Children's Florida Obsessive Compulsive Inventory: psychometric properties and feasibility of a self-report measure of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in youth.

This report describes the development and psychometric properties of the Children's Florida Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (C-FOCI). Designed specifically as a brief measure for assessing obsessive-compulsive symptoms, the C-FOCI was created for use in both clinical and community settings. Study 1 included 82 children and adolescents diagnosed with primary Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and their parents. The Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) was administered to assess symptom severity. Thereafter, parents completed the Child Obsessive-Compulsive Impact Scale-Parent Version and Child Behavior Checklist, and youth completed the C-FOCI, Child Obsessive-Compulsive Impact Scale-Child Version, Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children, and Children's Depression Inventory-Short Form. A subgroup of 21 individuals was retested with the C-FOCI after completing 14 sessions of intensive cognitive-behavioral therapy. Construct validity of the C-FOCI was supported vis-à-vis evidence of treatment sensitivity, and moderate relations with clinician-rated symptom severity, the CY-BOCS Symptom Checklist, child- and parent-rated functional impairment, child-rated anxiety, and parent-rated internalizing symptoms. Discriminant validity was evidenced by weak relationships with parent-reports of externalizing symptoms. For Study 2, 191 non-clinical adolescents completed the C-FOCI to assess the feasibility of internet administration. Overall, internal consistency was acceptable for the C-FOCI Symptom Checklist and Severity Scale, and respondents were able to complete the measure with little difficulty. Taken together, the findings of Studies 1 and 2 provide initial support for the reliability and validity of the C-FOCI for the assessment of pediatric obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Something to talk about: Topics of conversation between romantic partners during military deployments.

Long-distance communication has been frequently identified as essential to military couples trying to maintain their relationship during a deployment. Little quantitative research, however, has assessed the types of topics discussed during such communication and how those topics relate to overall relationship satisfaction. The current study draws on a sample of 56 Army couples who provided data through online surveys while the service member was actively deployed. These couples provided information on current marital satisfaction, topics discussed during deployment (problem talk, friendship talk, love talk), and how they communicated via synchronous media (e.g., phone calls, video calls) and letters during deployment. Nonparametric Friedman tests followed by paired t tests revealed that synchronous communication was primarily utilized for friendship talk, whereas letters included friendship talk and love talk in similar amounts. Both synchronous communication and letters included less problem talk than other topics. In mixed-level modeling, only topics of communication for synchronous media (not for letters) were related to relationship satisfaction. Love talk via synchronous media was related to higher relationship satisfaction, whereas problem talk via synchronous media was related to less relationship satisfaction. The current study offers the first quantitative assessment of topics within deployment communication media and associations with relationship satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Relationship Education in the U.S. Army: 2-Year Outcomes.

This study examined the effectiveness of an evidence-based, community-delivered adaptation of couple relationship education (CRE; specifically, PREP, The Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program) delivered at two Army installations. The study is a randomized controlled trial with two years of follow-up, examining marital quality and stability. Sample composition was 662 married couples with a spouse in the U.S. Army. Analyses yielded no evidence of overall enduring intervention effects on relationship quality but couples assigned to intervention at the higher risk site were significantly less likely than controls to be divorced at the two-year follow-up (8.1% vs. 14.9%, p < .01). This effect was moderated by ethnic minority status. Specifically, the impact of the intervention on divorce was strongest for minority couples. The findings add to the literature on who may benefit most from CRE.

Marriage Education in the Army: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Although earlier studies have demonstrated promising effects of relationship education for military couples, these studies have lacked random assignment. The current study evaluated the short-term effects of relationship education for Army couples in a randomized clinical trial at two sites (476 couples at Site 1 and 184 couples at Site 2). At both sites, participant satisfaction with the program was high. Intervention and control couples were compared on relative amounts of pre-intervention to post-intervention change. At Site 1, not all variables showed the predicted intervention effects, although we found significant and positive intervention effects for communication skills, confidence that the marriage can survive over the long haul, positive bonding between the partners, and satisfaction with sacrificing for the marriage or the partner. However, at Site 2, we found significant and positive intervention effects for communication skills only. Possible site differences as moderators of intervention effects are discussed.