Frequency, level, and rate of improvement for treatment targets in a children's mental health community-based intensive in-home therapeutic setting.

Frequency, level, and rate of improvement on 48 therapist-identified treatment targets were examined for 790 youth in usual care receiving intensive in-home services. Targets related to disruptive behavior, depressive mood, and functional impairment were most common. Overall, targets attained moderate levels of improvement and reached maximum gains in approximately three months. Targets associated with disruptive behavior and depressive mood disorders showed significantly greater improvement than those associated with ADHD. Anxiety-related targets improved quickest and significantly faster than disruptive behavior targets. Outcomes for targets within the same diagnostic group also varied substantially. Practice and implementation implications are discussed.

Measuring impact of New Mexico prekindergarten on standardized test scores and high school graduation using propensity score matching.

The long-term impact of prekindergarten programs is an important consideration given the trend of dedicating more resources to these programs. However, long-term impact of prekindergarten programs is not well-understood and recent studies have shown preschool effectiveness can vary across states and programs. A state run prekindergarten program in New Mexico was examined using propensity score matching to minimize selection bias. The research revealed a number of long-term impacts corresponding with prekindergarten participation for the cohort including a 9.7 percentage point increase in high school graduation rates and improved reading and math proficiency at third, sixth, and eighth grades. Considerations for future research and challenges in implementing prekindergarten programs are discussed.

The role of minor and adult children in the adjustment of women living with HIV.

The present study examined how having children can relate to the psychological functioning of HIV-positive women, and the place and function children have in their mother's social support and social burden networks. As part of initial face-to-face interviews with 46 HIV-positive women enrolled in a longitudinal study, participants indicated their maternal status, the nature of their social support and burden (with a modified Multidimensional Social Support Inventory) and their levels of depressive symptoms (Brief Symptom Inventory). Using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and non-parametric analyses when statistical assumptions were not met, findings indicate that women with minor children reported fewer depressive symptoms and more confidence in regulating social support than women without children. Maternal status was not significantly related to other measures of social support. Women with minor children reported greater comfort and confidence in regulating social burden and reported experiencing less social burden than women with adult children only. Women with adult children only reported intermediate levels of depression, but high levels of received burden and low levels of comfort and confidence in regulating (lessening) this burden. Analyses of women's social networks (Fisher's Exact Test) indicated that minor children were less likely to be named regarding support than adult or other family members and were infrequently turned to for practical, emotional, or HIV-related support. Adult children were more often listed as providing various types of support than minor children, yet these relationships were also often associated with relatively higher levels of social burden.

The effects of target attractiveness on men's sexual arousal in response to erotic auditory stimuli.

Previous research on sexual arousal resulting from auditory stimuli indicates that visual imagery acts as a mediator between stimulus input and resulting arousal. This leads to the question of whether imagery, and subsequent arousal, can be manipulated by providing differing information to hold in semantic memory. This research hypothesizes that attractive images held within semantic memory and pattern-matched with an erotic auditory stimulus facilitate higher self-reported arousal, and at a more rapid rate, than unattractive images. Participants in an "Unattractive" condition experienced slower rates and lower mean levels of arousal in response to an auditory stimulus, compared to participants in an "Attractive" or "No Picture" condition. No differences existed between groups in maximum arousal scores or the tendency to visualize the target during the listening task. Implications for the role of imagery in sexual response, possible measurement issues, and suggestions for future research are addressed in the discussion.

Longitudinal predictors of youth functional improvement in a public mental health system.

The present study examined youth characteristics that predict level of impairment at entry into a system of care and rate of improvement over the course of service provision. Youth characteristics studied included gender, age, specific diagnostic categories, and comorbidity. A total of 2,171 youth served in a state-wide public mental health system were included in the study. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze longitudinal data derived from quarterly ratings of functional status. Gender had no relationship to initial level of impairment or rate of improvement. Older youth, those with disruptive behavior disorders, and those with more than one DSM diagnosis were more impaired at system entry. Those with attentional disorders began services less impaired. Older youth improved at faster rates. Youth with a disruptive behavior disorder diagnosis improved at slower rates. Neither comorbidity nor the presence of a mood or attentional disorder affected the rate of improvement. Both researchers and systems of care developers should consider these patterns in their future work.