Reliability,validity, and prevalence of partner violence measured by the conflict tactics scales in male-dominant nations

This article evaluates whether use of the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS) with women in male-dominant nations results in reliable and valid data. Tabulation of ten published studies in male-dominant nations found a median alpha coefficient of reliability of .86. For university students in the 32 nation International Dating Violence Study, the median alpha for women is .82 and .78 for males. Similar alpha coefficients were found regardless of the national level of male-dominance. Validity was measured by estimating the sensitivity of the CTS in eliciting data on perpetration of physical assault, by evaluating the degree to which assaults reported by the women were acts of self-defense, and by construct validity analyses to test the hypothesis that being a victim of physical assault as measured by the CTS is associated with physical injury, depressive symptoms, and post-traumatic stress symptoms. The hypothesized relationships were found regardless of the degree of male dominance in a nation. The results support continued use of the CTS to investigate PV in the lives of women worldwide. The discussion suggests that the effort to combat violence against women could be enhanced by using the full CTS to provide data on perpetration by women as well as victimization of women.     

Effects of an Internet-based intervention for subthreshold eating disorders: a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundWomen reporting initial eating disorder (ED) symptoms are at highest risk for the development of an eating disorder. Preventive interventions should, therefore, be specifically tailored for this subgroup.AimsTo adapt and evaluate the effects of the Internet-based prevention program “Student Bodies?” for women with symptoms of disordered eating and/or subthreshold eating disorder (ED) syndromes.Method126 women, reporting subthreshold ED symptoms (high weight and shape concerns and below threshold bingeing, purging, chronic dieting or several of these symptoms) were randomly assigned to a Student Bodies?+ (SB+) intervention or a wait-list control group and assessed at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up. “Student Bodies?” was adapted to be suitable for subthreshold EDs. Main outcome measures were attitudes and symptoms of disordered eating. Pre-follow-up data were analyzed by ANCOVAS with mixed effects.ResultsAt 6-month follow-up, compared to participants in the control group, participants in the intervention group showed significantly greater improvements on ED-related attitudes. Intervention participants also showed 67% (95% CI = 20–87%) greater reductions in combined rates of subjective and objective binges, and 86% (95% CI = 63–95%) greater reduction in purging episodes. Also, the rates of participants abstinent from all symptoms of disordered eating (restrictive eating, binge eating and any compensatory behavior) were significantly higher in the intervention group (45.1% vs. 26.9%). Post-hoc subgroup analyses revealed that for participants with binge eating the effect on EDE-Q scores was larger than in the pure restricting subgroup.ConclusionThe adapted “SB+” program represents an effective intervention for women with subthreshold EDs of the binge eating subtype.     

Assessment of Commitment to Equal Opportunity Goals in the Military

The purpose of this study was to contrast two methods of assessing commitment to equal opportunity (EO) goals. Students training at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) to be military EO advisors were the subjects of the study. The validity and reliability of DEOMI's measure of EO commitment, the Interpersonal Skills Development Evaluation (ISDE), were assessed. Slides were used to present cue words associated with various categories, including EO issues (e.g., discrimination and racism), to the DEOMI students. The students rated their association of these cue words with their current concerns and the emotional arousal evoked (two variables related to goal commitment; cf. Klinger, 1988). Students were then asked to recall as many of these words as they could. Although the ratings and the free-recall scores for the EO words were correlated with each other (support for the word-rating approach to measuring EO commitment), they were not significantly correlated with students' ISDE ratings. Other problems of validity and reliability for the ISDE are discussed.     

Perceived agency in retirement and retiree drinking behavior: Job satisfaction as a moderator

Based on recent findings that post-retirement adjustment may be influenced by the conditions leading up to the decision to retire, we examine the impact of individual agency in the retirement decision on problematic drinking behavior, as well as the extent to which such an effect may itself depend upon the valence of the pre-retirement work experience. Using a sample of 304 blue-collar retirees, our findings indicate that, when controlling for pre-retirement drinking behavior, perceptions of retirement as the result of a more forced or involuntary decision are associated with greater alcohol consumption, while perceptions of retirement as the result of a more volitional or voluntary process are associated with lower levels of alcohol consumption and a lower risk of problematic drinking behavior. Our results also indicate that pre-retirement job satisfaction amplifies the former relationship, while attenuating the latter one.     

When the party for some becomes a problem for others: the effect of perceived secondhand consequences of drinking behavior on drinking norms

The authors examined the influence of fraternity men's expectancies regarding secondhand consequences of excessive drinking behavior on normative standards regarding alcohol use and consumption levels. Participants were 381 men from 26 chapters of 2 national fraternities. One organization participated in a brief intervention involving discussion of secondhand consequences of excessive drinking. Immediate influence of the intervention on perceived secondhand consequences of alcohol use was assessed using a posttest-only, randomized groups design. Results supported a hypothesized measurement model with 1 overall secondhand consequence expectancy construct and 4 subfactors: (a) Noise Disruptive of Sleep and Study, (b) Violence, (c) Sexual Assault, and (d) Property Damage. Cross-sectional analysis at the chapter and individual levels demonstrated that secondhand expectancies had an indirect effect on alcohol consumption, mediated by personal consumption standards for limiting alcohol consumption. The intervention had an effect on secondhand expectancies. Findings suggest that interventions with intact groups can increase secondhand expectancies regarding excessive drinking and may lead to a reduction in excessive alcohol consumption.     

McEwen-Induced Modulation of Endocrine History: A Partial Review

In endless facets of physiology, there are points of homeostatic balance, such that too much or too litttle of something can both be deleterious (i.e., an "inverse U" pattern). This is particularly true when considering glucocorticoids (GCs), the adrenals steroid secreted during stress. In the first part of this paper, I review a number of realms in which a paucity and an excess of GCs are both damaging. Some findings are classical (for example, concerning GC effects upon body weight), while some are quite recent and have considerable implications for both physiology and pathophysiology (for example, inverse U's of GC actions in the realm of immunity and neuronal survival). The second part of the review considers the far thornier issue of how such inverse U's of GC actions are generated on a cellular and molecular level. One solution that has evolved, primarily in the hippocampus within the nervous system, involves the presence of two different types of receptors for GCs within the same cells; so long as the two receptors have very different affinities and mediate opposing effects on some cellular endpoint, an inverse U will emerge. The second solution, found in a number of peripheral tissues, involves GCs having opposing effects on the amount of some signal being generated (e.g., an immune cytokine) and the sensitivity of target tissues to that signal; under conditions that appear to be physiologically relevant, inverse U's emerge from this pattern as well. The final section of this review considers the enormous role played by Bruce McEwen in the emergence of this literature. I suggest that while much of this obviously has to do with the facts that have come from his group, another substantial contribution is from his steadying and supportive personality, the veritable embodiment of homeostatic balance.     

Is there a “theology’ in Seward Hiltner's pastoral theology?

Pastoral Psychology - Hiltner with his two-way, dialogical theology raises questions about the general adequacy of the two main options (Barth and Tillich) in theology today. Barth, it seems, has...