Previous research indicates that women are judged on the amount of food eaten and that both men and women are judged on the type of food eaten. This study is an attempt to determine whether meal size or type predominantly accounts for these findings on the variables of masculinity, femininity, attractiveness, thinness, fitness, and likability. Physical activity was also included to determine its effect on these variable. Subjects used were 313 undergraduate students. Results indicate that meal type is more influential than meal size and that physical activity significantly influences judgements of others. The results are discussed in terms of future research and relatedness to socio-cultural theories of eating disorders.

The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Change Version (SADS-C), the Social Adjustment Scale-Patient Version II (SAS-PATII) and the Command Hallucination Questionnaire (CAQ) were administered to 86 psychotic inpatients to investigate the relationship between command hallucinations, aggressive behavior, and compliance. Two SADS-C items ("severity of hallucinations" and "depersonalization") were useful as indicators of command hallucinations. Ninety-two percent had complied with their command at least once in the past month. Three SADS-C variables related to compliance with command hallucinations were identified: middle insomnia, the belief that the voice was acting in your best interest, and overt irritability. The patients' level of distortion of reality did not appear to influence compliance rates. Results also indicated that patients who experience command hallucinations were not significantly more or less dangerous than other psychotic inpatients.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between anorexia nervosa and several personality traits. Past research in this area has been contradictory for several reasons. Sociocultural theories have described the media's role in promoting eating disorders by portraying a thin body-type as the ideal. However, they have neglected to describe the personality ideal which our society promotes in women. It is proposed here that anorexics incorporate and oppose this ideal. Therefore, the anorexic personality is one filled with conflict.

In the present project racial differences in female achievement motivation and motivation to work were examined, and related this information to the theory that African American females, when compared to White females, are less likely to marry someone equal to themselves in the areas of education, employment, and earning potential because of an assumed shortage of suitable African-American males. It was hypothesized that African-American females would score higher on assessments of achievement motivation and motivation to work, and rate lower the likelihood of meeting and marrying a partner equal in education level, employment level, and earning potential than would White females. Data analysis supported all hypotheses. The results were discussed in the context of the female achievement motivation literature as well as the literature concerning female motivation to work.

The Rorschach records and Wechsler Intelligence Scale scores of sixty-six children between the ages of 5 and 13 were compared. Subjects in each group were from one of three conditions: children who have documented histories of physical abuse, children referred for clinical intervention with no history of abuse, and a community sample of children with no documented history of abuse or psychological treatment. Data from the groups were analyzed to examine evidence of increased reliance on ego functions related to motor activity and concurrent deficits in other areas of ego function by subjects in the physical abuse group. Results revealed that the physical abuse group showed a greater tendency toward color-dominant responses on the Rorschach than the comparison groups and that the Community control group produced records with lower extended form quality than the clinical groups. No significant differences were found for Performance/Verbal IQ split, EB style, Cooperative Movement or Aggressive content.

The relation between dissociative symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was investigated in women who had experienced trauma or sexual assault. Subjects were administered the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), the Sexual Experiences Scale (SES), and the PTSD Interview (PTSD-I). Subjects were grouped according to their scores on the SES and the PTSD-I. Analysis of variance revealed a relation between DES scores and PTSD symptom severity scores. Correlational analyses showed a relation between dissociative symptoms and PTSD symptom severity but not recency of trauma. Three factors from a previously published factor analysis of the DES were found to contribute to the DES scores of PTSD subjects.

A Magical Contagion and AIDS Scale was developed to address problems with existing Contagion and AIDS measures. Magical Contagion is an influence that exists after contact is terminated. It is comprised of Permanence, Holographic Effects, Moral Germ Conflation and Backward Action. Data from 280 undergraduates revealed low mean levels of Magical Contagion and AIDS. Contagion effects did not differ on demographic variables. Content validity, criterion-related validity, discriminate validity, and internal consistency were evaluated. Significant correlations were found between the Contagion Scale and Merging/Separation and Homophobia Scales. Negative correlations were found between the Contagion scale and the AIDS knowledge and social desirability scales. Alpha reliabilities were high (a > .93) for the Contagion scale and subscales. Factor analysis suggested the existence of a single factor and mixed support for three factors.

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.

Depression is an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Altered autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, a common feature of depression, is also a risk factor for cardiac events in patients with CAD. Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects ANS activity, and reduced HRV predicts morbidity in cardiac populations. The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences in HRV exist between depressed and nondepressed patients with CAD. Twenty-one depressed inpatients, with angiographically documented CAD were retrospectively matched to 21 nondepressed CAD patients by sex, age, and smoking status. Demographic, medical, psychological interview data, and 24-hour ECG recordings were obtained. Depressed subjects had significantly lower HRV, or trends toward lower HRV, than nondepressed subjects, even after controlling for severity of CAD. Subject groups did not differ on left ventricular ejection fraction, history of myocardial infarction, or any other relevant medical variable assessed. These results suggest that depression is associated with decreased HRV in patients with CAD, and may help to explain the increased rates of cardiac events observed in CAD patients with depression.

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.

Object representations of sexually abused girls were compared to those of a clinical control group with no history of maltreatment. In addition, girls subjected to sexual abuse by itself were compared with girls who were sexually abused in conjunction with physical abuse and/or neglect (i.e., multiply abused). TAT stories were analyzed using the Object Relations and Social Cognition Scale which assesses four dimensions of object relations. It was hypothesized that sexually abused children would manifest more general and highly pathognomic impairment than controls along four dimensions of object relations. It was also hypothesized that multiple abuse would be associated with more general and highly pathognomic impairment in object relations than sexual abuse by itself.

Recent studies in the area of sport and exercise science have suggested that weightlifting performance may be significantly improved under ambiguous conditions—namely, when the amount to be lifted is unknown. In the present study, procedural concerns from previous studies examining the effect of ambiguity were noted and a methodological variation was introduced.

This study examined the relation between level of rape acknowledgement and levels of PTSD symptoms reported in female college students. Subjects were administered the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES), the PTSD Interview, and a demographics questionnaire. Subjects were then grouped into the following categories based on their responses to the SES: reported rape victims, acknowledged rape victims, unacknowledged rape victims, and a control group of non-rape subjects. Small sample analyses did not reveal the expected linear relation between the two variables. Only the acknowledged group showed greater PTSD symptoms. The unacknowledged and control groups did not significantly differ on overall PTSD symptom severity, or on any cluster of PTSD symptoms. Naturalistic selection factors are discussed that could have affected the outcome of the study.

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.

Using the Defense Mechanism Manual (Cramer, 1991), Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) stories of 29 sexually abused female subjects and 28 non-abused female clinical control subjects were rated for the frequency of use of denial, projection, and identification.

Locus of Control (LOC) is operationalized as a dispositional trait remaining stable throughout life, but may also be conceptualized as a domain specific state. Widowed persons' support groups, consisting of recently conjugally bereaved older adults (N=22) and one high functioning, long-term widowed peer group leader, were utilized to test LOC malleability. A significant increase in one State measure subscale, Desire for Control, was noted. Trait LOC remained stable. The change in State and Trait LOC change did not significantly relate to psychological symptom reduction. However, Trait LOC Internality related to fewer symptoms whereas State LOC Internality related to more symptoms.

Social support has been shown to lessen the negative effects of life stress on psychological and physical health. The stress buffering model and the main effects model of social support were compared using two samples of women over the age of 50 who were either married or recently widowed. These two groups represent low and high uncontrollable major life stress respectively. Other life stress events were also taken into account. Measures assessed current level of life stress, perceived social support, satisfaction with social support, and psychological symptomatology. Results using overall psychological health as the dependent variable support the main effects model.