Research indicates the existence of an eating disorder continuum. The two-component model of disordered eating suggests that certain personality traits may increase an individual's vulnerability to develop more severe variants of disordered eating symptomatology. The present study investigates pre-clinical elevations on a measure of personality based on the Five-Factor Model (FFM) and pre-clinical elevations on a measure of eating disorder symptomatology in a sample of nonclinical undergraduates. The personality dimensions Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Agreeableness accounted for 7% of the variability in Body Dissatisfaction. Subcomponents comprising the personality dimensions of the FFM as determined by Saucier (1998) (see Appendix A) were analyzed. The Self-Reproach and Intellectual Interests subcomponents were the strongest predictors of Drive for Thinness and Body Dissatisfaction. The subcomponent Sociability was the strongest predictor of Bulimia. Findings present implications for prevention and treatment interventions. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine the temporal directionality of personality and disturbed eating.

The proposed study examined differences in self-concept between ADHD (n = 61) and non-ADHD boys and girls. Participants included 108 children between 6 and 11 years old. Children completed the Self Description Questionnaire-I, and teacher reports of child competence were obtained. Girls reported lower physical ability and mathematics self-concept than boys. The results also indicated that ADHD girls may be more susceptible to low physical ability and mathematics self-concept than control children or ADHD boys. Teachers also rated ADHD girls as having lower scholastic competence than the other three groups. Teachers reported significant differences in level of competence based on ADHD status. The implications of the current study and directions for future research will be presented.

Voluntary turnover has become a problem for many organizations in today's society. The cost of this turnover reaches beyond organizational impact, but also affects the employees themselves. For this reason, there has been a plethora of research conducted by both academicians and practitioners on the causes and consequences of voluntary turnover. The purpose of this study is to test the validity and generalizability of the job embeddedness model of voluntary turnover to the information technology (IT) industry. The IT field has been plagued with high turnover rates in recent years. In this study, the job embeddedness model (Mitchell et al., 2001) is applied to a population sample consisting of health care information technology employees.

This research project was inspired by a survey that was designed to help an organization determine how well it was doing in its efforts to empower associates and achieve a goal of continuous improvement. Initial review of the survey created suspicion that the survey was not built around the appropriate dimensions to accurately measure the level of empowerment in organizations. As such, the survey was psychometrically analyzed to determine the validity of the instrument as a measure of empowerment. Additionally, an extensive review of the literature was performed to determine new dimensions that would most accurately measure empowerment. Eight dimensions (culture, trust, accountability, leadership, ability, commitment, responsibility, and communication) were put forth as the most appropriate to measure empowerment. Subject matter experts with knowledge and experience in the area of organizational empowerment reviewed the new dimensions for accuracy and fit with the original survey items.

Several risk factors have been identified for adolescent sex offenders and non-sex offenders. Such risk factors include physical and/or sexual abuse, and exposure to community and/or domestic violence. Additionally, the presence of disinhibitive factors, such as substance use and exposure to violent or pornographic media are also commonly reported in the backgrounds of both sex and non-sex offenders. Similarly, adolescent offenders have reported traumatic reactions to environmental factors such as abuse and violence. Similarities in exposure to the risk and disinhibitive factors described above between adolescent sex and non-sex offenders do not provide an explanation for why some adolescents commit sex offenses, whereas other adolescent offenders do not. This study investigated the discriminative ability of traumatic reactions as a risk factor between male adolescent sex and non-sex offenders. The inclusion of traumatic reactions increased the accuracy of risk factors distinguishing between sex and non-sex offenders. Thus, not only the presence of risk factors, but also the adolescent's reaction to the risk factors, are important predictors of whether he will commit a sexual offense.

It is widely acknowledged in the literature that grief is most intense when it is experienced by parents whose children have died. However, as recently as 20 years ago, mothers whose children died at birth or before the pregnancy had reached full term were often dismissed as merely medical patients, and their psychological reactions were not considered or acknowledged by professionals, their friends, or their families. More recently fields such as psychology have recognized that women who have experienced pregnancy loss have complex psychological reactions to their loss. The present study examined the patterns of grief of women who have had a pregnancy end in spontaneous abortion or stillbirth and the ways in which these women gave meaning to their experiences. Participants were asked to complete several measures including the Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS), the Hogan Grief reaction Checklist (HGRC), the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSS), and the Inventory of Social Support (ISS). The participants also wrote a narrative account of their loss experience. These narratives were content analyzed to delineate common themes. The findings indicated several important factors which may be useful in understanding and assisting in post-loss adjustment.

This study examined symptoms of anxiety and depression in 99 children and adolescents following a residential fire. Children and their parents completed self-administered questionnaires regarding the fire and their current functioning. The most commonly experienced symptoms were worry/ oversensitivity, anhedonia, negative mood, and fear of failure and criticism. There were no significant ethnic differences across symptomology. Exposure was directly related to parental report of child internalizing behaviors, whereas loss was unrelated to symptoms. Level of support (general and fire related) and active coping were directly associated with positive child adjustment. The impact of negative life events was related to poorer functioning. Overall, a child's environment and coping strategy appear to be the best predictors of adjustment following a residential fire.

It has been theorized that parents indirectly influence children's peer functioning through aspects of the parent-child relationship. One specific group of children that exhibit significant problems with peers and in interactions with parents is children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Given the limited research examining family-peer links in children with ADHD, the purpose of the current study was to examine the association between aspects of the parent-child relationship and peer functioning in boys and girls with and without ADHD. In the current study, participants included 91 boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 11 years old and their parents. Fifty-four of these children were previously diagnosed with ADHD, Combined or Hyperactive/Impulsive Type. Parents and children participated in a parent-child interaction and then completed several measures assessing the parent-child relationship and peer acceptance. Teacher reports of peer acceptance were also obtained. The results of a multiple regression indicate some support for a family-peer links in children with ADHD. Positive parental affect expressed during a parent-child interaction was the strongest predictor of child-reported peer acceptance in children diagnosed with ADHD. However, parents making positive comments about the child or giving physical affection to the child during parent-child interactions did not …

The current study examined the effects of acculturative processes on the self-report of behavioral problems in Hispanic children ages 11-14. Acculturation was measured by the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (ARSMA-II) (ã Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, www.sagepub.com) (Cuellar, Arnold, and Maldonado, 1995) and the self-report of behavioral symptoms was assessed using the Youth Self-Report (ã T.M. Achenbach, Burlington, VT, www.aseba.com) (Achenbach, 1991). It was hypothesized that while both the linear and orthogonal categories of acculturation would account for a significant proportion of the variance in behavior problems in this age group, the orthogonal model would account for a larger proportion of variance due to its multidimensional nature. As well, it was hypothesized that the experimental Marginalization scales of the ARSMA-II would be predictive of behavioral problems. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to test these hypotheses and results were non-significant for the linear, orthogonal, and marginalization categories. The effects of the ethnic/cultural homogeneity of the region from which the sample was drawn, the buffering of social support, and the developmental aspects of ethnic identity are discussed as factors which may have influenced the potential impact of acculturative stress on psychological and behavioral functioning.

This study explored potential patterns of association among the demographic characteristics, identification practices, educational interventions, and educational outcomes for students with serious emotional disturbance (SED) as well as specifically investigated the impact of age at identification with SED and the presence of co-occurring disabilities. Data was gathered from the educational records of students with SED in seven rural to semi-rural districts in Texas. Demographic information included gender, ethnicity, age at identification with SED, and identification with co-occurring disabilities. Identification variables that were investigated include the five federal qualifying criteria for SED, IQ score, and BASC and/or CBCL scores. Intervention variables that were explored included placement setting, restrictiveness of placement setting, type of related services provided, parental attendance at multidisciplinary team meetings, number of multidisciplinary team meetings, and total time spent in special education as a student with SED. Outcome variables that were examined included achievement levels in reading and math, attendance, special education status, and grade retention. Results suggested that earlier identification with SED is related to placement in less restrictive settings, achievement within two years of grade level in reading, and lower average number of absences. The presence of co-occurring disabilities in addition to SED is associated with placement …

This study investigated the effects of assessment context on state anxiety and attention according to the Mirsky (1996) model of attention. Context varied in the physical testing environment, demeanor of the assessor, and explanation of the purpose of testing. A relaxed condition (RC) and structured medical condition (SMC) distinction was made prior to data collection and the two contexts were designed to reflect contrasting practices of neuropsychologists. Elements of attention evaluated included Encoding (Digit Span), Focusing/Executing (Visual Search and Attention Test), Shifting (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: Computerized Version 2), Sustaining, and Stabilizing (Continuous Performance Test-Identical Pairs). Eighty healthy adult females participated in the study. The findings suggest that the SMC caused higher levels of anxiety and lower valence than the RC, which in turn caused poorer sustained attention and superior shifting attention for this condition. Such interpretations are consistent with several theories on the effects of anxiety on attention. It should be noted, however, that differences observed in attention were limited to select measures. Factor analysis also indicates that the encode, shift, and sustain elements of attention were largely consistent with the factor solution proposed by Mirsky, while findings on the focus/execute and stabilize elements bring into question the construct …

The present study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of a worksite stress management program delivered via electronic mail (e-mail). One hundred and thirty-seven employed adults (36 males, 102 females; mean age = 29.46) from several diverse businesses consented to participate. The volunteers completed Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, the Daily Hassles Scale, the Daily Work Hassles Scale, the TCU Self-Ratings Scales, and a demographic and opinion questionnaire. Individuals in the treatment group received e-mail messages twice weekly and had access to a website for three months about a variety of cognitive-behavioral techniques for managing worksite stress. A MANCOVA of post-intervention stress levels indicated that individuals who received the stress management messages perceived the same amount of stressors and hassles as individuals who did not receive the messages [F (5, 86) = 0.95, p = .45]. However, a MANCOVA of post-intervention perceived mood states revealed a tendency for individuals in the treatment group to be less depressed, anxious, and angry than individuals in the control group [F (3, 92) = 2.44, p = .07]. Demographic variables did not influence the outcome variables and pre- and post-test absenteeism and illness rates were similar for treatment and control groups. Coping skill usage was …

It is apparent from the historical perspective regarding the theories of cognitive development and the cognitive functioning of individuals with visual impairments, that sight plays a major role in the development of certain cognitive processes. However, the affects of visual impairment on cognitive development remain to be at issue. Since sight seems to be highly integral in cognitive development beginning in the early stages of physical development, about the sixth month of life, and then begins to diminish in importance as verbal communication develops around eighteen months, then it should stand to reason that significant visual impairment or blindness occurring prior to this time would adversely impact an individual's cognitive development. Conversely, the occurrence of visual impairment or blindness after this critical period of development would have less of an impact. Cognitive theorists have proposed that visually impaired or blind persons may have developed different cognitive pathways to acquire, process, and accommodate sensory information. As a result, visually impaired or blind (VI/B) persons may "think differently" than sighted individuals. The present study was designed to address these issues as they relate to cognitive and neuropsychological development at various stages of growth and to examine possible differences in neuropsychological functioning dependent …

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of tenderness on problem solving. Thirty-four female undergraduates participated. In the experimental condition, participants received instructions to reproduce a specific respiratory-posturo-facial pattern that had induced tenderness in previous studies. Participants in the control condition performed a non-emotional exercise. After either the pattern or the control exercise, participants completed one of two jigsaw puzzles. One puzzle had only an empty room while the other had a family scene. For participants who worked on the room puzzle, the tenderness pattern led to longer completion times. In contrast, for participants who worked on the family puzzle, the tenderness pattern led to shorter completion times.

The study utilized the covariance structure comparison methodology - Multigroup Analysis in Structural Equation Modeling - evaluating measurement equivalence of English and Spanish versions of an employee opinion survey. The concept of measurement equivalence was defined as consisting of four components: sample equivalence, semantic equivalence, conceptual equivalence and scalar equivalence. The results revealed that the two language versions of the survey exhibited acceptable measurement equivalence across five survey dimensions Communications, Supervision, Leadership, Job Content & Satisfaction and Company Image & Commitment. Contrary to the study second hypothesis, there was no meaningful difference in opinion scores between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking respondents on the latent construct of Job Content & Satisfaction.

The present study compared the responses of a group of simulating malingerers who were offered a monetary incentive to feign symptoms of a head injury, with the responses of head injured groups both with and without litigation, a forensic parole group, and an honest-responding control group. The following six neuropsychological measures were utilized: Rey 15-Item Memory Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Finger Oscillation Test, WAIS-R Neuropsychological Instrument (Vocabulary, Information, and Similarities subtests), Booklet Category Test, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The statistical concepts of floor effect, performance curve, and magnitude of error were examined. Additionally, the statistical differences in the responses of the five groups were analyzed to determine cutting scores for use in distinguishing malingerers from nonmalingerers.

Due to demographic shifts and efforts to recruit culturally diverse professionals, it is plausible that more Caucasians will encounter ethnic minority counselors in the future. Yet, the majority of multicultural literature has only emphasized Caucasian counselors' multicultural counseling competence. Research has rarely discussed how ethic minority counselors influence the perceptions of Caucasian clients. The research purpose was to explore how acculturation and gender of Asian and Caucasian counselors influence Caucasians' perceptions of the counselors and counseling services. With an analog research design, 562 Caucasian college students read 1 of 8 randomly assigned counselor descriptions, which were varied by counselor characteristics, and reported their perceptions on dependent measures: Counselor Rating Form - Short Version (CRF-S), Working Alliance Inventory - Short (WAI-S) and 4 Willingness items. With the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help - Shortened Form as a covariate, 15 hypotheses were expected that Caucasians would prefer high-acculturated, same sex, and same ethnic counselors tested by simple contrast, while an exploratory question, investigating main and interaction effects among independent variables (counselor ethnicity, acculturation and gender, and participant gender) on dependent measures, was examined by MANCOVA and ANCOVA. Although only 2 of 15 hypotheses showed significance, the exploratory investigation revealed: Caucasian participants …

Given the paucity of research that has been conducted on aggression in girls (see Keenan, Loeber, & Green, 1999, for a review), it is important to examine different behavioral manifestations of aggression that may be more prevalent among girls than boys, such as relational aggression (see Crick et al., 1999, for a review). Relational aggression consists of behaviors that harm others through damage to their peer relationships or the threat of such damage (e.g., spreading rumors about a peer so that others will reject him/her, social exclusion; Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are a particular subset of youth who are at increased risk for exhibiting aggressive behavior (Henker & Whalen, 1999; Whalen & Henker, 1985). The purpose of the present study was to assess the prevalence of relational aggression among children with attention problems as compared to the general population. Gender differences in relational aggression were also examined. In the current study, participants included 91 3rd-5th grade public school students. Teacher ratings of aggressive behavior and attention problems were obtained. Parents also completed measures to assess attention problems and social-psychological adjustment. Contrary to prediction, results indicated children with attention problems were not more aggressive than children …

A vigorous debate persists in the literature about the efficacy of clinical judgment and actuarial models of risk assessment. This study was designed to augment those commonly used methods by integrating a variety of factors that produce risk and protective effects among 101 youthful offenders. Adolescents and young adults in a maximum-security facility were interviewed with the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV), and completed self-reports of psychopathy, impulsivity, and perceived parental care and protection. This selection of empirically-supported predictors was enhanced by criminal history and family information obtained through extensive file review. Markedly different prediction models emerged based on age. ADHD and PCL Factor 2 predicted adolescents' institutional maladjustment. In contrast, young adults' institutional behavior was influenced by impulsivity, family substance abuse, and gang membership. Treatment progress also differed depending on age; the absence of certain risk factors predicted success for adolescents, while academic achievement and intelligence facilitated young adults' advancement. Importantly, support was demonstrated for the moderating effects of protective factors on violence. Finally, the predictive validity of newly-developed psychopathy self-reports was examined in relation to the PCL:YV. Both the SALE PS-24 and the APSD were modestly effective at differentiating between high and low levels of psychopathy.

The influence of autonomic activation in response to controllable versus noncontrollable stress, anger imagery induction, and relaxation imagery was studied among 80 participants between the ages of 18 and 34. Participants differed in level of trait hostility as assessed by the Irritability Subscale of The Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (Buss & Durkee,1957) and the Ho scale of the Cook-Medley Hostility Inventory (Cook & Medley, 1954). Groups were further subdivided with regards to either having a positive family history of cardiovascular disease or having no significant history. Results were obtained through analyses of electrocardiograph R-R intervals which produced an index of autonomic nervous system activation. Findings supported hypotheses involving the relations between autonomic balance and stress and hostility for the female and male populations. Among both populations, parasympathetic regulation was diminished during anger induction for individuals with high levels of trait hostility and having a family history of cardiovascular disease. Similar results were obtained for men during relaxation imagery induction.

This study examined police officers' perceptions of self, occupational role and their relation to perceived stress and posttraumatic stress symptomology. Self-report measures for the study variables were completed by 101 police officers. Hypotheses predicted that perception of self and role would be associated with perception of stress and that perception of the stress would mediate PTSD symptomology. Neuroticism, job quality and general job satisfaction were the main predictors of stress. Stress levels mediated between 1) job quality and the symptoms of anxious arousal and impaired self-reference; 2) general job satisfaction and the symptoms of defensive avoidance and dissociation; and 3) neuroticism and the symptom of defensive avoidance. This implies that police officers' job quality, their feelings of general job satisfaction, and low levels of neuroticism are important in alleviating stress and subsequent psychological sequela.

In this study, the supportive nature of the parent-child relationship was examined for how it relates to young adults' romantic development, as measured by indicators of attachment relationship importance and romantic involvement. Attachment and social support theories suggest that parents continue to play an important role as their young adult children form romantic relationships. Prior research has indicated that perceived support from parents is positively related to young adults' expressing attachment relationship importance, as evidenced by attachment motivation and engaging in exploration about romantic relationship topics. Furthermore, support from parents has been negatively related to romantic and sexual involvement. Therefore, it was believed that support in the parent-child relationship would predict both the indicators of attachment relationship importance and the indicators of romantic involvement in the present study. Additionally, an interaction of parental support and participants' gender was expected for the indicators of attachment relationship importance but not romantic involvement. A sample of 157 women and 144 men, ages 18-22 completed questionnaires. These measures assessed the supportive quality of relationships with each parent and indicators of the young adults' romantic development. For the indicators of attachment relationship importance, results indicated that exploration was predicted by gender and a conflictual relationship …

The purpose of this study was to examine how male and female leaders view their own effectiveness as compared to their objective performance. This study also examined sex and gender differences in subordinate's views of male and female leaders. Forty-two mixed-sex groups led by appointed male and female leaders were observed to assess objective and perceived leader effectiveness. Gender role of participants was assessed using the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). No sex or gender differences were found in objective leadership effectiveness. An unexpected finding was that male and female leaders perceived themselves accurately as leaders. Significant differences were found in the way male subordinates rated men and women leaders when taking into account gender role. Results indicated that the study of gender bias in leadership is complex and should be examined in conjunction with gender role. Social role theory helps to explain this bias.

Over the past twenty years the number of children identified with learning disabilities has risen drastically. In addition, 26 - 40% of these children also experience depression. While cognitive functioning has been demonstrated to be associated with depression, it is unclear whether the mood, vegetative, or cognitive symptoms of depression predict particular cognitive processes and vice versa. The purpose of this study was to determine which particular cognitive processes were associated with specific depressive symptoms and depression as a whole. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to test a model which examined how three cognitive processing factors (verbal & visual reasoning, and attention/working memory) were associated with three depressive symptom factors (disturbances in mood, vegetative, and cognitive functioning). The data for SEM came from a large data set of children with learning disabilities (n=227). Model fit results supported the proposed model, and a significant association was found between the attention/working memory factor and the depression symptom factor reflecting disturbances in cognitive functioning. Less robust relationships were observed between verbal reasoning and cognitive depressive symptoms and an approach toward the conventional level of significance was noted between visual reasoning and cognitive depressive symptoms. Using a sub-sample of original participants who were …