Predictors of institutional adjustment for juvenile offenders were examined using a sample of 120 males in a detention facility. While demographic information failed to differentiate between well and poorly adjusted juveniles, psychological measures appeared to be more effective. Several MMPI-A clinical scales were useful predictors with the overall elevation in clinical scales being one of the strongest predictors. In addition, the Psychopathy Checklist - Clinical Version (PCL-CV) was a strong predictor of adjustment. Major ethnic differences occurred in the prediction of adjustment, with the MMPI-A and PCL-CV scales predicting infraction rates for the African American group but not Anglo American or Hispanic American groups.

Seventy students (38 with physical disabilities and 32 without physical disabilities) were matched on age (a criterion of ± 4 years was used) and sex. Members of both groups, Persons With Physical Disabilities (PWPD) and those Persons Not Physically Disabled (PNPD), were asked to complete the University Services Inventory, Academic Goals Questionnaire, Academic Attributional Style Questionnaire (AASQ), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to determine how these variables were related to explanatory style (ES, as determined by AASQ scores). ES has its origins in the reformulated learned helplessness model (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978). According to this model, individuals who made attributions that were internal-stable-global (pessimistic ES) were more likely to experience mood and behavior deficits in the wake of bad events. The present study examined college achievement (GPA), utilization of university services, goal specificity, goal efficacy, and responses to academic setbacks, as these variables were related to ES. Additionally, ES scores were examined with regards to differences in gender and disability status (both between different disability groups and between individuals with and without physical disabilities).

Research has documented an association between sustained overt psychological abuse and women's self-concept and psychological distress. However, the focus on overt domination and control limits our understanding of its impact and is a weakness addressed in this study. Women in distressed relationships who had sustained severe psychological abuse from a partner and either no, moderate, or serious violence met inclusion criteria.

The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which several psychological and personality variables relate to anorexic and bulimic symptomatology in female undergraduates. Past research investigating the relationship between such variables and eating disorders has been contradictory for several reasons, including lack of theoretical bases, discrepant criteria, or combination of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Recent investigators have concluded that it is important to examine subdiagnostic levels of eating pathology, especially within a college population. Thus, the present investigation used a female undergraduate sample in determining the extent to which several psychological factors--obsessiveness, dependency, over-controlled hostility, assertiveness, perceived control, and self-esteem--account for anorexic and bulimic symptomatology. Regression analyses revealed that anorexic symptoms were best explained by obsessiveness and then two measures of dependency, emotional reliance on another and autonomy. Bulimic symptoms were related most strongly to lack of social self-confidence (a dependency measure) and obsessiveness. Clinical implications and directions for future research are addressed.

Three recent studies attempted to substantiate Sewell and Cromwell's (1990) theory of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) based on personal construct theory (Kelly, 1955). One crucial aspect of the model that was tested in each of the studies is "elaboration," which is the process of bringing more of a person's repertoire of understanding (constructions) to a certain experience to give it meaning. Elaboration is representative of whether or not the individual is using an integrated set of constructs to deal with a traumatic event. A two-part study (1) reanalyzed existing data to assist in understanding discrepancies in past findings, and (2) content analyzed constructs given by subjects in all three studies. Findings concerning elaboration remained somewhat discrepant but suggested possible differences when investigating the emergent versus submerged poles of constructs.

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.