviors in 4552 adolescents (mean age 14.9 years [SD 1.7]) at baseline and again 7-8 years later (n = 3489) during young adulthood. Insomnia was reported by 9.2% of the adolescents. Cross-sectionally, adolescent insomnia was associated with alcohol, cannabis, non-cannabis drugs, and tobacco use, and depression after controlling for gender and ethnicity. Prospectively, adolescent insomnia was a significant risk factor for depression diagnosis, suicidal ideation, and the use of depression and stress prescription medications in young adulthood after controlling for gender, ethnicity, and significant baseline variable. In addition, a trend was noted for suicidal attempts.

The goal of the current study was to evaluate the ways in which religious behaviors and perceived social support are associated with the relationship between depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life for this group. We hypothesized (1) that religious behaviors moderate the relationship between depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life, (2) perceived social support mediates the relationship between depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life and (3) that religious behaviors moderate the mediational indirect effect of perceived social support in the depression and health-related quality of life relationship. Findings from a sample of 244 HIV-positive individuals provided evidence to support direct, conditional, and indirect effects on the depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life relationship. A discussion of the findings, implications for future research and clinical practice are provided.