Publications by authors named "Paula T McWhirter"

A meta-analysis on domestic violence interventions was conducted to determine overall effectiveness of mental health programs involving women and children in joint treatment. These interventions were further analyzed to determine whether outcomes are differentially affected based on the outcome measure employed. To date, no meta-analyses have been published on domestic violence victim intervention efficacy.

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Exploring risk factors and profiles of intimate partner violence in other countries provides information about whether existing theories of this phenomenon hold consistent in different cultural settings. This study will present results of a regression analysis involving domestic violence among Mexican women (n = 83,159). Significant predictors of domestic violence among Mexican women included age, number of children in the household, income, education, self-esteem, family history of abuse, and controlling behavior of the husband.

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Two community-based group therapies, emotion focused versus goal oriented, are compared among women exposed to intimate partner violence (n = 46) and their children ( n = 48) aged between 6 and 12 years. A series of repeated measures analyses are employed to evaluate the effects of time from baseline to postintervention following random assignment. Main and treatment effects for women provide support for the relative effectiveness in increasing quality of social support in the emotion-focused intervention and in the reduction of both family conflict and alcohol use for the goal-oriented intervention.

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Trends in adolescent drug use are encouraging and suggest the importance of preventative programs for youth. Yet, among those who become involved with illicit substances and seek treatment, only a fraction report positive outcomes. This article describes an approach to enhance adolescent participation in substance abuse treatment.

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