The relational context of social support: Relationship satisfaction moderates the relations between enacted support and distress

In two studies of kidney transplant patients and their significant others, the authors examined whether the relations between enacted social support and patient distress were moderated by patients' satisfaction with their relationship with the support provider (i.e., their significant other). In Study 1 (n = 121 couples), unsupportive spousal behaviors were associated with more distress only among patients who were less satisfied with their marital relationship. In Study 2 (n = 112 couples), the relations between unsupportive behaviors and distress again varied as a function of the patient's relationship satisfaction, although the particular pattern of the interaction depended on the specific unsupportive behaviors offered to the patient. In both studies, relationship dissatisfaction was associated with higher levels of patient distress. Supportive behaviors were not related to distress and did not interact with relationship satisfaction. Implications for future research on social support in marriage are discussed.     

Schizophrenic deficit in span of apprehension

We investigated two hypotheses about the span of apprehension task in schizophrenia: (a) schizophrenics show performance deficit on the forced-choice (FC) version but not on the full-report (FR) version, and (b) schizophrenic impairment on the FC version is greater when the display subtends a wide visual angle than when it subtends a narrow one. Schizophrenic (n = 21) and normal (n = 22) groups were tested on 3 versions of the task. A narrow-angle FC version was matched psychometrically with a wide-angle one by use of a greater number of noise letters in the narrow version. Schizophrenics reported fewer correct letters than normals on the FR version but did not differ on either the wide or the narrow FC versions. The results imply that schizophrenic deficit is not specific to the FC version and that on the FC version, visual angle is not more important than number of noise letters for demonstrating schizophrenic deficit.     

Hospice nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward the near-death experience

I surveyed 60 hospice nurses regarding their knowledge and attitudes toward the near-death experience (NDE), using Thornburg's Near-Death Phenomena Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire. Most hospice nurses had previous work experience with an NDEr. Approximately half the nurses were knowledgeable about the NDE. All participants had a positive attitude toward near-death phenomena and toward caring for an NDEr. Recommendations include near-death phenomena inservice education for hospice nurses and inclusion of NDE content in nursing education programs.This paper was derived in part from her Master of Science in Nursing thesis submitted to Radford University.     

Sex with children is abuse: Comment on Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman (1998).

B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman (1998) reported a meta-analysis of the relation between sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence and psychological functioning among college students. Several aspects of their work have proven to be highly controversial, including their assertion that the relation between child sexual abuse and adjustment is quite small and their questioning of whether child sexual abuse should be labeled abuse in scientific inquiry. In this commentary, the authors summarize the controversy that has ensued, place it in a historical context, discuss the limitations of B. Rind et al.'s findings, and critique the manner in which those findings are presented. The authors also argue for the appropriateness of the term abuse and for scientific terminology that reflects rather than contradicts consensual public morality.     

Bilateral disadvantage: lack of interhemispheric cooperation in schizophrenia

Language anomalies and left-hemisphere dysfunction are commonly reported in schizophrenia. Additional evidence also suggests differences in the integration of information between the hemispheres. Bilateral gain is the increase in accuracy and decrease in latency that occurs when identical information is presented simultaneously to both hemispheres. This study measured bilateral gain in controls (n=20) and individuals with schizophrenia (n=10) using a lexical-decision task where word or non-word judgements were made to letter strings presented in the left visual field (LVF), right visual field (RVF) or bilaterally (BVF). Language was not abnormally lateralized in the schizophrenia group. Controls exhibited the expected decrease in latency when words were presented bilaterally. This effect was not observed in the schizophrenia group who were actually disadvantaged in this condition. The lack of bilateral gain in schizophrenia is discussed as arising from differences in the connections between areas in each hemisphere that mediate language.