Studies examining the musical mood induction procedure (MMIP) currently typically involve the experimenter preselecting a piece of music for use with all subjects. This assumes that the same piece of music will be equally effective at eliciting low mood for all subjects. The validity of this assumption was evaluated among 12 bulimic and 12 control women. Subjects listened to seven preselected pieces of music and rated them according to how likely it would be that the piece of music would help them to lower their mood / feel sad. Analysis showed that subjects were highly individual in their responses, and that it could not be assumed that the same piece of music would be equally effective at eliciting low mood across subjects.

This selective review shows that childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a serious condition that requires early identification and treatment. Initially, we examine the relationship of childhood rituals to OCD, and discuss recent findings on the epidemiology of childhood OCD. The DSM-IV criteria for OCD are presented, along with recent findings on psychopathology. Clinical management of childhood OCD is a challenging and difficult task for mental health professionals. We briefly describe and evaluate advances in behavioural treatment — mainly in vivo exposure and response prevention. The adjunctive use of antidepressant medication is also examined. Whilst these clinical innovations are promising, further controlled evaluations are necessary before the efficacy of behavioural intervention can be confidently asserted.

In 1990 a number of regionally based Behaviour Intervention Support Teams (BISTs) were established in Victoria to assist agencies providing support to persons with an intellectual disability who exhibited challenging behaviour. A primary function of the BISTs was to conduct intensive interventions for clients with severe challenging behaviours. A cost-benefit analysis of these interventions was carried out. It was found that the existence of a severe challenging behaviour resulted in an additional cost to the service system of an average $40,510 per annum. In contrast, the cost of a single intensive intervention conducted by a BIST was $5,725. Allowing for the fact that not all intensive interventions were successful, it was still concluded that the interventions conducted by the BISTs were cost efficient. Methodological difficulties associated with the cost-benefit analysis are discussed.

Self-management techniques have been shown to be less labour intensive than other intervention procedures and to produce changes in behaviour that endure. Autistic children have been successfully taught to use self-management techniques across a variety of settings. The present study used an AB design with a follow-up to assess whether self-monitoring could be successfully employed to reduce inappropriate questioning behaviour in a high-functioning autistic adolescent. Results show that self-monitoring was associated with a reduction in questioning behaviour and a qualitative change in the questions asked. These findings are discussed in relation to their possible implications for the successful integration of autistic children into the mainstream.

Prior research has indicated that people with an intellectual disability experience higher levels of negative affect, including anxiety and fearfulness, than people who are not disabled. This is important because research has also suggested a negative relationship between emotional distress and adaptive behaviour, albeit in nondisabled populations. The present study investigates the relationships between fear, anxiety, and adaptive behaviour in children and adolescents with an intellectual disability as compared to youth of average intelligence. A sample ranging in age from 7 to 18 years participated in the study. Fifty-one respondents (30 male, 21 female) constituted the intellectually disabled sample, and 57 (28 male, 29 female) constituted the comparison group. Analysis revealed higher levels of fear and anxiety among the group with disabilities. An inverse relationship was also found between negative affect and adaptive behaviour among the youth with disabilities, but not for youth of average intelligence. The results are discussed in relation to their implications for intervention programs.

A chronic case of insomnia treated by paradoxical intention is reported. All previous attempts at treatment, including progressive muscle relaxation, had failed. When a behavioural analysis was conducted and treatment was selected according to the analysis, full recovery resulted and was maintained through long follow-up. The case study illustrates a clinically useful way to choose the treatment technique when many techniques exist to treat a presenting problem.