The Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) was developed as a clinical rating scale to assess four domains of clinical performance and capacity in HD: motor function, cognitive function, behavioral abnormalities, and functional capacity. We assessed the internal consistency and the intercorrelations for the four domains and examined changes in ratings over time. We also performed an interrater reliability study of the motor assessment. We found there was a high degree of internal consistency within each of the domains of the UHDRS and that there were significant intercorrelations between the domains of the UHDRS, with the exception of the total behavioral score. There was an excellent degree of interrater reliability for the motor scores. Our limited longitudinal database indicates that the UHDRS may be useful for tracking changes in the clinical features of HD over time. The UHDRS assesses relevant clinical features of HD and appears to be appropriate for repeated administration during clinical studies.

The authors report on the development and initial validation of two brief measures of children’s posttraumatic symptoms: a child self-report and a parent report. Intended applications include postdisaster screening, tracking children’s recovery in research and clinical settings, and screening for posttraumatic stress among children with various presenting problems. A sample of 206 urban and rural schoolchildren, Grades 3 through 8, and their parents, completed these measures as well as a checklist of the child’s trauma-loss history. Findings provide preliminary support for the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, content validity, and criterion validity of each measure. We recommend cautious use of the measures, and suggest additional avenues of study.

Fourteen randomly assigned Iranian girls ages 12-13 years who had been sexually abused received up to 12 sessions of CBT or EMDR treatment. Assessment of post-traumatic stress symptoms and problem behaviours was completed at pre-treatment and 2 weeks post-treatment. Both treatments showed large effect sizes on the posttraumatic symptom outcomes, and a medium effect size on the behaviour outcome, all statistically significant. A non-significant trend on self-reported post-traumatic stress symptoms favoured EMDR over CBT. Treatment efficiency was calculated by dividing change scores by number of sessions; EMDR was significantly more efficient, with large effect sizes on each outcome. Limitations include small N, single therapist for each treatment condition, no independent verification of treatment fidelity, and no long-term follow-up. These findings suggest that both CBT and EMDR can help girls to recover from the effects of sexual abuse, and that structured trauma treatments can be applied to children in Iran.

This study represents the first attempt to directly compare two common methods of providing spouse abuse intervention, group treatment of couples, or gender-specific groups. Forty-nine couples were randomly assigned to one of the two treatments. Of these, data were available at posttest on only 42 couples because of attrition of the victimized spouses. A multiple analysis of covariance at posttest demonstrated that for the majority of abusers it did not matter which treatment was used. However, for those with a history of alcohol abuse, the couples approach was clearly superior. Analysis of victims' reports at a 6-month follow-up suggests that neither treatment approach was more effective in sustaining initial treatment gains over time. Finally, the issue of victim safety was addressed. Qualitative assessment of weekly reporting sheets suggests that women who received the couples group intervention were in no more danger than those receiving treatment in the gender-specific groups.

Objective: A national online survey assessed the views of 973 faculty members in master of social work programs regarding their receptivity toward, definition of, and views of disparate sources of evidence pertinent to evidence-based practice (EBP) and the teaching of EBP. Method: Due to Internet-related technical difficulties, the response rate could not be precisely determined; however, it was at least 33% and conceivably much higher. Results: Although the large majority (73%) of respondents expressed a favorable view toward EBP, disparities are identified among respondents in both the definition of EBP and views regarding the EBP research hierarchy. Conclusion: Efforts appear to be needed to increase agreement regarding the definition and conceptualization of EBP among educators, with special attention to divergent views regarding what constitutes sufficient evidence to guide practice decisions or to convey that an intervention is evidence-based.