BACKGROUND Few studies have examined observed maternal feeding behaviors and their potential association with child adiposity. The association between maternal prompting to eat and child adiposity has been inconsistent. OBJECTIVES This study sought to identify factors associated with maternal feeding behaviors and to test the hypothesis that more maternal prompts to eat, more assertive prompt...

BACKGROUND Although the model of assertive outreach has been widely adopted, it is unclear who receives assertive outreach in practice and what outcomes can be expected under routine conditions. AIMS To assess patient characteristics and outcome in routine assertive outreach services in the UK. METHOD Patients (n=580) were sampled from 24 assertive outreach teams in London. Outcomes--days s...

The present study compared the relative efficacy of comprehensive group coping skills training and supportive group therapy for enhancing cancer patients' adjustment to their disease. Forty-one cancer patients exhibiting a marked degree of psychosocial distress were randomized to one of three conditions: (a) group coping skills instruction, (b) support group therapy, and (c) no-treatment contro...

If the above sounds overly pessimistic it is because the question is phrased more or less as an absolute. Instead of asking if there are methods that can predict reliability accurately, it is perhaps more helpful to ask if there are methods that can improve reliability. Here we are on firmer ground. There are indeed generally accepted methods that can measurably improve software reliability. So...

BACKGROUND Many countries have over the last few years incorporated mental health assertive interventions in an attempt to address the repercussions of deinstitutionalization. Recent publications have failed to duplicate the positive outcomes reported initially which has cast doubt on the future of these interventions. We previously reported on 29 patients from a developing country who complete...

OBJECTIVE We assessed the efficacy and clinical utility of a new occupational time-use intervention, Action Over Inertia, designed to improve occupational balance and engagement among community-dwelling people with serious mental illness. METHOD Using a randomized controlled design, we assigned 24 participants to an intervention group or standard care group. Participants were community-dwelli...

Background Limited evidence suggests that Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams may in some cases be unnecessarily coercive. The study aimed to adapt or develop measures of client-perceived coerciveness, and of actual pressure or coercion, in an ACT setting. It also aimed to examine the association between these two constructs, as well as their associations with client sociodemographic and ...

BACKGROUND A number of recently published randomized controlled trials conducted in developed countries have reported no advantage for assertive interventions over standard care models. One possible explanation could be that so-called "standard care" has become more comprehensive in recent years, incorporating some of the salient aspects of assertive models in its modus operandi. Our study repr...

Assertive community treatment: keeping what works The excellent editorial by Rosen et al highlights the dilution of assertive community treatment (ACT) research in European settings, leading to a failure to demonstrate reductions in bed use in efficacy studies. Effectiveness studies in the UK have shown that ACT leads to reductions in bed use. Furthermore, our experience of 93 patients followed...