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The importance of cross-cultural validity, equivalence, and bias when engaged in cross-cultural and cultural activities (e.g., research, practice, training, supervision, consultation, teaching) are discussed. Two new forms of equivalence (Theory; Intervention) and bias (Theory; Intervention) also are introduced, as is an adaptation of the Systematic Test of Equivalence Procedure (STEP; Gerstein, L.H. 2018 (See CR14). Systematic test of equivalence procedure: New method to investigate cross-cultural validity. Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala, 62, 278-293), which was originally created to enhance equivalence and reduce bias when conducting cross-cultural or cultural studies. Assuming future research supports the validity and relevance of the modified STEP approach, this strategy could offer researchers, clinicians, and others a tool to examine theory and intervention equivalence and bias in their professional activities. Recommendations for conducting projects to investigate the validity of employing STEP when examining the equivalence or bias of existing and future theories and intervention strategies are presented as well., Author(s): Lawrence H. Gerstein [sup.1] [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.252754.3, 0000 0001 2111 9017, College of Health, Ball State University, , Room 449, Muncie, IN, USA (2) Department of Counseling [...]

We developed the Beliefs and Evaluations About Counseling Services (BEACS) scale by incorporating a mathematical formula adopted from the Theory of Reasoned Action. We conducted three studies using distinctive samples for item generation, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and obtained the validity evidence for scores from the scale.

Guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory, this study investigated the future perceptions of Hong Kong female university students. Fifty-eight students completed a semi-structured questionnaire to better understand their beliefs, hopes, and visions about their future. The thematic analysis performed yielded 10 major future life themes in the participants' responses: (a) work, (b) family, (c) roles and responsibilities, (d) romantic relationships, (e) values, (f) living situation, (g) quality of life, (h) status of education, (i) personal interests and hobbies, (j) finance, and (k) friendship. Findings from this study provide novel information on Hong Kong women's future perceptions that may help career counsellors when constructing client goals and tasks aimed at exploring and fulfilling their future perceptions.

Employing the Hong Kong Teenage Nonviolence Test, this study investigated 120 Hong Kong adolescents' endorsement of various conflict resolution strategies as a function of gender and type of aggression. Results revealed all participants endorsed a moderately high level of using Empathy and Satyagraha (insistence on the truth) when faced with conflict. Moreover, the reactive-proactive aggressive youth reported a moderate degree of utilizing Physical-Psychological Violence to resolve conflict, while reactive aggressors and non-aggressors revealed a minimal amount of using this strategy. Additional studies are needed to further explore the relationship between aggression and various conflict resolution strategies. The findings can inform mental health professionals interested in designing programs to promote or reinforce protective or buffering factors (e.g., conflict resolution strategies) linked with proactive and reactive aggression., Author(s): Lawrence H. Gerstein [sup.1] , Ashley Hutchison [sup.2] , Yuichung Chan [sup.2] , Annis Lai-Chu Fung [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.252754.3, 0000 0001 2111 9017, Center for Peace and [...]

The authors investigated counselor trainees' knowledge and perceptions of cultural display rules (CDRs). CDRs are social norms that modify people's emotional expression. Forty-one master's-level counselor trainees from multiple universities completed an online questionnaire about CDRs and counseling experiences. Using thematic analysis (Boyatzis, 1998), the authors identified themes representing trainees' understanding of CDRs and their impact on counseling, observations of types of CDRs (e.g., restriction, amplification), interpretations of CDRs, and training in CDRs.

This study utilized a hierarchical regression model to explore the relationship between reactive aggression, forms of peer victimization, and authoritarian parenting styles. Participants included 1,021 Hong Kong youth and their parents (N = 1,021), drawn from ten primary schools throughout the municipality. Children completed the Reactive and Proactive Aggression Questionnaire and the Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale, while parents completed the Parental Styles Dimensions Questionnaire. Results indicated that authoritarian parenting, parental use of verbal hostility, verbal victimization by peers, social manipulation, and attacks on property by peers, all significantly contributed to the variance in reactive aggression. Conversely, physical attacks by peers, physical coercion by parents, and non-reasoning parenting styles were not found to significantly contribute to the regression model. Additionally, gender was found to predict reactive aggression with boys reporting higher scores than girls. The implications of these findings for future research, as well as the limitations of this study are discussed.

The current study investigated the content of future perceptions among 47 U.S. women and 48 Israeli women. Thematic analysis was used to explore participants' qualitative responses. Women's responses covered a wide range of topics, and were categorized into ten key themes: (a) work, (b) family/relationships, (c) property, (d) residence, (e) education, (f) general quality of life, (g) leisure, (h) pro-social activities, (i) multiple role management, and (j) religion. Results demonstrated the role of nationality in the process of exploration and future perceptions. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

We used systems theory with the structural, attitudinal, and transactional (SAT) model of peace building to explore coaches' process and content of change after receiving sport for development and peace (SDP) training in Tajikistan. Six Tajik grassroots youth coaches from the Sport for Social Change Tajikistan (SSC-T) program participated in data collection over a four-year span. A longitudinal participatory approach utilizing interviews, journals, and guided discussion was analyzed using content analysis. Data indicated that in early stages of the program, micro-attitudinal changes were being made by the participants, with more transactional changes over time with a hint of structural, macro-level changes in the schools and community at the four-year mark. More specifically, we identified five themes across time: (1) girls' involvement, (2) positive coaching approaches, (3) incorporation of peaceful living skills, (4) cultural awareness, and (5) collaboration and community impact. Results revealed that over time participants moved from micro-level individual change to more structural level change in local Tajik communities; thus, providing evidence for the SAT model of peace building as a framework (Ricigliano, 2012. Making peace last: A toolbox for sustainable peacebuilding. Routledge). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Teenage Nonviolence Test (TNT) appears to be a useful tool when assessing nonviolent strategies employed by adolescents. While research has established the TNT's psychometric properties in the United States, no studies have explored these properties elsewhere. This study, therefore, investigated the initial validity of the TNT's factor structure and items among Hong Kong youth to determine its cross-cultural validity. Responses to the TNT were gathered from three samples of Hong Kong youth (ages 11 to 18) and subjected to principal components and confirmatory factor analyses. Results revealed the three-factor TNT solution (i.e., Physical and Psychological Violence; Empathy; Satyagraha) reported in the United States was supported, along with two additional but non-interpretable dimensions unique to Hong Kong. In general, the findings suggest preliminary evidence for the TNT's cross-cultural validity with Hong Kong adolescents. Implications for research and psycho-educational programs to teach Hong Kong youth conflict resolution strategies are offered., Author(s): Lawrence H. Gerstein [sup.1] , Yuichung Chan [sup.2] , Ashley Hutchison [sup.3] , Annis Lai-Chu Fung [sup.4] , Rebecca Kinsey [sup.2] , Heather Jeffers [sup.5] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 [...]

One hundred and thirty one parents/guardians of primary school students in Hong Kong participated in the current study designed to assess whether a negative problem solving orientation (NPO) mediates the relationship between hypercompetitiveness and distress. Individuals high in hypercompetitiveness were expected to experience more distress, and this experience was thought to occur through the utilization of a NPO. Participants completed the Hypercompetitive Attitude Scale, the Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised, and the K10. Results of a mediation regression analysis supported the hypotheses. Specifically, individuals high as compared to low in hypercompetitiveness endorsed more distress. Further, consistent with previous research, a partial mediational role of a NPO on the relationship between hypercompetitiveness and distress was discovered. As predicted, the relationship between hypercompetitiveness and distress, though still significant, was weakened after entering responses to the NPO subscale into the mediational model. The type of social problem solving orientation (e.g., NPO) the hypercompetitive participants identified with contributed to their level of distress. The findings suggest psychologists may help hypercompetitive clients identify more adaptive ways to problem solve to reduce their distress., Author(s): Jacob Yuichung Chan [sup.1] , Lawrence H. Gerstein [sup.1] , Rebecca Kinsey [sup.1] , Annis L. Fung [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) Ball State University, Department of Counseling Psychology, Social [...]

The purpose of this study was to gather more information about the process of internationalization in U.S. counseling psychology programs. Participants included 26 training directors and 83 doctoral students, representing 32 of the 63 APA-accredited counseling psychology programs. Results suggested that the presence of international training opportunities did not increase from 2007 to 2010, with the exception that internationalism was increasingly being incorporated into the definition of multiculturalism. Results also suggested that in several areas, training directors and doctoral students differed in their knowledge of whether international training opportunities were present in their programs, and the degree to which they believed such opportunities were integrated. Finally, results suggested that respondents' attitudes were generally favorable toward internationalization. The implications for counseling psychology training programs as well as recommendations for improving internationalization efforts are discussed.

Research on aggression in the West has focused mainly on the dichotomy between proactive and reactive aggression, but not the co-occurring proactive-reactive aggression subtype, despite its prevalence. The authors investigated the differences in psychological and behavioral correlates among proactive, reactive, and proactive-reactive student aggressors and nonaggressors in Hong Kong, China, based on their scores on the Reactive and Proactive Aggression Questionnaire. Participants were 1,356 secondary school students (805 males and 551 females, aged 11 to 18 years). A one-way multivariate analysis of covariance was conducted to examine group differences in aggression, attention deficits, anxiety/depression, and delinquency. Results showed that proactive-reactive aggressors were significantly more aggressive, less attentive, more anxious/depressed, and more engaged in delinquent behaviors. Reactive and proactive aggressors did not differ in three of these four behaviors. Implications for research and practice when working with proactive-reactive aggressors are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

Counseling psychologists have responded to many disasters, including the Haiti earthquake, the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, and Hurricane Katrina. However, as a profession, their responses have been localized and nonsystematic. In this first of four articles in this contribution, "Counseling Psychology and Large-Scale Disasters, Catastrophes, and Traumas: Opportunities for Growth," the authors assert that counseling psychology can make important contributions in disaster research and response. Throughout all the articles, the authors use Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model of human development as a foundation from which to more broadly view counseling psychology's role in training, prevention, intervention, and research in mass trauma work. Disasters affect individuals, families, communities, work places, and disaster responders. Thus, they require a multisystem analysis and response, which counseling psychologists can provide through their scientist-practitioner, strength-based approaches, supported by social justice values based in multicultural and vocational counseling. The authors also provide the history of the Society of Counseling Psychology's response to disasters following Hurricane Katrina, from which the need for this contribution arose.

The International Forum (IF) has been a feature of the "The Counseling Psychologist" for two decades. The current coeditors of the IF offer their observations about why a manuscript might have been rejected in the past, offer suggestions on how to increase a document's potential for being published, and discuss new features of this forum. They also invite authors to contribute articles to the IF on a host of specific topics.

Recommendations are offered for training counseling students to address international issues. The authors discuss, for instance, the importance of learning about cultures outside the United States, the role of bias in international work, the dangers of implementing mental health delivery systems based on models derived in the United States, how to broaden one's research methodology, and the role of social change. Through this article, the authors hope to inspire counseling social change agents to consider the practice of counseling beyond the borders of the United States.

The Great Lakes Regional Conference on Counseling Psychology is the only conference to continuously fulfill the 1987 mandate issued by Division 17 for regional counseling conferences. The rationale for regional conferences is reviewed, and the 18-year history of the Great Lakes Regional Conference is examined. The authors conclude by noting the strengths and limitations of regional conferences and recommend that the Society of Counseling Psychology reconsider the issue of regional conferences in counseling psychology. (Contains 2 tables.)

A positive psychology framework is consistent with counseling psychology's historic claim of focusing on strengths and optimal human functioning. The major articles in this issue of The Counseling Psychologist introduced many innovative, provocative, pragmatic, and useful ideas, strategies, and models related to this framework. For the most part, these articles failed, however, to integrate cultural factors, developmental concepts and interventions, and other strategies (e.g., social justice, psycho-education, prevention, program development, consultation) in their discussion of paradigms grounded in positive psychology. The current author discusses this omission and critiques the positive psychology framework described in these articles. The author presents a few steps to overcome the obstacles hindering the genuine implementation of a strength-based, developmental paradigm of counseling as well.

This research investigated whether emotion regulation can be determined by one's desired affective state (i.e., ideal affect). Study 1 explored whether ideal affect could explain differences in two emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) between cultural groups (European Americans vs. Hong Kong Chinese; N = 300). Results revealed that ideal high arousal positive states correlated positively with cognitive reappraisal. Study 2 further tested the causal impact of ideal affect on emotion regulation (N = 101). To manipulate their ideal low/high arousal positive states, participants were randomly assigned to either a 'peaceful meeting' or an 'exciting party' condition. The participants' strategies to regulate negative emotions were assessed. Results showed that, regardless of cultural background, participants in the party condition employed more cognitive reappraisal than those in the meeting condition. These findings indicated that what we want to feel partly determines how we regulate our emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authors tried to determine if three popular intimacy measures assess four components of intimacy (love and affection, personal validation, trust, self disclosure), and if women and men differ in their experiences of intimacy. Analyses supported the four specific components; results corroborated that women and men did vary in their experiences of intimacy. (Contains 40 references, 2 tables, and 1 figure.) (ADT)

A model proposing that causality and work salience moderate the influence of gender, educational level, and socioeconomic status on career maturity was tested with 288 African-American students. Work salience had the strongest direct effect on career maturity. For these students home/family had higher salience than did work. (SK)

Reviews literature on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) racial bias since 1977. Research indicates cases in which racial bias is present and cases where it is not. Anticipates the onslaught of research on racial bias with the MMPI-2 and provides recommendations to researchers and mental-health counselors. (RJM)

Investigated willingness of 86 hypothetical supervisors (86 students enrolled in graduate-level business classes) to refer subordinates with 5 types of problems (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, human immunodeficiency virus-positive status, alcohol abuse, cocaine abuse, job impairment) to Employee Assistance Programs. More severe worker's problem, more likely supervisors were to refer. (Author/NB)

Discusses contribution of Bystander-Equity Model of Supervisory Helping Behavior to pursuit of employee assistance program (EAP) research based on traditions of field of counseling. Offers structure for pursuing empirical and applied activities in EAP settings. Encourages counseling researchers and practitioners to respond to challenge of working more closely with EAPs. (Author/NB)

Examined relationship between ethnicity and supervisors' Employee Assistance Program referrals in Black (n=64) and White (n=116) employees. Results indicated Blacks and Whites differed in beliefs about behavioral characteristics of troubled employees. Managers were more aware of behavior of impaired workers than were the workers. (ABL)

Presents history and development of counselor credentialing, including dimensions of standards, accreditation, certification, and licensure. Analyzes unresolved issues critical to the success of interprofessional collaboration. Offers predictions for future of nonmedical health professions. (Author/ABL)

This study examined the connection between parental perceptions about their children's reactive and proactive aggression, parenting styles, parent-child communication, and parental distress. A total of 1,485 Hong Kong parents and guardians with children 8 to 17 years old completed the Reactive and Proactive Aggression Questionnaire, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, Adjective Checklist, and Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire. When reactive and proactive aggression responses were used to predict parental distress, a significant regression model was obtained with both predictors making a contribution. A significant model also was discovered when parenting styles and parent-child communication were used to predict parental distress. Authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting contributed significantly to this model. One final regression was performed with the significant predictors from the two previous equations. This model was significant, with reactive and proactive aggression, and authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles making significant contributions. Practice and research implications are briefly discussed. Keywords Aggression * Children * Parenting styles * Parental distress * Hong Kong, Individuals experience a host of stressors in their roles as parents that may contribute to high levels of distress (Creasey and Reese 1996; Haskett et al. 2006). It has been [...]

Concerns about the cross-cultural validity of constructs are discussed, including equivalence, bias, and translation procedures. Methods to enhance equivalence are described, as are strategies to evaluate and minimize types of bias. Recommendations for translating instruments are also presented. To illustrate some challenges of cross-cultural counseling research, translation procedures employed in studies published in five counseling journals are evaluated. In 15 of 615 empirical articles, a translation of instruments was performed. In 9 studies, there was some effort to enhance and evaluate equivalence between language versions of the measures employed. In contrast, 2 studies did not report using thorough translation and verification procedures, and 4 studies employed a moderate degree of rigorousness. Suggestions for strengthening translation methodologies and enhancing the rigor of cross-cultural counseling research are provided. To conduct cross-culturally valid research and deliver culturally appropriate services, counseling psychologists must generate and rely on methodologically sound cross-cultural studies. This article provides a schema for performing such studies.

The International Forum (IF) has been a feature of the The Counseling Psychologist for two decades. The current coeditors of the IF offer their observations about why a manuscript might have been rejected in the past, offer suggestions on how to increase a document's potential for being published, and discuss new features of this forum. They also invite authors to contribute articles to the IF on a host of specific topics.

This study compared counseling expectations of Icelandic and U.S. college students, investigated counseling expectations as a function of sex, and explored the relationship between counseling expectations and Holland's typology. It was discovered that the Icelandic students expected greater expertise from the counselor than did the U.S. students and the U.S. students expected the counseling conditions to be more facilitative than did the Icelandic students. Also, women, as compared with men, expected counseling to be more facilitative of change and expected to be more personally committed to the counseling process, whereas men expected more counselor expertise. A canonical correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between counseling expectations and Holland's Social and Realistic personality types for the U.S. students and Holland's Social type for the Icelandic students. Keywords: counseling expectations; expectations about counseling questionnaire; EAC-B; Icelandic college students; Holland's typology