Inconsistent nurturing as control (INC) theory asserts that because of competing goals of nurturing and controlling, partners of drug-dependent (or otherwise nonfunctioning) individuals will unintentionally encourage the very behavior they are trying to extinguish through inconsistent manifestations of reinforcement and punishment (Le Poire, 1992, 1995. The findings of this first test (N = 52 couples) indicate that partners of alcoholics or otherwise drug-dependent individuals reinforce the substance-abusive behavior more before, and punish the substance-abusive behavior more after, they label the behavior problematic. More importantly, results also indicate that consistently punishing substance abusive behavior while simultaneously reinforcing alternative behavior predicts significantly lesser amounts of relapse. Thus, it is clear from these findings that partners of substance abusive individuals can have an impact on the substance abusive behavior of their partners. Finally, with regard to mental health outcomes, functional partners with partners who relapsed less were less depressed.

Licensed practical nurses provide the majority of bedside care in long-term care facilities and home care settings, and their communication with patients and families is pivotal to interventions aimed at reducing burdensome transitions to acute care settings. Although good communication skills are required for practical nurses, they receive limited instruction in their training. The goal of this study was to assess the effects of communication training for the practical nurse. A pre-post survey design was used to assess the COMFORT communication training curriculum provided to licensed practical nursing students. A comparison of mean scores on communication skills attitudes and perceived nursing competency revealed statistically significant improvement in attitudes and self-efficacy. This study shows promise for the feasibility and utilization of the COMFORT curriculum for nurse communication training. Further research should address the nurse's ability to perform COMFORT communication skills in the clinical setting.

This study tests and extends inconsistent nurturing as control theory (Le Poire, 1992,1995) by exploring the use of reinforcing and punishing drug discontinuance strategies based on the drug-use status of the functional/persuading partners (past abuse, current abuse, current use, and nonuse). All partners were inconsistent in their use of reinforcement and punishment of substance abuse, with past abusers punishing the substance abuse most before they labeled the drug use as problematic, and current users and nonusers punishing the substance abuse the most following the labeling and in the postfrustration period. Additionally, current abusers were the most reinforcing of alternative behavior during every time period, a strategy that was most highly related to reduction in relapse. Furthermore, nonusers utilized the most indulgence and antidrink strategies, that are in opposition based on their reinforcing and punishing natures. Past abusers were rated as most persuasively effective by their partners, whereas nonusers were evaluated as the least persuasively effective. Finally, drug use was related to the mental health of the persuading partner, in that current abusers and nonusers were significantly more depressed and anxious than past abusers or current users.

Maltz and Borker argue that because men and women grow up in different sociolinguistic cultures, they learn to interpret conversational features differently—including backchannels (“uh-huh,”“yeah”) and questions (“What's next?”). If true, this might help explain conversational miscommunication that occurs across gender boundaries. This study tests this theory by assessing the effects of observer sex, observer gender schematicity, speaker sex, and partner sex on interpretation. Two hundred and sixty-eight observers rated 96 naturally occurring conversational excerpts, 48 containing backchannels and 48 including questions, in terms of: (a) apparent meaning of the utterance (control, other-focus, and uncertainty) and (b) speaker traits (dominance and sensitivity). Four-way MANOVAs indicated: (a) male and female observers interpret backchannels and questions differently, and (b) several interaction effects. However, no interactions were found to demonstrate female bilingualism, proposed by male dominance theorists. The results are discussed in terms of their support for two-cultures theory and their lack of support for dominance theory.