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).     

Optimism and coping as determinants of psychosocial adjustment to rheumatoid arthritis

Psychosocial adjustment in 66 patients with chronic rheumatoid arthritis, with a mean duration of 12 years with the disease, were evaluated in a prospective design, with 62% of the sample followed up 16 months later. It was predicted that dispositional optimism would predict adjustment over time and that perceived support and perceived control would be related to psychosocial adjustment at the time of concurrent measurement. At Time 1, psychosocial adjustment was associated with greater optimism and perceived support and less disability. Optimism at Time 1 was the only significant predictor of changes in adjustment at Time 2 controlling for Time 1 adjustment and Time 2 disability. It was found that optimism temporally precedes increases in psychosocial adjustment. In terms of coping strategies, wishful thinking was related to poorer social adjustment, whereas problem-focused coping was marginally related to positive adjustment. Neither coping strategy predicted adjustment across time. Optimism at Time 1 did predict problem-focused coping at Time 2. Perceived social support regarding a specific circumstance at a given point in time enables one to persist in solving a task. Interventions to enhance the quality of life of individuals coping with progressive deteriorative disease must look at the influence of their behavior and attitude on those who provide care for them.     

Effects of anxiety sensitivity on emotional response to a stress task

The purpose of this investigation was to further define the role of anxiety sensitivity, in relation to physiological arousal and the cognitive perception of anxiousness, as a determinant of anxiety. One hundred and thirty-two undergraduates at an urban university served as subjects. Two physiological measures of arousal and two cognitive measures of anxiety were used following an anxiety inducing task (mental arithmetic). The general expectation, which was supported, was that individual differences in anxiety sensitivity levels are more closely related to subjects' reported anxiousness in stressful conditions than are the actual physiological changes. Additionally, anxiety sensitivity was related to poststress levels of anxiety whereas trait anxiety was only related to pre- and postrelaxation levels of anxiety. Implications of the findings are addressed.     

Sentence Context and Word Recognition in Children with Average Reading Ability and with a Specific Reading Disability

The inhibitory and facilitatory effects of context on word recognition were investigated in 24 8-to 10-year-old children with a specific reading disability in comparison with a group of 24 children matched for reading ability and a group of 24 children matched for chronological age. To avoid confounding the effects of reading level with those of word difficulty, target words of equivalent relative familiarity for each participant were presented in congruous, neutral, and incongruous sentence contexts. In agreement with previous studies, there was clear evidence of both general inhibitory and facilitatory effects. In contrast to previous findings, however, reading level did not have a major impact on the inhibition of word recognition in incongruous contexts compared with neutral contexts, although it may have led to greater facilitation in congruous contexts compared with neutral contexts. Although further research is required, these results suggest that if reading-age appropriate materials are selected, less skilled readers and those with a reading disability may not be as influenced by context as has been claimed previously.     

A Longitudinal Study Examining the Psychological Reactions of Job Relocation

A longitudinal study is reported of relocating employees ( n = 51) and their partners ( n = 31) who relocated between two cities in England. A nonmoving comparison group of employees from the same organization ( n = 58) was included. The subjects completed a questionnaire before (approximately 6 weeks) and after (approximately 10 weeks) the relocation. Results showed that relocating employees' pre-move general stress was similar to that of nonmoving employees. Moreover, male relocators' stress reduced significantly following the move, while female relocators stayed the same. Stress specific to relocation was very high for relocating employees and partners, and remained so following the move. Evidence was found to show a relationship between attributions of the causes of relocation problems and the experience of stress.     

Dual diagnosis: Clinical issues in the treatment of substance abuse,and affective,personality, and psychotic disorders

Co-morbidity of alcohol and substance with the spectrum of other psychiatric diagnoses is examined with specific emphasis on diagnostic indicators for anxiety and mood disorders. Diagnostic issues for the chemically dependent person are examined with the context of borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. Clinical research related to the dually-diagnosed patient is explored     

Religious aspects of bereavement

The purpose of this study was to learn more about the role of religious beliefs and practices in bereavement. Subjects were 312 adults each bereaved approximately one year. They were interviewed at the rate of about 50 per year over a 6 year period. Conclusions include: a) The opportunity to say goodbye to the deceased was significantly related to positive coping and outlook; (b) 47% of our subjects reported contact with the deceased following the death but such contact was not related to coping or outlook; c) grieving people are much more likely to turn to women than men for help; d) 77% said their religious beliefs were of considerable help in their grief.     

Using a Conceptually-Based Predictor of Tenure to Select Employees

This paper describes the development and validation of a personnel selection instrument designed to predict employee tenure. The instrument was developed using models of employee turnover, psychodynamic theory, and beliefs regarding the optimal way to advance one's career. Four predictive designs were conducted to validate the instrument. Correlation coefficients ranged from .14 (p < .07) to .28 (p < .05) in predicting tenure.     

The Search for Employment: Motivation to Engage in a Coping Behavior1

The search for employment was examined as coping through engagement in motivated behavior. A model predicting social networking and employer contact behavior was tested with a sample of persons anticipating college graduation. Proposed relations among behavioral antecedents were primarily drawn from Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behavior, with the addition of cognitively appraised challenge. Structural equations analysis revealed general support for hypothesized relations among attitude, norms, perceived behavioral control, intentions, and behaviors. Cognitively appraised challenge partially mediated the effects of perceived behavioral control on job search intentions. Significant variance in job search attitude was attributed to a valence by outcome expectancy interaction. Findings may be useful in promoting job search efforts, as well as furthering theoretical delineation of the search process.