Search Results

open access

Attitudes and Treatment Knowledge by Medical Students Regarding Rape Victims

Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes and treatment knowledge of medical student professionals regarding rape victims. In addition to generating normative data for a population which, as a function of their vocation may come in contact with victims, comparisons were made between a sample of those beginning their medical education process and those at the end of training in order to measure change in treatment knowledge and attitudes towards rape victims which occur during m… more
Date: May 1983
Creator: Best, Connie Lee
open access

Cognitive Coping Strategies with Chronic Back Pain Patients

Description: Low back pain has long been estimated to be the most prevalent and debilitating source of chronic pain. The present study first reviews the literature addressing the various theories of pain, the physiological and psychological variables important in pain research, and the psychotherapeutic approaches that have been used to date to reduce pain. Thirty-seven hospitalized chronic back pain patients were administered the cold-pressor test and a medical pain stimulus procedure which was medically r… more
Date: December 1985
Creator: Hinnant, Donald Wayne
open access

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Childbirth Preparatory Techniques

Description: Stress reduction techniques have been used to assist people in coping with stressful medical procedures and events. Labor and delivery training classes have utilized techniques to assist women with the childbirth process. The classes generally included basic education of labor and delivery, respiration behavior, relaxation of muscles, and participation of a coach. Reducing the amount of pain experienced in labor and delivery has been suggested for facilitating the process and decreasing the amo… more
Date: May 1985
Creator: Lindberg, Cheryl Senf
open access

The Effects of Computer Versus Personal Administration on Measures of Verbal and Spatial Short-Term Memory

Description: This study sought to investigate the influence of expressive task demand, as determined by amount of face-to face social interaction, level of subjects' expressive ability, sex of subject, and sex of experimenter on subjects' digit and visual-spatial short-term memory span performance. The amount of personal contact was manipulated by the automated versus person administrations of the memory measures. The automated administration was accomplished through the use of a microcomputer.
Date: May 1985
Creator: McFarlane, Gilbert John
open access

Treatment of Acne Vulgaris by Biofeedback-Assisted Cue-Controlled Relaxation and Guided Cognitive Imagery

Description: The primary purpose of the present study is to demonstrate that acne vulgaris can be reduced by psychological treatment. A cognitive-behavioral adjunctive intervention involving biofeedback-assisted relaxation and cognitive imagery procedures for the treatment of acne vulgaris was investigated in this study with 30 patients, already receiving traditional dermatological treatment, as participants. A three-group design was used which consisted of a treatment (relaxation-imagery), a rational behav… more
Date: May 1981
Creator: Brown, Barry W.
open access

Self-Perception of Health: A Proposed Explanatory Model and a Test of its Clinical Significance

Description: A multivariate model of health self-perceptions was postulated based upon a comprehensive set of health related variables suggested by previous bivariate research. Components of the model included measures of health attitudes, health practices, health locus of control, a measure of stress/ coping, and a physical health measure. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 10 8 subjects based upon the external measure of physical health which included categories ranging from disabi… more
Date: December 1985
Creator: Scherzer, Charles E.
open access

Life History and Psychometric Personality Factors Differentiating Prisoners Convicted of Violent and Nonviolent Crimes

Description: In this study violent and nonviolent prisoners were differentiated on the basis of life history and psychometric variables. Life history data were collected from institutional files and from a biographical questionnaire. Psychometric procedures consisted of the Mini-Mult Prisoner Questionnaire and the Bender-Gestalt. In summary, the variables included in the discriminant function suggest that the violent subjects were more psychopathological than the nonviolent subjects. The violent subjects ev… more
Date: December 1979
Creator: Reuterfors, David Lawrence
open access

Validity of a Brief Self-Rating Visual Analogue Pain Questionnaire

Description: It is believed by many researchers that little attention has been given to patients' perceptions of the impact of chronic pain on their lives. In recognition of this need, G. Frank Lawlis, C. Edward McCoy, and David K. Selby developed the Dallas Pain Questionnaire (DPQ) to assess the amount of chronic pain that affects four aspects (daily activities, work-leisure activities, anxiety-depression, and social interest) of the patients' lives. The present study, conducted to validate the DPQ's stati… more
Date: May 1988
Creator: Cuencas, Ramon
open access

Self-Directed Relaxation as a Treatment for Essential Hypertension

Description: Male (8) and female (22) Essential Hypertensives (130/85 mm Hg or above) were randomized into a nonspecific treatment or an experimental treatment utilizing eight relaxation strategies. Both groups had eight training sessions which consisted of baseline blood pressures (BP), 15 minute relaxation tapes, and post-relaxation BP's. Subjects were instructed to use their tapes three times between sessions. Five BP readings were taken at the one and two month follow-ups. It was hypothesized that the e… more
Date: December 1984
Creator: Hafer, Donald G.
open access

Self-Disclosure and Self-Actualization as Predictors of Love

Description: Maslow (1956) suggested that self-actualization in an important determinant of the type of love experienced in heterosexual relationships. Recent work has suggested that the self-actualization of each member of a couple may also be important in determining the level of self-disclosure intimacy which occurs in the couple, and also that self-disclosure itself is an important determinant of interpersonal attraction. The present study employed the technique of path analysis (Wright, 1960) to determ… more
Date: December 1983
Creator: Bissett, David Woody
open access

Contingency Contracting Effects on Psychotherapy Attendance and Termination at Two Community Mental Health Centers

Description: Contingency management has been utilized to improve treatment compliance and attendance in a medical setting. A related question involves the effect of contingency management on attendance in outpatient psychotherapy. Sixty-nine individuals ranging in age from 8 to 50 years agreed to participate in such a study. These individuals agreed to sign a contract specifying consequation for failure to notify the centers 24 hours in advance of an impending absence. Data on attendance and notification of… more
Date: May 1981
Creator: Adams, Joe B. (Joe Bayless), 1949-
open access

Intimate Relationships of Adult Children of Alcoholics

Description: Difficulties developing and maintaining intimate relationships are often attributed to adult children of alcoholics (ACAs). However, the focus of the literature has been on those obtaining psychological treatment and has primarily involved clinical impressions. The purpose of this study was to examine intimacy in the close friendships and love relationships of ACAs. Autonomy and intimacy in respondents' families of origin were also analyzed. Comparisons were made between ACAs currently in (n = … more
Date: August 1988
Creator: Settle, Karen Ree
open access

An Empirically Derived Typology of Single Custodial Fathers: Characteristics and Implications for Role Adjustment

Description: Eighty-seven single custodial fathers were surveyed to test the validity of previously developed typologies and/or construct a more empirically valid framework with implications for adjustment to the role. Mendes1 (1975) aggressive seekers, conciliatory seekers, conciliatory assenters, and aggressive assenters were compared to O'Brien's (1980) hostile seekers, conciliatory negotiators, and passive acceptors. In addition to demographic variables, relationship to ex-wife and child, and reasons fo… more
Date: May 1990
Creator: Theurer, Gregory W. (Gregory Wayne)
open access

Mirthful Laughter and Directed Relaxation: a Comparison of Physiological Response

Description: The differences among certain physiological changes occurring in response to mirthful laughter, directed relaxation, and verbal speech were investigated. These changes included amount of muscle tension, as measured with surface electromyography, in the forehead and in the upper body as recorded from the forearms bilaterally, peripheral surface skin temperature, heart rate, and respiration rate. The study sought to determine whether the net effect of laughter, as measured on these five variables… more
Date: August 1985
Creator: Woods, Barbara Jane Simmons
open access

Locus of Control and Adjustment to Retirement

Description: Locus of desired control and participation in a retirement preparation program was investigated in relation to retirement attitudes and adjustment. Fifty-nine subjects, consisting of older workers and retirees from a large southwestern corporation, comprised the sample. An experimental group, consisting of 12 subjects, completed questionnaires prior to and following their participation in the retirement preparation program. A control group, consisting of 15 subjects, completed the same question… more
Date: December 1982
Creator: Abel, Bruce Jules
open access

Forensic Hypnosis and Memory Enhancement: Recall, Recognition, and Confidence

Description: The recent finding of memory enhancement using either cognitive mnemonic or standard hypnotic interviews (Geiselman et al., 1985) suggests the possibility of additive forensic utility when these methods are combined. The present crime-analogue study compared waking and hypnotic cognitive mnemonics to investigate this and potential problems previously unaddressed. Recall and recognition accuracy and confidence were measured for low and high density stimuli in a videotaped murder, including centr… more
Date: December 1989
Creator: Wiley, Stephen K. (Stephen Kenneth)
open access

Improving Adherence: Use of Relapse Prevention Instructions in Clinical Nutrition Programs

Description: The possibility that faulty expectations about success and relapse recovery contributed to poor adherence was examined in this study. Support for such an expectancy model was sought through comparing an index of relative task magnitude to adherence rates. Instructions designed to improve adherence through changing expectations about relapse and relapse recovery were also administered to 46 clients in two clinical nutritional programs. Their adherence rates <in days) were compared to the rates o… more
Date: December 1986
Creator: Snowden, James E. (James Edward)
open access

Narcissism: Reality Testing and the Effect of Negative Feedback

Description: A number of clinicians have reported that narcissists show grandiosity in self-concept, and rage after receiving disconfirming feedback. This is the first empirical study to test these claims. Subjects with differing levels of narcissism and self-esteem were compared on distortion in self-perception and emotional reaction to negative feedback. Ninety-six college students predicted their levels of intelligence, attractiveness, and interpersonal understanding (empathy) as compared to their peers.… more
Date: August 1990
Creator: Gabriel, Marsha T. (Marsha Thompson)
open access

A Comparison of Measures of Masculinity/Femininity in Predicting Instrumental Behaviors

Description: The development of measures of masculinity/femininity in psychology has reflected historical interest in categorizing gender differences. Recent measures have characterized masculinity as instrumental/agentic behavior. In this study, a traditional measure (the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Masculinity/femininity scale) was pitted against a more recent measure (the Personal Attributes Questionnaire) in predicting instrumental behavior of mixed sex dyads in laboratory sex stereotype… more
Date: August 1984
Creator: Roesel, Rosalyn
open access

Anxiety Relief, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, and Expectancy Relaxation in the Treatment of Speech Phobia

Description: Relaxation procedures and anxiety relief were reviewed. Effects of cognitive and expectancy variables in reduction of avoidance behavior were also extensively reviewed. Various theoretical models for desensitization were presented. Use of symbolic control in classical conditioning and use of self-control methods in anxiety reduction were discussed. Special emphasis was given to self-desensitization and cue controlled relaxation. One goal of the experiment was to determine whether a musical stim… more
Date: August 1976
Creator: Lynd, Robert Sterling
open access

Cognitive Organization, Interpersonal Flexibility and Psychological Maladjustment

Description: Recent research on the contribution of cognitive and social factors to psychopathology has been narrowly focused on isolated cognitive-social aspects of adjustment. This study takes a broader perspective by examining a) cognitive structure in addition to cognitive content and b) general aspects of interpersonal style rather than isolated social behaviors. Maladjustment was. examined with respect to premorbid history as well as current adjustment. The hypotheses were that cognitive integration i… more
Date: December 1985
Creator: Nicholson, Stephen David
open access

Female Sexual Orientation: Behavior and Developmental History

Description: The present study investigated female sexuality by examining a range of experiential, historical, attitudinal, and behavioral variables, and conceptualizing sexual orientation along several dimensions on a heterosexual/homosexual continuum. The focus was on determining what, if any, important etiological factors emerged, as well as differences in behavior, attitudes, and preferences among women with various sexual orientations. It was concluded that a nonconventionality factor could be interact… more
Date: August 1979
Creator: Van Buskirk, Susan Swann
open access

Interpersonal Reactions to Bereaved Parents: An Exploration of Attachment and Interpersonal Theories

Description: The experiment examined negative social reactions to bereaved parents from unrelated others. Both the behavior displayed by the parent and attachment style of the perceiver were expected to influence reactions to bereaved parents. Undergraduates at a southern university (N = 239) completed both attachment measures and measures of reactions to videotapes of bereaved parents. Results indicated that bereaved parents do indeed receive negative evaluations from unrelated others, in the form of decre… more
Date: June 1990
Creator: Wilhite, Thomas R. (Thomas Ray)
open access

Anger Reduction in Closed Head Injured Individuals with Group Social Skills Training

Description: 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… more
Date: May 1990
Creator: Nicolette, Myrna K. (Myrna Kay)
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