This purpose of this study was to investigate and examine the attitudes of therapists who treat HIV-positive (HIV+) clients. Specifically, therapists' perceptions of their own preparedness in dealing with specific issues and emotions of HIV+ clients were examined. Also, therapists' evaluation of their own efficacy of specific therapeutic approaches with HIV+ clients was examined. These therapists' perceptions and evaluations of all their clients in general were compared to their HIV+ clients. Comparisons were also made within the two groups.

Although much research has examined the impact of life stress and the subsequent development of health symptoms, most of this research has been done with White middle class adults. Similar to the adult research, life stress research with children and adolescents has focused on White middle class individuals. The present study expands the knowledge about the stress process in ethnic/racial adolescents while controlling for the effects of SES. A sample population consisting of 103 Black students, 129 Hispanic students, and 105 White students was compared with respect to stressful events experienced, coping strategies, and social support. Students from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds were included within each ethnic/racial group studied. After experimentally and statistically controlling for the effects of socioeconomic status, significant differences were observed. Black and Hispanic students reported receiving higher levels of Enacted Social Support (actual support) than White students. Contrary to what has been previous suggested, Black and Hispanic students reported having experienced fewer stressful life events than White students. Other ethnic/racial group differences that emerged included differences in ways in which specific patterns of moderator variables served to enhance the relationship between life stress and psychological symptomatology.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences and similarities of quality of life (QoL) in American and Portuguese cancer patients with hematological malignancies as well as the robustness of the measures cross-culturally. Portuguese participants were 98 patients and 49 accompanying persons and the American participants were 55 patients and 22 accompanying persons. Fifty (Portuguese sample) to 40% (American sample) of the patients came with an accompanying person who answered the questionnaire concerning the patient's QoL. The two cultural groups were characterized in terms of QoL (measured by the SF-36 and the FLIC), social support (Social Support Scale), socio-demographic and clinical variables. Portuguese patients reported a higher QoL. However, this result could be attributable to the fact that the two cultural samples differ in socio-economic status. The measures seem to be comparable for the Portuguese and American samples, at least in what concerns reliability and concurrent validity.

The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between and among the degree of mistrust black students hold towards Whites, the students' preferences for race of counselor, and the discussion of problems that are sexual in nature. Participants consisted of 60 black females and 51 black males recruited from a university population. All subjects completed the Terrell and Terrell Cultural Mistrust Inventory, Fischer-Turner Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale, Corrigan and Schmidt Counselor Rating Form - Short Form, Tinsley Expectations About Counseling Inventory, and the Thermometer Method Form developed specifically for this project. A multiple regression model was used to explore the hypotheses of this study. The criterion variables consisted of scores on the Expectations About Counseling Form and Counselor Rating Form. Analyses revealed that the most significant predictors of counseling expectations were race of counselor and participant gender. Black students who were asked to assume \ they would see a black counselor had more favorable expectations about counseling than those black students asked to assume they would see a white counselor. Female participants had more favorable expectations about counseling than male participants. Results also indicated that the most significant predictors of counselor ratings were race of counselor …

A sample of 227 undergraduate students was administered pre-intervention paper-and-pencil questionnaires to assess homophobia, fear of AIDS contagion, symbolic representations of AIDS and homosexuality, and specific personality attributes including authoritarianism, religiosity, and conservatism. Participants then read one of eight intervention vignettes about an ill person; these vignettes varied by sexual orientation of the patient, disease (AIDS versus lung cancer), and mode of transmission (in the AIDS conditions). Participants then completed post-intervention measures assessing the degree to which the ill person in the vignette was responsible and to blame for his illness, the level of stigma toward him, and concerns about social interactions with him. Results indicate the following: a) Attributions of personal responsibility are primarily a function of mode of illness transmission; b) fear of AIDS contagion is predictive of stigma and social avoidance of PWAs; and c) AIDS-related stigma and attributions of blame are largely a function of symbolic associations between homosexuality and IV drug abuse (which were previously stigmatized) and AIDS.

Thirty outpatients being treated at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center Department of Behavioral Health Psychology were randomly assigned to either a relaxation/imagery training class (R/I), a short-term psychotherapy group (P/G) or a no treatment control group. Subjects had psychological, physiological and immunological data taken before and after treatment. Results indicated that support for the hypothesis that relaxation/imagery training improves the psychological, physiological, and immunological functioning of participants was found.

The current study investigated the criterion validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - 2 (MMPI-2) by comparing participants' profiles with other variables, including diagnosis, length of hospitalization, and chronicity. The specific diagnostic groups investigated were depressed (major depressive disorder; dysthymic disorder; and bipolar disorder, depressed), schizophrenic (schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, and schizoaffective disorder), and borderline personality disorder (BPD). Statistical analyses included use of univariate analyses of variance (ANOVAs), multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs), regression analyses, and measures of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive power (PPP), and negative predictive power (NPP). MANOVA results indicated significant differences between diagnostic groups on Scales F, 2, 3, 4, 7, ANX. FRS. DEP. BIZ. M f i , LSE, and FAM. There were considerable differences between males and females when separate MANOVAs were performed for gender groups. Cutoff see ires for classification by diagnosis resulted in significant specificity rates and negative predictive power, but sensitivity rates and positive predictive power were not significant.

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive and emotional functioning of neglected, physically abused, and clinical control children between six and thirteen years of age who were referred for testing at the Dallas Child Guidance Clinic.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between parent and child factors for mothers of children diagnosed with cystic fibrosis to predict mother's psychological distress. Mothers were surveyed to identify measurement models in areas of Child and Parental characteristics and a Full Causal Model of Maternal distress. Factors related to Child Characteristics include general parental stressors and cystic fibrosis specific parental stressors. Factors related to Parental Characteristics include the mother's sense of parental competence and self-esteem. Additional factors related to the Full Causal Model include social support, major and minor life events, and demographics. Results were analyzed using LISREL IV structural equation modeling. Measurement model analysis found a good fit for the Child Characteristics model (Chi Square = 6.85, df = 4, JD = .144, Goodness of Fit Indices = .972) and Parental Characteristics model (Chi Square = 5.89, df = 3, p = .117, Goodness of Fit Indices = .971), but not for the full causal model of maternal distress (Chi Square = 114.98, df = 66, E = .000, Goodness of Fit Indices = .853)

Responses of 111 doctoral clinical psychology students to Garfield and Kurtz' (1973) Testing Attitude Scale were subjected to a 2 x 2 factorial analysis. Attitudes toward psychodiagnostic testing were found to be related both to academic versus nonacademic professional expectations (academics scoring more negatively, M = 32.69, than nonacademics, M = 37.19), F (1, 107) = 5.994, p < 0.016, and to internship training exposure (non-interns scoring more negatively, M = 34.64, than interns, M = 38.80), F (1, 107) = 10.321, p< 0.002. Results paralleled previous research on academic and nonacademic working psychologists' attitudes. Similarities in students' and role models' attitudes were discussed in terms of Kelman's (1953; 1958), Festinger's (1957), and Bem's (1970) attitude theories. Results seemed to imply continued controversy over both the desirability of producing psychodiagnostically oriented clinicians, and also traditional paradigms of psychodiagnostic training.

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.

The influence of cognitive organization, dysfunctional attitudes, and depressive "subtype" on the perceptions of negative life events is explored. BDI scores are used to delineate symptomatic and non-symptomatic groups. Construct content (sociotropic versus autonomous, as first defined by Beck) is used to identify predominant schema-type. Subjects completed a Problematic Situations Questionnaire with Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale. Results indicate that depressed individuals display more dysfunctional attitudes and negative affect in all types of negative situations; further the endorsement of dysfunctional attitudes is significantly more likely to occur in the context of schema-congruent situations. Findings are discussed a) in terms of the utility of personal constructs in the assessment of schema-type and b) in accordance with a person-event interactional model of depression.

Superiority, control, and dominance theories of disparaging humor were reviewed, and sexist humor was studied as representative of the field. The effects of educational level and sex of subject on the judgment of humor in sexist material were investigated, utilizing a set of 50 cartoons and jokes devised to approximate overlapping standard curves on the dimensions sexist content and humor. Subjects were 71 males and 73 females, comprising 84 undergraduates and 60 doctoral graduate students. Each subject performed a forced Q sort of the jokes, with 104 rating for humor and 40 rating for sexism to establish content weights. Subjects' rankings, age, sex, and educational level were recorded upon completion of the task. Significant negative correlations were found between educational level and judgment of humor in sexist material, and female subjects judged sexist material to be significantly less funny than males. Some support was indicated for existing theories.

Currently, neuropsychologists rely on assessment instruments rooted in century old theory and technology to make evaluations of military personnel’s readiness to return-to-duty or return to their community. The present study sought to explore an alternative by evaluating the validity of a neuropsychological assessment presented within a virtual reality platform. The integration of a neuropsychological assessment into a cognitively and emotionally demanding virtual environment – reminiscent of a combat experience in Iraq – offers a more ecologically valid manner in which to evaluate the cognitive skills required in theater. U.S. military veterans’ (N = 50) performance on the Virtual Reality Stroop Task (VRST) was compared with performance on a paper-and-pencil, a computer adapted version of the Stroop task, and the subtests included in the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics-4 (ANAM4) TBI-MIL test battery. Results supported the validity of the VRST, indicating it demonstrates the typical Stroop effect pattern. The emotional salience of the VRST resulted in slowed reaction time compared to the ANAM Stroop. Further, the complex interference condition of the VRST offers opportunities for evaluation of exogenous and endogenous attentional processing. In the evaluation of threat, participants were noted to perform more accurately and more quickly in low threat versus high …

The current study employed both a variable- and person-centered approach to analyze data taken from a large sample of U.S. adults (N = 602, 59% males). For the former, structural equation modeling was utilized to empirically articulate the links between the four facets of psychopathy (interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, antisocial) and the six facets of ethnocentrism. For the person-centered approach, descriptive discriminant analysis was used to assess for differences in psychopathic trait profiles between those elevated or low in ethnocentric attitudes. Consistent with expectations, the affective dimension positively predicted denigration of out-group members whereas the lifestyle domain negatively predicted all facets of ethnocentrism. Unexpectedly, the antisocial facet positively predicted group cohesion and devotion towards one's ethnic in-group. Additionally, those elevated in ethnocentrism had higher interpersonal and affective scores and lower lifestyle scores relative to those low in ethnocentric attitudes. Results are discussed in the context of risk assessment for hate-based violence and the overlap in the nomological network of psychopathy and prejudicial attitudes.

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of two noise conditions, continuous and noncontinuous noise, and three intensity levels, upon a serial learning task and the interaction effects of these factors on learning.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between early perceptions of parent-child relations, as measured by the Roe and Siegelman Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire (PCR), and the occupational orientation of the child, as measured by the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB).

This study explored the usefulness of the Metropolitan Readiness Tests (MRT) as a screening device for minimal brain injury. It was hypothesized that brain injured (BI) children would score significantly lower on Test Six of the MRT than non-brain injured (NBI) children. Test Six is a visual-motor perceptual task.

This study is designed to determine if people have a particular stimulus or perceptual preference which is congruent with their personality. Seventy-six male and female college students completed three personality tests, consisting of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Revised Art Scale of the Welsh Figure Preference Test, and the Gough Adjective Check List. A preference for simplicity or complexity in designs for four different personality dimensions was examined. The personality dimension of introversion and extroversion was looked at in particular.

This study is an investigation of the general questions Is there a relationship or interaction between a subject's dogmatism score (as measured by the Dogmatism Scale) and his self-rating of the perceived stereotypical masculinity-femininity dimension (as measured by the abridged Mf scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)?

The purpose of this study was to determine whether hypnotic suggestions could influence the physiological mechanisms associated with breast growth to produce a significant increase in breast- size in an adult female population.

This study was an objective investigation of an operant program in behavior modification using tangible reinforoers, which was conducted in two Special Education classes in the Denton Independent School District.

The present study was concerned with comparing the relative effectiveness of behavior rehearsal and systematic desensitization in the treatment of social anxiety.

In recent years, there has been a growing acceptance of sexual behavior as a legitimate area of research. An impetus for research utilizing erotic visual stimuli was supplied by the Presidential appointment of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography (1963). Research into the effects of erotic visual stimuli has typically employed male subjects (Neiger, 1966). The paucity of adequate research has not been a deterrent to the formulation of strong opinions regarding the nature of female sexuality. The present research has focused on female responses to visual representations of the nude male figure.