This study explored the impact of three psychological interventions over seven weeks - goal setting (GS), GS and imagery (IM), and GS and mindful self-compassion (MSC) - on 20 athletes' (Mage = 16.75 years) pain, cognitive appraisal, depression reinjury anxiety, psychological readiness to return to sport, and range of motion (ROM). IM and GS interventions have demonstrated initial effectiveness; however, no study has examined MSC in relation to post-ACL recovery. All athletes experienced significant decrease in pain (F(2) = 97.30, p = .000) from Week 1 to Week 7 and a significant increase in ROM from Week 2 to Week 7 (F(1) = 77.93, p = .000). All athletes experienced significantly higher depression at Week 1 compared to both Week 2 and Week 7 (F(2) = 9.01, p = .001), and significantly higher difficulty coping with their injury at Weeks 1 and 2 compared to Week 7 (F(2) = 6.32, p = .005). There were no statistically significant effects found between the intervention groups at Weeks 1, 2, and 7. However there were moderate effect sizes between interventions which suggest MSC and IM could help athletes cope with their injury during the first few weeks after surgery, and GS may …

This study examined the influence of multicultural training, multicultural discussions in supervision, and the supervisory working alliance on multicultural counseling competence. The sample consisted of 57 doctoral counseling interns, doctoral graduate students and post-doctoral students in counseling and clinical psychology. Participants completed several instruments including a demographic questionnaire, the Supervisory Working Alliance Inventory - Trainee, and the Multicultural Counseling Inventory. They filled out two questionnaires created for this study, one assessing multicultural discussions in supervision and another quantifying their multicultural training experience. Data analyses included multiple hierarchical regression, utilizing the Hayes PROCESS macro. Multicultural discussions in supervision moderated the relationship between the supervisory working alliance and multicultural counseling competence, but did not significantly moderate the relationship between multicultural training and multicultural counseling competence. Findings suggest that when multicultural discussions in supervision are positive, they significantly increases the strength of the relationship between good supervisory working alliance and multicultural counseling competence in psychology trainees. The findings may inform supervision practices and improve multicultural counseling competence in psychology graduate student trainees.

Traditionally, body image research has focused on young women. However, there are indications of cultural shifts which extend physical appearance pressures to both men and women, as well as to middle-aged and older adults. Two hundred and ten subjects were administered objective body image measures including the Figure Rating Scale, the Body Shape Questionnaire, and the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire, as well as projective measures including the Holtzman Inkblot Technique and the Draw-A-Person. The NEO-Five Factor Inventory and the Social Anxiety Subscale were also used to explore variables which might covary with body image. A 3 X 2 X 2 Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was utilized with social desirability as the covariate.

Stress plays a key role in our daily lives, influencing our emotional state, productivity, and health. One particular role in life, being a parent, has attracted significant attention in the research world in terms of the amount of stress parents experience in relation to different aspects of being parents. A life change that many parents, particularly mothers, are experiencing in increasing numbers is their return to college. This study compared reports of parenting stress and perceptions of the family environment between two groups of mothers. The first is a group of 32 mothers who were working 30 or more hours a week outside the home and were not enrolled in college while the second group consists of 31 mothers who were in college full-time and working less than 10 hours a week outside the home. All of the mothers were between the ages of 25 and 45 and had at least one child between the ages 5 and 12 years old. In both groups the mothers verified that their child(ren) was (were) without any diagnosis of an emotional, behavioral, or learning problem. A series of one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVAs) were performed. Results indicated there were no significant group …

This study attempted to determine the relationship between fantasy aggression and behavioral aggression, and whether fantasy aggression measured by the Thematic Apperception Test is related to behavioral aggression. Participant TAT protocols from psychology clinic files were scored for fantasy aggression, and these scores were correlated with self-reported presence or absence of behavioral aggression. The scoring system used was a blend of popular aggression scales used in the 1960s and newer theory. Other variables that were examined were story length and gender in relation to the measured amount of fantasy and behavioral aggression.

his study compares ethnic, age, and gender differences concerning attitudes and behaviors toward death, dying, and bereavement among Caucasian, African, Hispanic, and Asian American adult participants in north Texas with the results of a 1976 study by Kalish and Reynolds on death attitudes and behaviors of Caucasian, African, Mexican, and Japanese American adult participants in Los Angeles, California. A modified version of Kalish and Reynolds' study questionnaire was administered to 526 respondents (164 Caucasian, 100 African, 205 Hispanic, and 57 Asian Americans) recruited from community and church groups. Findings of this study were compared with those of Kalish and Reynolds in specific areas, including experience with death, attitudes toward one's own death, dying, and afterlife, and attitudes toward the dying, death, or grief of someone else. Data was analyzed employing the same statistical tools as those used by Kalish and Reynolds, i.e., chi square calculations, frequencies, percentages, averages, and analyses of variance. As compared with the earlier study, results indicated that this study's participants were less likely to have known as many persons who had died recently or to state they would try very hard to control grief emotions in public. Present study participants were more likely to have visited …

This investigation examined the effects of aerobic fitness and the Type A behavior pattern on cognitive functioning in the split-attention (dual task) paradigm. Sixty-four adults were classified as Type A or B by means of the Jenkins Activity Survey, and as Runner or Sedentary using self-reports of physical activity. Under challenging instructions, subjects performed a primary task (Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices) and secondary task (Backward Digit Span) alternatively under single and dual task conditions. There was a significant interaction between aerobic fitness and task condition such that Runners outperformed Sedentary subjects under dual, but not single, task conditions on the secondary task. No differences were found on the primary task. Backward Digit Span performance under dual, but not single, task conditions, was also found to be positively related to the subjects eating a low cholesterol diet and maintaining a healthy weight. Contrary to predictions, there were no significant effects of the Type A behavior pattern, either main or interaction, on any of the cognitive measures. Type A Runners exceeded Type B Runners in aerobic points, races per year, runs per week, Personal Record attempts, and level of dissatisfaction with performance. There were no differences in the tendency to run while …

Previous research examining the impact of training and practice effects on modifying performance of fluid intelligence tasks (Gf) and crystallized intelligence tasks (Gc) were extended to include self-rated performance attributions among non-depressed and depressed older persons. The following general questions were addressed. How does level of depression affect performance on Gf and Gc measures and performance attributions? How does level of depression and degree of benefit from either training or practice relate to changes in attributional styles? The framework used for predicting shifts in attributional styles was the reformulated learned helplessness model. Three hundred twenty-five community-dwelling older persons completed the Gf/Gc Sampler, Beck Depression Inventory, and Attributions for Success/Failure Questionnaire at pretest, posttest (one week), and follow-up (one month). Between the pretest and posttest sessions, subjects participated in one of three experimental conditions; (a) cognitive (induction) training, (b) stress inoculation training, and (c) no-contact control groups. The results from univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance procedures provided partial support for the hypotheses. At pretest, both non-depressed and depressed older persons had internal attributional styles, although based on differential performance outcomes. The depressed persons were found to have more failure experiences as a result of their significantly poorer performance on Gf …

This study investigated the relationships among family environment, demographic measures, the decisions made by unintentionally pregnant adolescents regarding post-delivery plans (stay single, get married, adoption), and the certainty with which these decisions were made. The Information Sheet, Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 1981), and Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (Zuckerman & Lubin, 1965a) were administered to 17 5 pregnant adolescents, ages 14 through 22, who intended to carry their pregnancies to term. Pearson product-moment correlations and multiple regression analyses were utilized to assess the relationships between family environment and certainty of decision and between family environment and negative affect. Greater uncertainty was associated with nonwhite racial status and living with both natural parents or mother only. Higher levels of negative affect were related to lower levels of perceived family cohesion, independence, expressiveness, and intellectualcultural orientation. The demographic variables of age, trimester of pregnancy, and family constellation were also found to be useful in predicting levels of negative affect. Subjects who were older, further along in their pregnancies, and living with both natural parents or mother only tended to report greater negative affect. Findings of greater uncertainty and negative affect associated with living with the natural mother are consistent with …

The purpose of this study is to replicate and extend earlier work involving cluster analysis of MMPI profiles among persons with chronic low back pain. There are two specific goals. The first goal is to demonstrate the existence in a new sample of four distinct and homogenous profile clusters that have been found in previous research. The second goal is to investigate the relationship of the four profiles to the subjects, self-reported pain history and response to treatment. This study concludes that four distinct MMPI profiles can be identified among chronic low back pain patients. Further, these profiles are the same for males and females, and are the same profiles found in previous research. These profiles are significantly related to subjects' history of behaviors in dealing with pain. However, no relationship to treatment response was found. It was inferred that the MMPI is of value in understanding the nature of patients' pain coping behaviors, but that further research is needed before any statements can be made regarding the utility of the MMPI in understanding their response to treatment.

This study examined the effects of volunteer counselor training (empathy training versus information only) and age of volunteer (senior citizens versus adolescents) upon depression level of nursing home residents. Results showed that residents who received a volunteer counselor significantly improved (p < .01) in level of depression compared to the no volunteer control group. The empathy trained counselors were not significantly more effective than the information only group. The age of the. volunteer counselor was found not to be a significant variable.

Alcoholism is a major health problem, and current methods of treatment have been only partially successful. One treatment approach is to teach coping skills for dealing with problematic situations. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of imagery techniques in teaching coping skills. There were two major objectives of this study. The first objective was to determine whether covert skills training would produce positive changes in alcoholics in terms of their effectiveness in responding to stressful situations, their self-concept, and selected personality characteristics. The second objective was to determine whether alcoholics subjectively experience the imagery approach as beneficial. The statistical design also evaluated whether the effectiveness of the treatment fluctuated as a function of age, education, chronicity of alcohol problem, number of rehabilitation attempts, and environmental support as measured by the presence of a family or job awaiting the alcoholic's return.

The purpose of this study was to investigate psychological mechanism by which four intra- and inter-personal characteristics of an individual (anxious and avoidant adult attachment patterns, images of self, and religious faith) mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and each of three affect-behavior regulation problems in adulthood (symptoms of depression, disordered eating behaviors, and substance abuse). A total of 401 college student participants completed a packet of 18 surveys including 10 surveys used in the present study. Structural equation modeling was used to test each of three hypothesized structural models (Depression, Eating Disturbances, and Substance Abuse). A series of multi-group analyses conducted to test if each of three hypothesized models is invariant across gender indicated no significant difference between females and males. Thus, the data were combined across gender to test for mediated effects in each of three hypothesized models. The results indicated: (a) for the hypothesized model for depression, anxious attachment patterns, avoidant attachment patterns, and negative self-images, but not religious faith, fully mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and symptoms of depression; (b) for the model for eating disturbances, anxious attachment and negative images of self, but not avoidant attachment and religious faith, fully mediated the association between …

In this study violent and nonviolent prisoners were differentiated on the basis of life history and psychometric variables. Life history data were collected from institutional files and from a biographical questionnaire. Psychometric procedures consisted of the Mini-Mult Prisoner Questionnaire and the Bender-Gestalt. In summary, the variables included in the discriminant function suggest that the violent subjects were more psychopathological than the nonviolent subjects. The violent subjects evidenced behavioral problems at a young age in appropriately expressing anger. They appeared to have limited behavioral repertoires in attaining their desires outside the immediate gratification through aggressive means. They were also more emotionally alienated and less socially skilled. The violent subjects received more negative feedback during childhood and were incarcerated at a younger age, They were more overtly hostile and also more lacking in cognitive ego mastery. In contrast, the nonviolent subjects apparently learned during childhood to repress their anger to a greater extent. They also seemed to modulate their anger by withdrawing from direct interpersonal conflict.

Maslow (1956) suggested that self-actualization in an important determinant of the type of love experienced in heterosexual relationships. Recent work has suggested that the self-actualization of each member of a couple may also be important in determining the level of self-disclosure intimacy which occurs in the couple, and also that self-disclosure itself is an important determinant of interpersonal attraction. The present study employed the technique of path analysis (Wright, 1960) to determine 1) the direct and indirect contribution of each partner's self-actualization to his experience of five love components identified by Critelli, Myers, Ellington, and Bissett (1981), 2) the contribution of each partner's self-actualization to his self-disclosure intimacy, and 3) the contribution of the partner's self-disclosure intimacy to their experience of the five love components.

Locus of desired control and participation in a retirement preparation program was investigated in relation to retirement attitudes and adjustment. Fifty-nine subjects, consisting of older workers and retirees from a large southwestern corporation, comprised the sample. An experimental group, consisting of 12 subjects, completed questionnaires prior to and following their participation in the retirement preparation program. A control group, consisting of 15 subjects, completed the same questionnaires at approximately the same times as did the experimental group, but did not receive retirement preparation. A third group, consisting of 20 retirees who had a previous retirement preparation experience and 12 retirees who had not had such a retirement preparation experience, completed similar questionnaires.

Research indicates that victims of childhood abuse are at increased risk for transmitting violence in adulthood-a phenomenon known as the intergenerational transmission of abuse (ITA). Adult survivors of childhood victimization (i.e., child abuse or witnessed parental violence) are at increased risk for becoming abusive parents, perpetrators of intimate partner violence, and victims of intimate partner violence. The current study examined the latter form of ITA, in which a survivor of childhood victimization is re-victimized in adulthood by intimate partner violence. Attachment theory has been used to explain the ITA by positing that abuse is transmitted across generations via insecure attachment. The purpose of this study was to use structural equation modeling to test the attachment theory of ITA by examining the role of childhood and adult attachment in predicting re-victimization and symptoms of distress in adulthood. In the hypothesized model, childhood victimization by one's parents was hypothesized to predict adult intimate partner violence victimization through insecure attachment relationships in childhood (with one's parents) and adulthood (with one's partner). Furthermore, adult romantic attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were hypothesized to predict different symptoms of distress. Self-report measures from 59 adult woman seeking services for intimate partner victimization at a domestic violence …

This study compared the relative efficacy of two different theoretically-derived strategies in the hypnotic treatment for cigarette smoking. The use of counterconditioning suggestions (present or absent) was compared to the use of role-playing suggestions (present or absent) in a two-way factorial design. Also investigated was whether there were any pretreatment variables which could predict successful long-term smoking control. Fifty adult chronic smokers were matched on the dimensions of baseline smoking rate, number of years smoking and number of previous attempts to quit smoking, then assigned to one of four treatment groups. All subjects were offered four sixty-minute group hypnotherapy treatment sessions over a three week period, with smoking rate assessed at the second, third and fourth sessions, and at one-month, three-months and six-months post-treatment. The two dependent measures of percentage reduction from baseline smoking rate and percentage of subjects in each treatment group remaining abstinent from smoking showed similar results. ANOVA procedures found a significant Time of assessment X Counterconditioning interaction, indicating that the use of counterconditioning suggestions facilitates the long-term maintanence of smoking control more than the use of role-playing suggestions or a "hypnotic relaxation" treatment using no specific suggestions. The demographic variables of increased age, having a smoking-related …

Previous research suggested that sleep onset insomnia was significantly reduced with the use of relaxation techniques; however, the majority of these studies used college student populations with mild to moderate insomnia. The objective of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of using muscle relaxation training in a clinical population known to have sleeping difficulties—cancer patients. Results of this study suggest that muscle relaxation training is an effective technique to reduce sleep onset insomnia in cancer patients, and perhaps also in any clinical group. The technique seems especially promising since it was shown to be effective with severe insomniacs suffering severe medical problems. Results of the study were discussed in terms of possible explanations for the efficacy of the treatment, potential uses of the technique with other clinical populations, and ease of teaching nonpsychologist health professionals to treat with muscle relaxation training.

The purpose of this study was to explore factors which are predictive of parenting stress for first-time parents. Based on attachment theory and empirical research, the factors investigated were the responsibility for child care and housework, the current and retrospective relationship with the family of origin, the change in emotions related to parenthood, the marital relationship, and attachment and individuation.

The present study addresses questions regarding the cognitive functioning of recently detoxified male alcoholics during increasing time periods of abstinence. Such questions relate to whether alcoholic males between the ages of 30 and 55 demonstrate a recovery to normal cognitive functioning within a six week abstinence period.

The hypothesis was tested that meditation using an audible word-sound would be superior to silent repetition of the same word in producing decrements in autonomic arousal and improvements in anxiety, mood, and the ability to cope with stress. The influence of hypnotic susceptibility upon improvement was also evaluated. Thirty subjects, assigned to one of three groups: audible meditation, silent meditation, and relaxation control, met one hour weekly for six weeks to practice their respective technique and discuss their progress. All subjects were evaluated using the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, a medical symptom checklist, the Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale, a self-rating of state anxiety, and factors C and Q4 of the 16PF. Finger temperature was taken as a measure of physiological arousal. Confidence ratings of the respective strategies were taken pre- and post-treatment.

Thirty-eight mastectomy patients who reported phantom breasts were compared to 23 women who did not experience these sensations for the purpose of developing a predictive psychological profile of the phantom breast patient. The Adjective Check List, WAIS—short form, Fundamental Interpersonal Relationship Orientation Scale—Behavior, a social-medical questionnaire, and a Body Image Scale were administered. The Body Image Scale was also given to 25 women who had not had breast cancer. Hemispheric dominance was also assessed by means of conjugate lateral eye movements.

This study investigated the efficacy of bibiliotherapy in a correctional setting. Bibliotherapy (the utilization of books, pamphlets, or other literature) has been recommended as an adjunct to psychotherapy when professional time was at a premium or when the motivational level of the clientele was marginal. The experimental problem of this present study was to assess the usefulness of bibliotherapy in coping with psychological problems found within the correctional setting. This investigation was designed to explore the effects of two self-help packets on two diverse prison populations.