Individual differences of cognitive organization and content were investigated as they relate to adaptation to remote, recent, and immediate life stress. Outside the field of stress, prior researchers have implicated cognitive organization with adjustment and cognitive content with specific psychopathology. As for behavioral adaptation to life stress, cognitive organization was viewed as a major factor in emotional vulnerability and adjustment, and cognitive content as a major factor in the mood disturbance of depression. Behavioral adaptation was defined in terms of current emotional vulnerability, adjustment and negative changes in the immediate (last six months), recent (over six months), and remote (over one year) past.

This study investigated the relationship between stress and pain crisis incidence in pediatric Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA). It was hypothesized that SCA children were exposed to higher levels of stress than healthy children. It was also hypothesized that a significant positive correlation existed between level of stress and pain crisis incidence both within and between years. The sample consisted of 20 Black elementary school children with SCA. There were 12 female and 8 male children. The period of investigation included the calendar years 1983 and 1984. Pain crisis incidence was determined through parent interviews and verified by a review of medical records.

Cognitive therapy for the treatment of depression has generated substantial research indicating its effectiveness and it is currently considered among the most viable conceptualizations of depression. However, it has remained controversial because its methods do not directly address emotional symptoms in depressed persons. Treatment of depressed emotions is a primary focus of hypnotic mood elevating techniques. These techniques enable depressed persons to experience positive emotions during hypnosis sessions and to re-experience them daily concurrent with performance of certain specified behaviors. This study evaluated the efficacy of a multicomponent treatment which combines the techniques of cognitive therapy and hypnotic mood elevation in the treatment of depressed persons. The three treatment conditions constructed for this investigation were cognitive therapy plus hypnotic mood elevation, cognitive therapy plus pseudo-biofeedback, and no treatment waiting list.

After an initial four week baseline period, during which headache activity and medication consumption were monitored, 28 migraineurs were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: (a) the biofeedback temperature warming group, (b) the visual imagery group, (c) the combined treatment group, or (d) the comparison group. All four groups continued to monitor their headache activity and medication consumption during the eight week treatment period and the eight week follow-up period. A two way analysis of variance computed on groups over time indicated a significant decrease in headache activity and medication consumption. During the follow-up period (a) the combined treatment group had significantly fewer headaches than the biofeedback group or the comparison group and (b) the visual imagery group and the combined treatment group had significantly fewer headache hours than the biofeedback group or the comparison group. These results do not appear to be attributable to differences between groups on the amount of time spent in home practice or subjective ratings of relaxation. There was no consistent relationship between increases in finger temperature and headache activity improvement. Decreases in powerful other scores, as measured by the Health Attribution Test, and increases in subjective ratings of internal control were consistent …

One hundred persons applying for services with the Texas Rehabilitation Commission with reported disabilities of alcohol/substance abuse or back injury/pain were selected for study. Subjects were assigned to two groups (alcohol or back) according to their reported disability. They were tested within one week of application and after 60 days were checked to see what rehabilitation status they were in to determine success or failure. Alcohol clients were administered the Health Attribution Test (HAT), 16PF, and an Alcohol Imagery questionnaire developed for this study. Back clients were administered the HAT, 16PF, and Pain Drawings. Statistical procedures including Pearson correlation, stepwise discriminant analysis, and discriminant analysis were performed. The HAT Internal Factor showed a significant relationship to rehabilitation success or failure and the 16PF motivation indices approached significance. The discriminant analysis demonstrated that success or failure could be predicted at a significant level using these measures. Issues of practicality in using these instruments (particularly imagery measures) in a rehabilitation counseling practice were noted.

Based on psychodynamic and object relations theories, 17 variables were proposed to be salient for those suffering from bulimia. In the present study four groups were compared: (a) bulimics with a prior history of anorectic-like behavior (FAB); (b) bulimics without a prior history of anorectic-like behavior (NAB); (c) a nonobese, nonbulimic group who evidenced excessive concerns about their weight (CAW); and (d) a normal control group (Control). Differences were predicted between both the bulimic and control groups as well as between both bulimic groups (FAB and NAB). Seventy-five women between the ages of 18 and 35 completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Eating Disorders Inventory, and Levenson's Locus of Control Scale. Results of a multivariate analysis of covariance procedure revealed differences across the groups on 12 variables. Post hoc testing indicated that both bulimic groups differed from the control groups confirming the first hypothesis. Further, the bulimic groups were differentiated from each other in the predicted direction on 10 of the 12 variables, lending support for the second hypothesis. Overall, the results suggest a progression of psychopathology and clinical symptomatology. In order of decreasing psychopathology were the following groups: FAB, NAB, CAW, and Control groups. Also, a discriminant analysis …

A large body of research has depicted relative arousal of the left and right cerebral hemispheres as related to utilization of particular defensive coping styles, level of anxiety, and perceptual styles. The right and left hemispheres are also presented in the literature as differing in visual-spatial and verbal-auditory short term memory abilities. The present research studied 127 right handed undergraduates' relative performance on forward spatial and digits memory spans in relation to hemispheric lateralization and other perceptual and personality variables hypothesized in the literature to be related to hemispheric arousal. It was hypothesized that the forward spatial and digit memory spans would display asymmetrical sensitivity to hemispheric arousal. That is, in a series of successive factor analyses, a hemispheric balance factor, a trait anxiety factor, and a short term memory factor would emerge. The three factors were hypothesized to be unrelated to each other. During an initial group pretesting, subjects were given pencil and paper measures of handedness, trait anxiety, and several defensive coping styles. During a second individual testing, subjects were administered measures of short term memory, field independence, and a computerized presentation of geometric designs which measured the subjects ability to detect differences which occurred at either the …

The analogue study was designed to extend previous research on clinical sex-role stereotyping of individual clients into the realm of marital counseling. The effects of clinician and couple sex-role style and type of marital problem on clinical judgements of couples was examined through ratings of four audiotaped couples constructed from two scripts depicting either couple financial or sexual problems. Each script produced both a stereotypical and counterstereotypical sex-role styled couple through reversal of spouse verbalizations. A sample of 40 (32 male, 8 female) practicing doctorate-level psychologists rated either two stereotypical or two counterstereotypical couples for level of maladjustment, need for treatment, and prognosis. Individual spouse ratings were also obtained to examine client gender effects.

This study investigated the relationships among family environment, demographic measures, the decisions made by unintentionally pregnant adolescents regarding post-delivery plans (stay single, get married, adoption), and the certainty with which these decisions were made. The Information Sheet, Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 1981), and Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (Zuckerman & Lubin, 1965a) were administered to 17 5 pregnant adolescents, ages 14 through 22, who intended to carry their pregnancies to term. Pearson product-moment correlations and multiple regression analyses were utilized to assess the relationships between family environment and certainty of decision and between family environment and negative affect. Greater uncertainty was associated with nonwhite racial status and living with both natural parents or mother only. Higher levels of negative affect were related to lower levels of perceived family cohesion, independence, expressiveness, and intellectualcultural orientation. The demographic variables of age, trimester of pregnancy, and family constellation were also found to be useful in predicting levels of negative affect. Subjects who were older, further along in their pregnancies, and living with both natural parents or mother only tended to report greater negative affect. Findings of greater uncertainty and negative affect associated with living with the natural mother are consistent with …

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 after a three-minute refractory period, is a more relaxed state than existed before the laughter. Determination of the similarity between the changes following laughter and the changes following directed relaxation was made in comparison with the changes following verbal speech. Factors of prior anxiety, pre- and post-self-esteem levels, humor level, and laughter intensity were examined. Historical and theoretical perspectives were reviewed, as well as the known information on physiological responses to laughter.

The premenstrual syndrome (PMS) continues to be an enigma for many: those women who report PMS, for professionals who attempt to treat premenstrual symptoms, and for researchers attempting to identify PMS and to compare treatments. The present study investigated the responses from 86 subjects between the ages 30-45 for their perceptions of daily stress and coping styles by PMS level. Three levels of PMS were formulated by subject responses to the questionnaire (a) PMS for scores within the criteria, (b) Non-PMS for scores lower than the criteria, and (c) Psy-Non-PMS for certain scores higher than the criteria with a psychological, or neurotic, profile. Hassle intensity (daily stress) and coping style, whether problem-focused (P) or emotion-focused (E), were assessed by questionnaire. In addition, help seeking behavior, i.e., whether a woman sought help from a doctor in the past twelve months, was examined but did not significantly relate to level of PMS, hassle intensity, or coping style. Psy-Non-PMS women reported perceiving significantly more hassles and significantly greater use of four of the E coping styles, Detachment, Focusing on the Positive, Self-blame, and Keep to Self, than the Non-PMS women. PMS women endorsed perception of significantly more hassles and significantly greater use of …

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 relevant to their back pathology. A card-sort method was utilized in order to assess the coping strategies employed by the patients during these two pain stimulus tasks. These procedures were repeated following treatment. Coping strategies used by patients during the two pain tasks were compared. Results demonstrated that there was a significant difference in the manner in which patients coped with the two types of pain. Cold-pressor measures of pain threshold and tolerance were not significantly different between pretreatment and post-treatment. These measures were also not positively correlated with treatment outcome. A multiple regression approach demonstrated that particular coping strategies were significantly predictive of treatment outcome. The medical pain stimulus procedure was found to provide more significant pedictor variables than the cold-pressor test. At pre-treatment assessment, patients …

This study examined the perception of parental nurturance, the parental identification, and the sex-role orientation of women who had been sexually abused as children. Its purpose was to explore these aspects of a woman's relationship with her parents and the subsequent sex role development, as it relates to the presence or absence of sexual abuse in the relationship. Eighty women averaging 31 years of age volunteered to participate in the study. The women represented three distinct populations with respect to the question of sexual abuse. The first group reported never having been sexually abused (Nonabused). The second group reported having been sexually abused by their father or stepfather (Father Abused). The third group reported having been sexually abused by someone other than their father or stepfather (Other Abused). As predicted, perceived parental nurturance was significantly lower for members of the Father Abused group than for the remaining two groups. In addition, the Nonabused group reported the highest nurturance scores of the three groups. Contrary to expectation, there was no difference between the parent identification patterns of the three groups. Support was provided for the prediction that women who had been sexually abused by their fathers were more likely to express …

The purpose of this study was to delineate variables which relate to reported willingness to seek treatment for menstrual-related distress, and to assess treatment preferences in a population of women often tapped for menstrual research that of college students. Of the 198 volunteers included in the study, 71 stated that they were willing to seek some form of treatment for menstrual-related distress, and 127 stated that they were not willing to do so. The Adjective Checklist (ACL), Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire (MAQ), and Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ), along with a personal data sheet were administered to subjects. In addition, they were asked to read three paragraph-long descriptions of self-administered, medical, and behavioral treatments for menstrual-related distress and to indicate their preference for each.

Mental health professionals have observed that children who witness interparental violence frequently display either an affrontive, demanding personality style, or a passive, compliant style. The prevalence of these personality types and their relation to identification, stress, and other variables was evaluated in a sample of 40 children (age range = 6 - 12 years old) who have witnessed parental spouse abuse. Children completed the Children's Personality Questionnaire and the Parental Identification Questionnaire. Mothers completed the Life Experiences Survey. Independent ratings of the children's personality were made. The results validated the existence of these two personality styles among both male and female witnesses, and supplied evidence for their relation to paternal identification, familial instability, and parental ineffectualness. The implications of these findings for assessment and intervention are discussed.

In an attempt to determine the normative levels in health attribution and emotional, intellectual, and neuromuscular functioning in the parkinsonian population, 31 diagnosed parkinsonian volunteers recruited from exercise classes and/or organizations were tested. Health attribution was measured by the Health Attribution Test (HAT), personality factors by the Clinical Analysis Questionnaire (CAQ), general intellectual level by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test- Revised (PPVT-R) and the Intellectual Processes subscale of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (Luria- Intelligence), and neuromuscular functioning by the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND) and Bender- Gestalt (BVMGT). Controls for comparisons were obtained from the clinical ecology population and normals for personality traits and the nonspecific neurologically impaired, healthy aging populations, and normals for intellectual and neuromuscular functionings. Chi-square and t-tests were computed on the data. Results indicated that the parkinsonians manifest less lower body strength (£ < .01), poorer balance with eyes closed (JD < .01), and slower fine motor speed (p < .05) than normals. The parkinsonians function significantly better in areas involving upper body coordination (p < .01, £ < .05) , slow-controlled movements (g.< .001), BVMGT (p < .05), and PPVT-R (p < .01) than the nonspecific neurologically impaired. On the Luria-Intelligence, 21 percent of …

This study investigated the relationship between the depressive attributional style described by Beck and Seligman and elevation of mood. It was proposed that mood elevation would reduce the level of depression and, in addition, would reduce the number of negative attributions. The reduction of negative attributions was assumed to be a more cognitively mediated process and was proposed to occur subsequent to mood change. These assumptions are contrary to the current cognitive theories of depression and attribution which view attributional style as a prerequisite to both the development and reduction of depression. Subjects were 30 undergraduate students between the ages of 19 and 40 years old who volunteered to participate in the study. They were screened on the basis of demonstrated depression (13 and above on the Beck Inventory) and susceptibility to hypnosis (high susceptibility on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility) . Subjects were randcmly assigned to one of three groups; (1) hypnosis with mood elevation, (2) hypnosis with relaxation, and (3) no treatment control. The results supported the hypothesis that mood elevation would reduce level of depression. The mood elevation group demonstrated a lowering of depression. The effects of the treatment procedure did not appear until the …

Eighty four female undergraduate students participated in a psychotherapy analog study to determine the effects of imagery ability, guided imagery therapy treatments, and personal versus supplied constructs upon self-disclosure variables in a 2 x 3 x 2 Anova design, with repeated measures on the final factor. Dependent variables were measured by reaction time, total talk time, speech duration, silence quotient, and Doster's (1971) Self-Disclosure Rating Scale. Subjects were divided into two imagery ability levels on the basis of local mean scores on Sheehan's (1967) modification of Betts' (1909) Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery. Three treatment procedures were employed: a guided focal imagery treatment, which encouraged imagery involving the interpersonal topics to be discussed, a guided relaxation imagery treatment which used standard sensory relaxation scenes, and a treatment which imparted ambiguous instructions. The final factor was repeated measures of the eight negative topics the subjects were asked to discuss. Four were chosen from the subjects' Role Construct Repertory Test grid (Kelly, 1955; Landfield, 1971), and four were selected from the Semantic Differential (Snider & Osgood, 1969).

The effectiveness of an educational psychotherapy presentation on Asians' therapy expectations and help-seeking attitudes was investigated. Subjects were foreign-born Asian university students. Compared to a non-Asian American normative sample, the Asian group demonstrated significantly less accurate expectations about therapy and less positive attitudes about seeking help for psychological problems. A psychotherapy presentation was used to modify expectations and attitudes. It consisted of an audiotaped lecture on therapist and client roles and the types of problems discussed in therapy. It also included a written transcript of therapist-client dialogues for subjects to read. The experimental group, which received the presentation, was compared to placebo control and delayed-treatment control groups. The psychotherapy presentation did not modify Asians' expectations or attitudes more than the control groups. Instead, all three groups showed improvement at posttest. Because there is a clear need to assess further the therapy expectations and attitudes of Asians, future research was recommended.

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 interacts with cognitive complexity to influence psychological disturbance; that a positive relationship exists between interpersonal flexibility and psychopathology; and that a positive relationship exists between the proportion of ambiguous constructs which they employ and a person's level of psychopathology.