A measure of the stability of family activities: an initial examination.

The Stability of Activities in the Family Environment (SAFE) was designed to sample activities that could occur with some degree of regularity and stability in a variety of families. The SAFE was found to have adequate internal consistency and its validity was suggested by its relationship to other measures of family functioning and to measures of adjustment. The results of the present investigation are consistent with the differentiation of two domains of stability of family activities; those that occur on a daily basis, primarily within the home, and those that are more social in nature and might occur outside of the home. The present findings also indicate the potential value of further consideration of the roles of overall stability of family activities and also of stable positive family activities in facilitating adaptive development.

An evaluation of enhanced self-regulation training in the treatment of childhood obesity.

Obese children (8-13 years old) and at least one of their parents participated in a behaviorally oriented treatment program. Participants in a standard treatment condition experienced a multicomponent intervention in which parents were given primary responsibility for following program prescriptions. An enhanced child involvement condition provided the same basic intervention but with greater emphasis on, and training in, child self-regulation. Children in both conditions achieved a significant reduction in percentage overweight and triceps skin-fold during the 6-month treatment period. Overall, the follow-up period of 3 years was characterized by increases above posttreatment levels. There was, however, some suggestion in the 3-year follow-up results and the long-term patterns over a 6 1/2-year period of the benefits of the enhanced child involvement approach. Findings are discussed in terms of suggestions for reconsideration of treatment goals, improved interventions, and refinements in the assessment of self-regulatory behavior.

Some thoughts on correspondence between saying and doing.

Recent research on verbal-nonverbal correspondence is evaluated, and conceptual, methodological, and applied issues regarding correspondence are addressed. Directions for research concerning the correspondence training procedure and extended applications are suggested.

Correspondence training, prior verbal training, and control of nonverbal behavior via control of verbal behavior.

The role of prior verbal training in correspondence training and later verbal control of nonverbal behavior was examined in two groups of Head Start children. One group received correspondence training without prior verbal training, the other with. Essentially no differences were found between the two sequences; thus it seems appropriate to consider the content phases (reinforcement contingent on target verbalization alone) of previous research as control procedures and not a necessary precursor to correspondence training.