Stuttering is a speech motor disorder that begins in the first years of life and if not treated effectively can have catastrophic effects on the individual. This article briefly describes the disorder, and overviews treatment of stuttering in preschool children. Such treatment is considered far preferable to treatment in adolescence and adulthood. Evidence of the effectiveness of early stuttering treatment from clinical trials is overviewed, along with clinical benchmarks for such treatment. Epidemiological data showing considerable natural recovery are reviewed, and the implications of those data for the timing of early stuttering intervention are considered.

This article examines the prevalence and prediction of internalising and externalising disorders from temperament and parenting in children aged 4 to 6 years (N = 491). Children were assessed via parent and teacher reports over 14 months and clinical interviews with parents were included at follow-up, along with parent and teacher reports of behavioural and emotional difficulties. Prevalence rates for internalising disorders (8.7%) were higher than for externalising disorders (5.8%), and internalising rates were similar to that found for older children in the same city. Accuracy of prediction of disorders, as well as overall behavioural and emotional difficulties, was low to moderate, and externalising problems were better predicted than internalising problems. The results highlight that while psychological disorders can be predicted from measures of temperament in infancy, the accuracy is too low to recommend these children receive selective prevention and treatment programs.

We assessed the effects of the Controlling Alcohol and Relationship Enhancement (CARE) program, an early intervention combining reduction of hazardous alcohol consumption and enhancement of couple relationships. Thirty-seven hazardous drinking couples were randomly allocated to either the CARE program or to a control condition. CARE couples improved their communication more than controls, but couples in both conditions reduced hazardous drinking to a similar extent. CARE is a potentially useful means of promoting positive relationship communication in hazardous drinking couples.

The present study involved the random allocation of 22 obsessive-compulsive (OC) washer/cleaners to one of two treatment conditions: Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy (DIRT), or Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). Participants received 12 1-hour individual clinical sessions and were assessed at pretreatment, posttreatment and at a 6-month follow-up with a battery of 17 measures assessing core obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptomatology, depression, stress, general anxiety, disease expectancy and perceived responsibility. DIRT subjects experienced significantly greater before to after-treatment reductions in symptomatology on six outcome measures. On 10 of the remaining 11 measures, posttreatment mean scores were lower in the DIRT condition than in the ERP condition, though differences between groups failed to reach significance. Of note, on 3 of the 17 measures, DIRT subjects experienced significantly greater posttreatment to follow-up symptom reduction. Finally, and most importantly, symptom change (regardless of treatment condition) was shown to significantly correlate with change in threat or disease expectancy across the trial. No relationships were found between improvements in perceived responsibility and any of the dependent variables. The findings suggest that DIRT and ERP may be working by reducing specific beliefs in threat; the former treatment being more effective in producing such change than the latter.

Binge eating within Binge Eating Disorder (BED) may represent ineffective management of, and inappropriate escape from, strong, dysphoric emotions, but treatments have been slow to incorporate an emotion regulation focus. Eleven women meeting criteria for BED participated in 11 sessions (2 hours per week) of a psychoeducational group program providing training in emotion recognition and management, problem-solving, assertion training, relaxation and stress management. Outcome was evaluated using a multiple-baseline design replicated across groups. Binges were self-monitored daily, and self-report questionnaires assessed wellbeing and emotion regulation at pretreatment, posttreatment and follow-up. Cognitive changes from pre to posttreatment were evaluated by Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations. The program was effective in reducing binge eating, alexithymia, stress and depression, and it improved coping and positive cognitions. No participant met criteria for BED at follow-up. The findings provide support for the inclusion of training in emotion recognition and regulation in treatments for BED and for affect regulation models of binge eating.