The new qualification in careers guidance in higher education: A collaborative partnership

The raison d'être for the new Certificate and Diploma in Careers Guidance in Higher Education is outlined. The different perspectives of the partners in this enterprise–the Department of Community Studies at the University of Reading and the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS)–are discussed. The initial difficulties and successes are explored and a suggested strategy is offered for other such collaborative ventures.     

Gender identity and bulimic eating behavior

From a social-psychological perspective, the disproportionate number of women compared to men affected by bulimia nervosa implies that gender (i.e., the social construction of sex) plays an important part in the etiology of this disorder. From this perspective it was hypothesized that the risk of developing bulimia depends, in part, on the composition of a woman's gender identity. Three questionnaire studies conducted in the United States and former West Germany tested competing hypotheses on the relationship between gender identity and bulimia. Respondents were predominantly middle class and Caucasian. Study 1 was conducted in West Germany and tested the hypothesis that bulimia is related to a hyperfeminine gender identity [M. Boskind-Lodahl (1976) Cinderella's stepsisters: A feminist perspective on anorexia nervosa and bulimia, Signs, Vol. 2, pp. 342–356]. Twenty-six bulimic women were compared to 26 nonbulimic women. Results from Study 1 indicated that bulimic women typically had a gender-typed identity, whereas nonbulimic controls tended to be androgynous. However, between-group differences were based on hypomasculinity rather than hyperfemininity on part of bulimic women. Study 2 and Study 3 explored the idea that masculinity positively contributes to general esteem and reduces the risk of bulimia nervosa. In Study 2, three competing theories of the optimal relationship between mental health and gender identity (congruence, androgyny, and masculinity) were related to bulimia and tested with structural equation modeling in a sample of 301 North American undergraduates. In Study 3, the findings of Study 2 were cross-validated in a sample of 464 West German high school students. The results indicate that masculinity had significant positive effects on eating behavior via esteem, whereas the effects of femininity were negligible.The research and preparation of this article were supported in part by a Fulbright scholarship, a predoctoral stipend from the University of Heidelberg, and a postdoctoral stipend from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education.I thank the women who volunteered to participate in this research project as subjects. I gratefully acknowledge the support of the principals, especially Frau Ute Vater, and teachers of the Bunsen-, Feudenheim-, and Lessing-Gymnasium, who enabled Study 3.Thanks to Michael Marsiske, Ulrich Mayr, John R. Nesselroade, Kai Schnabel, Anna Stetsenko, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper, and to Bettina Franzke for technical support. I also extend my thanks to Frank Faulbaum and Norbert Schwarz, without whom this research could not have been completed.     

Vasopressin, glucose homeostasis, and sucrose taste preferences

Previous research indicates that vasopressin-containing (LE) rats are capable of adapting to the stress of food restriction, whereas vasopressin-deficient (DI) rats cannot adapt to this stressor. It has been postulated that abnormalities in glucose metabolism may be one of the factors leading to the demise of food-restricted DI rats. The present study was conducted to determine if taste preferences are altered in DI animals and if the presentation of exogenous glucose, in the form of sucrose solutions, can ameliorate the effects of the stress of food restriction. Four different concentrations of sucrose solutions were presented to LE and DI rats under the food-restricted condition. In both strains, an 8% sucrose solution was preferred over 0%, 16%, and 32% concentrations, with DI rats consuming more of this concentration than LE rats. Thus, when DI rats had the opportunity of maintaining glucose homeostasis by exogenous supplements, they maintained body weight, displayed no stomach pathology, and survived.     

Organizational and extraorganizational factors affecting stress,employee well-being,and absenteeism for males and females

The purpose of this research is to examine separately for males and females, the effects of different sources of job and life stress on the emotional and physical well-being of those individuals, and in turn on absenteeism. Results using a sample of 170 males and 204 females indicated that females experienced higher levels of job stress, absenteeism, and poorer emotional well-being. Patterns of relationships for males and females were similar, however, the data suggest that sex moderates the effects of different sources of stress on emotional and physical well-being and absenteeism. The model developed as a part of this research was more complicated for females than for males.     

Taking an individualized approach to the assessment of self-efficacy and the prediction of alcoholic relapse

The present study reports on a clinical instrument designed for assessing self-efficacy in alcoholics. In contrast to studies that construct general measures, it was proposed that taking an individualized approach to assessment might offer an effective methodology. Thirty-four alcoholics in an outpatient, behaviorally oriented treatment program participated as subjects. During therapy, an Individualized Self-Efficacy Survey (ISS) was developed for each subject. The ISS was developed by (a) administering the Drinking Patterns Questionnaire (DPQ) to identify important problem areas (e.g., work, children, marital) and specific drinking antecedents and (b) constructing a 15-item scale using each drinker's most important cues. The utility of having clients choose their own items was supported by finding a significant relationship between problem areas identified as important on the DPQ and the areas reported as surrounding relapse. ISS ratings were reflective of efficacy changes during treatment, while posttreatment ISS scores were predictive of subsequent relapse. Situation-specific prediction of relapse was not found. The advantages of this methodology for clinical use are discussed, while general directions for future research are suggested.     

IMPLICIT MEMORY IN AMNESIC PATIENTS:

Abstract— Previous observations of spared priming in amnesic patients have been based almost entirely on data from visual implicit memory tests Our research examined perceptual priming.in amnesic patients and control subjects on an auditory identification task in which previously spoken words and new words were presented in white noise We manipulated type of encoding task (semantic vs nonsemantic) and speaker's voice at study and test (same vs different) Priming was little affected.by either manipulation, and amnesic patients exhibited normal priming in all experimental conditions On an explicit test of recognition memory, by contrast, amnesic patients exhibited.severely impaired performance following the semantic study task, all subjects showed poor explicit memory following the nonsemantic study task Results are consistent with the idea that auditory priming depends largely on a presemantic auditory perceptual representation system     

Opportunity,opportunism, and progress:Kairos in the rhetoric of technology

As the principle of timing or opportunity,kairos serves both as a powerful theme within technological discourse and as an analytical concept that explains some of the suasory force by which such discourse maintains itself and its position in our culture. This essay makes a case for a rhetoric of technology that is distinct from the rhetoric of science and illustrates the value of the classical vocabulary for understanding contemporary rhetoric. This case is made by examining images and models of technological change that underlie and justify the thematizations ofkairos that appear in so much technological discourse and by exploring the phenomenon of technological forecasting, in which the characterization and construction of moments in the present are crucial to the projection of the future. One example of forecasting is examined in detail: the Japanese Fifth Generation computer project, which illustrates the twin themes of opportunity and threat.     

Stress and family support as predictors of distress and rejection in people who care for a relative with schizophrenia

Relatives (N=121) of adult schizophrenia patients were interviewed to investigate predictors of their level of psychological distress and of rejecting attitudes toward the sufferer. The relatives' total stress, particularly that associated with poor communication skills in the sufferer, predicted several measures of their psychological distress, and the same variables plus turbulence of sufferer behavior (i.e., violence and disruptiveness) predicted rejection of the sufferer by the relative. In each case, adequacy of family support moderated the influence of the stressors, although this effect was more marked for distress outcomes than for rejection. The results have important implications for the sorts of professional and peer support which relatives may need to encourage their performance of this potentially burdensome role. In addition, the results fit a classic stress management model and provide a feasible alternative to the Expressed Emotion Model of the relationship between relatives' rejection and patients' illness severity.     

Reliability of self-reported service use: Test-retest consistency of children's responses to the Child and Adolescent Services Assessment (CASA)

This paper reports on the reliability of children's responses on the Child and Adolescent Services Assessment (CASA) — a self-report instrument for use with 8– to 18-year-olds that gathers information about services used to address mental health problems. Findings were based on interviews completed by 77 children at a one week test-retest interval. Results showed that reports of lifetime service use were as reliable as were reports of service use in the preceding three months. Children reported restrictive and intrusive services more reliably than services that were provided in their natural environment. Reliability appeared to be associated more strongly with characteristics of the type of service than with characteristics of the child. Children also could report reliably on some details about their encounters with service providers (e.g., length of stay, number of visits, and onset of service use).