The purpose of the present study was to examine effects of an intervention for assessment that used extinction (EXT) and differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO). The participant was an elementary school boy with autism and problem behaviors directed at a sibling. Functional assessment (Motivation Assessment Scale, interviews with the parents, and direct observation) was conducted. The results suggested that social attention was a reinforcer for the problem behavior. Through assessment using extinction and differential reinforcement of other behavior, the percentage of intervals of problem behavior was compared between conditions with extinction and with differential reinforcement of other behavior. The results indicated that the percentage of intervals of problem behavior was lower in the condition with differential reinforcement of other behavior than in the condition with extinction. During the intervention, differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) was used, after which the percentage of intervals of problem behavior decreased. An effective method for approaching problem behavior directed at a sibling was discussed.

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The purposes of the present study were to develop and validate a Japanese version of the Anxiety Control Questionnaire (ACQ: Rapee et al., 1996), which assesses perceived control for aversive events, which is considered to be a common vulnerability in anxiety and major depressive disorders. Undergraduate students (N=385) completed the ACQ and other measures. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that the ACQ had a 2-factor pattern, consisting of perceived control over external aversive stimuli/situations and emotional/physical reactions. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the ACQ were sufficiently high. Results of a correlational analysis revealed that the ACQ correlated negatively with depressive and anxiety symptoms, and positively with internal locus of control. When the scores for excessive worry were partialled out, the correlations between the ACQ and anxiety symptoms were still significant. However, the relationship between the ACQ and depressive symptoms became weak. These results show that the Japanese version of the ACQ has reliability and partial convergent validity.

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The purpose of the present study was to examine effects of a workshop on cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for depression that was held in Nagano prefecture. Participants were 21 therapists (mean age = 35.57 years). The training model included 6 workshops (total 18 hours) followed by individual consultations. CBT competence ratings from the Cognitive Therapy Awareness Scale (CTAS) were obtained at pre-training, post-training, and 4 months post-training. Additionally, participants were requested to rate the feasibility of CBT on a scale of 0 to 100 at pre-training and post-training. Participants showed significant increases in total scores on the CTAS from pre-training to post-training; these increases were maintained 4 months post-training. Furthermore, participants' ratings of the feasibility of CBT increased from pre-training to post-training. Finally, the results of the present study were discussed in terms of the dissemination and implementation of an empirically supported psychological treatment for depression in a local area in Japan.

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