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Pediatric psychology
440
BOOK
REVIEWS
B. WEINER: An Attributional Theory of Mofiuafion and Emotion. Springer-Verlag. DM 98.
New York (1986). Pages xi t304.
This book, by a leading attribution theorist, is a summary statement of nearly 20 years of research, from its beginnings in the analysis of achievement behaviour to a recent concern with the antecedents of emotion. Weiner is explicit about the need for a theory of motivation to go beyond the pleasure-pain principle, to be concerned with conscious experience, including experience of the phenomenal self, and to include the full range of emotions such as anger, pity, guilt and shame. This has led him to focus on people’s disire to understand and master their environment through cognitive means, for which purpose causal ascriptions of events are an essential tool. His theory is now broad in scope, including task-related behaviour, affiliation and emotional experience. The evidence that individuals do attempt to explain their environment, the form these explanations take, and the emotional and behavioural consequences of different kinds of explanation, are all thoroughly explained and empirically justified in an entertaining but scholarly manner. For those who are interested in attribution theory, this book gives a great deal of useful source material and a summary of the state of the art. There is relatively little direct emphasis on clinical applications, other than a discussion of the relationship between attribution and depression. Nevertheless, as a general approach to understanding motivation and emotion, the book is very relevant to everyday clinical concerns. For example, Weiner would predict that criticism and hostility between family members (important components of Vaughn and Letf’s Expressed Emotion index) would arise from the attribution or misattribution of undesired behaviour to controllable causes. There are a number of other cognition-emotion links that suggest specific cognitive targets when attempting to modify dysfunctional emotions. At the beginning of the book Weiner quotes Confucius: “Better to attempt to light one small candle than to curse the darkness”. Attribution theory does seem to shed a useful light on some aspects of clinical practice. CHRIS BREWIN
MICHAEL ROBERTX Pediurric Psychology. Pergamon Press, New York (1986). 123 pages. S10.95 This short and practical introduction to the expanding subject of pediatric psychology is the latest in a series of guidebooks for psychological practitioners published in a Pergamon series under the editorship of Goldstein, Krasner and Garfield. The intention of the series is well served by this handy guide which includes chapters on consultations, assessment, acute and chronic physical disorders, developmental disorders, behavioural problems and psychosomatic disorders. It also contains a useful bibliography and reading list of non-technical books that can be recommended to parents. A good deal of the book is devoted to the problems that arise in collaborating with pediatricians who are usually working within a different schema, in which physical factors are of overwhelming importance. Judging from the amount of attention which Roberts devotes to this subject, some slight progress is being made in combining the knowledge and skills of the two professions, but there is a great deal still to be accomplished. Parts of the book read as a guide to diplomatic behaviour and how to proceed softly, softly. As in other branches of medical psychology, the subject of pain and how to construe this phenomenon is a sticking point, in which vestiges of the discredited specificity theory bump up against versions of the gate control theory. Interestingly, roughly half of out-patient services are devoted to well children. and the average duration of a pediatric consultation is 13 min. The book contains useful case-illustrations, but it is regrettable that pediatric psychology has not yet progressed to the point at which it is possible to give a more systematic account of the psychological construal of specific problems in which psychological elements feature prominently. The most disappointing aspect of the comparatively slow progress of pediatric psychology is that there are as yet comparatively few signs of a true integration of the knowledge and skills of developmental psychologists into a medical framework of services and theory. The need for such integration is evident from the pattern of case referrals; negative behaviour, developmental problems, and the management of chronic illnesses or handicaps, form the greatest part of the pediatric psychological services at the present time. It certainly is true, and most reassuring, that psychologists are able to provide help for many children with these types of problems, but far more can be done. Another useful feature of the book is the detailed list of treatment protocols; these include procedures for treating enconresis, tantrums, difficulties in swallowing, management of pain, treatment of fears, and so on. There is some repetition and minor errors (such as the statement that the reward procedures for treating encopresis were develoned bv Wrieht in 1973-this work was anticinated in 1963 at the Maudsley Hospital). In view of their effectiveness and wide applications, the procedures for dealing with non-compliant behaviour developed by Forehand and McMahon merit a fuller description than the single paragraph that is devoted to them. This is a useful addition to the series, and if all proceeds well, it will need to be revised within 5 years. S.
J. M. WARN: Soluenr Abuse-The f 17.95 hardback.
k4CHMAN
Adolescent Epidemic? Croom Helm, London (1986). Pages ix + 234. f8.95 paperback;
As stated by Dr Joyce Watson in the introduction, the aim of this book is to increase the understanding of solvent abuse. A basic premise is that effective prevention and treatment depend on knowledge and understanding. This is not an insular book of limited local interest although the author focuses on the history of the problem in the Strathclyde region of
BOOK
REVIEWS
B. WEINER: An Attributional Theory of Mofiuafion and Emotion. Springer-Verlag. DM 98.
New York (1986). Pages xi t304.
This book, by a leading attribution theorist, is a summary statement of nearly 20 years of research, from its beginnings in the analysis of achievement behaviour to a recent concern with the antecedents of emotion. Weiner is explicit about the need for a theory of motivation to go beyond the pleasure-pain principle, to be concerned with conscious experience, including experience of the phenomenal self, and to include the full range of emotions such as anger, pity, guilt and shame. This has led him to focus on people’s disire to understand and master their environment through cognitive means, for which purpose causal ascriptions of events are an essential tool. His theory is now broad in scope, including task-related behaviour, affiliation and emotional experience. The evidence that individuals do attempt to explain their environment, the form these explanations take, and the emotional and behavioural consequences of different kinds of explanation, are all thoroughly explained and empirically justified in an entertaining but scholarly manner. For those who are interested in attribution theory, this book gives a great deal of useful source material and a summary of the state of the art. There is relatively little direct emphasis on clinical applications, other than a discussion of the relationship between attribution and depression. Nevertheless, as a general approach to understanding motivation and emotion, the book is very relevant to everyday clinical concerns. For example, Weiner would predict that criticism and hostility between family members (important components of Vaughn and Letf’s Expressed Emotion index) would arise from the attribution or misattribution of undesired behaviour to controllable causes. There are a number of other cognition-emotion links that suggest specific cognitive targets when attempting to modify dysfunctional emotions. At the beginning of the book Weiner quotes Confucius: “Better to attempt to light one small candle than to curse the darkness”. Attribution theory does seem to shed a useful light on some aspects of clinical practice. CHRIS BREWIN
MICHAEL ROBERTX Pediurric Psychology. Pergamon Press, New York (1986). 123 pages. S10.95 This short and practical introduction to the expanding subject of pediatric psychology is the latest in a series of guidebooks for psychological practitioners published in a Pergamon series under the editorship of Goldstein, Krasner and Garfield. The intention of the series is well served by this handy guide which includes chapters on consultations, assessment, acute and chronic physical disorders, developmental disorders, behavioural problems and psychosomatic disorders. It also contains a useful bibliography and reading list of non-technical books that can be recommended to parents. A good deal of the book is devoted to the problems that arise in collaborating with pediatricians who are usually working within a different schema, in which physical factors are of overwhelming importance. Judging from the amount of attention which Roberts devotes to this subject, some slight progress is being made in combining the knowledge and skills of the two professions, but there is a great deal still to be accomplished. Parts of the book read as a guide to diplomatic behaviour and how to proceed softly, softly. As in other branches of medical psychology, the subject of pain and how to construe this phenomenon is a sticking point, in which vestiges of the discredited specificity theory bump up against versions of the gate control theory. Interestingly, roughly half of out-patient services are devoted to well children. and the average duration of a pediatric consultation is 13 min. The book contains useful case-illustrations, but it is regrettable that pediatric psychology has not yet progressed to the point at which it is possible to give a more systematic account of the psychological construal of specific problems in which psychological elements feature prominently. The most disappointing aspect of the comparatively slow progress of pediatric psychology is that there are as yet comparatively few signs of a true integration of the knowledge and skills of developmental psychologists into a medical framework of services and theory. The need for such integration is evident from the pattern of case referrals; negative behaviour, developmental problems, and the management of chronic illnesses or handicaps, form the greatest part of the pediatric psychological services at the present time. It certainly is true, and most reassuring, that psychologists are able to provide help for many children with these types of problems, but far more can be done. Another useful feature of the book is the detailed list of treatment protocols; these include procedures for treating enconresis, tantrums, difficulties in swallowing, management of pain, treatment of fears, and so on. There is some repetition and minor errors (such as the statement that the reward procedures for treating encopresis were develoned bv Wrieht in 1973-this work was anticinated in 1963 at the Maudsley Hospital). In view of their effectiveness and wide applications, the procedures for dealing with non-compliant behaviour developed by Forehand and McMahon merit a fuller description than the single paragraph that is devoted to them. This is a useful addition to the series, and if all proceeds well, it will need to be revised within 5 years. S.
J. M. WARN: Soluenr Abuse-The f 17.95 hardback.
k4CHMAN
Adolescent Epidemic? Croom Helm, London (1986). Pages ix + 234. f8.95 paperback;
As stated by Dr Joyce Watson in the introduction, the aim of this book is to increase the understanding of solvent abuse. A basic premise is that effective prevention and treatment depend on knowledge and understanding. This is not an insular book of limited local interest although the author focuses on the history of the problem in the Strathclyde region of