Background: This study adds to the body of evidence regarding the theoretical underpinnings of interpersonal psychotherapy and the mechanisms through which it impacts upon depression in adolescents. Aims: The aims were to determine whether the interpersonal constructs proposed to underpin interpersonal psychotherapy do indeed change in response to this therapy and whether such changes are associated with changes in depression in young people. Method: Thirty-nine adolescents, aged 13–19 years, with a primary diagnosis of major depressive disorder, were randomly assigned in blocks to group or individual treatment. Assessments were conducted at pre and posttreatment, and 12-month follow-up. Results: The results supported the hypotheses, with significant improvements in social skills, social functioning, and the quality of parent-adolescent relationships, and an increase in secure attachment style and decrease in insecure attachment style being evident following treatment. Benefits were maintained at 12-month follow-up. Adolescents who showed greater reductions in depressive symptoms over this period tended to also show greater improvement in parent reported social skills, quality of the parent-adolescent relationship, and attachment style from pretreatment to 12-month follow-up. Conclusions: The findings are consistent with the proposed underpinnings of interpersonal psychotherapy. Adolescents showed significant improvements in interpersonal functioning and changes in attachment style following treatment, and changes in social skills, parent-adolescent conflict and attachment style were associated with reductions in depression. As such, the results add to the body of knowledge regarding the construct validity of interpersonal psychotherapy as an intervention for depression in young people. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Background: The widening scope of cognitive therapy models and strategies poses a challenge for designing cognitive therapy training. What are the core skills to be learned? What do learners view as important to learn and what are the skills and knowledge they focus on? Aims: The present study describes the perceptions of CT trainees of both what is important and what is difficult to learn. We also analyse what the trainees focus on when evaluating their professional learning. In addition, we report on changes in self-assessed skills during the training. Method: Quantitative and qualitative data were collected after 2 years of training (n = 39) in three programmes and after the entire 4-year training in four programmes (n = 53). Results: Significant progress was reported in all domains of therapist skills, most clearly in cognitive and constructivist strategies. The trainees practised most those skills they considered important to be learned and, consequently, they also attained a higher level of mastery in these skills. The trainees’ learning orientation and foci of self-reflections remained relatively unchanged. They focused on technical and conceptual skills and knowledge, whereas interpersonal skills were peripheral in their self-reflection. Conclusions: Pedagogical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Social cognition and learning potential have been proposed as mediating variables between neurocognition and functional outcome in schizophrenia. The present study examined this relation in a schizophrenia group (N = 26) with normal IQ. Neurocognition was measured with a composite score from tests of verbal learning, psychomotor speed, and executive functioning. Functional outcome was defined as social problem-solving skills and assessed with a role-play test. Social cognition was indexed by tests of visual and auditory emotion perception; and learning potential by estimating a gain score using a triple administration of the WCST. Neurocognition was confirmed to be a strong predictor of social problem-solving, and emotion perception was related to both neurocognition and social problem-solving. When controlling for emotion perception, the association between neurocognition and social problem-solving was weakened, implying a mediating role of emotion perception. Learning potential was not significantly related to neurocognition or social problem-solving, and thus not found to mediate the studied relation. In conclusion, our study indicates that emotion perception is a mediator between neurocognition and functional outcome as assessed with a social problem-solving task and thus a key factor in understanding functional outcome of schizophrenia. (JINS, 2008, 14, 279–288.)

This paper identifies some of the key questions that researchers should address in relation to community nursing practice in the UK. The paper begins with a brief overview of the nature and impact of change within the UK health service and the way this has impacted on community nursing. It argues that the nature and scale of such change means that it is important to investigate any resultant threats to the safety of patients and clients, to the quality of their care and to the capacity of the service to meet health care needs. However given the difficulties associated with identifying links between the quality of care and policy driven change, the author argues that a more appropriate approach would be to focus on investigating the effectiveness of practice and seeking explanations for variation in practice. The paper makes reference to the complex knowledge base used in community nursing practice and acknowledges the challenges for nurses in internalising messages from the social science disciplines in order to strive to achieve effective practice. Drawing on some current research studies the author then highlights the importance of developing a better understanding of the interpersonal skills used in practice. The author then moves on to consider wider issues of practice including delegation, supervision and teamwork, arguing that insufficient attention has been paid to effectiveness in these domains. In concluding, the author makes the case that questions should be pursued in all these areas with a focus on exploring variation in practice so that a broader more theoretically based understanding of what is effective in practice can be achieved.