An extension of the Home Situations Questionnaire is described (HSQ-M), and normative data for an Australian clinical sample are reported. Reports were obtained from both female (339) and male (143) informants on 403 children aged between 3 and 12 (287 boys, 116 girls) from nine centres in Sydney. Clinicians from these centres predicted the likely findings on the HSQ-M, and their expectations were not wholly supported by the data. Boys were reported to have more problem situations than girls by fathers but not by mothers, and boys were reported as having greater situation severity than girls by mothers but not by fathers. While these differences were statistically significant, they were not clinically significant. Contrary to expectations, fathers reported similar levels of home situation difficulty to mothers. The data provide useful information for targeting situations that would meet the need of parents in parenting groups, and for supplementing the assessment tools used by clinicians working with families.

Functional analysis is used to identify potential reinforcers by generating hypotheses about possible functions of a behaviour. Current methods of functional analysis emphasise observations of events, especially consequences, that occur in the immediate environment of the behaviour. While these methods are well suited for assessing behaviour that is reinforced frequently, they are less appropriate for assessing behaviour that is reinforced only intermittently. A new method for conducting functional analysis is presented that is designed to assess intermittently reinforced behaviour. The new method is illustrated using data that were gathered from an extension of a standard problem-solving format. Data are interpreted using the principle of revealed preference that arose from behavioural economics. The revealed preference method is illustrated using information provided by a client with a dependent personality disorder.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, debilitating skin disorder that accounts for up to 20% of dermatological diagnoses. A 6-week psychoeducational stress management program was developed, implemented, and evaluated as an adjunctive treatment for AD. The participants (n = 17) were randomly assigned to a treatment or waiting-list control group. Participants in both the intervention and waiting-list control groups were assessed for dermatitis severity by a blind rater both pre and posttreatment and at a follow-up conducted 8 weeks after the conclusion of the program. At posttest the intervention group had significantly reduced pruritus and global severity of atopic dermatitis, and reduced levels of social anxiety and private self-consciousness. At an 8-week follow-up, pruritus was entirely absent and global severity was continuing to decrease, as were levels of social anxiety and private self-consciousness. The psychoeducational stress-management program provided a short effective treatment that resulted in reduction of symptoms and provided long-term management strategies to sufferers of atopic dermatitis.

Health-check attendance intention and behaviour in young men and women was compared, and the data used to determine whether health belief model constructs were able to predict such intentions and behaviour. Sixty male and sixty female respondents completed questionnaires asking about past health-check attendance behaviour, future attendance intention, and health beliefs. More females than males had previously attended a general health check, and females had stronger intentions to do so in the future. Regression analyses indicated that health-check attendance intention was predicted for both males and females by responses to cues to action. For females, previous health-check attendance was related to responses to cues to action and perceptions of barriers to attendance. None of the health belief model constructs was found to account for previous attendance behaviour of males. The results of the study support recent calls for health promotion initiatives aimed at men, but suggest that they should target cognitions other than those included within the health belief model.

This study assessed the effectiveness of counterfactual reasoning and relaxation training in reducing worry and defensive pessimism. Thirty-three participants classified as both worriers and defensive pessimists were allocated to either counterfactual reasoning, relaxation training, or control groups. Participants in counterfactual reasoning and relaxation training groups attended four weekly training sessions. Significant reductions in worry between pre- and post-test were evident for scores on the Worry Domains Questionnaire, as well as a reduced tendency to engage in the kind of prototypical thinking characteristic of defensive pessimists as assessed by the Defensive Pessimism / Strategic Optimism Strategy Prototypes Questionnaire. Reductions were also evident in the percentage of the day spent worrying, the intrusiveness of worries, and ratings of the likelihood of worry events occurring.

The present study evaluated the efficacy of an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program for the seriously mentally ill. Outcomes of the program were assessed at baseline and 12-month follow-up and were compared with that of a control group, which received standard community care. Thirty-six subjects with serious mental disorders participated in the study. Dependent measures included number of hospital admissions and hospital bed days per year, life skills, quality of life, and psychiatric symptoms. Results of 2 x 2 (treatment/control group x baseline / 12-month follow-up) repeated measures ANOVAs indicated that, after 1 year, both treatments lead to a significant reduction in hospital admissions and bed days, and to improvement in life skills. ACT subjects evidenced a greater decrease in psychiatric symptoms compared to control group subjects. In general, markedly more ACT subjects showed reliable clinical change in life skills, quality of life, and psychiatric symptoms than control subjects. Although the ACT did produce greater clinical change than standard case management, it did not produce statistically greater improvement across most domains of functioning in the short term.