The purpose of this study was to describe the relative importance of aspects of the occupational environment in predicting personal strain and changes in the meaning of work (perceived changes in work role salience and work values) during the transition to parenthood. The aspects of the work environment under investigation were: work interference with family, family interference with work, supervisor support for combining work and family, and organization support (respect, separation, and integration types). Control variables were husband support, an important factor in adjustment during the transition to parenthood, and socioeconomic status. A sample of 118 women in dual career couples with one child under two years of age were recruited through childcare centers and newspaper announcements. The sample was predominantly Caucasian and middle or upper-middle class. Subjects completed self-report questionnaires. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical multiple regression. Results of this study provided partial support for the hypothesis that workplace support and work/family interference would contribute to personal strain. Only family interference with work emerged as a significant predictor. The results of this study provided partial support for the hypothesis that husband support, workplace support, and work/family interference would contribute to change in work values. Only husband support was a …

Sixty-six people who had recently experienced the death of a parent or a spouse completed a questionnaire packet to assess their current grief symptomatology and some characteristics of the relationships within their family. Participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire 4-5 weeks after the death and then again six months later. The present study compared two competing models to explain whether the grief process affects the characteristics of relationships within the family system or that family characteristics affect the experienced grief symptoms.

The sexual identity development process in gay men was the focus of this study. It was theorized that, as a result of negative experiences with the dominant heterosexual culture, gay men might feel mistrustful of heterosexuals in various settings. A new theoretical construct, that of heterosexual mistrust, was identified and explored. A new scale, the Heterosexual Mistrust Inventory (HMI), was created to measure this construct. Gay male subjects' stage of homosexual identity formation (HIF) was also determined. Results indicated that heterosexual mistrust existed to a significantly stronger degree among gay men than among heterosexual men. Heterosexual mistrust was strongly related to stage of HIF. The various settings in which heterosexual mistrust was found to occur were discussed. Implications for current knowledge about HIF and about cultural belief systems unique to gay men were identified and explored.

Relationships between body dissatisfaction, dieting methods, father absence, and puberty timing were investigated in this study. Participants included adolescent females from Wave 1 of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. Logistic regression results indicated that girls without a biological father in the home were significantly more likely to have an early onset of puberty than on-time or late. Girls who experienced early puberty exhibited higher levels of body dissatisfaction, but didn't use more dieting methods. Early onset girls more likely used dieting methods if their biological father was present than absent; however, no significant difference in body dissatisfaction was shown. A negative relationship with fathers indicated more body dissatisfaction. None of the attained findings were found when the biological mother was absent, and having a stepfather did not seem to matter. Evidence was revealed that fathers play a role in their daughters' view of their own bodies.

Abstract This study proposes a model for meeting increasingly mandated outcome research objectives in a university counseling center setting. It is proposed that counseling centers utilize their existing intake forms, along with an annual satisfaction survey to determine the effectiveness of counseling services. Effectiveness is defined as improvement and measured by the reduction of the symptoms or presenting concerns with which the client initially presented. It also introduces the Relative-Change Index (R-Chi) as an objective way to quantify intra-individual change occurring as a result of therapy. This new mathematical procedure allows for a more meaningful assessment of the client's degree of improvement, relative to their potential for improvement. By re-administering the problem checklist, routinely included as part of the initial paperwork for each client at intake, again post-therapy, it is possible to quantify improvement by measuring the difference in distressing concerns. Additionally, including a subjective, retrospective survey question asking the client to indicate their perceived rate if improvement at follow-up provides construct validity and allows for correlational comparisons with R-Chi. Results suggest that student/client ratings of the degree to which the services they received satisfactorily addressed their presenting concerns were significantly rated to their R-Chi score. This model suggests that …

Two constructs, vicarious trauma (VT) and secondary traumatic stress (STS), describe therapists’ reactions to clients’ traumatic material. VT (TSI Belief Scale [BSL]), emphasizes cognitive belief system changes resulting from cumulative exposure to survivors. STS, (Compassion Fatigue Self-test for Psychotherapists [CFST]) combines PTSD and burnout symptomatology explaining sudden adverse reactions to survivors. Burnout (BO; Maslach Burnout Inventory [MBI]), links emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and deficient personal accomplishment to inadequate institutional supports in interpersonally demanding work. This study investigated BSL and CFST validity, counselor trauma history, and client exposure-related VT, STS, and BO in 105 trauma counselors. Results demonstrate concurrent validity between BSL and CFST; other results dispute adequate validity. BO, and client exposure were related. Traumatized counselors scored higher than non-traumatized counselors on CFST, BSL, and SCL-90-R.

Every day, children throughout the United States are given psychological evaluations for many different clinical and psycho-educational purposes. Very little research has attempted to investigate children's responses to the experience of having intellectual and achievement tests administered. The goal of the current research was to explore the effect a psycho-educational evaluation has on children in areas of self-concept and anxiety. Dependent variables consisted of pre- and post-test measures of anxiety and self-concept. A total of 75 children in the 4th 5th and 6th grades were recruited after referral for evaluation and possible placement in the Talented and Gifted Program or Special Education. This study employed Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), t-tests, multiple regression analysis, and correlational analysis. Findings included initial evidence that children endorsed decreased anxiety after psycho-educational assessments rather than increased anxiety, suggesting that fear of unknown situations may be more anxiety provoking than the actual situation itself, potentially beneficial findings for psychology and psychometric professionals who evaluate children daily. Students endorsement of academic self-concept significantly predicted anxiety after a psycho-educational evaluation, indicating that students who feel capable in academic areas may endorse less anxiety after an evaluation than students who do not feel academically capable. Finally, negative verbal interaction …

The potential for human exposure to pesticides exists particularly for agricultural workers (i.e. migrant workers) and individuals within close proximity to pesticide-sprayed crops (i.e. those living on or near agricultural farms). Children, through biology and behavior, may be more susceptible and vulnerable to exposure to pesticides than adults. The purpose of this study was to examine young populations particularly at-risk for occupational or accidental exposure to pesticides and determine associated behavioral, emotional, and physical symptoms. A total of 444 students from two South Texas school districts completed questionnaires assessing level of risk of exposure to pesticides and were categorized into at-risk and low risk categories. Physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms were obtained using the Youth Self-Report. Children who were at-risk demonstrated significantly higher scores on the Youth Self-Report (YSR) in the areas of anxious/depressed, attention problems, social problems, somatic complaints, thought problems, withdrawal, internalizing behaviors, and total problem behaviors than children who were at lower risk of pesticide exposure. Odds ratios were obtained and suggested that children in the at-risk category were more five times more likely to score in the clinically significant range on the Attention Problems subscale, and three times more likely to score in the clinically significant …

This study investigates the impact of sociocultural mediators in relation to eating disorders among male undergraduates. Literature on eating disorders has demonstrated that a thin body shape ideal depicted in the media directly contributes to eating pathology among females, but little research has investigated the direct effects of ideal body shape images among men. The focus of the present investigation was to assess the direct effects of exposure to the ideal male body shape on men’s affect, self esteem, body satisfaction, and endorsement of U. S. societal ideals of attractiveness. In addition, the relation of these variables to bulimic symptomatology was examined. Modeling a study conducted on women (Stice & Shaw, 1994), male undergraduates between the ages of 18 to 25 participated in premeasure (N = 169) and post measure (N = 95) conditions. Participants in the post measure were randomly exposed to pictures from magazines containing either male models depicting the ideal body shape, an average body or pictures of clothing without models. Results from repeated mulitvariate analysis indicated that exposure to the ideal body shape condition did not demonstrate significant negative changes in men’s affect, self esteem, body satisfaction or endorsement of U. S. societal ideals of attractiveness. …

A questionnaire was used to study causal attribution to social roles as influenced by perceived deviance of the role, instructions to identify with the role, and participant gender. The perceived deviance or nondeviance of the roles was determined by a pilot study. The roles were varied randomly through 12 hypothetical events, and identification or nonidentification instructions randomly assigned. The participants were 194 male and female university students. Participants gave the cause of each event and rated the cause on five dimensions: internality, externality, stability, globality, and controllability. Causal attribution to deviant social roles was found to result in a significantly higher across-scales score and to be more internal, less external, and more global than attribution to nondeviant roles. Participant gender showed an interaction with deviance overall and on the dimensions of stability and globality due to significantly higher ratings by women participants than those by men. Identification instructions did not produce a significant effect.

Studies addressing racial/ethnic identity development have often overlooked the developmental cultural context. The impact of growing up with contradictory cultures has not been well explored. Immersion in multiple cultures may produce mixed patterns of strengths deficits. This study reviews the literature's currently inconsistent usage of the terms race, ethnicity, and culture; introduces the concept and theoretical framework of Cultural Homelessness; relates CH to multicultural integration; and develops two study-specific measures (included) to examine the construct validity of CH. The sample’s (N = 448, 67% women) racial, ethnic, and cultural mixture was coded back three generations using complex coding criteria. Empirical findings supported the CH-specific pattern of cognitive and social strengths with emotional difficulties: social adaptability and cross-cultural competence but also low self-esteem and shame regarding diff

This follows an earlier study of the same data set, which, through its findings, presented new questions that are investigated in this study. Both studies used a prospective controlled design, wherein women receiving genetic counseling for breast cancer risk were randomized into two groups. Subjects receiving an audiotaped recording of their genetic consultation (tape group) were compared to subjects who also had a genetic consultation but did not receive an audiotaped recording of it (no-tape group). Participants were drawn from attendees at the genetic clinics of two London hospitals and included 115 women with a family history of breast cancer. Cancer worry and psychological distress were assessed before genetic consultation (baseline), and at one- and six-month follow-ups by post. Objective risk was estimated by the geneticist during the consultation, and subjective risk was assessed at one month follow-up. The goals of the current study were to investigate relationships between cancer worry, psychological distress, and recall of genetic risk for breast cancer in a sample of women receiving genetic counseling for breast cancer risk, and to investigate the role sociodemographic variables on cancer worry, psychological distress, or risk recall for these women. Results for this sample of women with a family …

Little empirical research has been done to examine the effects that working with traumatized individuals has had on their therapists. It is known that mental health professionals often do suffer ill effects, especially symptoms of secondary traumatic stress disorder. The present investigation tested predictors of secondary traumatic stress disorder in the therapists who provided services for the Oklahoma City bombing. Predictors were therapist social network involvement, years of counseling experience, and amount of self-reported empathy experienced from others. Indicators of secondary traumatic stress were the Frederick Reaction Index-A, the Compassion Fatigue Self-test for Helpers, and the SCL-90R. Hypotheses were tested using a series of hierarchical multiple regressions. Results demonstrated no significance for years of experience or social network, but perceived empathy accounted for 11% of the variance on the SCL-90 and the Compassion Fatigue Self-test for Psychotherapists with social network and years of experience controlled.

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between masculine gender role conflict, attachment variables, narcissism, and adjustment. It was expected that men who reported higher masculine gender role conflict would also report unhealthy attachment, have a greater degree of narcissism and poorer adjustment. This study employed a sample of undergraduate males who completed self-report questionnaires measuring masculine gender role conflict, narcissism, adjustment, and attachment. Hypotheses were tested using canonical correlation techniques. Results indicated that healthy attachment was related to low masculine gender role conflict; however, unhealthy attachment was not related to high masculine gender role conflict. In terms of narcissism, higher amounts of narcissism were related to high amounts of gender role conflict, but in a subset of results individuals who reported low masculine gender role conflict also reported higher narcissism in areas that are assumed to relate to positive self regard. Results related to adjustment indicated that high masculine gender role conflict was related to less psychological well-being replicating past studies. Theoretical and methodological issues were discussed in light of these findings.

Empirically based methods of detecting retrospective malingering (i.e., the false assertion or exaggeration of physical or psychological symptoms reportedly experienced during a prior time period) are needed given that retrospective evaluations are commonplace in forensic assessments. This study's main objective was to develop and validate a focused, standardized measure of retrospective malingering. This objective was addressed by revising the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS), an established measure of current feigning. The SIRS' strategies were retained and its items modified to produce two new SIRS versions: The Retrospective Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (R-SIRS) and The Concurrent-Time Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (CT-SIRS). Forensic inpatients were used to test the R-SIRS (n = 25) and CT-SIRS (n = 26) which both showed good internal consistency and interrater reliability. The overall effectiveness of the R-SIRS and the CT-SIRS in the classification of malingerers and genuine patients was established in this initial validation study. Moreover, their classification rates were similar to those obtained by the SIRS. Pending additional validation, these measures are expected to increase the quality of forensic evaluations by providing the first standardized methods of assessing retrospective malingering.

The relationship between occupational stress and burnout was investigated through a meta-analysis of 81 studies and 364 correlations. Occupational stress was measured by role conflict, role ambiguity, workload, cumulative role stress, job specific stress/stressors, and work setting characteristics. Burnout was measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory, 1981 and 1986 versions, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment components of burnout, measures of tedium, and the Staff Burnout Scale for Health Professionals. Thirty occupations in human and non-human service organizations throughout four publication periods were examined. Results indicated occupational stress strongly predicts burnout in non-human service organizations like industry and manufacturing as well as the human services. Job specific stressors most strongly predict burnout across organization types and occupation. Occupational stress predicts emotional exhaustion and depersonalization more than perceptions of reduced personal accomplishment. The findings support the use of transactional models of stress which consider occupational context as a precipitator of burnout, especially emotional exhaustion.

Within the last decade, more organizations are utilizing a non-traditional workforce. Specifically, these organizations are utilizing contract workers as resources to provide services and manufacture products. While this change in workforce provides benefits to organizations, the change also presents numerous challenges such as turnover. The turnover involved in such a relationship along with the addition of newcomers translates into an organizational socialization and knowledge transfer (KT) issue, because contract workers as well as employees need to be efficiently brought into a new organization, and knowledge needs to be shared with these new individuals so that they can effectively contribute to the work process. It is contended that organizations follow a typical, informal organizational socialization "policy" which involves KT in getting new contract workers and employees up to speed. This study addressed the typical organizational socialization policy as it is represented by formal knowledge transfer (FKT) via instructor-led/classroom training (ILT) and computer-based training (CBT) and by informal knowledge transfer (IKT) via a social network. The study focused on IKT, because companies understand this type of KT the least. In order to evaluate the organizational socialization of contract workers for this study, the contract worker population was compared to a baseline population …

In the study of team-based organizations most of the research has focus on the internal make-up and structure of teams. Recently there has been more interest in the effects that environment has on teams. With this new focus Support Systems in organizations have become an area of interest. Examining the perceptions of workers with respect to support systems of organizations could give insight into performance. This study specifically examines the interaction between a team's shared perception of the support in their environment and the level of support in their environment. The interaction between the two does seem to have a strong relationship with perceived performance. How do the two concepts interact, and what does this mean for organizational designers? Both questions are discussed.

The effect of psychoeducation on opinions about mental illness, attitudes toward help seeking, and expectations about psychotherapy were investigated. One group served as a control, one group read a written lecture on information about mental illness, and one group read a written lecture on information about psychotherapy. The control group, and experimental groups immediately after reading the lecture, completed demographic information, Attitudes Toward Help Seeking-Short Form, Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form, Nunnally Conceptions of Mental Illness Questionnaire, and three College Adjustment Scales (Depression, Anxiety, Self Esteem). Participants were asked to complete the same measures four weeks after the initial assessment. Results: No significant improvement in attitudes toward help seeking was demonstrated in either experimental group, at either time of testing. Expectations about psychotherapy were significantly improved in both experimental groups, which remained significant at Time 2. Opinions about mental illness demonstrated an immediate significant improvement in attitudes with the mental illness lecture group, however this effect did not remain at Time 2. The psychotherapy lecture group did not have significantly improved opinions about mental illness at either time of testing. The control group did not produce any significant changes between Time 1 and Time 2 testing. Experimental group scores demonstrated similarity …

A culturally-based theoretical model about how cultural beliefs about cancer and breast cancer screening techniques influence the screening behaviors of women of Mexican descent was developed using grounded theory. Across levels of acculturation and socioeconomic status, 34 women (49 to 81 years old) were interviewed through focus groups. Women who hold more traditional health beliefs about causes, nature, and responsibility with regard to breast cancer are more likely to "feel healthy" and not engage in breast cancer screening. Women who hold more traditional beliefs about propriety of female and health care provider behavior are more likely to "feel indecent" and also not engage in screening. The cultural health belief model is integrated within a sociocultural and a socioeconomic context.

Previous research has examined factors that predispose collegiate football players to injury (e.g., Petrie, 1993a, 1993b) as well as factors that influence athletes' psychological adjustment to being injured (e.g., Brewer, 1993; Leddy, Lambert, & Ogles, 1994). Despite the reports of the NCAA Injury Surveillance System that the greatest number of football injuries occur during the spring preseason (NCAA, 1997), studies have only examined injury during the regular season. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the antecedents and consequences of injury in collegiate football players during the spring preseason and across the regular competitive season. Specifically, life stress, social support, competitive trait anxiety, athletic identity, coping style, and preinjury mood state was measured to determine their relationship with the occurrence of injury and with postinjury emotional responses in athletes who sustain an injury at some point during either the spring preseason or regular competitive football season. The overall incidence of athletic injuries was low and the athletes suffered more severe injuries than has been typically found in collegiate football samples. Negative life stress was found to be directly related to the occurrence of injury and to postinjury negative emotional response and was moderated by other psychosocial variables in …

The purpose of the present study was to investigate Linville's (1982) ingroup-outgroup complexity hypothesis through descriptive card sorts created by young, middle-aged, and older adults regarding their own and other age groups.

The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics that distinguish children with behavior disorders who drop out of psychotherapy treatment from those who remain in treatment. The sample included 379 children (268 male and 111 female) who were diagnosed with a behavior disorder at Dallas County Mental Health/Mental Retardation (MH/MR), a community mental health clinic in Dallas, Texas. The results indicated that certain characteristics increased the likelihood that a child would drop out of therapy, including reliance on aid, the presence of maternal psychopathology, and more severe externalizing and internalizing behaviors. This study also found that younger children with behavior disorders had a greater probability of dropping out of treatment. Minority status, gender, parent marital status, and referral source were not found to be associated with dropping out of treatment. Future studies should focus on specific interventions that clinicians could employ to deter premature termination from treatment.

This study examined two theoretical factors proposed to explain the relationship between sexual abuse experiences and disturbed eating patterns. Over 300 women completed questionnaires designed to assess sexual abuse histories, bodily shame, body disparagement, and disordered eating behaviors. Multivariate analyses indicated that bodily shame, body image dysphoria, and bodily dissatisfaction were significantly higher in participants with previous sexual violations. In addition, disordered eating symptoms and behaviors were related to reported severity of sexual abuse experiences. However, the relationship between the severity of disturbed eating patterns and sexual abuse histories appears to be more meaningful in relation to the presence of bodily shame and body dissatisfaction, as proposed in previous research. Future research implications are discussed.