Client Sex Research Articles

Does sex of client affect counselors' evaluation?

This study examined whether clients' positive or negative self-disclosure and sex affected counselors' evaluation of the clients. 80 counselors (30 certified, 45 master's and five doctoral trainees; six men and 74 women), after viewing a video-taped counseling interview in which the client self-disclosed either largely positive or negative contents responded to the Clinical Impression Scale which contained 8 clinical characteristics of clients (assertiveness, overall coping skills, anxiety, attitude toward counseling, motivation to change, self-esteem, insight, and depression). When the client self-disclosed largely negative content about self, counselors evaluated male client more negatively, i.e., less assertive, poor coping skills, higher anxiety, more negative attitude toward counseling, less eager to change, lower self-esteem, less insight, and higher depression) than female client. However, when the client self-disclosed largely positive content, there was no statistically significant sex difference between the two groups. The implications are discussed.

Revisiting relationships between sex-related variables and continuation in counseling.

This study examined the relationships between three sex-related variables (client sex, therapist sex, and dyad matching on sex) and continuation in counseling. 245 college students who were clients at three university counseling centers participated. Consistent with previous studies, women comprised 68.2% of the clients seeking services at these counseling centers. Clients' sex was significantly related to counseling duration, explaining 2.2% of the common variance. Female clients, on the average, attended 1.8 more sessions than male clients. However, neither the therapists' sex nor dyad matching on sex was significantly related to the duration of counseling. None of the sex-related variables correlated with premature termination of counseling. The results have implications for providing counseling and outreach services to male students. Despite relatively equivalent rates in the incidence of mental health problems, female students continue to comprise the majority of clients. Therefore, university counseling centers need to communicate their services better to male students in need of mental health services.

The aftermath of therapist–client sex: exploited women struggle with the consequences

AbstractThis study explores the ongoing experience of women who were sexually involved with their psychotherapists (therapist–client sex, TCS). Fourteen women who had been engaged in TCS were interviewed to examine the constructed meanings associated with their experiences. Respondents described themselves as having been problem‐saturated, lonely, and victimized by pre‐TCS sexual abuse. Many respondents resolved their TCS betrayal in subsequent therapy. For most interviewees, a significant step towards confronting their painful TCS experience was their initiated agreement to partake in this study. Our data suggest that participants went through a significant personal transformation process that encompassed four main themes: self‐perception; interpersonal relationships; the dilemma of filing a lawsuit; and their motivation to participate in this study. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Association Among Outcomes in a Naturalistic Statewide Assessment of Substance User Treatment

Substance user treatment outcome measurement is important for research and policy questions, yet little literature has addressed the relationships among outcome measures of treatment success. Ideally, treatment outcomes would correlate to at least a moderate degree. The Iowa Department of Public health requires substance user treatment programs receiving public funds to provide client information. Demographic information, “substance abuse” history, current use, arrests, and hospitalizations were ascertained at admission and a 6-month follow-up for 1374 clients (from January 1999 to December 2000). Abstinence, arrests, and hospitalizations were good outcome measures of substance user treatment success. Reduction in frequency of use was negatively associated with arrests, substance use-related hospitalizations, and increased income. Full-time employment at follow-up produced different results depending on the client's sex. However, all associations among outcomes were modest. Specificity may be reasonable in some instances; however, other situations might require a broad-spectrum approach that ideally would produce a wide range of benefits.

Contribution to assessment of effects of Rational emotive behaviour therapy

Three main problems dealt with in this study are the following: 1. what effects attain REBT in 6 sessions in treating clients with various psychopathology?; 2. Does the level of training and experience of therapists play any role in REBT intervention outcomes?; 3. Does the sex of clients play any role in REBT intervention outcome? ANOVA showed that REBT was effective with most number of clients demonstrating statistically significant improvements on a third measurement comparing with the first one; also, very small number of clients responded negatively to the treatment, showing stagnation or intensifying of symptoms. Thus we conclude that REBT can be effective in treating clients with various psychopathologies. T-test also showed that more experienced therapists were statistically significantly more effective than less experienced in one out of four measures. The treatment was equally effective to clients of both sexes. This study was conducted in naturalistic conditions with certain flaws and limitations; future controlled evaluations are more than welcome.

Clients' perceptions of contact with professionals within healthcare and social insurance offices.

An increasing number of people interact with professionals within healthcare and social insurance offices during periods of sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders. Knowledge of clients' perceptions of such contact is scarce. This study analysed clients' perceptions of their contact with professionals within healthcare and social insurance offices. A cohort study was conducted in the municipality of Linköping, Sweden. Participants were all citizens who in 1985 were aged 25-34 years and had at least one new sick-leave spell due to back, neck, or shoulder diagnoses exceeding 28 days (n = 213). In 1996, 11 years after inclusion, a questionnaire about perception of contact with professionals, self-perceived health, and mental health was administered. Register data on sickness absence and disability pension from 1985-96 were also obtained. Factor analysis indicated the existence of three dimensions of contact with professionals: supportive treatment, distant treatment, and empowering treatment. Women perceived their contact with both social insurance officers and healthcare professionals as more supportive than did the men. Respondents with disability pensions perceived their contact with social insurance officers as more supportive and empowering than persons without disability pensions. Respondents with mental health problems perceived their contact with both types of professionals as more distant. Respondents with neck/shoulder diagnoses perceived their contact with healthcare professionals as more empowering than respondents with low back diagnoses. There was a relationship between clients' perceptions of contact with professionals and the sex, disability pension, diagnosis, and mental health of clients.

Reported Interpersonal Violence and Disposition Decisions: The Impact of Client and Counselor Variables

Client sex, intake counselor sex, intake counselor experience, and client counseling history significantly predicted disclosure of violence experiences. Counselor sex, counselor experience, and client's experience with counseling predicted intake disposition. Predictors for disposition at termination were number of sessions attended, counselor sex, and counselor experience. Implications for counseling center settings are discussed.

Counselors' Attribution of Responsibility, Etiology, and Counseling Strategy

This study surveyed 167 counselors working at university counseling centers on their etiology and responsibility attributions and models of helping. Participants responded to vignettes describing either a male or female client experiencing symptoms of either an identity or adjustment problem. Counselors endorsed all of P. Brickman et al.'s (1982) models of helping for both problem types. Predictions concerning etiology attributions were partially supported. Counselors selected attributions logically consistent with an internal cause for the identity problem. However, counselors did not make external attributions for the adjustment problem. No significant results were observed for the influence of client sex.

What does the Brief Symptom Inventory measure in college and university counseling center clients?

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) with a college and university counseling center population. Specifically, 2,078 clients from 31 counseling centers completed the BSI at intake. An exploratory factor analysis conducted on half the sample yielded a 6-factor solution rather than the 9-factor solution proposed by L. R. Derogatis (1993) or the 1-factor solution identified in previous research. A subsequent confirmatory factor analysis conducted on the remainder of the sample revealed support for the 6-factor model. Implications for using the BSI with counseling center clients, normative data based on client sex, and recommendations for further instrument development are discussed.

How to choose: nurses' judgements of the effectiveness of a range of currently marketed continence aids.

Continence is a costly health problem, both in terms of financial burden in continence aids, but also in terms of quality-of-life issues for the person who has continence problems. Manufacturers are often perturbed as to why products specially designed to help continence problems are not popular, or do not appear to be applied as intended. This paper reports on a study involving a quantitative evaluation of a range of continence aids presently being marketed, as applied in a large elderly care centre. The evaluation used nursing judgements on a series of comfort and effectiveness criteria: amount of leakage around the pad, comfort to the client when the pad was either wet or dry, skin integrity and snugness of fit, as well as whether the pad concealed well beneath clothing. Five body pads were evaluated--two disposable and three washable--and three bed under-sheets. Effectiveness of pads was found to vary substantially according to sex of client and voiding type, that is whether the client had heavy or moderate incontinent episodes.

Who uses a diabetes “drop‐in” centre

AbstractThis study aimed to document patients' reasons for attendance at a “drop‐in” centre serving a general diabetic clinic (n = 756). Over six months the following data were documented: reasons for attendance (self‐initiated or referred and source or referrals); length of consultation; age and sex of clients; whether NIDDM or IDDM; and treatment modes. All 133 minor consultations (<30 min) (95 NIDDM and 38 IDDM) were self‐initiated. Of the 71 major consultations (>30 min) comprising 59 NIDDM (of whom 47 were insulin‐treated) and 12 IDDM, 48 were self‐initiated. The main reasons for major consultations were: 20 presented with persisting hyperglycaemia > 17 mmol/l (17 required insulin adjustment); eight had unfavourable social circumstances affecting diabetes management and required counselling; 10 requested ongoing diabetes education; six presented with foot lesions (two with neuropathic ulcers); and 10 diabetics came with non‐diabetes‐related health problems. Unexpectedly, there were no requests for dietary advice, and few for hypoglycaemia. There were six contacts by relatives, five parents of people with IDDM expressing concern about their child's lifestyle which compromised metabolic control and one husband of a person with NIDDM. We conclude that our clients demonstrate a definite need for diabetes‐related education or advice between clinic visits. In our study the major reasons for seeking advice were for hyperglycaemia needing treatment modification, counselling and to increase diabetes knowledge.

Sex worker, client sex behaviour and condom use in Harare, Zimbabwe

One-hundred sex workers and 100 clients were interviewed at a bar/disco complex in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1989. Sociodemographic characteristics of sex workers and clients were examined. Almost a third of sex workers and nearly 90% of clients had engaged in commercial sex over 5 or more years. Sex workers reported that they worked an average of 4.6 nights a week, averaged 2.2 clients a night and charged a mean of Z$8.7 per session and Z$19.8 per night. Clients reported that they averaged 7.4 visits a month to a sex worker and paid a mean of Z$6.2 per session and Z$17.2 per night. Over half the sex workers said their last client was drunk and nearly two-thirds said he was a repeat client. Sex workers and clients were asked about the sex behaviours completed in their last paid sex act. Vaginal intercourse was reported by 98% of sex workers and clients alike. Manual stimulation of the sex worker's and client's genitalia was reported by roughly 80% of sex workers and clients. Oral and anal sex were rarely reported. Fifty-four percent of sex workers and 44% of clients reported using a condom in their last paid sex act. Client reports thus suggest that sex worker reports of sex acts and condom use with the last client possess considerable validity. Ethnographic approaches were used to study the social and work environment of sex workers. Ethnographic analysis demonstrated a lack of organisation among sex workers and a need to develop cohesive groups for successful health interventions. The study also highlighted the need to include clients in health interventions, the possible role of alcohol as an impediment to health interventions and the feasibility of using bar/disco security and the bar personnel as health educators.

Gender, Race, and DSM-III: A Study of the Objectivity of Psychiatric Diagnostic Behavior

Sociologists have long been interested in the consequences of psychiatrists' and clients' social location on diagnostic judgment. Previous research provided conflicting evidence on the effects of sex and race on diagnosis, but it has been suggested that with the institution of a formalized diagnostic system, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (Third Edition), the effects of gender and race on diagnosis have become minimal. We assess the accuracy of this claim using an analogue approach in which 290 psychiatrists evaluate two case studies. Case studies are manipulated so that approximately one-fifth of the clinicians, using DSM-III-derived criteria, evaluate a white male, a white female, a black male, a black female, or a client whose sex and race are not disclosed. Results indicate that sex and race of client and psychiatrist influence diagnosis even when clear-cut diagnostic criteria are presented. We conclude that it is premature to close the question of the influence of sex and race on diagnostic assessments.

Measurement of person-environment fit and prediction of satisfaction in the theory of work adjustment

The measurement of person-environment (P-E) fit and the relationship of fit and job satisfaction are described, illustrated, and evaluated from the perspective of the Theory of Work Adjustment. The construct of correspondence is explicated in terms of statistical measures and applied to the prediction of job satisfaction. Two studies are reported. Using 19 statistical indices across six occupational groups, study 1 examined the issues of commensurate measurement and representations of the correspondence and satisfaction relationship. Results provided evidence for commensurate structures and directional interpretations of needreinforcer correspondence. Study 2 evaluated the relationship of four correspondence indices and job satisfaction with 225 adult vocational counseling clients in 98 different occupations 1 year after initial contact. The findings indicated that the correspondence and satisfaction relationship was moderated by profile component, type of reinforcer profile, and client's sex. Overall, the results show that the best statistical indices for assessing correspondence seem to be measures of profile shape, which explain 3 to 30% of the variance in satisfaction. Implications for commensurate measurement and for the operational and theoretical development of the concept of correspondence are discussed.

Behavior disorders and mental retardation: associations with age, sex, and level of functioning in an outpatient clinic sample.

A survey of 130 mentally retarded children and adults referred to an outpatient mental health clinic is reported. Three categories of behavior problems accounted for a majority of the referrals: schizoid-unresponsive and psychotic disorders, conduct disorder, and anxious-depressed withdrawal disorder. The distribution of referrals among the three categories was examined as a function of level of intellectual functioning, age, and client sex. Comparisons are made with previous surveys of mentally retarded and of nonretarded clinic populations. The implications of the survey results for planning mental health services with mentally retarded individuals are discussed.

Mediation in therapist–client sex: A model.

Mediation in therapist–client sex: A model.

Effects of client and counselor sex on client attendance at counseling

The present study examined the relationship between sex of client, sex of counselor, client's presenting problem, and the length of time the counseling dyad stayed together. Dyads engaged in personal counseling had significantly more sessions than dyads engaged in vocational counseling or test feedback. Clients receiving personal counseling were more likely to terminate unilaterally than clients receiving vocational counseling or test feedback.

Race of counselor, client sex, cultural mistrust level, and premature termination from counseling among Black clients.

Black clients, visiting a community mental health center for the first time were identified and administered an inventory designed to assess the extent to which they trust whites. Equal numbers of clients were then assigned to a black and to a white counselor for an intake interview. Hierarchical regression analyses were then used to examine the relation between the predictor variables of counselor's race, mistrust level, and clients' sex on the criterion variable of premature termination from counseling. Significant percentages of shared variance were found between termination rates and the predictor * variables of counselors' race and trust level as well as the interaction of counselor's race and trust level. No significant amount of shared variance was found between sex of clients and termination rates. Some implications for counseling are discussed.

Race of counselor, client sex, cultural mistrust level, and premature termination from counseling among Black clients.

Race of counselor, client sex, cultural mistrust level, and premature termination from counseling among Black clients.

Sex Stereotyping in Vocational Counseling of Blind/Visually Impaired Persons: A National Study of Counselor Choices

Examines whether vocational rehabilitation counselors’ vocational suggestions and salary predictions for hypothetical clients are influenced by the client's sex. Half the subjects were presented with biographical data about a male client while the other half were presented with identical biographical data about a female client. Subjects tended to suggest sex-stereotypical jobs for both sexes, and tended, on the average, to predict that women would start at lower salaries and that they would be earning less money than men after five years at the job.