Uses recent findings in fear research to develop a paradigm for using and reducing levels of fear through outdoor adventure recreation. Includes tables showing components of fear in outdoor adventure activities, factor analysis of fears in outdoor environment, means of fear items, and fear modification techniques. (NEC)

Weight loss clinics based on scientific fact and containing diet therapy, exercise therapy, and behavior modification components can be effective vehicles for weight loss among the mildly to moderately obese. Health educators are called on to disseminate the information necessary to establish scientifically based criteria and program evaluation…

Suggests sociological method of group study, SYMLOG (Systematic Multiple Level Observation of Groups), as means for bringing elements of psychoanalytic and humanistic techniques into behavior therapy. Discusses numerous applications of SYMLOG. Sees SYMLOG as useful for both individual and group behavior therapy and as a way to facilitate social…

The article reports a multimodal treatment of nocturnal enuresis and anxious behavior in a mildly mentally retarded woman. Behavioral treatment and removal of caffeine from the subject's diet eliminated both nocturnal enuresis and anxious behavior. (Author/DB)

Discusses the use of group approaches when treating bulimia and outlines recommendations for more efficacious group treatment. Recommends a comprehensive approach to assessment and treatment. Notes that a cognitive-behavioral approach seems viable. (Author/ABB)

Ten guidelines for effective use of positive reinforcement as a parenting technique are described. Practical examples are used to illustrate such principles as consistency, immediacy, and specificity in giving praise. A distinction is made between giving reinforcement and giving love. (JW)

Provided a five-year follow-up of obese children who participated in a family-based behavioral weight control program targeting and reinforcing children and parents for weight loss. Children in the parent-plus-child group showed significantly greater weight reductions after five years than did children in control groups. (Author/ABB)

Reports follow-up evaluations of effectiveness of cognitive-behavior modification (CBM) and cognitive-behavior modification plus assertion training (CBM/AT) treatments in reducing Type A behavior among university faculty. CBM and CBM/AT groups continued to report significantly less Type A behavior, less speed and impatience. No differences were…

A brief positive practice overcorrection procedure produced an immediate reduction in head-banging episodes of a profoundly retarded adult. Long-term follow-up revealed that head-banging continued to occur, but mean weekly levels of episodes were still well below those recorded during the baseline period. (Author/CL)

An expanded assessment model examining physiological conditions, durational events, and behavioral histories is suggested as one way to understand the stimulus events controlling aggression of developmentally disabled persons. Implications for more effective treatment are considered. (CL)

An anger management procedure and a moral education intervention were added to Structured Learning, a prosocial skills training intervention for adolescents, to constitute a combined intervention package labeled Aggression Replacement Training. The package was tested with a sample of 60 adolescents. (Author/CH)

Students involved in systemic/behavioral intervention approaches in a behavior disorder program within a public school system demonstrated statistically significant gains in attendance, academic credits, and mainstreaming success compared to previous regular school records. Initial follow up data demonstrated more continued education, higher…

Examines whether therapist contact reinforces weight loss behaviors. Overweight clients (N=45) were assigned to conditions in which therapist contact was or was not contingent on weight loss. Weight loss was not affected by contingency, but clients who were seen contingent on not losing weight had the poorest results overall. (JAC)

Describes the roles of the counselor as a team member in working with cancer patients. Those roles vary from encouraging good health habits on the prevention and detection end of the continuum to active involvement with behavioral interventions during medical treatment on the opposite end of the continuum. (BL)

Presents a critical review of the studies that have applied behavioral techniques in the treatment of school phobia. Notes the conspicuous absences of any studies designed to assess either the relative efficacy of behavior therapy in comparison to other types of therapy or the different effects of various behavioral treatments. (JAC)