Parents and professionals are concerned about the long-term effects of language problems on later academic, communicative and behavioral functioning of children. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of level of language impairment with type of class placement, reading achievement, and social emotional functioning. Subjects were 19 children, aged 4 years, 10 months through 10 years, 4 months, who had previously been enrolled in a preschool language development program. Statistical analyses were performed on data from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC), Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA), and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBC). Results do not support a relationship between level of language impairment and academic or social/emotional functioning.
Although eating disorders have been the focus of much research, the inclusion of minority populations has been minimal. A recent review of the literature by Dolan (1991) has found that eating disorders were most likely to be present in non-White women who were exposed to Western societies and cultures. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine personality, physical, and cultural correlates of bulimic symptomatology in a sample of African American college women. The Bulimia Test Revised (BULIT-R) was used to assess bulimia symptoms. The African American Acculturation Scale (AAAS), the Beliefs about Attractiveness Scale Revised (BAAR factors 1 and 2), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES), the Centers for Epidemiological Depression Scale (CES-D), Body Parts Satisfaction Scale (BPSS), and body mass were the independent variables hypothesized to predict bulimic symptoms. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that body mass, depression, and low self-esteem were the best predictors of bulimic symptomatology, together accounting for 38% of the variance. Beliefs about attractiveness and body satisfaction were related to bulimic symptoms but not when considered simultaneously with the other variables. Acculturation was not predictive of bulimic symptoms. 0-ordered correlations revealed that beliefs about attractiveness and body satisfaction were correlated with bulimic symptoms. Acculturation was not related to any variables except depression. Implications for counseling interventions as well as directions for future research are discussed.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is surrounded by confusion and controversy regarding its definition, course, etiology and treatment. Among adults, ADHD is rarely considered a diagnostic reality of primary importance and is often overlooked. This study provides descriptive validity for adult ADHD in distinguishing it from controls, and identifying both a pure condition and one wrought with comorbidity.
Every day, children throughout the United States are given psychological evaluations for many different clinical and psycho-educational purposes. Very little research has attempted to investigate children's responses to the experience of having intellectual and achievement tests administered. The goal of the current research was to explore the effect a psycho-educational evaluation has on children in areas of self-concept and anxiety. Dependent variables consisted of pre- and post-test measures of anxiety and self-concept. A total of 75 children in the 4th 5th and 6th grades were recruited after referral for evaluation and possible placement in the Talented and Gifted Program or Special Education. This study employed Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), t-tests, multiple regression analysis, and correlational analysis. Findings included initial evidence that children endorsed decreased anxiety after psycho-educational assessments rather than increased anxiety, suggesting that fear of unknown situations may be more anxiety provoking than the actual situation itself, potentially beneficial findings for psychology and psychometric professionals who evaluate children daily. Students endorsement of academic self-concept significantly predicted anxiety after a psycho-educational evaluation, indicating that students who feel capable in academic areas may endorse less anxiety after an evaluation than students who do not feel academically capable. Finally, negative verbal interaction with parents significantly predicted lower general self-concept scores, providing evidence that the manner in which parents verbally relate to their children may have significant impact for the mental health of children.
Age/cohort differences in several aspects of the self-system were investigated utilizing a sentence completion paradigm. Eighty-eight adults over age sixty and one hundred eight adults under age forty served as subjects. Subjects were asked to complete 30 self-referent sentence stems which were pre-structured to elicit information from the self-system. Responses were subjected to a content analysis utilizing a coding system which contained concepts used by subjects in their self-representations. Contents were coded for dimensions conceptually related to Physical Health, Autonomy, Self-Evaluation, Depression, Spirituality, and Altruism. Frequencies of codings were counted and subjected to statistical analysis for performing age group comparisons.
Women in distressed relationships who had sustained severe psychological abuse and either no, moderate, or severe violence from their partner were included (N = 93). Men's and women's alcohol use did not differ with level of violence. Different patterns were found in the moderate violence group regarding women's beliefs about their partner's substance problem, men's psychological abuse, and the relationship of men's and women's quantity of alcohol use and times intoxicated. Uncertainty resulting from moderate violence may strengthen the emotional impact of psychological abuse. Even when psychological abuse is exacerbated by violence, women may use active coping techniques rather than drinking to cope with abusive relationships. The findings suggest that an inordinate focus on alcohol abuse may be ineffective in combating the problem of domestic violence.
This study explores the possibility that attentional deficits are an early clinical symptom of Alzheimer's disease. The three goals are to demonstrate that individuals with Alzheimer's disease are impaired on tasks of attentional processing, to compare the sensitivity of currently used measures of attention to attentional dysfunction, and to compare the behavioral response styles (errors of commission) of Alzheimer's disease subjects and non-impaired subjects. The subjects were 22 males and 46 females with a mean age of 70.76 years. Thirty-six had the presumptive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease; 18 were identified as mildly impaired and 18 as moderately impaired on the Cognitive Capacity Screening Examination. The remaining 32 subjects comprised the non-impaired control group. Five measures of attention were administered to all participants: the Digit Span Subtest of the WAIS-R, the Seashore Rhythm Test of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery, the Vigilance and Distractibility tasks of the Gordon Diagnostic System, and the Concentration/Interference task. The results show a significant difference in attentional processing between normal (non-impaired) subjects and subjects diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. All measures of attention used in this study, except the Concentration/Interference task, differentiated normal subjects from moderately impaired Alzheimer's disease subjects. The Digit Span Subtest and the Seashore Rhythm Test were unable to differentiate between normals and mildly impaired Alzheimer's disease subjects or between mildly and moderately impaired Alzheimer's disease subjects. The Gordon Diagnostic System was able to distinguish normals form mildly impaired Alzheimer's disease subjects and mildly from moderately impaired Alzheimer's disease subjects. On the Gordon Diagnostic System the Alzheimer's disease subjects made significantly more errors of commission than did the normal subjects. This investigation concludes that attentional processing dysfunction occurs in the dementing process associated with Alzheimer's disease. The findings suggest that the Gordon Diagnostic System is a more sensitive technique for assessing attentional dysfunction than the …
The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to examine the effects of ambiguity of loss and type of caregiver-to-patient relationship on anticipatory grief, negative physical and psychological outcomes associated with grief, and boundary ambiguity in family caregivers of chronically ill patients. Questionnaires were completed by 23 parents of ill children and 30 spouses of ill mates. Using an original and a revised concept for level of ambiguity, partial support was found for the prediction that parents and spouses in high ambiguity of loss circumstances would report more anticipatory grief than those in low ambiguity ones. Contrary to prediction, a slight but nonsignificant trend occurred for parents and spouses in low ambiguity situations to report more negative physical and psychological effects associated with grief as well. Level of ambiguity was not found to impact boundary ambiguity as had been hypothesized. Spouses reported more boundary ambiguity than parents, regardless of level of ambiguity of the loss. Contrary to prediction that parents would report less anticipatory grief and more negative physical and psychological outcomes than spouses, generally, no significant differences were found between the two groups. However, using the original concept of ambiguity, parents did tend to recall more past grief than spouses. The study highlighted several methodological concerns which impact research on loss and grief, particularly the difficulty involved in recruiting participants with subsequent occurrence of sampling bias, rudimentary status of available measurement tools, and a host of potentially confounding personal and sociodemographic variables. The present study supports a view of the loss which occurs in families dealing with chronic illness as a complex process whose impact on grief, distress, and family upheaval is influenced by multiple factors. Such factors include both the ambiguity of the loss and the type of family relationship involved. Complex research of a longitudinal nature using …
The goals of revision for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition included enhancement of the factor structure, improvement of subtests, and revision of norms. The researchers reported that the very few items that were found to be biased were replaced. The WISC-III performance of a clinical sample of African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic children was analyzed to determine if the test bias was eliminated as claimed in the goals of the revision.
Individuals responding in a socially desirable (SD) fashion, rather than in a manner that reflects their true behavior, has been a problem for self-report questionnaires since their inception. The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis that the probability an item is endorsed on a self-report measure of anger is directly proportional to the rated SD of that item. Eighty-two subjects completed the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI), the Profile of Moods State (POMS), and the State- Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI). A probability of endorsement was computed for each of the measures' items. Twenty additional subjects rated the measures' items for SD. Each item's SD rating was paired with the probability the item was endorsed to produce a correlation coefficient for each measure. Results strongly support the stated hypothesis. Directions for future research are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to (1) assess the reliability and validity of anger/hostility measures, (2) examine the relationship between anger/hostility and other negative emotions, and (3) examine the relationship between anger/hostility and health history. Sixty-five subjects were given the Buss Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI), the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), the Profile of Mood States pomsS), the Clinical Analysis Questionnaire (CAQ), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Health and Wellness Attitude Inventory (HWAI), and a health questionnaire designed to provide information about past disease and alcohol/drug use. Overall, the BDHI and POMS displayed good test-retest reliability. All six of the global indices of anger/hostility intercorrelated at a significant level, thus demonstrating good concurrent validity. The six global measures of anger/hostility also correlated at a significant level with other negative emotions.
In the present study, an anger management treatment program was compared to a pseudo-social skills training program (self-help group) and waiting list control group to determine its effectiveness in reducing irritable/angry behavior in head injured subjects. Subjects consisted of 28 adults with previous head injury trauma who had difficulty with excessive irritability and anger. Subjects averaged 35.4 years of age and had an average of 8.9 years post head injury. Treatment consisted of 10 group sessions over a five week period. Anger management training was designed to teach subjects self management skills aimed at reducing the frequency of angry acting out behavior. Training methods included role playing, relaxation training, assertiveness training and cognitive restructuring. The pseudo-social skills training group was a self-help group designed to encourage discussion of irritability problems without teaching specific coping techniques. To assure some degree of homogeneity in cognitive abilities among subjects, minimum eligibility scores were required on five subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Dependent measures were pre and posttreatment scores obtained from five categories of the Katz Adjustment Scale - Relative form: belligerence, negativity, general psychopathology, social obstreperousness, and social role functioning. In addition, pre and posttreatment recordings of observed angry/irritable behavior in the subjects were obtained from a significant other. Results failed to reveal statistically significant differences on the dependent measures between the three study groups. In addition, analysis failed to reveal any significant variables that predicted outcome. It is evident that much more organized research is needed to further investigate the possibilities of treatment for various problems encountered by those with head injuries.
At times called a philosophy and other times called a process, cutting score methodology is an issue routinely encountered by Industrial/Organizational (I/0) psychologists. Published literature on cutting score methodology appears much more frequently in academic settings than it does in personnel settings where the potential for lawsuits typically occurs more often. With the passage of the 1991 Civil Rights Act, it is no longer legal to use within-group scoring. It has now become necessary for personnel psychologists to develop more acceptable selection methods that fall within established guidelines. Designating cutoff scores with the Angoff method appears to suit many requirements of personnel departments. Several procedures have evolved that suggest enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the Angoff method is possible. The current experiment investigated several such procedures, and found that rater accuracy methods significantly enhance cutoff score reliability and accuracy.
Applied sport psychology consultation is a relatively new phenomenon with limited empirical underpinnings. The purpose of the study was to evaluate three applied sport psychology consultant personal and professional characteristics within Strong's social influence model that have been suggested to impact consultants' effectiveness in working directly with athletes and their performance problems. The three consultant characteristics were academic training, past athletic experience, and interpersonal skill. Division I female athletes (N = 187) read written preconsultation information and watched a 10- minute vignette between a consultant and an athlete. Participants completed the Counselor Rating Form-Short (CRFS), the Sport Psychology Consultant Evaluation Form (CEF), and questions concerning willingness to work with the consultant. The data from the dependent measures were analyzed by a 2 (level of consultant academic training) X 2 (level of consultant past athletic experience) X 2 (level of consultant interpersonal skill) MANOVA. Results indicated that applied sport psychology consultants' academic training and past athletic experience had only limited influence on the participants' perceptions about the consultants. The Division I female athletes unambiguously rated consultants with positive interpersonal skills more favorably on all dependent measures regardless of the consultants' level of academic training or past athletic experience. Directions for future research and implication of the findings on training and certification in applied sport psychology are discussed.
The Aronson Cognitive Residual Evaluation Scale (ACRES) is a new, relatively short neuropsychological test which attempts to measure residual cognitive skills. This study evaluated the ACRES test-retest reliability over a one to twelve month interval. The Trail Making Test (TMT) was included as a validation measure. Subjects were 58 males and females, aged 68 to 94, living in a retirement center or in the community. The ACRES exhibited moderate to strong reliability correlations and the TMT demonstrated low to moderate correlations with the ACRES. There was no time interval effect. Age had a negative effect on four of five ACRES subtests and gender was significant for one ACRES subtest and the TMT Part B. Percent of subjects classified as brain impaired using traditional cutoffs was higher than when age-corrected norms were used. Clinical utility of the ACRES and the TMT is discussed regarding need for age-corrected norms.
An investigation was undertaken to examine two measures of personality and their utility with adolescent patient populations. The Rorschach, scored using Exner's (1991) Comprehensive System (2nd Ed.), and the Personality Inventory for Youth (PIY; Lachar & Gruber, in press) were explored as to their ability to distinguish inpatients from outpatients, males from females, and diagnostic groups from one another. COP, AG, CDI, DEPI, SCZI, and HVI scores on the Rorschach were utilized, as were the DIS, SOM, FAM, RLTY, WDL, and SSK scores from the PIY.
The use of scales on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) to detect defensiveness in criminal and nonclinical samples was evaluated. Forty-five male inmates of a county jail and 38 male undergraduate psychology students were provided with incentives to complete the PAI under two conditions: standard instructions and experimental instructions to feign a specific, positive role. The sequence of instructions was counterbalanced in both samples for the purpose of examining ordering effects. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed, yielding significant main effects of condition, group and order. Additionally, a step-wise discriminant function analysis significantly predicted group membership (i.e., subjects under honest and faking conditions) with a hit rate = 84.4%. Finally, a more effective cutting score for the Positive Impression scale was recommended.
Mothers and siblings of children with autism incur stressors that impact their well-being more adversely than mothers of children with ADHD or normally developing children. In Study 1, twenty-six mothers of children with autism (Group 1) were compared to 24 mothers of children with ADHD (Group 2) and 24 mothers with normally developing children (Group 3). All families included a normally developing child (ages 4 to 12). Measures to delineate levels of maternal functioning were administered. Results for Study 1 indicated that mothers of children with autism had higher levels of psychological symptomatology, higher parenting stress, poorer perceptions of their family environment and their ability to parent the siblings, and higher perceptions of internalized problems of the siblings than mothers with normally developing children. These findings support the literature stating that mothers of children with autism may experience increased levels of maternal stress. The reciprocal nature of the parent-child relationship suggests that parents should be involved in meeting the needs of siblings in these families. A subgroup of Group 1 mothers participated in a parent group that occurred simultaneously with a sibling group. Mothers were randomly assigned to participate in a parent/sibling group, a sibling only group, or a wait-list group. Intervention efficacy was assessed using Study 1 measures plus measures designed specifically for the intervention. Overall results of study 2 indicated that mothers in the deluxe intervention perceived their parenting of the siblings to have improved after the intervention when compared to the standard and wait-list groups. This suggested that concurrent mother/sibling intervention provided the mothers with beneficial information and contributed to their enhanced sense of competence about parenting the siblings. In addition, mothers in the deluxe intervention perceived their family environment and the behaviors of the sibling to get worse at post-intervention, but return to baseline over time. …
The TAT stories of 38 sexually abused females between the ages of 5 and 18 years and a clinical group of 26 females with no recorded history of abuse were analyzed using the Object Relations and Social Cognitions TAT Scoring System (Westen et al., 1985). Subjects in the sexual abuse group showed significantly lower mean scores on a scale measuring affect-tone of relationship paradigms and on a scale measuring complexity of representations of people. In addition, pathological responses were given significantly more often by sexual abuse victims on the complexity of representations of people scale. Thus, sexually abused children showed more primitive and simple characterizations of people and more negative, punitive affect in their representations. Moreover, these results were independent of age, race, and intelligence. Group differences are discussed in terms of object relations development.
This controlled descriptive study was designed to investigate the psychological status of couples who are engaged in advanced fertility treatments. A battery of psychological test instruments, including the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory (MBHI), the Health Attribution Test (HAT), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS), was used to measure psychological variables that have been shown in the infertility research literature to be associated with the psychological experiences of infertility patients. The scores from the four assessment instruments were compared with those of pregnant couples in childbirth education classes to differentiate the impact of stress associated with fertility treatment from the stress experienced by third trimester pregnant couples. Eighty-five subjects (42 male and 43 female) volunteered for the study and completed packets of questionnaires. The groups were designated Treatment (infertile couples) and Control (pregnant couples). The resulting data were collected and analyzed on the basis of group mean scores on the test instruments.
Prior evidence has shown a reduction of neglect on line bisection tasks as a function of altered hemispace presentation and left cueing. The present study was conducted to examine the effect of these factors in reducing symptoms of neglect on measures of general cognitive functioning. To examine proposed changes, revised versions of the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices and the Memory-for-Designs (MFD) Test were constructed by placing the target stimuli in the right hemifield. Two experimental presentations, a right hemispace condition and a right hemispace plus left cue prompt condition, were compared to the standard presentation format. The primary hypotheses predicted that RBD neglect patients would reveal enhanced performance on the criterion measures as a result of these manipulations. Significant correlations were predicted between the neglect measures and between the two scoring systems for the MFD. The sample was comprised of 54 hospitalized patients, assigned to either a RBD neglect group (N = 18), a RBD nonneglect group (N = 18) , or an orthopedic control group (N = 18) . Both RBD groups were administered the Mini Inventory of Right Brain Injury, to document the presence and severity of right brain injury. Presence of neglect was assessed via the Schenkenberg Line Bisection Task and the Bells Test for Visual Neglect. Subjects were examined under all three conditions by administering one third of the items for each condition. Neglect subjects demonstrated significantly poorer performance on both criterion measures than the two comparison groups. However, no significant improvement in performance was revealed with right hemispace presentation of stimuli or left cue prompts combined with the right hemispace version. Ancillary predictions concerning correlations for the neglect measures and MFD scoring systems were confirmed. Results are interpreted in terms of increased attentional demands and task complexity. These results suggest that, despite the frequent clinical …
The present study was conducted to clarify and expand knowledge of cognitive functioning in chronic schizophrenia patients (N=21) as compared to a bipolar group (N=20) and a normal group (N=20).
Psychological assessment of mentally disordered offenders requires a systematic consideration of response styles, including malingering and defensiveness. Important components of these evaluations are standardized diagnostic interviews. However, the ability of offenders to feign mental disorders on such measures to achieve such external incentives as treatment, placement on safer units, or possible release from jail remains uninvestigated. With a known-groups comparison with the data from the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms as a criterion, 24 suspected malingerers were compared to 64 genuine patients on the Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS), the abbreviated SADS-C, the Suicide Probability Scale, and the Referral Decision Scale.
Considering the explanations of schizophrenia that presume schizophrenia spectrum disorders (e.g., schizotypal personality disorder, schizoaffective disorder, etc.) to be genetically related to schizophrenia, the purpose of this study was to investigate the attention and information processing abilities of individuals who have been identified as schizotypal or psychosis-prone (i.e., schizophrenia spectrum functioning in individuals who do not have schizophrenia). Research indicates that persons identified as psychosis-prone may show attention and information processing deficits similar to individuals with schizophrenia. The identification and description of individuals who later decompensate into schizophrenia would advance the understanding of schizophrenia and its causes. The Chapman's PER-MAG scale (Perceptual Aberration-Magical Ideation) was used to identify 35 hypothetically psychosis-prone college students (schizotypy group) and 42 normal college students (nonschizotypy group) out of the 806 volunteer subjects. Their attention and information processing abilities were measured by COGLAB (a multiparadigmatic cognitive test battery that represents a continuum of cognitive functions, from preattentional to attentional, to conceptual). Their social adjustment was measured by the Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS). The hypotheses of the study were that the hypothetically psychosis-prone subjects would perform poorer than controls on COGLAB measures and that COGLAB measures of a more molar nature would better predict social adjustment than would the more molecular tasks. The results of the study did not support the hypotheses as there were no significant differences between the schizotypy group and the nonschizotypy group and the measures of a more molar nature did not better predict social adjustment. Further research might consider increasing the sample size, applying more stringent cut-off criteria for the schizotypy group, and verifying the validity of using PER-MAG, COGLAB, and PAS with this population. Further research also needs to clarify the ways in which those identified as psychosis-prone process information like (or unlike) nonschizotypes and how their current social functioning …
A questionnaire was used to study causal attribution to social roles as influenced by perceived deviance of the role, instructions to identify with the role, and participant gender. The perceived deviance or nondeviance of the roles was determined by a pilot study. The roles were varied randomly through 12 hypothetical events, and identification or nonidentification instructions randomly assigned. The participants were 194 male and female university students. Participants gave the cause of each event and rated the cause on five dimensions: internality, externality, stability, globality, and controllability. Causal attribution to deviant social roles was found to result in a significantly higher across-scales score and to be more internal, less external, and more global than attribution to nondeviant roles. Participant gender showed an interaction with deviance overall and on the dimensions of stability and globality due to significantly higher ratings by women participants than those by men. Identification instructions did not produce a significant effect.
Thirty one students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) completed a combined Academic Attributional Style and Coping with Academic Failures Questionnaire. The reformulated learned helplessness model (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978) predicted that students with negative attributional styles (i.e., internal-stable-global attributions) experienced motivational, cognitive, and emotional deficits. The present study examined college achievement (grade point average) of students with LD and/or ADHD. The Prediction that students with LD and/or ADHD with negative attributional styles would achieve less academic success than comparable students with positive attributional styles (i.e., extenal-unstable-specific attributions) was supported by the research results.
This study evaluated the impact of acculturative stress and negative autostereotypes on the level of self-esteem and achievement motivation among subgroups of Hispanic college students. Subjects were classified by generational level as Second-generation (i.e., foreign-born parents), or Other (i.e., first-generation, foreign-born individuals, and third-generation, foreign-born grandparents;). By country/region of origin, subjects were divided into Central-Americans, Puerto-Ricans, Mexican, Mexican-Americans, and South Americans. Results showed that acculturative stress may facilitate loss of self-esteem particularly in Second-generation individuals, while negative autostereotypic attitudes may actually increase the student's level of motivation for achievement, particularly in Mexican-American individuals. Also, country/region of origin overall influenced negative autostereotypic attitudes.
The purpose of this study was to explore heterosexual bias in the diagnosis and treatment of gay males. Two hundred-fifty (134 males and 116 females) mental health professionals from the Division of Psychotherapy (29) of the American Psychological Association participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two case history conditions, which presented a 35-year-old male seeking therapy. Both conditions were equivalent with regards to the presenting problem (i.e., diagnostic symptoms) with the exception of his significant other (i.e., gay vs. non-gay condition). Potential bias was measured through a diagnostic rating Likert scale and a treatment plan questionnaire. Other independent variables that could potentially have an effect on diagnostic ratings were explored, such as gender, year of graduation, and theoretical orientation of the respondents. Results of the statistical analyses failed to confirm evidence of heterosexual bias. Implications for further research and training are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to determine if two elements of self-conception, environment and biology, influenced trait and dyadic measures of empathy.
Older adults are more vulnerable to the ill effects of life stress due to physiological changes associated with aging that result in decreased immunocompetence. Stressors interacting with an aging immune system may produce further declines in health. Variables shown to modulate the effect of stressors on neuroendocrine and immune function and health include social support, personality, coping style, and health locus of control. A comprehensive model is proposed that includes: life stressors, social resources, psychological resources, interaction between stressors and social resources, neuroendocrine and immune function, and symptomatology. This model was evaluated using structured equation modeling. Participants were 97 active, community dwelling, older women, ranging in age from 60 to 93 years.
Traditionally, body image research has focused on young women. However, there are indications of cultural shifts which extend physical appearance pressures to both men and women, as well as to middle-aged and older adults. Two hundred and ten subjects were administered objective body image measures including the Figure Rating Scale, the Body Shape Questionnaire, and the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire, as well as projective measures including the Holtzman Inkblot Technique and the Draw-A-Person. The NEO-Five Factor Inventory and the Social Anxiety Subscale were also used to explore variables which might covary with body image. A 3 X 2 X 2 Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was utilized with social desirability as the covariate.
The present study was undertaken (1) to compare the connotative meanings criminals attach to a sampling of concepts with those meanings attached by noncriminals, and (2) to examine the possible relationship between moral development and criminal behavior. One hundred thirty four male subjects completed the Wide Range Achievement Test- Revised (Reading Section); a personal data sheet; the Ammons Quick Test-Form I; the Criminal Semantic Inventory; the Test for Criminal Cognitions; and the Sociomoral Reflection Questionnaire. Subjects were divided into four groups (Noncriminals, Against Person Group, Against Property Group, and Against Statute Group) on the basis of history of criminal conviction. A one-way MANOVA was conducted on each of the 16 concepts under investigation. Significant differences were found for five concepts. In addition, criminals were found to differ significantly from noncriminals on level of moral development.
A culturally-based theoretical model about how cultural beliefs about cancer and breast cancer screening techniques influence the screening behaviors of women of Mexican descent was developed using grounded theory. Across levels of acculturation and socioeconomic status, 34 women (49 to 81 years old) were interviewed through focus groups. Women who hold more traditional health beliefs about causes, nature, and responsibility with regard to breast cancer are more likely to "feel healthy" and not engage in breast cancer screening. Women who hold more traditional beliefs about propriety of female and health care provider behavior are more likely to "feel indecent" and also not engage in screening. The cultural health belief model is integrated within a sociocultural and a socioeconomic context.
Health beliefs of 221 postmenopausal women were assessed to predict the Breast Cancer Screening Behaviors of breast self-examination (BSE) and utilization of mammography. Champion's (1991) revised Health Belief Model (HBM) instrument for BSE, which assesses the HBM constructs of Seriousness, Susceptibility, Benefits, Barriers, Confidence and Health Motivation, was utilized along with her Barriers and Benefits instrument for mammography usage. Ronis' and Harel's (1989) constructs of Severity-Late and Severity-Early were evaluated along with Cuing and demographic variables. These exogenous latent constructs were utilized in a LISREL path model to predict Breast Cancer Screening Behavior.
The present study investigated the influence of a brief, intensive biofeedback-assisted imagery training regimen on psychological, physiological and neuroendocrinological measures of pain and stress in injury related chronic pain patients. The subjects were 36 patients (myelography examcandidates) who were assigned to the imagery or wait-list control group by order of referral presentation and to formulate equivalent groups.
The present study is a comparison of music and non-music students with respect to their response patterns on the Brief Symptom Inventory as well as several demographic questions. The sample consisted of 148 non-music students and 141 music students at three levels: (1) freshmen/sophomore; (2) juniors/seniors; and (3) graduate students. Music students consisted of volunteers from several different music classes and non-music students were volunteers from non-music classes. There were no significant differences found among or between groups for the BSI subscales. However, music students were significantly less likely to have gone to counseling in the past and to seek professional counseling for future problems. Recommendations for psycho-educational interventions with musicians are discussed as well as suggestions for future research.
Academically talented college students have unique development needs that often go unmet. One area that is currently attracting more attention in the academically talented literature is career counseling. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of individual and group career counseling interventions. Subjects included 54 students from a special Texas program that provides the opportunity for gifted students to attend college during their final two years of high school. One instrument used assessed identity, confidence, career goals, and professional identity. The second instrument evaluated whether the subjects had recently discussed career concerns, were seeing a vocational counselor, or seeking career information. A pre-test was followed by group or individual intervention, and a post-test was conducted two months later. Results indicated an overall decrease on the instrument assessing professional identity and career goals. This study revealed no difference in effectiveness between group or individual interventions. Further research in this area is necessary to develop and refine the most effective career counseling interventions for the academically talented student.
Personality characteristics of spousal and adult children and active potential caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's Disease were studied in order to better predict caregiver burden and aspects of well-being. Contrary to prediction, no differences were found between spouse and adult children active caregivers on measures of well-being. Additionally, adult children potential caregivers indicated feeling less control over their lives than spouse potential caregivers. When social desirability was controlled, active caregivers reported greater fluctuations in affect than did potential caregivers. As predicted, personality characteristics of individuals were found to have the biggest role in determining which individuals experience stress or burden.
The purpose of the present study was to compare 42 community-dwelling spouse and child Alzheimer's Disease caregivers with 38 community-dwelling potential caregivers on salience of illness symptoms, and accuracy of judging symptoms of illnesses.
The purpose of this study was to functionally define and empirically test a model of psychological distress for mothers of children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This model delineates characteristics of the child, the parent, and the environment that may affect mothers' psychological symptomatology.
The role of memory as measured by the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML) was studied in an outpatient clinic sample of 62 arithmetic disabled children.
The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics that distinguish children with behavior disorders who drop out of psychotherapy treatment from those who remain in treatment. The sample included 379 children (268 male and 111 female) who were diagnosed with a behavior disorder at Dallas County Mental Health/Mental Retardation (MH/MR), a community mental health clinic in Dallas, Texas. The results indicated that certain characteristics increased the likelihood that a child would drop out of therapy, including reliance on aid, the presence of maternal psychopathology, and more severe externalizing and internalizing behaviors. This study also found that younger children with behavior disorders had a greater probability of dropping out of treatment. Minority status, gender, parent marital status, and referral source were not found to be associated with dropping out of treatment. Future studies should focus on specific interventions that clinicians could employ to deter premature termination from treatment.
Ketamine and phencyclidine (PCP) are noncompetitive antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type of ligand-gated glutamate receptors. Both agents have high abuse liability, and may produce dependence. Tolerance to the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse is widely regarded as a key component of the dependence process. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine whether tolerance develops to the reinforcing effects of ketamine, and whether PCP and dizocilpine, a noncompetitive NMDA antagonist with negligible abuse liability, produce cross-tolerance to the reinforcing effects of ketamine. Further, identification of the neural mechanisms that underlie tolerance to the reinforcing effects of drugs may yield information regarding drug dependence.
This study compared the social cognition and object relations of 39 physically abused children to a clinical group of 39 children with no recorded history of abuse.
A specifically oriented instrument was used to partially replicate a study by Dietz (1988) in an effort to compare the utility of the phi coefficient and Rescorla index measures of perceived contingency of reinforcement in children and examine the relationship of these measures to locus of control, teacher ratings of helplessness and academic performance.
This purpose of this research study was to identify key differences that distinguish stepfamilies from intact families with regard to individual members' perceptions of family environment and family functioning. Additionally, an initial look at how membership in a stepfamily impacts the young children's perceptions of interpersonal family functioning is offered.
This study used a parenting stress and coping model to identify predictors of symptomatology for 13 8 mothers of medically compromised children. This model proposed that: child characteristics (severity of the chronic illness and child related parenting stressors); parent characteristics (self-esteem, sense of competence, and parents' perceived stress/distress); and environmental characteristics (social support, general life stressor events, and demographic variables) contribute to psychological symptomatology for these mothers. Multiple regression analysis found a relationship between general life stressor events, severity of the children's chronic conditions, lower satisfaction with social support, lower self-esteem, and younger mothers' ages and greater symptomatology. Trends toward significance were found for more parenting stress and lower parenting sense of competence predicting greater symptomatology. Predicted relationships between family socioeconomic status and parenting daily hassles and symptomatology were not supported.
Standard psychological assessment instruments have not produced consistent results by which decisions can be made regarding the appropriate placement and legal disposition of an individual who has committed a sexual offense. The purpose of the present study was to systematically investigate deception and dissimulation as measured by three assessment instruments commonly utilized with sex offenders. A denial classification system was utilized in order to classify offenders into categories based on their level of admission to the legal system. The four group classification system did not produce significant differences on all measures of deception and dissimulation. Contrary to previous research, admitters were found to respond more defensively than deniers on one of the assessment instruments. In addition, partial deniers were identified as responding significantly differently from both admitters and deniers on a separate instrument. The differences found suggest that sex offenders' level of deception is multifaceted. Difficulties in identifying classificatory strategies and implications for theoretical conceptions of denial within this population are discussed.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was one of the most widely used psychological tests administered to adolescents. The MMPI-A is a revised version of the MMPI that was developed specifically for adolescents. The purpose of this study is to establish clinical correlates for the MMPI-A standard scale codetypes.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is the most frequently used psychological measure in the assessment of chronic pain. Since the introduction of the MMPI-2 in 1989 only two published studies have focused on cluster analysis of chronic pain patients. This study investigated MMPI-2 cluster solutions of chronic low-back pain patients. Data was collected from 2,051 chronic low-back pain patients from a multidisciplinary pain clinic in the southwestern United States. A hierarchical clustering procedure was performed on K-corrected T-scores of the MMPI-2 using the three validity and ten clinical scales. Four relatively homogeneous subgroups were identified for each sex with the MMPI-2. In general, these results replicated the findings of previous researchers using both the MMPI and MMPI-2.
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