Individuals with intellectual disabilities commonly engage in a variety of problematic behaviours such as aggression and self-injury. This paper discusses the value of using a communicative model to study these behaviour problems. First, the reciprocal nature of behaviour problems is outlined. Next, research on the use of functional communication training as a treatment for behaviour problems is reviewed in terms of its initial effectiveness, generalisation, and maintenance, as well as the mechanisms responsible for behaviour change. Finally, recommendations are made for future research and training efforts aimed at reducing severe behaviour problems.

Constructions of the experiential sources of anger, both in ordinary language accounts and in scientific studies, are characterised by a proximity bias. Anger is commonly represented as being due to acute, proximate occurrences. However, anger can be alternatively understood to be a product of contextual conditions, which may involve distal or ambient determinants. The themes of embeddedness, interrelatedness, and transformationality, derived from the contextual perspective of Stokols in environmental psychology, are presented for the understanding of anger as pertinent to clinical concerns and as heuristics for anger management interventions.

The traumatic stress field has expanded dramatically over the last 10 years. This paper provides a review of progress in three areas from the domain of posttraumatic stress responses. First, recent developments in diagnosis are discussed, with particular reference to the proposed diagnostic criteria for DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition; American Psychiatric Association, in press). Second, a theoretical formulation based on cognitive processing principles is presented and, where available, empirical support for such a conceptualisation is provided. Third, the implications of a cognitive processing paradigm for treatment are discussed briefly, with reference to recent research findings. Suggestions for future development of the field are provided.

Individuals with chronic pain differ markedly in their physical and psychological adjustment to the pain condition. Many factors influence this adjustment process, and the nature and severity of the physical injury or illness and the degree of pain experienced cannot account fully for the impact of chronic pain. A variety of other psycho-social factors are involved, including the individual's attitudes and beliefs about his or her condition, coping skills, operant reinforcement factors, avoidance learning, and psychophysiological variables. Intervention programs that are designed to facilitate positive adjustment to chronic pain need to consider these biological, psychological, and social factors within an integrated framework. Cognitive therapy has a significant role to play in this process, in order to tackle maladaptive cognitive factors that interfere with adjustment. Evidence concerning attitudes and beliefs relevant to the pain condition and their relationship with the use of coping skills and response to pain, is reviewed.

This study examines the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioural program for recurrent headaches which was first implemented with an 8-year-old boy suffering from headaches. The child was subsequently trained to implement the same intervention with his father who also suffered from headaches. The treatment involved pain management skills, such as relaxation training, imagery, positive self-talk, and distraction techniques. In addition, a parent contingency management component involving the mother was employed. The treatment intervention was sequentially introduced to the child and father in a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline across-subjects design. Headache diaries and self-report measures were completed by both clients. From pre- to posttreatment there was respectively a 92.5% and 86.7% improvement in headache frequency, a 67% and 85% improvement in mean headache intensity and a 89.44% and 28% improvement in headache duration. Three-month follow-up data showed that both subjects had 100% improvement rates on all headache measures. The results highlight that some children can successfully teach their parents pain management skills. Possible implications of the results for the treatment of families, where multiple family members suffer from pain, are discussed.

Four sexually abused girls participated in a 12-session group training program focused on improving interpersonal problems identified by the girls' teachers. Prior to and following the intervention, the girls underwent role-play assessment of their behaviour in relevant social situations with peers and teachers, and completed a self-report measures of perceived self-concept. For two of the girls, teachers completed checklists of their behavioural functioning before and after the intervention. On the role-play measure, the girls showed improvement on all of the trained behaviours (with peers and teachers), and evidenced behavioural improvements on untrained (generalisation) scenes. In addition, the girls reported improvements in perceived academic competence, peer functioning, appearance, and global self-concept following the training program. The study provides an example of a behavioural skills-training approach to address interpersonal deficits that may be shown by sexually abused children.