Immediate Psychological Impact of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Symptoms of PTSD and Coping Skills

Five hundred eighty-eight participants completed the Short Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Rating Interview (SPRINT; Connor &; Davidson, 2001 Connor, K. and Davidson, J. 2001. SPRINT: A brief global assessment of post-traumatic stress disorder. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 16(5): 279–284. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and the Brief COPE (Carver, 1997 Carver, C. S. 1997. You want to measure coping but your protocol's too long: Consider the Brief COPE. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4(1): 92–100. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to determine the psychological impacts and coping styles of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Gulf Coast residents. Participants were divided into at-risk and nonrisk groups based on their occupations. Results indicated that 28% of the respondents scored above the SPRINT cutoff score, indicating significant levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Furthermore, the Brief COPE results revealed that the at-risk group showed a negative correlation between active coping and the level of PTSD-related symptoms. The at-risk respondents also showed negative correlations of PTSD-related symptoms with coping strategies such as acceptance, planning, positive reframing, humor, and religion. Future research directions are also discussed.     

Individual Differences in Mediators and Reactions to a Personal Safety Threat Message

Individual differences in processing information about a personal threat message about bisphenol A (BPA) risk were examined using the threat orientation model (Thompson &; Schlehofer, 2008 Thompson , S. C. , &; Schlehofer , M. M. ( 2008 ). Control, denial, and heightened sensitivity reactions to personal threat: Testing the generalizability of the threat orientation approach . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 34 , 1070 – 1083 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Adults (N = 448) read a risk message concerning BPA in plastics. Threat orientations, intentions to protect oneself from BPA risk, and emotional and cognitive reactions to the message were measured. Individuals with different approaches to threat reached different conclusions about the message and used different information in that process. These findings suggest that consideration of individual differences could improve the predictive ability of existing theoretical models and the effectiveness of health and safety messages.     

The Rediscovery of Bifactor Measurement Models

Bifactor latent structures were introduced over 70 years ago, but only recently has bifactor modeling been rediscovered as an effective approach to modeling construct-relevant multidimensionality in a set of ordered categorical item responses. I begin by describing the Schmid-Leiman bifactor procedure (Schmid &; Leiman, 1957 Schmid, J. 1957. The comparability of the bi-factor and second-order factor patterns. Journal of Experimental Education, 25: 249–253. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and highlight its relations with correlated-factors and second-order exploratory factor models. After describing limitations of the Schmid-Leiman, 2 newer methods of exploratory bifactor modeling are considered, namely, analytic bifactor (Jennrich &; Bentler, 2011 Jennrich, R. I. and Bentler, P. M. 2011. Exploratory bi-factor analysis. Psychometrika, 76: 537–549. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and target bifactor rotations (Reise, Moore, &; Maydeu-Olivares, 2011 Reise, S. P., Moore, T. M. and Maydeu-Olivares, A. 2011. Targeted bifactor rotations and assessing the impact of model violations on the parameters of unidimensional and bifactor models. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 71: 684–711. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Then I discuss limited- and full-information estimation approaches to confirmatory bifactor models that have emerged from the item response theory and factor analysis traditions, respectively. Comparison of the confirmatory bifactor model to alternative nested confirmatory models and establishing parameter invariance for the general factor also are discussed. Finally, important applications of bifactor models are reviewed. These applications demonstrate that bifactor modeling potentially provides a solid foundation for conceptualizing psychological constructs, constructing measures, and evaluating a measure's psychometric properties. However, some applications of the bifactor model may be limited due to its restrictive assumptions.     

Effects of Film Music on Psychological Transportation and Narrative Persuasion

Two experiments examined the effect of film music on the narrative persuasion. In Experiment 1, participants viewed a short film with its original musical soundtrack or with soundtrack muted. In Experiment 2, musical soundtrack was added to a film that was originally produced without music. Findings indicated that participants reported greater transportation into the film and greater agreement with film-relevant beliefs when soundtrack was presented but only when music was congruent with the film's affective tone. In support of the transportation-imagery model (Green &; Brock, 2000 Green , M. C. , &; Brock , T. C. ( 2000 ). The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of public narratives . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 79 , 701 – 721 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the effect of film music on beliefs was mediated by transportation into the film.     

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Adulthood Parenting: The Mediating Role of Intimate Partner Violence

This study examined the role of intimate partner victimization in mediating the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and adulthood parenting in a community sample of mothers reliant on public assistance (N = 483). Baron and Kenny's (1986 Baron, R. M. and Kenny, D. A. 1986. The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51: 1173–1182. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) method for establishing mediation was used to address this question. A recent history of intimate partner violence mediated the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and psychological aggression; however, a lifetime history of intimate partner violence did not. Depressive symptomatology was found to mediate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and parental warmth. The impact of childhood sexual abuse on corporal punishment was indirect through its association with childhood physical abuse and witnessing domestic violence. Implications for research, theory development, and practice are provided.     

Interference Control in Children with First Episode Major Depression: A Brief Report

The ability to deal with sources of conflict, that is, interference control, was evaluated in a group of 11 children with first episode Major Depression and a peer control group. To this end, the Eriksen and Schultz (1979 Eriksen, C. W. and Schulz, D. W. 1979. Information processing in visual search: A continuous flow conception and experimental results. Perception and Psychophysics, 25: 249–263. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) task was used. Here, the participant is presented with a stimulus that simultaneously activates two conflicting response channels: One response is activated by the instructions, whereas the other response is activated by elements in the array that strongly invite an alternative — yet incorrect — response. Findings provided no evidence for an undisturbed interference control nor impaired overall processing speed in children with first episode Major Depression.     

Commentary: Mediation Analysis,Causal Process,and Cross-Sectional Data

Maxwell, Cole, and Mitchell (2011) extended the work of Maxwell and Cole (2007) Maxwell, S. E. and Cole, D. A. 2007. Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation. Psychological Methods, 12: 23–44. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], which raised important questions about whether mediation analyses based on cross-sectional data can shed light on longitudinal mediation process. The latest article considers longitudinal processes that can only be partially explained by an intervening variable, and Maxwell et al. showed that the same general conclusions are obtained, namely that analyses of cross-sectional data will not reveal the longitudinal mediation process. While applauding the advances of the target article, this comment encourages the detailed exploration of alternate causal models in psychology beyond the autoregressive model considered by Maxwell et al. When inferences based on cross-sectional analyses are compared to alternate models, different patterns of bias are likely to be observed. I illustrate how different models of the causal process can be derived using examples from research on psychopathology.     

Considering too few alternatives: The mental model theory of extensional reasoning

When solving a simple probabilistic problem, people tend to build an incomplete mental representation. We observe this pattern in responses to probabilistic problems over a set of premises using the conjunction, disjunction, and conditional propositional connectives. The mental model theory of extensional reasoning explains this bias towards underestimating the number of possibilities: In reckoning with different interpretations of the premises (logical rules, mental model theoretical, and, specific to conditional premises, conjunction and biconditional interpretation) the mental model theory accounts for the majority of observations. Different interpretations of a premise result in a build-up of mental models that are often incomplete. These mental models are processed using either an extensional strategy relying on proportions amongst models, or a conflict monitoring strategy. The consequence of considering too few possibilities is an erroneous probability estimate akin to that faced by decision makers who fail to generate and consider all alternatives, a characteristic of bounded rationality. We compare our results to the results published by Johnson-Laird, Legrenzi, Girotto, Legrenzi, and Caverni [Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 62 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]–88 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. doi:10 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar].1037 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]/0033 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]-295X Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar].106 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar].1 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar].62 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]], and we observe lower performance levels than those in the original article.     

Validation of the Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scale in College Students

ABSTRACT

Impulsive (IA) and premeditated (PM) aggression reflect functions of aggressive behavior that may have differential correlates and clinical utility. The purpose of this study was to extend the use of the Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scale (IPAS) for characterizing aggression in a college student sample. Three hundred forty students completed the IPAS, Buss and Perry's (1992) Buss, A. H. and Perry, M. 1992. The Aggression Questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63: 452–459. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), and measures of childhood maltreatment and negative life events. Principal components analyses supported reliable IA and PM factors. The degree of IA was significantly higher than that of PM. Convergent validity for the IA scale was supported with significant relationships with certain AQ scales. Implications for studying aggressive functions in this age group may inform violence prevention and treatment on college campuses.     

Reconstructing Recent Work on Macrosocial Stress as a Research Program

We reconstruct recent work on macrosocial stress (Chou, Parmar, &; Galinsky, 2016 Chou, E. Y., Parmar, B. L., &; Galinsky, A. D. (2016). Economic insecurity increases physical pain. Psychological Science, 27, 434–454. doi:10.1177/0956797615625640[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) as if it were an instance of a research strategy that tests point-alternative hypotheses within a full-fledged research program. Because this strategy is free of various deficits that beset dominant strategies (e.g., meta-analysis, Bayes factor analysis), our article demonstrates one way in which the confidence crisis may be overcome.     

Measuring Patterns of Change in Personality Assessments: An Annotated Application of Latent Growth Curve Modeling

Latent growth curve (LGC) modeling within the framework of structural equation modeling (SEM) is now highly regarded as one of the most powerful and informative approaches to the analysis of longitudinal data (see, e.g., Curran &; Hussong, 2003 Curran, P. J. and Hussong, A. M. 2003. The use of latent trajectory models in psychopathology research. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112: 526–544. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Whereas LGC modeling enables researchers to test for differences in developmental trajectories across time, conventional repeated measures analyses do not provide this opportunity. Nonetheless, a review of studies reported in most psychology journals reveals scant application of this methodological approach. One possible explanation for this limited use of LGC modeling is a lack of knowledge related to its application. The intent of this article, then, is to address this deficiency by presenting an annotated application of LGC modeling to health psychology data. Based on a sample of 405 Hong Kong Chinese women who recently underwent breast cancer surgery, we walk the readers through SEM modeling procedures that test for differences in both the initial status and rate of change in Psychological Morbidity and Social Adjustment at 1, 4, and 8 months postsurgery. We interpret findings from both a methodological and a substantive perspective.     

Spatial Training Improves Children's Mathematics Ability

We tested whether mental rotation training improved math performance in 6- to 8-year-olds. Children were pretested on a range of number and math skills. Then one group received a single session of mental rotation training using an object completion task that had previously improved spatial ability in children this age (Ehrlich, Levine, &; Goldin-Meadow, 2006 Ehrlich , S. , Levine , S. , &; Goldin-Meadow , S. ( 2006 ). The importance of gestures in children's spatial reasoning . Developmental Psychology , 42 , 1259 – 1268 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The remaining children completed crossword puzzles instead. Children's posttest scores revealed that those in the spatial training group improved significantly on calculation problems. In contrast, children in the control group did not improve on any math tasks. Further analyses revealed that the spatial training group's improvement was largely due to better performance on missing term problems (e.g., 4 + ____ = 11).     

The Effect of the Accountability Variables of Responsibility,Openness, and Answerability on Authentic Leadership

One salient aspect of authentic leadership is the possibility that it can be developed (Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing, &; Peterson, 2008 Walumbwa, F. O., Avolio, B. J., Gardner, W. L., Wernsing, T. S., &; Peterson, S. J. (2008). Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based measure. Journal of Management, 34(1), 89–126. doi:10.1177/0149206307308913[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). However, the relative paucity of research on authentic leadership as a dependent variable needs to be addressed. The purpose of this cross-sectional quantitative study is to examine the three factors of accountability: (a) responsibility, (b) openness, and (c) answerability (Wood &; Winston, 2007 Wood, J. A., &; Winston, B. E. (2007). Development of three scales to measure leader accountability. Leadership &; Organization Development Journal, 28(2), 167–185. doi:10.1108/01437730710726859[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) as antecedents to authentic leadership. Using survey results from a sample of full-time employees at six faith-based institutions of higher education in the United States, a predictive relationship was investigated through hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicated that the variables of responsibility, openness, and answerability predict the perception of authentic leadership.     

Occupational stress and mental well-being in a cohort of Black South African teachers

This study explored levels of occupational stress and mental well-being of a cohort of Black South African teachers. 200 secondary school teachers completed the Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI: Boyle, Borg, Falzon, & Baglion, 1995), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28: Goldberg & Hillier, 1979 Goldberg, D. P., & Hillier, V. F. (1979). A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychological Medicine, 9, 139–145. doi: 10.1017/S0033291700021644[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF: Keyes, 2006 Keyes, C. L. M. (2006). Mental health in adolescence: Is America's youth flourishing? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(3), 395–402. doi: 10.1037/0002-9432.76.3.395[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Correlations and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were used to determine the levels of occupational stress and well-being of participants, and to establish the relation between these variables. A significant majority of the teachers reported high levels of mental health (flourishing) despite high levels of teacher stress. These results show teachers’ ability to withstand and cope with stress whilst maintaining their mental health. This suggests the presence of protective factors that mediate the effect of work-related stressors and, in so doing, contribute to the teachers’ levels of resilience.     

The effects of precedence on Navon-induced processing bias in face recognition

Macrae and Lewis (2002) Macrae, C. N. and Lewis, H. L. 2002. Do I know you? Processing orientation and face recognition. Psychological Science, 13: 194–196. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] showed that repeated reporting of the global dimension of Navon stimuli improved performance in a subsequent face identification task, whilst reporting the features of the Navon stimuli impaired performance. Using a face composite task, which is assumed to require featural processing, Weston and Perfect (2005) Weston, N. J. and Perfect, T. J. 2005. The effects of processing bias on the composite effect. /precode>. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 12: 1038–1042. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] showed the complementary pattern: Featural responding to Navon letters speeded performance. However, both studies used Navon stimuli with global precedence, in which the overall configuration is easier to report than the features. Here we replicate the two studies above, whilst manipulating the precedence (global or featural) of the letter stimuli in the orientation task. Both studies replicated the previously reported findings with global precedence stimuli, but showed the reverse pattern with local precedence stimuli. These data raise important questions as to what is transferred between the Navon orientation task and the face-processing tasks that follow.     

The Regression Trap and Other Pitfalls of Replication Science—Illustrated by the Report of the Open Science Collaboration

The Open Science Collaboration’s 2015 Open Science Collaboration. (2015). Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science, 349, aac4716. doi:10.1126/science.aac4716[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] report suggests that replication effect sizes in psychology are modest. However, closer inspection reveals serious problems. When plotting replication effects are against original effects, the regression trap is lurking: Expecting replication effects to be equally strong as original effects is logically unwarranted; they are inevitably subject to regressive shrinkage. To control for regression, the reliability of original and replication studies must be taken into account. Further problems arise from missing manipulation checks and sampling biases. Our critical comment highlights the need for replication science to live up to the same methodological scrutiny as other research.     

Mind Perception and Individual Differences: A Replication and Extension

Mind perception involves attributing higher functional abilities to others (e.g., saying a dog feels pain). The relationships between mind perception and psychopathology—autism, psychopathy, and schizotypy—have been revealed by K. Gray, Jenkins, Heberlein, and Wegner (2011 Gray, K., Jenkins, A. C., Heberlein, A. S., &; Wegner, D. M. (2011). Distortions of mind perception in psychopathology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108, 477–479. doi:10.1073/pnas.1015493108[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]); however, mind perception has yet to be correlated with personality. Participants (N = 180) completed measures of personality, psychopathology, and mind perception. The psychopathology results were consistent with Gray et al. (2011 Gray, K., Jenkins, A. C., Heberlein, A. S., &; Wegner, D. M. (2011). Distortions of mind perception in psychopathology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108, 477–479. doi:10.1073/pnas.1015493108[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The Big Five captured mind perception virtually as much as the three psychopathologies captured mind perception. Mind perception is not solely relevant to psychopathology; it is also relevant to everyday personality.     

Implicit and Explicit Sexual Motives as Related,But Distinct Characteristics

A measure of implicit sexual motives—the implicit AMORE—was constructed employing the Affect Misattribution Procedure (Payne, Cheng, Govorun, &; Stewart, 2005 Payne, B. K., Cheng, C. M., Govorun, O., &; Stewart, B. D. (2005). An inkblot for attitudes: Affect misattribution as implcit measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 277–293. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.3.277[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Subscales paralleled the 8 dimensions identified previously by the self-report measure of sexual motives, the explicit AMORE (Hill &; Preston, 1996 Hill, C. A., &; Preston, L. K. (1996). Individual differences in the experience of sexual motivation: Theory and measurement of dispositional sexual motives. Journal of Sex Research, 33, 27–45. doi:10.1080/00224499609551812[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the proposed 8-factor model in slightly revised form, which was confirmed based on a second independent set of participants. Consistent with hypotheses, the implicit scales correlated with nonconscious erotica-viewing behavior for women in a laboratory setting. In contrast to explicit scales, implicit scales were unrelated to self-report ratings of likely sexual behavior. Finally, self-reports of aspects of sexual behavior were generally associated with the measures of implicit motives independently of corresponding explicit motives for both women and men. The results support the conception of implicit sexual motives as related, but distinct from explicit sexual motives.     

Quality of Life in the U.S. Navy: Impact on Performance and Career Continuance

Previous research has shown the importance of quality of life (QOL) for critical organizational outcomes such as the retention of U.S. Navy personnel (Wilcove, Schwerin, &; Wolosin, 2003 Wilcove, G., Schwerin, M. and Wolosin, D. 2003. An exploratory model of quality of life in the U.S. Navy.. Military Psychology, 15(2): 133–152. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Marines (Hindelang, Schwerin, &; Farmer, 2004 Hindelang, R. L., Schwerin, M. J. and Farmer, W. L. 2004. Quality of life (QOL) in the U.S. Marine Corps: The validation of a QOL model for predicting reenlistment intentions.. Military Psychology, 16(2): 115–134. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). These studies employed a life domains approach addressing a full range of work and non-work life needs as well as specific aspects of each life domain. In contrast, most other research exploring outcomes critical to military organizations focused only on work life needs of personnel (e.g., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, command climate). This study extends previous research by (a) including both performance and career-continuance plans of personnel as outcomes of interest, (b) exploring the contribution of an additional life need—spiritual well-being—to the measurement of QOL, and (c) examining changes in perceptions of QOL over time between 1999 and 2002 among U.S. Navy personnel. Implications of findings to military personnel, families, and manpower and personnel policy as well as future directions for research are discussed.