Health Promotion and Problem Prevention in Pediatric Psychology: An Overview

This paper provides an overview to the special issue of theJournal on health promotion and problem prevention in pediatricpsychology. Key terms are defined and critical concepts outlinedfor topics of active versus passive intervention, individualversus population approaches, developmental perspectives, preventivemedicine, and motivating behavior change. Information resourcesare noted.     

Health Psychology 2000:The Development of Professional Health Psychology: European Federation of Professional Psychologists' Associations (EFPPA) Task Force on Health Psychology Final Report

This Final Report of the European Federation of Professional Psychologists' Associations (EFPPA) Task Force on Health Psychology defines the nature and scope of health psychology and its possible future development to the year 2000 and beyond. Training needs and objectives are specified for professional health psychologists working in Europe. Practical and policy implications of medical progress and societal changes are discussed. The future development of health psychology as a profession depends on putting theory and policy into practice through the implementation of high quality training. Currently there are relatively few European countries where this has yet happened. Training programmes need to be introduced in all European countries within the framework of each member- country's national laws, regulations and practices.     

Effective Decision-making: A Negotiation Perspective for Health Psychology and Health Communication

This article examines the critical role of communication and interpersonal negotiation in provider/consumer relations. Only through the use of strategic and competent communication can providers and consumers work cooperatively to make effective health-care decisions. A conflict resolution/shared negotiation model is presented to illustrate how communication can facilitate cooperative decision- making in health care. The model emphasizes cooperation, trust and mutual adaptation between providers and consumers. A case study is then presented to illustrate further the model and cooperative health-care decision-making processes.     

Qualitative Inquiry: An Overview for Pediatric Psychology

Objective: To provide a framework for critically evaluatingqualitative research to professionals interested in pediatricpsychology. Qualitative methods emphasize the phenomenologicalexperience of participants and may be pertinent to studyingcontextual factors that contribute to child health and well-being. Method: A bask overview of the types of qualitative research,methodological procedures, and ethical considerations is provided.Examples are drawn from qualitative studies that focus on childand family health. Results: The article concludes with guidelines for examiningqualitative research and recommendations for use in pediatricpsychology. Conclusions: Qualitative methods have the potential to addressimportant issues In pediatric psychology.     

The Avalon Gardens Men's Association: A Community Health Psychology Case Study

This article follows the development and progress of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's 'Healthy and Safe Communities' initiative as it was implemented by a community empowerment organization during a four-year community revitalization project in the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots. The author explores practical aspects of Community Health Psychology through assessing the ways in which its organizing principles were manifest in community-wide processes of individual and community change in one low-income housing project in South Central Los Angeles called Avalon Gardens. Specifically highlighted is how a group of African American and Latino men in the community created a group forum that helped foster, support and sustain an empowerment process that supported health promotion, health consciousness and significant health improvement in the community.     

Responding to Clinical Psychology Practicum Competencies: An APPIC Perspective

This article offers a commentary by representatives of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) on the 2015 article written by Gonsalvez et al. related to the assessment of clinical competencies in clinical psychology practicum students. The four competency “super clusters” derived by Gonsalvez et al. result from a unique empirical hierarchical clustering approach and are sure to add important knowledge to the field. This commentary generalizes from clinical psychology education and training in Australia to the United States, expands from practica to internship and postdoctoral training, and reflects on some relevant APPIC issues and initiatives. Future research is also suggested.     

Primary Cutaneous Melanoma: An 18-Year Study

BACKGROUND:

Primary cutaneous melanoma still constitutes the main cause of skin cancer death in developed countries, and its incidence in recent years has been increasing in a steady, worrisome manner.

OBJECTIVES:

This study evaluated the clinical, epidemiological and demographic aspects of this disease, and correlated them with patient prognosis.

METHODS:

Using epidemiologic and clinical data, we analyzed 84 patients with mild to severe primary cutaneous melanoma treated between 1990 and 2007. Slides containing surgical specimens were analyzed, and new slides were made from archived paraffin sections when necessary.

RESULTS:

The melanoma incidence was higher in areas of sun exposure, with lesions commonly observed in the trunk for males, and lower limbs for females. In addition to Breslow’s thickness and ulceration (p = 0.043 and p < 0.001, respectively), the mitotic rate per mm² also correlated with worse patient outcome (p = 0.0007). The sum of ulceration (0 when absent or 1 when present), the Breslow index (1 when <1 mm, 2 when >1 mm and <4 mm, 3 when >4 mm) and the mitotic index (0 when absent or 1 when ≥1 per mm²) allowed the establishment of a prognostic score: if the sum was equal to or over three, nearly all (91.7%) patients had systemic disease. The 5-year survival was approximately seventy percent.

CONCLUSION:

Because American Join Committee of Cancer Staging will update the classification of malignant tumors (TNM) staging in the near future, and introduce mitosis as a prognostic factor, our results show the importance of such a feature. Additional studies are necessary to confirm the importance of a prognostic score as proposed herein.     

Pediatric AIDS/HIV Infection: An Emerging Challenge to Pediatric Psychology

The number of pediatric AIDS cases are increasing. This disease,with its social and political ramifications, as well as itsbiological consequences, presents a number of unique issuesfor psychologists. Some of the areas that present opportunitiesand problems for psychologists are briefly identified. Theseareas include prevention, clinical issues, public education,research, neu-ropsychological effects, psychoneuroimmunologicalissues, and ethical concerns. Current epidemiological projectionsand future directions for research are also discussed.     

Alpha biofeedback therapy in alcoholics: An 18-month follow-up

In an earlier study on patients with alcohol problems, an experimental group given 10 hour-long alpha biofeedback training sessions showed greater improvement on State and Trait Anxiety scores than did a control sample. In the present study an 18-month follow-up was done on those Ss. The differences between the experimentals and controls in State and Trait Anxiety after 18 months were essentially identical to the differences between them immediately after treatment, which indicates that alpha training had longrange therapeutic effects. A difference between the groups on the Alcohol Rehabilitation Followup Questionnaire also suggested that alpha training may have been associated with some reduction in alcohol consumption as well.     

Learning From the MASTER: An Instrument for Measuring Interactions in Teaching Psychology

Teaching is an important part of the clinician's role, yet the dearth of suitable instruments creates an obstacle to its systematic evaluation. This is turn makes audit difficult and obstructs the feedback to the teacher, so diminishing learning and effectiveness. A new instrument, the Measure of Adult Styles of Teaching and Evaluation Record (MASTER) is offered as a partial solution to these associated problems. In a validity study, the ‘MASTER’ differentiated as predicted between didactic and experiential teaching methods employed to train care staff in an in-service training programme. Inter-rater reliability was also adequate. It is concluded that the MASTER is a sound instrument which can aid audit and the development of clinicians as teachers, but that a more substantive analysis is required before the MASTER can be considered suitable for a major evaluation.     

Managed Behavioral Health Care: Current Status, Recent Trends, and the Role of Psychology

Managed behavioral health care is a rapidly growing field that is becoming more complex, resulting in a blurring of traditional distinctions between different sectors of the industry. Practice guidelines and outcome research will become critical elements of future managed care approaches, and these elements will be part of an overall focus on improvement in the quality of care. Here a model of quality improvement that emphasizes differing levels of organization is proposed, and the role of psychology in the emerging health care system is discussed. The field of psychology has not ascended to a leadership role in the evolving health care system. Suggestions are made to move the field of psychology to assume a more significant role in the managed care system.     

从行为意向到健康行为—健康行为程式模型(HAPA)概述

本文简要概述了健康行为促进与干预中的相关理论模型,将健康理论模型归类为连续理论模型与阶段理论模型。本文对整合行为意向与行为改变的健康行为程式模型(HAPA)的行为阶段划分、模型构成要素及针对模型的相关研究等方面作了简要概括,并对今后研究中行为阶段划分的适切性、HAPA模型与其他模型的比较研究、行为改变机制的深化研究及模型构建的中国化等方面提出了思考。