City Behavior and Precautionary Measures

In a between-subjects design, a Precautionary Measures Scale was developed to assess the extent to which 121 participants would endorse 19 precautionary behaviors if visiting a small town, a small city, or a metropolis. Results indicated high internal consistency for the scale, and a significant main effect for location. The effect for gender approached significance. Participants in the metropolis condition had significantly higher scores than did those in the small-town condition, and women tended to have significantly higher precautionary scale scores than did men. Further, participants classified as feminine on the Bem (1981) Sex-Role Inventory tended to have significantly higher scores across locations that did those classified as masculine.     

Protestantism and Child Mortality in Northeast Brazil, 2000

The recent growth of Pentecostal Protestantism in Latin America has called attention to the social consequences of religious conversion. Ethnographic studies find that affiliation with Pentecostal churches is associated with attitudinal and behavioral transformations that modify gender relations, enhance the economic viability of the household, and endow families with social capital that can be mobilized during periods of economic stress, sickness, and emergency. The nature of the changes suggests that they may improve the welfare of infants and young children within the family. To explore this proposition, we use sample data from the 2000 demographic census in the Brazilian northeast to estimate the probability of death among children born to women 20 to 34 years of age. The findings show that, other things being equal, the death rate among children born to Protestant women is around 10 percent lower compared to the death rate among children born to Catholic women. We further disaggregate Protestants into "traditional" (e.g., Baptist, Presbyterian) and "Pentecostal" (e.g., Assembly of God) subgroups, and show that the mortality-reducing effect is greater among historical compared to Pentecostal Protestants. No mortality effects were associated with membership in neo-Pentecostal churches.     

THE MEASUREMENT AND FURTHER CONCEPTUALIZATION OF TEACHER COMMUNICATION CONCERN

This study reported the development of a set of scales to measure the self, task, and impact dimensions of teacher communication concern. Three stages of instrument development were described: item construction, testing of the hypothesized factor structure, and reliability and validity information. The result was a 15-item instrument with three subscales. In an effort to refine the conceptualization of teacher communication concern, a secondary purpose of the study was to examine the relationship of teacher communication concern to two variables: anxiety about teaching and attitude toward teaching as a career. Results were that teacher communication concern was not related to anxiety about teaching, but was positively related to attitude about teaching.     

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR! THE SURRENDER OF GENDER

Close examination of Freud's Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905a) reveals an ambiguity in Freud's language as he simultaneously tries to escape 19th‐century psychiatric paradigms concerning sexuality and perversion while also retaining a normative approach to adult sexuality that created new categories of pathology. The result is an ambivalent legacy that has both hampered and helped contemporary clinicians as they deal with a diverse array of presentations of gender and sexual orientation in today's world.     

A paradox of support seeking and support response among gays and lesbians

Individuals that perceive stigma surrounding their identity and fear rejection of support requests may experience a paradox whereby they seek support indirectly from support networks (friends and family) to avoid rejection and are met with unsupportive responses. This study extended this paradox to sexual minorities using survey data from a sample of 133 individuals self‐identified as gay and lesbian. Results of structural equation modeling showed self‐stigma and fear of support rejection linked to increased indirect support seeking, which in turn explained unsupportive network responses, providing support for a paradox among gays and lesbians. Findings may have implications for interventions to improve support exchanges in the lives of sexual minorities.     

Contacting the Spirits of the Dead: Paranormal Belief and the Teenage Worldview

A number of previous studies have examined both the overall level of belief expressed by young people in the paranormal and the major demographic predictors of such belief. Building on this research tradition, the present study examines how one specific paranormal belief concerning contact with the spirits of the dead integrates with the wider teenage worldview. Data provided by 33,982 pupils age 13 to 15 years throughout England and Wales demonstrated that almost one in three young people (31%) believed that it is possible to contact the spirits of the dead. Compared with young people who did not share this belief, the young people who believed in the possibility of contacting the spirits of the dead displayed lower psychological wellbeing, higher anxiety, greater isolation, greater alienation, less positive social attitudes, and less socially conforming lifestyles. Overall, paranormal beliefs seem to be associated with a less healthy worldview, in both personal and social terms.     

Is there an optimal factor structure of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale in patients with first‐episode psychosis?

The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is the most widely used scale to assess a variety of symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and other psychoses. The factor structure of the PANSS has been examined with confirmatory factor analyses in several studies, but not in a well‐defined first‐episode psychosis sample. The aim of this paper is to examine the statistical fit of five different PANSS models in a first‐episode, non‐affective psychosis sample. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed on PANSS data (n = 588). A main criterion for best fit was defined as the Expected Cross Validation Index (ECVI). No tested model revealed an optimally satisfactory model fit index. The Wallwork/Fortgang five‐factor model demonstrated the most optimal psychometric properties. The corresponding subscales of all evaluated five‐factor models were strongly intercorrelated. The Wallwork/Fortgang five‐factor model was found to be statistically and clinically ideal among patients with first‐episode psychosis. Therefore, we recommend this model in forthcoming studies among patients with first‐episode psychosis. However, to prevent the loss of clinically valuable information on an item level, we do not recommend removing any items from the original form. Our study also implies that the specific choice of model will not have a substantial effect on outcome results in studies on the course and outcome in first‐episode psychosis.     

The Moderator Roles of Coping Style and Identity Disclosure in the Relationship Between Perceived Sexual Stigma and Psychological Distress

The current study examined whether the association between perceived sexual stigma and psychological distress is influenced by individuals' level of identity disclosure and their typical coping strategies. Regression analyses were conducted with data from a survey of 79 gay men and lesbians. Results revealed a 3‐way interaction between participants' perceived level of stigma, the extent of their identity disclosure, and their utilization of avoidant coping strategies in predicting their endorsement of depressive symptoms. Findings also revealed an interaction between participants' perceived level of stigma, the extent of their identity disclosure, and their utilization of problem‐solving coping strategies in predicting their endorsement of depressive symptoms. The implications are discussed with regard to various models of minority stress.