Influence of paper color and a monetary incentive on response rate

This study examined whether survey response rate differed based on the color of the paper the survey was printed on (blue vs green) and presence of a monetary incentive. A 4-page survey on eating disorders was mailed to Division 1A and 1AA college head athletic trainers (N=223) with half of the surveys on blue paper and half on green paper. Half of the athletic trainers (n = 111) received a $1.00 monetary incentive, and half (n = 112) received no monetary incentive. A total of 166 (71%) athletic trainers returned completed surveys. Response rates did not differ based on survey color but did differ based on presence of a monetary incentive. Athletic trainers who received a monetary incentive were significantly more likely than those who did not to return completed surveys (86% vs 63%, respectively).     

Perceived psychological stress among high school basketball officials

The purpose of this study was to survey certified high school basketball officials during midseason to assess whether the sources and magnitude of perceived psychological stress would be consistent with previous studies of officials in other sports. The sources and magnitude of perceived psychological stress were measured among 324 high school basketball officials (N=324; 312 men, 12 women) using a revised version of the Ontario Soccer Officials Survey. The mean age was 37.6 yr. (SD= 9.4), and the mean years of basketball refereeing experience was 11.7 yr. (SD=8.3). A random sample (N=498) of all basketball officials in a midwestern state (N=1,011) was used, and 324 of the surveys were returned (65%). The overall variance accounted for with the four factors was 84.7%. The magnitude of stress for these factors ranged from below mild to moderate.     

Concurrent evidence of physical educators' attitude toward teaching individuals with disabilities

This study assesses the criterion-related relevance or concurrent validity of Physical Educators' Attitude Toward Individuals with Disabilities III survey, developed in 1993 by Rizzo. The criterion measure was the Learning Handicapped Inventory, developed in 1982 by Jansma and Shultz, because it, like the former, has validity and reliability in assessing attitudes of physical educators toward teaching students with disabilities. Participants were 179 physical education majors attending a major midwestern university, 94 (53%) women and 85 (47%) men whose average age was 20.7 yr. (SD = 2.5 yr.). Both surveys were administered in one sitting, and the correlation of .88 indicates strong concurrent validity.     

Unwanted early sexual experiences among Belgian and South African university women students

This study examined the unwanted early sexual experiences of 736 South African and 1,587 Belgian women students. The Early Sexual Experiences Checklist was administered to all consenting women students attending orientation programmes at a Belgian and a South African university. Respondents were Belgians (M age = 18.2 yr., SD = 1.0) and South Africans (M age = 19.6 yr., SD = 4.1). Such experiences were found for 31.3% (231) of South African respondents and 14.2% (226) of Belgian respondents. 64% of South African women indicated that such an experience occurred only once, and 65% of Belgian women reported this also. 34% of Belgian and 32% of South African respondents reported not being bothered at all by the unwanted experience at the time the event took place; 23% of Belgian and 36% of South African respondents were extremely bothered by the experience.     

Motives for secondary social sharing of emotions

This study provides new evidence of motives of secondary social sharing of emotions. In a retrospective study, 140 female (Mage = 29.4 yr., SD=12.8) and 116 male (M = 29.5 yr., SD = 13.1) participants were asked to recall a recent situation in which they had talked to a third person about a positive or negative, low or high intensity emotional narrative they had heard. 70% of the respondents reported having secondarily shared the reported event rapidly after the narration with several persons and at several times. Moreover, they not only described the event, the speaker's reaction and their own reactions, but also revealed the identity of their first confidant. Participants reported having spread the emotional narrative more widely in the high negative condition in order to seek emotional support and social comparison.     

Principal components analysis of the Psychological Screening Inventory in a sample of substance abusers.

A principal components analysis of responses to the Psychological Screening Inventory from a sample of substance abusers was conducted. Subjects were 153 inpatients admitted to a midwestern program for chemical dependency treatment. Means for age and education were 28.0 yr. (SD = 8.1) and 11.4 (SD = 1.8), respectively. Analysis indicated that a two-factor solution best described these data. Factor 1 reflected over-all maladjustment, while Factor 2 was a measure of extroversion. Clinical utility of the inventory was discussed.     

Revisiting the factor structure of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory

The original Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory, used to measure innovative (as opposed to adaptive) individual cognitive styles, has been reported to have three factors: Sufficiency of Originality, Efficiency, and Rule/Group Conformity. In exploring the construct validity of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory, findings from a 2003 study by Im, Hu, and Toh showed the existence of two subdimensions of the Sufficiency of Originality factor-Idea Generation and Preference for Change. In this study, using a sample of 356 household participants, with an average age of 56.0 yr. (SD = 14.0), average income of dollar 39,700 (SD = dollar 19,200), and average of 15.0 yr. of education (SD = 2), from the Arkansas Household Research Panel, we conducted factor analyses. The results specific to our selected sample indicate that a four-factor model recognizing the two subdimensions of Sufficiency of Originality has a better fit than the original three-factor model.     

Effects of aging and divided attention on recognition memory processes for single and associative information

In the divided attention paradigm to test age-related associative memory deficits, whether the effects of divided attention occur at encoding or retrieval has not been clarified, and the effect on retention has not been studied. This study explored whether and how much divided attention at either encoding, retention, or retrieval diminished accuracy in recognizing a single feature (object or location) and associated features (object+location) by 23 elderly people (13 women; M age = 70.6 yr., SD = 2.8) recruited from a neighborhood community circle, and 29 female college students (M age = 20.8 yr., SD = 1.1). The results showed a significant decline in memory performance for both age groups due to divided attention in location and associative memory at retention, suggesting that the retention process demands attentional resources. Overall, regardless of their relative deficiency in associative memory, older adults showed an effect of divided attention comparable to that of younger adults in a recognition task.     

Alteration of adults' subjective feeling of familiarity toward infants' sounds

Many adults may have lower subjective feelings of familiarity toward infants' vocalizations since infants' sounds are different from those of adults. However, mothers frequently exposed to infants' vocalizations may be more familiar and less averse. To test this hypothesis, 21 mothers (M age = 31.1 yr., SD = 4.3) of infants (M age = 8.2 mo., SD = 3.5), 18 mothers (M age = 34.4 yr., SD = 4.8) of children between two and five years of age (M age = 2.8 yr., SD = 1.0), and 17 women (M age = 29.2 yr., SD = ll.1) with no children were exposed to 20 types of sounds. Of these sounds, 14 were produced by infants. Although the mothers of infants did not recognize sounds as those of an infant's vocalization, they showed higher subjective feelings of familiarity toward the timbres of the vowel-like stimuli than did the other groups. By contrast, the subjective feelings of familiarity for nonspeech sounds did not differ among groups. Maternal experiences may change women's recognition of perceived sounds.     

Lecturer dress code and student perceptions of lecturer professional attributes

This study explored how students’ perceptions of their lecturers’ dress code influenced their inferences about the professional competences of the lecturers. Survey respondents were 102 students from a South African university of technology (female = 60%; age range = 18 to 25 years, SD: Image 1 = 0.75; Image 2 = 0.60; Image 3 = 0.83 and Image 4 = 0.67). They responded to a structured survey with picture illustration figures of alternative dress code and across dimensions of professional competences: rapport, fairness, knowledge and credibility, and organisation and preparation. The findings suggest that lecturers’ dress code does influence students perceptions of lecturers’ qualities in the academic work environment. Results showed that students percieve both male and female professionally dressed lecturers more positively than casually dressed lecturers. Furthermore, instructor attire did not affect female and male students differently.     

University students' support for heterosexual women with AIDS

Support for a woman heterosexual AIDS victim was examined among 237 university students, 54% female and 54% upper division, with a mean age of 23.7 yr. A questionnaire containing one of four scenarios (AIDS resulting from unsafe sex, unsafe drug use, sex with an unfaithful husband, or a blood transfusion) measured support by people's willingness to sign or circulate a petition supporting the victim's right to attend college classes. A five-way mixed-design analysis of variance showed that victims who took risks received less support, that respondents were more willing to sign than to circulate a petition, and, while men did not discriminate among the four scenarios, women were most likely to offer support to "innocent" victims who contracted AIDS without sexual behavior. In addition, respondents who knew someone with AIDS were more likely to sign the petition. AIDS, particularly when contracted through risky behavior, is a disease with social ramifications beyond its threat to public health.     

Emotional intelligence and aggression among South African adolescents: Preliminary evidence

We investigated gender differences in emotional intelligence and aggression among South African adolescents. Four hundred and forty-four adolescents (female =51.4 %; mean age =15.5 years, SD= 1.42 years; rural residence = 35.5%, urban residence = 65.5%) completed an emotional intelligence scale and an aggression expression survey. Exploratory independent sample t-test analysis revealed female adolescents to score higher on perception of and management of emotions than male adolescents. Female adolescents also scored higher on verbal aggression than their male peers, whereas male adolescents scored higher on physical aggression than the female adolescents.     

Selection of effective tests of motor ability in preschool children based on pass-or-fail criteria: examination of reliability, objectivity, and rate of passing

The purpose of this study was to select effective tests of motor ability based on pass-or-fail criteria for use with preschool children. 37 items selected by examining theoretical validity and the results of preliminary tests were administered to preschool children (3 yr.: M = 3.7 yr., SD = 0.28; 4 yr.: M = 4.7 yr., SD = 0.28; 5 yr.: M = 5.7 yr., SD = 0.28). A skilled tester and each child's homeroom teacher rated whether the child's performance passed certain criteria or not. With agreement on two trials as an index of test-retest reliability, the mean agreement among the three grades ranged from 69% to 99% for Locomotion, 59% to 95% for Manipulation; and 66% to 100% for Stability. Disagreement on two trials may reflect instability in movement, practice effects, and so on. With agreement between two testers as an index of objectivity for 37 items, 33 showed interrater agreement of 80% or more for all three grades. No significant increase in pass rate with age was found on 10 items. In examining the three conditions mentioned above 27 items were selected as tests of motor ability: 14 items for Locomotion, 7 items for Manipulation, and 6 items for Stability.     

Relative contributions of perceived mattering to parents and friends in predicting adolescents' psychological well-being

Perceived mattering is the psychological tendency to perceive the self as significant to specific other people. The central goal of this study was to examine whether adolescents' perceived mattering across social spheres (parents and friends) is addtive or compensatory in predicting adolescents' psychological well-being. Tests of the relative importance of adolescents' perceived mattering to parents and friends for psychological well-being were conducted using data from two convenience samples. Study 1 participants were, on the average, 17.5 yr. old and living in rural northwestern United States (N=128, 50% male, n=64; 50% female, n=64). Study 2 participants, on the average, were 16.9 yr. old, from a suburban western Canadian region (N=532, 51.4% male, n=273; 48.6% female, n=259). Hierarchical regression analysed with indicators of self-concept and behavioral misconduct as dependent variables used perceived mattering to parents and perceived mattering to friends and the interaction between these two variables as independent variables. Perceived mattering in both social spheres seemed the optimal condition for adolescents. Perceived mattering to friends "added" to perceived mattering to parents in explaining variance in assessments of psychological well-being in both studies.     

Reliability and validity of the Spanish Version of the Crisis in Family Systems-Revised

Increasing the representation of Spanish-speaking study participants requires development and dissemination of reliable and valid translated scales. In the urrent study the construct validity was assessed of the Spanish version of the Crisis n Family Systems-Revised, a measure of contemporary life stressors, with a convenience sample of 377 parents interviewed in a study of childhood asthma, although over half of the respondents did not have children with asthma. Most respondents were foreign-born women between 20 to 60 years old (M=35, SD=7). 52% had not completed high school or its equivalent, and 55% reported a household income of dollar 15,000 or less. For a subsample of 25 respondents test-retest reliability was .86 over 2 wk. Reporting more life stressors was associated with greater depressive symptomatology, poorer physical and mental health function, and lower household income. These relationships support the construct validity of the test in Spanish. This study provided strong evidence that this version is a valid and reliable measure of life stressors for a Spanish-speaking population living in the United States.     

Body mass index in female Spanish Olympic athletes

The purpose of this study was to examine the Body Mass Index of 180 female Spanish Olympic athletes (M age = 27.1 yr., SD = 5.9 yr.) who participate in presentation sports and nonpresentation sports, in comparison with 114 female nonathletes (M age = 20.7, SD = 1.5 yr.). Presentation sports athletes have a profile similar to that of a university student but by age with a lower Body Mass Index. In particular, rhythmic gymnasts have a lower weight and Body Mass Index than other athletes and nonathletes.     

Anxiety and depression in Greek nursing and medical personnel

The relatively low number of nurses compared to physicians in Greece and the few available studies on the psychological problems of the health professionals led to comparison of anxiety and depression for 76 Greek nursing personnel (20 men, M age: 32.8 yr., SD: 3.8 yr., and 56 women, M age: 36.6 yr., SD: 7.7 yr.) and 66 doctors (35 men, M age: 35.9 yr., SD: 8.9 yr. and 31 women, M age: 32.7 yr., SD: 8.1 yr.) using validated translations of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory. Male nurses had the lowest scores on trait anxiety, while female doctors had the highest scores, followed by female nurses. Depression scores were not different between doctors and nurses, regardless of sex. Age and depression scores were positively correlated (Spearman rho = .31) only for the female nurses. The findings suggest that interventions for diagnosis and stress management in the health-care workplace should be equally targeted for nursing and medical personnel.     

Aging, body image, and body shape

Participants were 25 older men (M age = 72 years, SD = 10 years) and 27 older women (M age = 71 years, SD = 8 years) who examined multiple line-drawing figures of babies, children, young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults. Participants picked a number on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very thin) to 9 (very obese) in response to questions including "Which is the most attractive?" and "Which figure would you most like to look like?" They also completed questionnaires about their body image and body shape. In response to the age-specific line drawings (e.g., those depicting older men and older women), older women endorsed thinner figures (e.g., picked smaller numbers) than did men. Likewise, older women reported thinking more about their body shape and appearance than did men and perceived their body image as "a little too big" in comparison with the older men who perceived their body image as "just the right size." However, a breakdown of normal and overweight women in this sample revealed that for some overweight elderly women, obesity could become a satisfactory way of life. Much as with college-aged women, the endorsement of a thinner body image by many of the older adult female participants appeared to persist into late adulthood and suggests that research into body image issues with older adults is relevant and necessary.     

Feasibility of Assessing Suicide Ideation and History of Suicidal Behavior in Rural Communities

Suicide in rural areas has not received significant attention in the research literature to this point, although suicide rates are higher among adults and older adults in rural areas than in urban areas. The aims of the study were as follows: (1) establish the feasibility of assessing suicide ideation and history of suicidal behavior; (2) determine preliminary estimates of the prevalence of suicide ideation, and history of suicide attempts; and (3) examine the effectiveness and acceptability of safety and referral plans for individuals whose responses indicated elevated suicide risk, in rural communities with limited access to referral care. Participants were 96 adults aged 40 to 85 years old (M  =  57.34, SD  = 11.47) residing in West Texas. Our results indicate that 26% of participants endorsed a lifetime history of suicide ideation and/or suicide attempt(s) and 12.5% reported suicide ideation in the past year. In addition, 93.4% of participants reported that participation in our suicide‐focused study was an excellent or good experience. Results suggest that individuals in rural communities are willing to talk about suicide, found the experience helpful, and were satisfied with the referral process.