Exploring the Relationship Among the Undesired Self,Health, and Mood in Older Adults1

Longitudinal data from older adults were analyzed to examine the impact of health factors on undesired and ideal self‐discrepancies; and the association of these 2 self‐discrepancies on moods. Results showed that after controlling for self‐assessed health (SAH), fatigue/lack of energy was associated with the undesired but not the ideal self. A second set of analyses revealed that the undesired self‐discrepancy predicted moods only at high levels of SAH. The ideal self was only associated with anxiety, but only at low levels of SAH. This evidence supports the idea that health‐related factors are relevant for the self‐discrepancies of older adults, especially the undesired self‐discrepancy. We expanded prior evidence by demonstrating that the effects of self‐discrepancies on mood are moderated by SAH.     

COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY MEASURES AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY TO COMMUNICATION

This review assesses the adequacy of several commonly employed cognitive complexity measures on the basis of five criteria: high test-retest reliability with adults, association with chronological age across childhood and adolescence, independence from intelligence and verbal abilities, association with other indices of developed social cognition, and association with measures of developed communicative functioning. Extant research indicates that only one complexity measure—Crockett's Role Category Questionnaire—is satisfactory on all these criteria, whereas Bieri's widely used measure is deficient on most. However, research to date concerning the relationship of cognitive complexity (as assessed by Crockett's measure) to communication has failed to illuminate the specific role played by complexity as opposed to other social-cognitive factors with which it is associated.     

Can Research in the Human Sciences Become More Relevant to Practice?

The threads of several arguments currently under consideration in various areas of research and practice in counseling are woven together to provide a slightly altered view of the scientist-practitioner model in counseling.     

The actor–partner interdependence model for categorical dyadic data: A user‐friendly guide to GEE

The actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) has been widely used for the analysis of pairs of individuals who interact with each other. The goal of this article is to detail in a nontechnical way how the APIM for binary or count outcomes can be implemented and how actor and partner effects can be estimated using generalized estimating equations (GEE) methodology. Both SPSS‐ and SAS‐syntax needed to estimate the model and the interpretation of the output are illustrated using data from a study exploring the effect of satisfaction with the relationship before the breakup on unwanted pursuit behavior after the breakup in formerly married partners. The use of this GEE method will allow researchers to test a wide array of research hypotheses.     

Race and Cognitive-Ability Test Performance: The Mediating Effects of Test Preparation, Test-Taking Strategy Use and Self-Eff icacy

Test-taking strategy use, cognitive-ability test preparation, and test-taking self-efficacy were examined as possible mediators of the relationship between race and cognitiveability test performance. We hypothesized that African Americans would report using fewer test-taking strategies and less test preparation when compared to White Americans. In addition, we proposed that Afiican Americans would report lower levels of test-taking self-efficacy when faced with a cognitive-ability test. It was expected that these 3 variables would mediate the relationship between race and cognitive-ability test performance. Using a sample of 170 college students, results indicated that African Americans reported using more ineffective test-taking strategies, reported participating in more cognitiveability test preparation, and reported higher levels of test-taking self-efficacy when compared to White Americans. A portion of the difference in performance on a cognitiveability test between African Americans and White Americans could be attributed to the use of ineffective strategies and test preparation.