The goal of this analysis was to characterize a cohort of 3000 persons who selfidentified as having bipolar disorder by demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics and to document the burden that this disorder imposed on their lives.

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Objective: When counseling women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), healthcare providers can benefit from understanding the factors contributing to a women's motivation to change her situation. We wished to examine the various factors and situations associated with turning points and change seeking in the IPV situation. Methods: We performed qualitative analysis on data from 7 focus groups and 20 individual interviews with women (61 participants) with past and=or current histories of IPV. Results: The turning points women identified fell into 5 major themes: (1) protecting others from the abuse=abuser; (2) increased severity=humiliation with abuse; (3) increased awareness of options=access to support and resources; (4) fatigue=recognition that the abuser was not going to change; and (5) partner betrayal=infidelity. Conclusions: Women experiencing IPV can identify specific factors and events constituting turning points or catalyst to change in their IPV situation. These turning points are dramatic shifts in beliefs and perceptions of themselves, their partners, and=or their situation that alter the women's willingness to tolerate the situation and motivate them to consider change. When counseling women experiencing IPV, health providers can incorporate understanding of turning points to motivate women to move forward in their process of changing their IPV situation.

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Adherence is a major problem in pharmacological intervention, with approximately one half of all patients with chronic diseases not adhering to their medical regimens. A small number of controlled studies have now demonstrated the effectiveness of several behavioral procedures in altering medicine compliance and influencing outcomes. Feedback of drug levels and reinforcement for medication intake have been effective in several studies, whereas self-monitoring of medication or symptoms have not been effective methods. Self-regulation and tailoring are promising methods requiring more research. In addition to the review of treatment outcome, various methodological concerns in compliance research are addressed, including setting goals for compliant behavior, measurement of compliance, and the interpretation of adherence as a correlated and independent factor in outcome. Suggestions for future research are included, ranging from long-term follow-up and better integration of behavioral theory to treatment development, the need for basic research in compliance, and better understanding of the compliance and health-outcome relationship.