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This study evaluates the effect of a short-term group intervention titled Writing for Recovery in Gaza. Adolescents (N ¼ 139) aged 12-17 were randomly assigned to an intervention or to a waiting list group. Levels of distress were assessed at baseline and at posttest. A follow-up assessment was conducted 5 months after both groups had received the intervention. Results at posttest showed a reduction in posttraumatic stress symptoms in both groups, an increase in depression in the intervention group, and no change in anxiety symptoms. At follow-up, a significant decline in depression scores was evident. Overall, no evidence for improvements due to the intervention was found.

In the 30 years that have elapsed since it was first introduced, the concept of hardiness has continued to attract the attention and interest of researchers from all over the world. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and factor structure of a revised Norwegian hardiness scale (Dispositional Resilience Scale 15; DRS-15). Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic strategies with a large sample of working adults (N = 7,280), support was found for a hierarchical structure comprising a general hardiness dimension and three sub-dimensions (commitment, control, and challenge). Overall, the results support the reliability and validity of the revised DRS-15 and underscore the importance of examining the psychometric properties and cultural appropriateness of translated scales.

Attentional bias for alcohol-related words was studied irM8 alcoholic and 18 matched control subjects with a modified version of the Stroop Color and Word Test (1935) that included color-interfering, alcohol-related, and neutral words. Results indicate that (a) alcoholic subjects responded more slowly to all word categories than control subjects (p < .009), (b) both alcoholic and control subjects responded more slowly to colorinterfering words than to neutral words (p < .01), and (c) only alcoholic subjects responded more slowly to alcohol-related words than to neutral words (p < .01). Findings indicate that when the alcoholic subjects were confronted with alcohol-related stimuli, cognitive processes presumably began that made it impossible for them to ignore the meaning of the words and their resources were allocated to the content of the alcohol stimuli.Alcoholics often experience a reinstatement of drug urges on returning to sites of drug intake after detoxification and psychotherapy (Grabowski & O'Brien, 1981). From a cognitive perspective, alcohol-related stimuli are selectively processed (Baker, Morse, & Sherman, 1987). According to Tiffany (1990), cognitive processes that control drug consumption will, through repeated practice, develop into a sequence of tightly integrated associative connections stored in memory. When the alcoholic is exposed to salient cues for drinking, these automatic processes are activated and experienced as drug urges in the addict.