The purpose of this paper is to compare the ways in which perceived and actual social support affect the mental health of gay men, straight or bisexual men, and women living with HIV/AIDS. Participants included 125 women and 232 men with an HIV-positive or AIDS diagnosis involved in three larger investigations of HIV, disclosure and mental health. Results suggest each sub-group experienced perceived social support as significantly predictive of better mental health while the effect of actual social support was minimal.

In the past few years, members of the AAMFT, like members of other professional groups, have engaged in a discourse as to the necessity and effectiveness of sexual reorientation therapies. The purpose of this article is to review, critique, and synthesize the scientific rigor of the literature base underpinning sexual reorientation therapy research. Using a systematic narrative analysis approach, 28 empirically based, peer-reviewed articles meeting eligibility criteria were coded for sample characteristics and demographics as well as numerous methodology descriptors. Results indicate the literature base is full of omissions which threaten the validity of interpreting available data.

The study uses 457 clients to investigate the impact of initial client factors on the development of therapeutic alliance. Data were collected longitudinally over the early portion of treatment. Cases included both individual and couple clients, allowing for examination of differences by case type. The study used the Working Alliance Inventory-Shortened Version (Tracey & Kokotovic, 1989) to measure therapeutic alliance. Initial factors considered included age, differentiation levels, prior stress, and depression. Couple clients showed differences from individual clients, and the variability prompted further investigation into relationship satisfaction and commitment as factors influencing the development of therapeutic alliance. Results highlight the increased complexity of developing an alliance with couples, and recommendations are provided for clinicians.

Therapeutic alliance research in couple therapy using multiple perspectives and longitudinal data has been sparse. This study used structural equation modelling to explore relationships between changes in alliance and in progress from clients' and therapists' perspective in a fairly large sample of couples (N 5 195) during the initial stage of therapy at an oncampus training clinic. Self-rated alliance was measured after sessions 2 through 4 with the Working Alliance Inventory. There was very little change in alliance over the early sessions of therapy, and changes in alliance did not always account for changes in relationship satisfaction. Husbands' perceptions of satisfaction and alliance seem to play an important role in the dynamics of the therapeutic process. Findings suggest a reciprocal relationship between perceptions of alliance and progress in therapy when combining perceptions of therapists and couple clients. Clinical implications and future research are discussed.

Background African American men (AAM) are underrepresented in prostate cancer (PCa) research despite known disparities. Screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has low specificity for high-grade PCa leading to PCa over diagnosis. The Prostate Health Index (PHI) has higher specificity for lethal PCa but needs validation in AAM. Engaging AAM as citizen scientists (CSs) may improve participation of AAM in PCa research. Objectives Assess feasibility of mobilizing CSs to recruit AAM as controls for PHI PCa validation biomarker study. Methods We highlight social networks/assets of stakeholders, CSs curriculum development/implementation, and recruitment of healthy controls for PHI validation. Results and Lessons Learned Eight CSs completed all training modules and 139 AAM were recruited. Challenges included equity in research leadership among multiple principal investigators (PIs) and coordinating CSs trainings. Conclusions Engaging AAM CSs can support engaging/recruiting AAM in PCa biomarker validation research. Equity among multiple stakeholders can be challenging, but proves beneficial in engaging AAM in research.

Research concerning therapeutic alliance and outcome is prevalent but relies heavily on data from individual treatment. In this article, the authors present data from cases in which an individual was seen and cases in which a couple was seen in order to investigate differences in therapeutic alliance and its trajectory depending on case type, therapist experience, and therapist sex. Participants included 96 couples and 52 individuals with 15 therapists from a large Midwestern training clinic for couple and family therapy. Data include the use of the Working Alliance Inventory-Shortened Version, and three-level models were estimated using hierarchical linear modeling. The results highlight differences in the trajectories of individual and couple clients' therapeutic alliance, including evidence for a curvilinear trend in work scores for individual clients but not couple clients. The results also highlight differences in the sources of variation for couple cases versus individual cases. There is clearly complexity in the building of alliance with clients in general, and even more so with couple clients.

Methods and findings from the ¡Hazlo Bien! participatory needs assessment are likely to be useful to those designing health promotion programs in quickly growing Latino communities where there are limited health services and few existing social support networks.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether HIV-positive women experience regret as a consequence of disclosing their HIV serostatus. Participants for this study were 73 HIV-positive women involved in a longitudinal study of HIV disclosure. Results revealed that overall, participants experienced little regret. Fifty nine percent of women experienced no regret and 71% had regret percentages that were less than 10%. Results indicated that all estimated odds ratios were not statistically significant, with the exception of relationship satisfaction and relationship to participant.