This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 18 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) ways of conceptualizing and evaluating group discussion; (2) participant observations of communication themes in families facing death; (3) perceptions of power orientations and communicator characteristics; (4) control in the consultant-consultee dyad; (5) the effect of conflict expression styles on quality of outcome and satisfaction in small, task-oriented groups; (6) interpersonal communication through the mass media; (7) client satisfaction and control in the initial attorney-client interview; (8) problem solving constructions in social negotiations; (9) nonverbal components of first impression formation in cross-cultural counseling; (10) the formation of social relationships; (11) verbal and nonverbal aspects of intercultural group conversation; and (12) the relationship between family communication, self-concept and academic achievement of adolescents in Malaysian schools. (FL)