Summary. This paper explores the notion that the type of school attended will affect adolescents' self esteem, locus‐of‐control orientation, and affiliation needs. It proceeds to examine the view that these are in turn linked to success in particular subject areas, assessments of achievement in these same subjects, perceptions of the importance of school life and future career options. A sample of 1,675 school children, 896 males and 779 females from sixteen non‐government schools was employed. The majority (79 per cent) attended single‐sex schools while the remainder attended co‐educational schools. Major results indicated that type of school attended did have consequences in terms of adolescents' stated preferences and rated achievement in subjects. Students attending co‐educational school were found to have more traditional subject preferences and assessments of achievement in those subject areas than students attending single‐sex schools. Students attending co‐educational schools were also found to have lower self esteem, and greater affiliation with peers than students from single‐sex schools. However, these relationships were not simple. Sex differences mediated the major associations reported between type of school attended and adolescent self perceptions. Interpretations of these and other results and suggestions for further exploration of associations are given.

The evaluation of the effectiveness of drinking-driving treatment programs has recently been proliferating. However, despite the increasing recognition of the need for assessment, adequate evaluation is presently lacking in most drinking-driving programs. In this paper drinking-driving education and therapy programs which have been reported in the literature are critically reviewed. Various problems are considered to exist which limit the value of these programs. Suggestions for some specific priorities in future research are outlined.

The two studies reported in this paper investigated the hypothesis that an important determinant of clients' therapeutic expectations is to be found in the match between therapists' and clients' locus of control. The first study was an analogue study employing role plays, conducted with a sample of 67 clients. The second study investigated 78 clients in real clinical settings. Both studies investigated the effect of matched vs. mismatched cognitive styles on clients' expectations. Results from both studies support the hypothesis that the more similar the control orientations of therapist and client, the more favourable the clients' expectations. Limitations of the studies and the possible implications of the research findings are discussed.

The last 10 years have shown a notable increase in the consideration of locus of control as a variable pertinent to the explanation of outcome in psychotherapy. In particular, a body of research has provided evidence that an internal locus of control orientation facilitates both positive assessments of therapy and favourable outcomes, and that successful outcomes for clients with particular control orientations are facilitated by the degree of structure and directiveness in therapy. There appear to be a number of difficulties with the methods of measurement employed in these studies; in particular, the selection of subject groups and indexes of outcome as well as manipulation of treatment structures may have limited the generalizability of research findings. The possible therapeutic and clinical applications of locus of control in psychotherapy are considered.

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