Whether it be for two hours or an entire day, millions of tweens – children ages 11 to 13 – will be left home alone this summer, despite their parents’ concerns that they may not have the knowledge and skills they need to stay safe at home.
According to a report released today by the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, many parents worry that their at-home tweens do not know how to safely use kitchen appliances, where to go to stay safe during a severe storm, or that they should not give out personal information online or over the phone. Yet, one in five parents polled say that they have left tweens home alone for an entire day. [continue reading…]
A group of Swiss investigators reports on a randomized controlled trial comparing psychotherapeutic strategies involving the mothers of obese children in the fourth 2008 issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
Parent-child treatments have been shown to be superior to child-focused treatments of childhood obesity. Yet until now, the comparative effectiveness of parent-only and parent-child approaches has been little studied. Fifty-six obese children and their families were randomly assigned to a 16-session cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the parents only or for a combined treatment of parents and children. Children’s percent overweight, the body mass index of their mothers, and behavioral and psychological problems of children and mothers were assessed. [continue reading…]
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A group of German investigators has published a study othe correlation between the inability to express emotions (alexithymia) and outcome in psychotherapy in the third 2008 issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
About 25% of all patients seeking psychotherapeutic treatment are considered to be alexithymic. Alexithymia has been assumed to be negatively associated with therapeutic outcome. On the other hand, it is unclear to which extent alexithymia itself may be modified by psychotherapeutic interventions. [continue reading…]
