Primary care physician attitudes and values toward end-of-life care and physician-assisted death

This study explores how primary care physician attitudes toward physician-assisted death (PAD) are related to their personal values toward end-of-life care and PAD. A group of 810 Michigan family physicians, internists, and general practitioners, divided into 4 typology groups by their intention toward participating in PAD, rated their attitudes toward PAD, along with their values and preferences for their own end-of-life care. Respondents who most objected to PAD were less likely to have executed an advance directive and more likely to have values promoting continued life-sustaining treatment in their own terminal care. Furthermore, a significant number of physicians, who had strong values against their own withdrawal of treatment in terminal care, were opposed to the withdrawing or withholding of life-sustaining treatment in patient care. Considerations of personal physician values are relevant in the discussion of PAD and the withdrawal of treatment in terminal care.     

Teacher attitudes toward stuttering

Attitudes of 100 elementary school teachers toward stuttering were studied using the Teacher Attitudes Toward Stuttering (TATS) Inventory. Teacher attitudes, as indicated by TATS Inventory scores, were compared with teacher knowledge of stuttering, age of teacher, number of years teaching experience, educational level, and whether the teacher had personal experience with a stutterer. Results indicated that significant positive correlations existed between teacher attitudes toward and knowledge of stuttering. Significant negative correlations were demonstrated between teacher attitudes/knowledge of stuttering and the presence of a stuttering child in the classroom. The applicability of the TATS Inventory as a clinical instrument in its current form and the research needed to enhance its flexibility are discussed.     

Seminarian attitudes toward counseling

This paper examines whether seminarians are interested in referring parishioners to pastoral counselors or prefer handling commingled psychological and spiritual problems through counseling parishioners themselves. Research results revealed openness toward referral and also a strong interest in counseling persons themselves. Forms of collaboration other than referral were also examined, and seminarians indicated openness to using consultation, training, and personal therapeutic support. Implications for church-psychology collaboration, generally, are discussed. Areas for further research are recommended.     

Psychologists' attitudes toward aids

Abstract

Practicing psychologists in all areas of the country will see an increasing number of persons at risk for AIDS, or with AIDS-related illnesses. Previous research has shown that AIDS elicits negative reactions from the general public and from certain health care professionals. In the current study, a national sample of randomly selected practicing psychologists completed attitude measures after reading vignettes that described a male patient with either AIDS or leukemia who was either homosexual or heterosexual. Respondents evaluated the AIDS patient more negatively and reported less willingness to interact with him in a professional role or in casual social situations. It is important to develop training and continuing education programs to prepare psychologists to deal with persons affected by AIDS.     

Ministers' attitudes toward delinquency

Conclusion An effective ministry to youth offenders depends greatly on our attitudes toward them. Working with them on any personal basis requires attitudes that help prepare us to be accepting, understanding, friendly, and firm.Indispensable also is a community-mindedness that frees us to be ecumenical rather than parochial in our concern and outreach. And this community-mindedness also leads us to utilize the agencies and programs that seek to help young people and prevent delinquency.The author expresses grateful acknowledgment to Dr. Paul E. Johnson, Dr. Daniel J. Levinson, and Dr. Donald T. Devine who contributed to the study on which this article is based.     

Twentieth-century attitudes toward masturbation

This article demonstrates the progress that medicine, psychiatry, religion, and anthropology have made toward a variant perspective, of masturbation. Researchers documented the suffering and damage caused by classically ingrained religious and medical distortions.The secret sin of Judeo-Christianity and the social disease of nineteenth-century medicine has paradoxially become the therapy for various forms of psychosexual dysfunction. Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish denominations polarize opinions from rigorous orthodoxy to unconditional acceptance of this psychosexual behavior as a source of emotional homeostasis.Michael S. Patton, Ph.D., is an anthropologist concerned with sex research in society, history, and religion. He lives in Mansfield, OH 44903.     

Sports ideology,attitudes toward women,and anti-homosexual attitudes

The present work tests the associations of sports ideology with sexist and anti-homosexual attitudes in a sample of 304 college students. It was found that sports ideology is positively associated with sexist and anti-homosexual attitudes, but only among males. Among females only sexist attitudes were associated with negative attitudes toward gays and lesbians. Among males, the link of sports ideology to anti-homosexual attitudes was independent of sexist beliefs. Reciprocal causal influences between sexist attitudes and sports ideology are discussed.     

College freshman attitudes toward cheating

This article proposed to study characteristics of students with lenient attitudes toward cheating and to identify the types of colleges that enroll these students. By using a sample of 1,500 students, it was found that those with lenient attitudes toward academic cheating shared similar attitudes about cheating in government and industry. Furthermore, these students tended to be less academically motivated, have fewer artistic-literary interests, and come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. From the use of a sample of 119 institutions, it was found that those enrolling students with strong attitudes against cheating were generally more selective, all-female, and small in size.     

Incorporating adolescent females' perceptions of their partners' attitudes toward condoms into a model of female adolescent condom use

The highest rates of sexually transmitted infections in the U.S. occur among adolescent females. One prevention strategy promoted for sexually active adolescents is condom use: therefore, influences on correct and consistent condom use are worth examining. Because interventions and observational research into predicting and increasing condom use have yielded mixed results, we hypothesized that a theoretically driven model incorporating female adolescents' perceptions about partner sentiments along with their own perceptions, intentions, and behaviours would improve condom use predictions. We also measured condom use errors and consistency for a more precise estimate of effective use than is common in the literature. In three structural equation models tested on a sample of 519 female adolescents, we found that intentions were associated with both correct and consistent condom use; that females' expectancy beliefs about condom use were associated with intentions; and that females' expectancy beliefs about partners' sentiments reduced the impact of their expectancy beliefs about condom use. The implications of these relations upon condom use correctness and consistency are discussed with respect to informing interventions, among other future research.     

Changing adolescent attitudes toward stuttering

Purpose

Live oral or recorded video presentations on stuttering were delivered to high school students in order to determine the extent to which their attitudes toward stuttering could be improved.

Methods

A classroom teacher administered the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) to two health classes before and after an oral live presentation by a person who stutters. She also gave the POSHA-S to two other similar classes before and after a True Life^®: I Stutter video presentation. The stuttering person in the oral condition was one of three people featured in the video. Also, following the video condition, students filled out the POSHA-S a third time after a short oral presentation by the same person who stutters.

Results

Measured attitudes improved overall on the POSHA-S and on selected items.

Conclusions

High school students hold similar attitudes toward stuttering and stutterers as adults, and these attitudes can be improved, at least temporarily, by a presentation on stuttering but more via a live presentation than a professionally prepared video.Educational objectives: (1) The reader will identify different ways to improve attitudes toward stuttering in high school students. (2) The reader will list advantages and disadvantages of live oral presentations and recorded video presentations as strategies to change attitudes toward stuttering. (3) The reader will identify characteristics of a speaker that can assist in attitude changes of high school students.     

Young persons' attitudes toward aging

Because people are living longer, healthier lives, it was expected that social perceptions of the elderly would reflect that vigor. 160 young adults surveyed do not show the expected change in their views of the elderly.