Cognitive schemas provide the structure within which children organize their knowledge and beliefs about the use of alcohol. The development of schemas about alcohol should be affected both by age and parental patterns of alcohol use. We examined differences in alcohol schema development among 139 male children of alcoholics (COAs) and 82 controls [children of nonalcoholics (NCOAs)] utilizing the Appropriate Beverage Task as an indicator of these processes. Overall, the vast majority of the sample identified at least one alcoholic beverage from photographs, even at age 3. COAs were more likely to identify at least one alcoholic beverage. With age controlled, COAs were better able to identify specific alcoholic beverages and correctly identified a larger number of alcoholic beverages. There was a trend for these children of alcoholic men to attribute more alcoholic beverage use to male adults than NCOAs. Moreover, differences in these children's attributions of alcoholic consummatory behavior were predicted by their parents' current consumption levels. Results provide evidence that alcohol schemas are detectable in early childhood and are more common in children from alcoholic homes. Discussion focuses on the potential relevance of these risk attributes to the development of more fully formed alcohol expectancies and to the later emergence of alcohol-related difficulty.

We contrast the current, clinically based framework for behavior disorder against a life course framework, as an alternative structure upon which to map the variations in onset and stability of clinical symptomatology known to take place in adult life. This alternative developmental framework is used as a base around which to understand known variations in rates of alcohol abuse/dependence over the life course and to review existing schemes for the evaluation of developmental variation in “caseness.” From this work, it was proposed that symptom structure be regarded as a mass of greater or lesser breadth, with properties of extensiveness in time and life course invasiveness, as a function of where in the life course the symptomatology first emerged, and the degree to which the mass sustained itself in developmental time. This framework guided the construction of a time-based measure of alcohol related symptomatology, called the Lifetime Alcohol Problems Score (LAPS). The LAPS discriminated among a variety of alcohol-specific and nonalcohol-specific measures of alcohol-related difficulty, including diagnosis of alcohol dependence, having been in treatment, level of other psychopathology, and measures of family disorganization. The measure has potential applicability for prospective studies, and in estimating clinical prognosis. The utility of the paradigm as a framework within which to conceptualize the emergence, ebb, and flow of other behavior disorders is also discussed.

Consulting psychologists seem to rely less on empirical research to inform and guide their efforts than other sources of information (J. Blanton, 2000), even though this research base is a potential discriminator in an increasingly competitive, sophisticated, and cost-conscious marketplace. This finding may be because existing research does not provide consulting psychologists or clients with the results they desire: a clear value proposition for affecting the financial state of clients. The authors review the limited meso-level research and conclude that consulting psychology can create a financial impact. Continued efforts to study, document, and disseminate the "developmental return on investment" of consulting psychology should become a means of differentiating consulting psychologists from other service providers.Stephen B. Kincaid, PhD, received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Michigan State University in 1994 and is a senior consultant in the Executive Assessment and Coaching practice of Right Management Consultants. He resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Diana Gordick, PhD, earned her doctorate in counseling psychology from Georgia State University in 2002. She is based in Atlanta and consults to individuals and organizations. Many thanks to Roger Jansen and Dean Stamoulis, who commented on earlier versions of this article.

Fifty‐six newly separated, volunteer participants (40 women, 16 men) were examined to determine if depressive symptomatology (as measured by the CES‐D) was related to the respondent's active participation in the decision to separate from the spouse (initiator status) and the proportion of family members in their social support network. The relationship between initiator status and depressive symptomatology was marginally significant, F(l, 50) = 3.93, p = 0.053. There was an interaction between initiator status and the proportion of family members in the social network. For initiators, a low proportion of family members was related to increased depressive symptomatology (r = 0.15), whereas for noninitiators, a low proportion of family members was related to increased depressive symptomatology (r = ‐ 0.37), a difference significant at p<.04. It is suggested that the functional ability of the network to be supportive is mediated both by aspects of the individual in need of support and by structural aspects of the network.

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