The scientist-practitioner model remains valuable in improving the treatment of individual clients and in enhancing clinical science. One deterrent to its implementation, however, is the unsuitability of traditional research methods to clinical settings. Alternative research tools are presented, namely, practical ways to collect dependent measures, specification of treatment and measures of treatment integrity, and single-subject research designs.

Plans are underway to commemorate the 20th birthday of the ABMA at the 17th National Conference to be held in Perth in 1994. Attaining such milestones usually prompts, in addition to ceremony and celebration, interest in history, roots, trends and resolutions for the future. There may be curiosity about what is being celebrated. It is easy enough to count back to the first National Conference in 1978 to arrive at the number 17, but the 20th birthday is not so obvious. My purpose here is to assuage that curiosity and give my version of the events that have followed.

Marital dissatisfaction is the most common presenting problem in adults seeking psychological services and is rated as the second most severe stress adults can experience after a death in the family. Almost every married couple is, at some time, at risk for marital distress, conflict, separation, and divorce and for the resulting stress on themselves and their children. Traditionally, theory and practice have focused on tertiary prevention of marital distress (i.e., marital therapies). However, marital therapy has limited efficacy and accesses only limited numbers of couples. Poor communication and dissatisfaction with interactions, assessed premaritally, are strong predictors of marital distress. Several marital distress prevention programs have been developed which generally or specifically target communication behaviour of pre- and early married couples. Outcome evaluations suggest such programs can lead to improved communication and problem-solving skills, improved relationship satisfaction, lower levels of marital violence, and diminished probability of marital dissolution. Suggestions for future research include a more fine-grained analysis of situation-specific cognition, affect, and psychophysiological responses during communication, incorporation of a self-regulatory model within prevention work, and the use of longitudinal research designs.

A survey was conducted of opinions of 24 psychologists in South Australia about the intrusiveness of 89 interventions including methods that might be used to reduce challenging behaviour. Interventions arose from a variety of sources, including behavioural psychology and medicine. Interventions might infringe on 8 different rights. Respondents rated the degree to which interventions were perceived to intrude on clients' rights, using a 4-point scale: abusive, very intrusive, intrusive, and not intrusive. A reasonable degree of consistency in ratings was found. Respondents did not rate all interventions that infringed on the same right as being equally intrusive. A number of interventions were rated as being intrusive but not abusive. Intrusive methods may be legitimate if properly authorised. The question arises of how decisions should be made to authorise intrusive methods when clients are unable to make decisions on their own behalf.

Infant sleep disturbance (ISD) is widespread and troublesome. Although effective management techniques have been established, some lay and professional authors have expressed concern about these interventions. These concerns are sometimes shared by parents who seek professional advice while feeling ambivalent about undertaking treatment. These concerns include (a) that ISD is normal and inevitable, (b) that it results from unnatural or artificial cultural practices, (c) the belief that ISD expresses a need state, and (d) the belief that the use of extinction is harmful. These concerns are examined and the management of ISD by extinction and its alternatives are considered in the light of the ethics of professional practice. It is concluded that these concerns are best answered within the context of a professional relationship based on a partnership and the sharing of expertise with parents.

In recent years researchers and clinicians have paid increasing attention to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents. Issues of definition and evaluation are discussed and studies of children subsequent to natural disasters, accident, war, sexual abuse and human-made traumas are reviewed. Issues relating to treatment and “debriefing” are also discussed.

A 1981 national survey of 335 American educational psychologists found psychological/educational assessment and consultation with teachers and parents are the two most frequently engaged in activities of school psychologists. A behavioural approach to these two activities is considered in the literature to be more effective than a number of other approaches and practices. This clinical note describes a behavioural consultation and training role for educational psychologists which was applied to the issue of improving the reading skills of 12 integrated primary school children. The behavioural consultation involved four phases: problem identification, problem analysis, intervention, and evaluation. Results of the consultation and training indicated a substantial increase in the number of books read, letter-sound knowledge, sight vocabulary, and passage comprehension of the 12 integrated children. Informal assessment of teacher satisfaction with this approach to consultation and training was found to be very positive.