The purpose of this study was to determine whether the wives' perceptions of personal control over the process of childbirth were related to couples' choices and utilization of three birthing alternatives (home birth, unmedicated hospital birth, and medicated hospital birth). The wives' perceived control over the childbirth process was expected to vary inversely with the level of medical intervention in the birthing alternative chosen. The home birth mothers were expected to perceive themselves as having more control over childbirth than were the unmedicated hospital group mothers, and the unmedicated hospital group mothers more than the medicated hospital group mothers. The husbands' perception of their wives' perceived control in childbirth and their participation was also measured.

This study was designed to explore possible demographic and personality correlates of pregnancy-resolution alternatives. A total of 146 female college students were given the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the Intrinsic Extrinsic Religious Orientation Scale, a demographic questionnaire, and a Pregnancy-Resolution Questionnaire. The data were analyzed by means of the chi-square statistic and discriminant analysis.

A survey of stress and crisis literature indicated traumatic events tend to initially overwhelm individual coping resources. The adjustment process following such events appears to be characterized by phases in which gradual perceptual and cognitive reorganization occurs. Emotional shock, denial processes, and intrusive ideation accompany initial phases. A survey of stress and crisis literature indicated traumatic events tend to initially overwhelm individual coping resources. The adjustment process following such events appears to be characterized by phases in which gradual perceptual and cognitive reorganization occurs. Emotional shock, denial processes, and intrusive ideation accompany initial phases.

An analogue study examines the acquisition and generalization of problem identification and remedial plan skills following client-centered, school case consultation. Nine trained consultants interacted with 35 undergraduate female consultees in one of three intervention conditions. Conditions involved the consultants either viewing the same problem as consultees, not viewing the problem, or attention control. Consultees viewed ten minute video tapes of a problem student in a classroom, then provided written problem descriptions and remedial plans. They then received twenty minutes of consultation or control, and again wrote descriptions of the problem and remedial plans. The same procedure was repeated two day later. One week later, subjects viewed another video tape of a problem student, provided written problem descriptions and remedial plans, but received no interventions.

One hundred women aged 20 to 50 were asked to compare their sexual experience before diagnosis and following treatment for benign and malignant cervical disease. The subjects were divided into five groups: three groups had definite cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), (Class II or III). Two groups were treated with cryotherapy, and one with hysterectomy. One group had a provisional diagnosis of CIN I, but received no treatment. Subjects in the last group had microinvasive cervical carcinoma and were also treated with hysterectomy. All subjects had ovarian function; all were sexually active at the time of treatment. They were interviewed at least six months post-cryotherapy and 15 months post-hysterectomy. All subjects completed a variant version of the Derogatis Sexual Function Inventory (DSFI).

This study examined separation—individuation developmental issues for young adult women, from the perspective of object-relations theory. Its purpose was to explore a woman's perception of her relationship with mother as it is affected by age and request for psychotherapy as well as the relationship between the mother-daughter bond and selfreported personality characteristics. Ninety-six women from 17 to 40 years of age volunteered to participate, and they were grouped into two age ranges. Life Stage 1 women were 17-22 years of age, while Life Stage 2 women ranged from 23-40. Within each Life Stage, the women were further categorized into clinical and non-clinical groups. All of the participants were college students and/or working women from clerical, managerial, and professional occupations who were recruited from their respective schools, jobs and outpatient clinics. Each woman completed the test packet which included a demographic data questionnare; the Identity vis-a-vis Mother Questionnaie (IVM-20) developed by Crastnopol (1980); the Clinical Analysis Questionnaire (CAQ) and Rotter1s Locus of Control Scale. The IVM-20 contains four scales, each designed to measure a unique mother-daughter relationship: Individuated (Ind), Symbiosis (Syra), Practicing (Prac) and Distancing (Dist). Ind is supposed to reflect a healthy autonomy with a loving mother-daughter bond, while Prac …

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is often used for evaluating candidates for gastric bypass surgery, chronic pain patients, head trauma victims, and medical school applicants. However, due to the considerable time involved in completing and scoring the standard MMPI, researchers have attempted to devise short versions of this instrument to reduce the time required while providing similar results. In recent years, the Faschingbauer Abbreviated MMPI (FAM) and the MMPI-16 8 have been proposed as viable MMPI substitutes. The present study examined the comparability between profiles using these short versions of the MMPI with the patterns obtained using the entire measure. Participants consisted of equal numbers of gastric bypass candidates, chronic pain patients, head trauma victims, and medical school applicants. Scores on the FAM tended to be similar to scores on the complete MMPI for gastric bypass, chronic pain and head trauma patients. In contrast, the MMPI-16 8 yielded profiles which were similar to complete MMPI profiles with chronic pain and head trauma patients.

Mental preparation is an important component in athletic performance. Mental preparation often involves imagery of the actual execution of the physical act. Imagery may be either "external" or "internal." External imagery occurs when people view themselves performing an act from the perspective of an external observer. Internal imagery requires that the person feel those sensations that are involved while participating in a physical act. The assumption that internal imagery will be more likely to improve athletic performance was tested using intermediate league bowlers for a period of ten weeks.

The present study translated the major theories of obesity into physiological terms, then tested for the ways these theories might find physiological expression. Theoretical positions included the psychoanalytic perspective, emphasizing intrapsychic processes; psychosomatic perspective, emphasizing food as an anxiolytic agent; and Schachterian perspective, emphasizing heightened sensitivity to external stimuli. Additionally, two classificatory distinctions, age at onset of obesity and extent of dietary restraint, were examined. The later distinction suggested that Schachterian findings on obese behavior were due not to obesity, but to a dieting life style.

Neuropsychological tests have been used in differentially diagnosing schizophrenic and brain damaged populations. Research indicated some subgroups of schizophrenia exhibit certain symptoms of brain damage; and that schizophrenia involves difficulty in sensory integration. The Haptic Visual Discrimination Test (HVDT) designed to test tactilevisual integration, Bender Gestalt, and Information and Digit Symbol subtests of the WAIS were used to test performance abilities of forty schizophrenic subjects, forty subjects medically diagnosed as brain damaged (10 right hemisphere, 10 left hemisphere, and 20 diffuse), and normals as defined by the standardized age norm scores.

Cognitive-attentional test anxiety theory posits that test-anxious individuals direct attention internally, thus interfering with task-relevant information processing. Nevertheless, working-memory deficits are often obscured by compensatory exertion of increased effort by anxious subjects on cognitive tasks. Failure to identify anxietyspecific performance decrements has led some authors to replace the test anxiety construct with one emphasizing skill deficiencies. This investigation examined whether information-processing deficits are inherent sequelae of test anxiety or merely reflect lowered exam-taking ability in test-anxious persons.

There currently exists a large body of research associating the Type A behavior pattern with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. Further, studies in the area of social support and health suggest that an absence of supportive relationships may result in a decreased resistance to disease in general, both physical and psychological. The present study sought to integrate the Type A research and social support literature through a correlational investigation of the relationship between Type A behavior and perceived quality of social support in 46 male subjects undergoing out-patient treatment for symptomatic coronary disease. It was hypothesized that the Type A pattern would show a significant inverse relationship with perceived quality of social support.

The present study sought to determine whether a dietary and multi-element psychological treatment (DMPT) approach in combination with standard medical treatment would offer a more efficacious therapeutic package to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients than would standard medical treatment (SMT) employed alone. The DMPT group (N = 19) received a stress management training package for a 2 week period consisting of relaxation training, imagery, and bowel sound biofeedback training via a stethoscope, in addition to instructions to increase their daily consumption of dietary fiber. They also were to continue the implementation of whatever standard medical treatment they were currently receiving, be it a bulking agent, or anti-anxiety, anti-cholinergic, or anti-depressant medications, etc. The SMT group (N = 19) simply received whatever conventional medical treatment they had been prescribed.

Measures of pain tolerance and threshold were obtained for 100 male and female subjects in a pretest treatment posttest experiment using the cold pressor test. Subjects were divided into five treatment groups with an equal representation of males and females in each group. In addition each group was divided into high and low locus of control, resulting in a 2 X 5, locus of control-by—treatment, experimental design. Treatment groups received one of the following five sets of instructions: prescribed pleasant imagery, prescribed angry imagery, self-generated pleasant imagery, self-generated angry imagery, and expectancy control. Credibility checks were obtained on all groups, and an ANOVA revealed no significant differences in credibility ratings among the groups.

Obesity has been referred to as a common and chronic medical condition in our society. It has been associated, directly or indirectly, with numerous medical complications. These have included increased risk of cardiovascular problems, diabetes mellitus, breast cancer, problems during pregnancy and delivery, and low back pain. Psychological complications of obesity have included emotional problems, body image disturbances, and discrimination practices. The literature has utilized numerous methods to measure body composition, particularly according to the underweight overweight continuum. However, these methods have not taken into consideration the importance of social judgement. A scale was needed to further define desirable/undesirable body composition in a way more traditional definitions have not attempted.

Although research has linked central nervous system activity with changes in immunoresponsivity, research on the possible role of the central nervous system in altering a specific class of antibody is lacking. This study was an investigation of the possible relationship between anterior or medial hypothalamic functions on Immunoglobulin G. concentrations in rat serum. Thirty-six male albino rats were randomly assigned to three groups of equal size. Animals within the anterior hypothalamic group received bilateral electrode implants in the anterior hypothalamus while animals in the medial hypothalamic group received electrode implants within the ventromedial area of the hypothalamus. A control group received bilateral electrode implants within the lateral hypothalamus. Electrical brain stimulation was administered to animals in both experimental groups. Control animals spent a comparable time in an operant chamber but did not receive electrical brain stimulation. Following brain stimulation of animals within the experimental groups, Immunoglobulin G. concentrations were determined for all groups 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours post-stimulation sessions.

Reframing, a therapy technique which allows the therapist to restate a situation or problem so that it is perceived in a new way, has received considerable attention recently because of its purported positive effects on the therapeutic process. The increase in the use of reframing has taken place despite an absence of empirical confirmation of its effectiveness. Proponents of reframing comment on its usefulness early in the therapeutic process as a means for helping clients to more positively view their symptomatic behavior, to experience some affective relief, to shift toward an increased sense of control regarding their symptoms, and to view their counselor and their expectations for counseling more positively. The purpose of this study was to examine the differential effects of reframing and selfcontrol responses on the subjects' expressed degree of loneliness, depression, and perceived control of loneliness. In addition, effects of these interventions on the subjects' ratings of the interviewers and the subjects' expectations regarding counseling were explored.

A theoretical model of eleven antecedents of marital quality (education, family life cycle, sex, work status, sex role attitude, social network, role accumulation, role conflict, parental competence, parental strain, and marital strain) was developed and tested using Path Analysis. Subjects were 119 married couples (238 individuals) who had at least one child. They completed the Parental and Marital Interaction Questionnaire which had measures for each of the antecedent variables.

The present study investigated the relative efficacy of paradoxical, behavioral, and reflection-support treatments among college students who complained about procrastination of studying. Although there is much literature describing successful use of paradoxical treatment, there has been little substantive research. Paradoxical techniques offer more complex theoretical explanations than behavioral therapy even though in practice the procedure of each are often quite similar. Subjects were selected by their response to an ad in the school newspaper that offered free treatment for students who had problems with procrastination. Further screening of participants was done through clinical interviews. Thirty-three subjects were selected for treatment of procrastination with three clients randomly assigned to each of 11 advanced psychology graduate students who served as therapists. Each therapist provided all three types of treatment, one type of treatment to each of their three assigned clients.

This study was designed to assess the reliability of the "Psychological Rating Scale for Diagnostic classification as an instrument for determining diagnoses consistent with DSM-III criteria and nomenclature. Pairs of raters jointly interviewed a total of 50 hospital patients and then independently completed the 70-item rating scale to arrive at Axis I and Axis II diagnoses which were subsequently correlated with diagnoses obtained by standard psychometric methods, interrater agreement was 88 per cent for Axis I and 62 per cent for Axis II, with correlations of .94 and .79 respectively.

To aid in understanding headache etiology and symptomatology, psychological and physiological variables were examined in patients with migraine and combination headaches (combined migraine and muscle-contraction headaches). One hundred patients being evaluated for treatment of their headaches at The New England Center for Headache participated in this study. They were assigned to the migraine or combination group, based on diagnoses made by three headache specialists—a psychologist, a psychiatrist, and a nuerologist. Personality data from the MMPI and frontalis electromyographic readings reflecting muscle tensions across three stimulus conditions were compared between the two groups. Subjects were also asked to rate the perceived level of stress elicited by the three conditions.

This study investigated the effects of an individually administered versus a group-administered stress management training program on various measures of stress, job satisfaction, and burnout among mental health workers. A total of 36 subjects, who were employed in Texas community mental health facilities, participated in the study. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups: an experimental group (N = 12) which received training on an individual basis, an experimental group (N = 12) which received training in small groups of four to six subjects, and a control group (N = 12) which did not receive training. Both didactic and experimental modes were utilized during the six-week training program. All experimental subjects practiced relaxation daily and were exposed to a broad range of coping skills for stress management.This study investigated the effects of an individually administered versus a group-administered stress management training program on various measures of stress, job satisfaction, and burnout among mental health workers. A total of 36 subjects, who were employed in Texas community mental health facilities, participated in the study. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups: an experimental group (N = 12) which received training on an individual basis, an …

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between olfactory preferences and sexual orientation in Heterosexual, Entire Life lesbian, and Adopted Lifestyle lesbian women. Research in the area of olfaction and sexual behavior was reviewed and, on the basis of the literature, it was hypothesized that Heterosexual women would prefer male odors, Entire Life lesbian women would prefer female odors, and Adopted Lifestyle lesbian women would prefer male odors more than Entire Life lesbians. The design involved having female subjects sniff male and female odors and indicate a preference for either the male or female odor. The odor samples were human apocrine gland secretions obtained by having odor donors wear gauze pads in their armpits. The odor collected on the pads was then stabilized through applications of alcohol and subsequent freezing.

Forty volunteer patients from a Veteran's Administration Hospital served as subjects for this study. On the basis of Beck Depression Inventory scores, the subjects were divided into depressed (11 and above) and nondepressed (7 and below) groups. Subjects were assigned randomly to either public condition (experimenter present with the subject during experimental procedures) or a private condition (subject performed the procedures alone). Subjects in each condition were asked to perform three tasks which varied in the amount of interpersonal involvement each required ranging from low through medium to high. The low interpersonal involvement task consisted of an anagram-solving procedure. Both the medium and high interpersonal involvement tasks employed modification of the Means-Ends Problem-Solving Procedure (MEPDS) (a measure of interpersonal problem solving ability).