The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the Type A behavior pattern to Holland's occupational types and the career choice process. The Type A behavior pattern is characterized by high levels of achievement striving, time urgency, chronic activation and hostility, and is an independent risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. It was hypothesized that Type A college students would be more attracted than Type B individuals to aspects of a future work environment which would reinforce their Type A behaviors. Previous research had suggested a relationship between the Type A behavior pattern and Holland's Enterprising and Investigative types (Martin, 1986). This study sought to replicate those findings, and further examine the nature of the Type A/B-Holland types relationship. Data were collected from undergraduate students in a variety of academic fields of study. Subjects completed a questionnaire packet consisting of the student version of the Jenkins Activity Survey (Jenkins, Rosenman, and Zyzanski, 1965; Glass, 1977), the Vocational Preference Inventory (Holland, 1985b), and a modified version of the Minnesota Job Description Questionnaire (Rosen, et al., 1972) . The findings demonstrated that the Type A/B pattern is a significant factor in the career choice process. …

Utilizing a sample of community-residing older adults, this pretest-posttest design evaluated the short term (approximately 1 week) impact on everyday functioning of Stress Inoculation (SI) training, a cognitive-behavioral intervention that is essentially a coping skills enhancement program. The targets of training were anxiety and concern about being able to successfully perform everyday living tasks. The training program was contrasted with a no contact (waiting list) control. In an effort to maximize the practical aspects of this study, the assessment battery included the use of two ecologically valid measures of everyday problem solving skills (one self-rated and one interviewer-rated). Also included were a measure of everyday intelligence widely used in gerontological research, two measures of self-efficacy, a geriatric depression scale, a state-trait anxiety scale, and a self-report measure of failures in perception, memory, and motor function. The results suggest that Stress Inoculation training is an effective intervention for improving everyday competence but that personal perceptions of self-efficacy and the emotional states of anxiety and depression mediate treatment effects. In general, only persons with lower levels of self-efficacy and higher levels of anxiety and/or depression saw improvement in their cognitive performance following SI training.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of attachment processes and coping strategies in the development of psychiatric symptoms among military veterans and active duty personnel. Data were obtained from 268 male and female military veterans and active duty personnel. A path analysis was conducted to estimate the relationships between attachment processes, coping strategies, and psychiatric symptoms. Findings demonstrated that greater levels of attachment anxiety were related to increased levels of avoidant coping and psychiatric symptoms, while higher levels of attachment avoidance were related to avoidant coping and PTSD symptoms, as well as decreased levels of problem-focused coping. Alcohol use was associated with psychiatric symptoms. Avoidant coping, but not problem-focused coping, was associated with psychiatric symptoms and partially mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and psychiatric symptoms. Avoidant coping also fully or partially mediated the relationships of avoidant attachment to depression and PTSD symptoms. The findings of this study increase our knowledge of mechanisms that contribute to psychiatric symptoms among military populations, which in turn can guide treatment planning and interventions.