Enhancing attachment-based aspects of PCIT for young children with a history of maltreatment.

Disruptive behavior difficulties, such as aggression, non-compliance, and emotional outbursts, are common among children exposed to maltreatment. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an effective parenting intervention for addressing child behavior difficulties, however, treatment retention and engagement among parents remain a concern in the clinical setting. This paper describes how the delivery of an intervention that teaches attachment theory concepts (Circle of Security-Parenting, COS-P) prior to PCIT can increase engagement and retention among parents of maltreated children and inform new coaching practices.

An examination of avoidance in major depression in comparison to social anxiety disorder.

The construct of avoidance has begun to receive attention in theoretical models and empirical investigations of depression. However, little is known about relative levels of avoidance across diagnostic categories or about the relationships between avoidance and other correlates of depression. The present study compared levels of avoidance across groups of depressed women without social anxiety disorder (MDD without SAD), depressed women with social anxiety disorder (MDD with SAD), women with social anxiety disorder (SAD), and nonclinical women, and investigated the relationships among avoidance, and sociotropy and autonomy, rumination, and negative and positive problem orientations within the clinically depressed group.

Avoidance and depression: the construction of the cognitive-behavioral avoidance scale.

Previous research has demonstrated a relationship between avoidance and depression, although the nature of this relationship has been confused by inconsistent definitions of avoidance. Following a review of the construct of avoidance and an examination of past research, a new multidimensional measure of avoidance was developed and validated using an undergraduate student sample (245 females and 146 males). Four reliable factors reflecting combinations of cognitive/behavioral and social/nonsocial dimensions of avoidance were obtained from the factor analysis of the new scale, entitled the "Cognitive-Behavioral Avoidance Scale" (CBAS).