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.

This study tested the relationship between Social Support, Psychological Distress, and Illness Stress in individuals who report cancer as a health condition. This study was based on archival data obtained from the Wave 1 of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The HRS provides a nationally representative sample of individuals aged 51 to 61 in 1992 and their spouses. The study sample was limited to cancer patients with a spouse or partner (n = 503). A structural equation modeling analysis procedure was used to test the theoretical models. Measures of social support were limited to variables assessing the participant's satisfaction with social support. Evidence was found for the Stress Prevention and the Support Deterioration models. This is congruent with previous research using measures of social support perception. Both the Stress Prevention and the Support Deterioration models predict a negative relationship between Illness Stress and Social Support. In addition, a univariate analysis of variance was used to test the stress buffering model. Similarly to other studies measuring the individual's degree of integration, or its perception, in the social network, the present research supported the only the Main Effect model and not the Stress Buffering model.

The results of neuropsychological tests are often used by clinicians to make important decisions regarding a demented patient's ability to competently and/or independently perform activities of daily living. However, the ecological validity of most neuropsychological instruments has yet to be adequately established. The current study examined the relationship between neuropsychological test performance and functional status in 42 individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. A comprehensive battery of cognitive tests was employed in order to assess a wide range of neuropsychological abilities. Functional status was measured through the use of both a performance-based scale of activities of daily living (The Direct Assessment of Functional Status; Loewenstein et al., 1989) as well as by a caregiver/informant-based rating scale (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living; Lawton & Brody, 1969). Findings suggest that neuropsychological functioning is moderately predictive of functional status. Memory performance was the best predictor of functional status in most ADL domains, followed by executive functioning and visuospatial abilities.

Health Locus of Control (HLOC) and other predictors of Quality of Life (QL) were examined for women with an initial versus recurrent breast cancer diagnosis. Twenty-eight women with an initial breast cancer (IBC) diagnoses and twenty-eight women with recurrent breast cancer (RBC) diagnoses were recruited from doctors' offices and cancer support groups. Correlational analyses were used to assess the relationships between variables. No significant differences were found between women with IBC and RBC on Psychological QL. Doctor HLOC and Psychological QL were related for women with RBC (r = .481, p = .01) and marginally so for women with IBC (r = .329, p = .09). A positive correlation was also found between Doctor HLOC and Functional QL for both women with IBC (r = .464, p = .01) and women with RBC (r = .390, p = .04). After controlling for stage of cancer, women with RBC reported higher Functional QL than did women with IBC. Advanced (stages III or IV) versus early (stages I or II) cancer stage related to lower Functional QL, controlling for initial versus recurrent diagnosis (r = -.283, p = .01). A marginally significant relationship was also found for cancer stage, regardless of initial …

This study examined the effectiveness of cautioning and education on simulating a mild traumatic brain injury on several neuropsychological measures. The measures used included the Word Memory Test (WMT), Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales® - Third Edition (WAIS®-III), Wechsler Memory Scales®-3rd Edition instrument (WMS®-III), 16-item version of the Rey Memory Test, and a self-report symptom checklist. Five experimental groups were used including clinical and non-clinical controls, as well as three simulation groups. The design and implementation of this study also attempted to correct several methodological short comings of prior research by increasing the incentives for participants, expanding the generalizability of findings and examining research compliance and participant self-perception through debriefing. Discriminant analysis was utilized to determine if specific functions existed that would correctly classify and distinguish each experimental group. Several discriminant functions had at least moderate canonical correlations and good classification accuracy. Results also include utility estimates given projected varying base rates of malingering.

The present study sought to build on the large body of past research into written disclosure of traumatic memories. This research has consistently found that participants who write about their traumatic experiences realize long-term physiological and psychological health benefits. More recently, it has been found that those participants who realize the most benefits are those who progressively include more elements of a good narrative, or story, in their writing about a traumatic experience over several sessions. Therefore, research has begun to examine the role of language and the structure of language in the health benefits gained from written disclosure of traumatic memories. A guided written disclosure protocol was designed for the present study, which sought to aid participants in supplying an increasing amount of narrative structure to their written disclosures of a single traumatic experience. Participants (N = 30) completed several measures of psychological and physiological health prior to and one month after completing the guided written disclosure protocol. Analyses revealed that participants who completed all four writing sessions showed statistically significant reductions in symptoms of general psychological distress, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and intrusive and avoidant symptoms related to the traumatic experience. No significant self-reported physiological health benefits were found. The …

Currently, only the TSI assesses complex traumatic reactions and patient response styles. However, its feigning scale, ATR, uses a flawed detection strategy and is potentially confounded by experiences of complex PTSD. As a consequence, clinicians using the TSI to evaluate severely traumatized patients have no useful method for discriminating genuine and feigned responding. Several detection strategies have demonstrated utility within evaluations of feigned trauma including the assessment of rare symptoms, symptom combinations, symptom selectivity, and symptom severity. The current study created scales on the TSI according to these strategies using a development sample of 107 severely traumatized patients. Validation of all TSI feigning scales was then performed with a second independent sample of 71 severely traumatized patients using a mixed simulation design. Results found support for each scale's convergent validity with SIRS primary scales (M rs = .52) and discriminant validity with measures of defensiveness on the SIRS (M rs = -.07) and TSI (M rs = -.19). Each scale also produced expectedly mild to moderate relationships with SADS-C clinical scales (M rs = .32) and the SCID-IV PTSD module (M rs = -.02). Support for their criterion validity was only moderate (M ds = .69) when comparing the scores …

The purpose of this study was to develop a manualized therapy group for wives or significant others of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder and to evaluate its effectiveness in reducing wives' psychological symptoms. A second aim of the study was to determine if women's involvement in the wives group resulted in decreases in their husbands' PTSD symptoms. Women recruited for the study were administered pre-test measures during a screening session. They then participated in a 9-session manualized therapy group designed by the researcher that included psychoeducational, process, and support components. Examples of group topics included psychoeducation regarding PTSD, assertiveness and communication, intimacy, self-care, and stress management. After completing the group sessions, participants were asked to complete post-test measures. Other factors explored in this study included marital satisfaction, perceived social support, general satisfaction with the group, and demographic variables. Results indicated that wives who participated in the group treatment exhibited significant decreases in secondary stress symptoms and increases in marital satisfaction from pre-test to post-test. The majority of participants also reported high levels of satisfaction with the group process. Therefore, it appears that the group protocol presented in this study could be a useful tool in the treatment of wives of …

Previous research has shown that alcohol abuse may cause a deficit in frontal lobe functioning, specifically, areas of the frontal lobe that are related to executive function. Additionally, problems with executive function have been related to increased difficulty in managing cravings to addictive substances. The current study explored the relationship between alcohol use and performance on measures of executive functioning in a sample of 121 traditional college students. Students were given 5 measures of executive function designed to explore mental set shifting, updating, inhibition, sustained attention, and planning. These measures were used to examine the relationship between executive function and craving as measured by the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale. Levels of alcohol use were also examined using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test in relation to executive function performance and family history of alcohol abuse.

This study attempted to ascertain the differences between mortuary and college students in terms of unconscious affective concern with death and the conscious fear of death.

The present investigation was concerned with the effectiveness of religion in personality development and the significance of church attendance in ethical and moral control. These concepts were related to specific diagnoses of psychiatric patients to ascertain the effect of religion upon those patients diagnosed as paranoid-type schizophrenics and as sociopaths. In addition, the effect of this variable on other variables related to the patient's past religious experience, such as church attendance, was examined. The religiousness of the patients was measured by a single religious intensity questionnaire.

The present study was a systematic replication of a study by Morse and Skinner (1957). An attempt was also made to study some of the parameters involved in the sensory control of operant behavior. Morse and Skinner found that a stimulus present when a response is being reinforced may acquire discriminative control over the response even though its presence at reinforcement is adventitious.

This investigation is an attempt to apply the principles of the experimental analysis of behavior to the stuttering behavior of two clinical subjects. The experimental manipulations were performed in order to bring about a decrement in the stuttering rate of the two subjects.

This study investigated sex differences and the relationship between need for approval and liberal-conservative attitudes regarding sex. The test measures used were the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (M-C SDS) and a questionnaire measuring liberal-conservative sexual attitudes taken from a research survey published in Psychology Today.

This study is an investigation of the general questions Is there a relationship or interaction between a subject's dogmatism score (as measured by the Dogmatism Scale) and his self-rating of the perceived stereotypical masculinity-femininity dimension (as measured by the abridged Mf scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)?

The purpose of this study was to determine whether hypnotic suggestions could influence the physiological mechanisms associated with breast growth to produce a significant increase in breast- size in an adult female population.

Operant conditioning techniques were used to condition male-typical behaviors in an eight-year-old effeminate boy who had been described as transsexual. A probe of toys and activities was administered, which showed a trend toward his choosing feminine toys and activities. The two phases consisted of positive reinforcement of behavior associated with masculinity.

The present study was concerned with comparing the relative effectiveness of behavior rehearsal and systematic desensitization in the treatment of social anxiety.

The problem with which this investigation was concerned, was that of determining the relationships between personality adjustment, social interaction abilities and marital adjustment. The following hypotheses were investigated: 1) there will be a significant relationship between individual personality adjustment and marital adjustment, and 2) there will be a significant relationship between marital harmony and social interaction abilities.

The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of Koppitz's method of scoring the Bender Gestalt (BG) Test for the prediction of behavioral problems in retarded children. The problem behaviors with which this study was concerned were those most often associated with the hyperactive child.

The results suggest that children's perceptions of parental child-rearing behavior are related to their tendencies to be dogmatic in their beliefs, and apparently perceptions of parents as loving has reinforcing properties for the child that may lead to the uncritical acceptance of the belief system of the parents.

This study dealt with the problem of investigating the validity of two recently developed paper-and-penci1 tests of programmer aptitude , the Aptitude Test for Programmer Personnel (ATPP) and the Computer Programmer Aptitude Battery (CPAB), in predicting success in computer programming.

Stereotyped behavior in profoundly retarded subjects was observed under sedative and tonic music, with time and movement measures of responding.

To meet the need of making clinical evaluations in the most efficient way, many scales and short forms of the MMPI have been developed. A review of the literature indicated that the Mini-Mult devised by Kincannon (1967) and the Short Form by Hugo (1971a) were the best short forms of the MMPI which have been constructed. The purpose of this study was to determine which of these short forms would most accurately predict the standard MMPI in a clinical population.