Sixty-two mothers of childhood cancer patients completed questionnaires on family demographics, parental stress, sense of parenting competence, self esteem, health locus of control, attitudes toward cancer, life events, social support, and psychological symptomatology. Correlation and regression procedures were used. Time since diagnosis and the severity rate of a child's illness did not predict the mother's sense of parenting competence, but a negative correlation at the $p<.01$ level between mothers' report of self esteem and their distress was revealed. Social support was negatively correlated at the $p<.01$ level with psychological distress, but life events were positively correlated at the $p<.01$ level. Internal locus of control was positively correlated with psychological distress, but attitudes toward cancer did not correlate with psychological distress.

Upper limb deficiencies in children may be the result of trauma, disease, or congenital problems. Although biomechanical losses are the primary problem associated with a limb deficiency, the loss of such an obvious body part has cosmetic and psychosocial implications as well. Fitting a child with a prosthesis typically is the treatment chosen by families. Presently, there are three types of prostheses available for pediatric amputees, including passive, cable-operated, and myoelectric arms, but the myoelectric appears to be the most popular choice of children and their families. However, there is growing concern among clinicians that, despite its advanced technological capabilities, the myoelectric prosthesis is chosen for aesthetic rather than functional reasons. It is difficult, then, to justify the expense of fitting a myoelectric prosthesis when a more inexpensive prosthesis, or none at all, would be a more appropriate prescription. The question of when to prescribe a myoelectric prosthesis for a pediatric patient remains one of the most controversial questions in the field of prosthetics today due to this cost/benefit issue. In this study, the researcher examined psychological factors that may influence whether or not a child will wear a prosthesis and how that prosthesis will be used. Thirty prosthetics patients …

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of students' self-concept and their perceptions of family environment in the psychosocial adjustment and academic achievement of accelerated college students in a residential program. A secondary purpose was to investigate the differential role of those factors for students of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between a set of cofactors and severity of cognitive impairment, to determine if there were any factors which significantly predicted more severe neurocognitive deficits in persons with AIDS. Twenty-four male volunteers recruited from community groups and physician referrals participated. Subjects completed several self-report questionnaires eliciting information regarding demographics and risk factor variables, in addition to a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. A severity of cognitive impairment summary score was computed for each subject, reflecting both the number of impaired tests and their distance in the impaired direction from normative data. Neither CD4 count, number of months since diagnosis of AIDS, number of AIDS-related illnesses, number of recent stressors, history of head injury/LOC, history of substance use, current or past psychiatric disorder, history of learning disability nor history of other medical illness were found to be significantly related to severity of cognitive impairment in this sample, after controlling for the effects of age, level of education, estimated premorbid IQ and mood status. However, no reliable conclusions could be drawn from this study because the small sample size resulted in an unacceptably low level of statistical power for the desired regression …

This study examined the relationship between perceptions of intellectual functioning and measures of cognitive abilities, personality variables and sociodemographic information. One hundred and fifty-two older community residing adults were asked to define their perception of intelligence by completing a questionnaire that asked the extent to which a variety of tasks are: functionally important, contribute to feelings of intellectual vitality and are the object of worry or concern. They also estimated their skill at performing each task. The hypothesis that cognitive abilities would best predict perceptions of cognitive functioning was moderately supported. Personality variables, specifically anxiety, were more predictive of the meaning variables than abilities.

Mothers and siblings of children with autism incur stressors that impact their well-being more adversely than mothers of children with ADHD or normally developing children. In Study 1, twenty-six mothers of children with autism (Group 1) were compared to 24 mothers of children with ADHD (Group 2) and 24 mothers with normally developing children (Group 3). All families included a normally developing child (ages 4 to 12). Measures to delineate levels of maternal functioning were administered. Results for Study 1 indicated that mothers of children with autism had higher levels of psychological symptomatology, higher parenting stress, poorer perceptions of their family environment and their ability to parent the siblings, and higher perceptions of internalized problems of the siblings than mothers with normally developing children. These findings support the literature stating that mothers of children with autism may experience increased levels of maternal stress. The reciprocal nature of the parent-child relationship suggests that parents should be involved in meeting the needs of siblings in these families. A subgroup of Group 1 mothers participated in a parent group that occurred simultaneously with a sibling group. Mothers were randomly assigned to participate in a parent/sibling group, a sibling only group, or a wait-list …

Depressive symptomology was examined in this study as a function of conflict and intimate support with parents, friends, and siblings among a non-clinical sample of 223 predominately white sixth-grade early adolescents. Moreover, sixth-graders' depressive symptomology was examined as a function of conflict management self-efficacy and intimate support self-efficacy. The purpose of the present study was twofold: 1) to explore the effects of intimate support and conflict in family and friend relationships on sixth-grade early adolescent depressive symptomology, 2) to determine whether poor conflict management skills self-efficacy and poor intimate support self-efficacy are linked with depressive symptomology in sixth-grade early adolescents. Friend relationship qualities had little impact on depression in sixth-graders. However, the presence of conflict and deficits in family intimate support, especially from parents, was associated with increased depression. Increased levels of depression also corresponded with lower ratings of conflict management self-efficacy and intimate support self-efficacy. Moreover, relationship difficulties combined with self-efficacy deficits to affect depression.

The present study was designed to look at inhibition of return within a schizophrenic population for the first time. Inhibition of return is an attentional phenomenon that has been studied with a number of populations, and has been shown to be present in normal individuals. Based on the disattention hypothesis put forth by Cromwell and colleagues (e.g., Cromwell & Dokecki, 1968), it was hypothesized that patients with schizophrenia would show an impaired inhibition of return. Twenty-eight inpatients with schizophrenia, and 19 normal comparisons were evaluated on a visual inhibition of return task. Consistent with hypotheses, schizophrenia patients have significant impairments in inhibition of return compared to normal comparison participants. Further, the relative lack of inhibition of return in the schizophrenic group was found to be strongest to stimuli in the left visual field. These results provide initial support for a reconceptualization of the disattention hypothesis.

Clinical depression is characterized by alterations in thoughts, judgment, cognition and social behavior. This study focuses on non-optimal views of self and significant others that are proposed to underlie many of these alterations. Perceptions of self and significant others were elicited using the Role Construct Repertory Grid (Kelly, 1955a). Participants included depressed outpatients with high levels of trait anxiety (n = 27), depressed outpatients with lower levels of trait anxiety (n = 29) and a control group of never-depressed volunteers (n = 28). Consistent with prediction, significant group differences were found for negative self perception, discrepancies between actual self and self goals, alienation from significant others, and inconsistencies in self image. Results provided partial support for the self discrepancy theory of emotionality (Higgins, 1987). Among depressed patients, higher levels of anxiety were associated with increased self negativity and greater discrepancies between actual self and self goals. Increased levels of depression were associated with more alienation from significant others and more consistency in self image. Depressed patients' judgments of self and others were altered from optimal ratios, as predicted by the theory of interpersonal judgment (LeFebvre, LeFebvre & Adams-Webber, 1986). Findings have theoretical and clinical importance for the understanding and treatment …

Eighty-eight (N = 88) non-brain-injured adults were tested with one of two versions of the Booklet Category Test (BCT). Forty-four (N = 44) individuals were tested with the standard version of the BCT, and forty-four (N = 44) were tested with a revised BCT in which between-subtest cueing was removed, called the Noncued Category Test (NCT). The results of this study indicate that removal of cueing instructions changes the Category test significantly. Subjects administered the NCT scored significantly more errors than those who were administered the standard Category test. While BCT scores correlated significantly with nonverbal intelligence scores, NCT scores did not. However, the difference in these correlations was not significant, indicating that the intelligence aspect measured in the two versions is not different. Neither the BCT nor the NCT correlated significantly with the Wisconsin Card Sort, Word Fluency, Stroop, or Trail Making Test. It is recommended that the NCT be administered to circumscribed clinical populations in order to best utilize present findings.

The Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory was constructed to screen for substance abuse patterns despite non-admittance of respondents. Predictive validity studies of the SASSI are limited, and are not available for probationers. Participants were 147 male and 54 female probationers mandated to treatment. Overall differences among SASSI scales were significant for treatment compliance and outcome. Higher SASSI scales were found among those probationers who were compliant/successful. Individual scales were not significantly different, however, a trend was revealed; those respondents who scored higher tended to comply/succeed in treatment. The SASSI alone accurately classified 59.7% of respondents. In summary, the SASSI's use in predicting treatment outcome is limited and should be employed with concomitant data.

The purpose of the study is to examine adult attachment relationships among a group of college students and their parents. Two attachment hypotheses were tested: The mental model hypothesis for attachments with parents and romantic partners and the compensation hypothesis for attachment with God. Hypothesis 1 attempted to determine if there was agreement between parents and children about a self-reported attachment style. Support was found as students and parents had a significantly higher level of agreement when reporting a secure style of attachment between them, with sons being significantly highest. Hypothesis 2 examined agreement on attachment style between generations: Children's report of attachments to parents and parents' report of attachment to their parents. Results indicated that parents' reporting a secure style of attachment to their parents was significantly higher with their same gender parents. Hypothesis 3 produced two 15 x 15 correlation matrices including measures of romantic attachment and religiousness for children and parents. In general, further validity for measures used is provided in numerous expected correlations. Anxious and avoidant romantic attachment styles and desperate love were significantly positively related and were often negatively related to a secure style of attachment. Results indicate significant relationships between fathers' and children's (particularly …

The present study was designed to assess both the construct of psychopathy in a female jail sample as well as the quality of the measures that have been employed to assess this personality style. Utilizing the multitrait-multimethod matrix proposed by Campbell and Fiske (1959), the construct of psychopathy was measured via three instruments: (a) the Antisocial Scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory, (b) the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised, and (c) the Antisocial Scale of the Personality Disorder Examination. In addition, the predictive validity of each of these measures of psychopathy was evaluated to determine their ability to predict institutional violence and non-compliance. The results revealed significant convergence and divergence across the three instruments supporting the construct of psychopathy in a female jail sample. In addition, the measures of psychopathy demonstrated moderate predictive validity.

Structural equation modeling was utilized in studying the voluntariness of the assumption of caregiving status. A model hypothesizing the stress flow that occurs when assuming a new life schema was presented. Utilizing three groups of caregiving populations, Home Caregivers, Intermediate Care Facility Aides, and Intensive Care Units and Emergency Room Nurses (N = 66), measures were administered to determine the voluntariness of the assumption of the role of caregiver. Path analysis and causal interpretation were utilized to determine outcomes. The involuntary assumption of the role of caretaker was shown to significantly affect depression and burnout rates negatively when perceived feelings of burden were high. When caretaker age was greater upon assumption of the role, self-esteem was low and family support was perceived to be lacking. When the role of caretaker is assumed on a voluntary basis and support from outside sources is perceived as helpful (i.e., social or financial support from the family), job stress and the subjective manageability of the symptoms were viewed as manageable. Implications for those assuming the role of caretaker with the elderly were examined, and recommendations for further training and interventions within the caretaker population were offered.

"Think-Assess-Design" is a model for guiding traditional organizations through the steps necessary to redesign themselves into a more empowered, team-based work environment. Three broad steps—think, assess, and design—provided the framework for organizational change in this case study.