Measuring the impact of informal caring

A factor-analysis of caregiving impact appraisals amongst a community-derived sample of informal carers of elderly people revealed two negative (care work strain and relationship dissatisfaction) and two positive (care work satisfaction and care lifestyle satisfaction) scales. Validity was assessed by means of concurrent correlations with levels of assistance with daily living tasks provided by carers and levels of behaviour problems exhibited by elderly dependents. Criterion validity was considered in relation to two important carer outcomes; willingness to care and a standardized measure of strain. Each of the four scales was significantly associated with concurrently assessed willingness to care. Care work strain and relationship dissatisfaction were associated with concurrently measured strain symptomology. Evidence of 6-month predictive validity was obtained for the care work strain scale.     

What's Stressful About Caring?1

Karasek's (1979) demand-discretion theory of job strain and satisfaction was tested in a cross-sectional survey of informal carers of elderly people (n= 108) identified from a preliminary screening survey. The theory was largely supported by the findings. Multivariate analysis of variance showed that carer well-being and satisfaction with caring work were predicted by high levels of demand arising from the needs of elderly dependents and the interaction of high demands with discretion over meeting demands. The results allow some clarification of previously inconsistent findings from caregiver well-being research and have implications for the design of services to relieve carers of the burden of care.     

Gender and computer-mediated communication

A case study analyzed employees' attitudes toward, and experiences with, an intraorganizational electronic mail system. Results revealed that females perceived e-mail to be easier to use, more efficient, and more effective than males. They also gave higher ratings of appropriateness for using e-mail to transmit certain types of messages. Females (particularly managers) were more likely than their male counterparts to rely on co-workers to learn how to use e-mail. More females used the computer system for word processing, while more males and whites (who comprised 82.2% of the sample) had off-site connections to the computer system. No other distinctions were found regarding race—ethnicity. Implications for future research are discussed.The author is grateful to Karen Tracy, Robert Craig, and anonymous reviewers for their insights and suggestions.     

The relationship between childhood violence and alcohol problems among men who batter: An empirical review and synthesis

The available literature indicates that: (a) experiences of childhood violence are associated with mediator variables, including antisocial behaviors and depressive symptomatology, that are themselves associated with development of alcohol problems and perpetration of partner violence for men in adulthood; (b) experiences of childhood violence and, more strongly, observation of interparental violence during childhood predict perpetration of partner violence in adulthood for males; (c) presence of partner violence is associated with certain types of alcohol problems for men; and (d) both partner violence and alcohol problems are associated with marital conflict. However, available research has often excluded important moderator variables, such as history of familial and parental alcohol problems and history of parental psychiatric disorders. Based on the available research, two indirect pathways between childhood violence and adulthood problems (i.e., alcohol problems and partner violence) are proposed as guides for future research in the areas of family violence and alcohol problems for men. Further, bidirectional associations between alcohol problems and partner violence are proposed. Finally, inclusion of important moderator and mediator variables in multivariate research designs is suggested.     

The morphological asymmetry of the hemispheres and cerebral dominance for speech: A possible relationship

The asymmetry of the posterior Sylvian branches of the middle cerebral artery was examined on the carotid angiograms of 59 patients in whom the lateralization of speech representation was known from sodium amobarbital (Amytal) studies. The usual asymmetry of these vessels was found to be present in the group of patients with left-hemisphere speech representation but significantly reduced in patients with atypical cerebral dominance for speech. A model of the inheritance of handedness and cerebral dominance is extended to take account of these results.     

Cognitive self-instruction for the control of impulsive classroom behavior: Ensuring the treatment package

The practical utility of cognitive self-instruction training in facilitating the work habits and academic performance of impulsive first-graders was assessed in the context of the regular classroom. The training paradigm was modified and environmental conditions were arranged to facilitate the transfer of the cognitive self-instruction strategy to the classroom. Following training, there were no significant increases in on-task behavior or in academic performance within the context of a group design. On the basis of this and other studies, a drastic revision of the cognitive self-instruction paradigm seems indicated. Not only must training become broader based, but models must be developed that take into account the requisite cognitive processes for task completion as well as the cognitive abilities of the youngsters to whom training is addressed. In general, the incorporation of information from the developmental and cognitive process literature would appear to facilitate the development of more effective training models.     

Computer-Assisted Careers Counselling: A New Approach

This paper describes the outcome of a research and development project concerned to construct a computer aid for careers advisers and career decision-makers which differs in basic philosophy and design from others currentiy in the field. The resulting Careers Decision Aiding System (CDAS) is principally concerned with improving the quality of the decision-making strategy employed by clients by raising their awareness of the way in which their career choice is made, ratherthan with employing computer technology to attempt to match people to careers. The use of the CDAS by clients and careers advisers is illustrated by two case-studies.     

A typology of religious attitudes among young people in Germany

Issues like faith and Church, religion and religiousness are not valued particularly highly among the young. At the same time a search for the meaning of life and an orientation in one’s own behaviour still seem to be significant and transcendent focal points are being sought to deal with these issues. This article questions the value that religion, faith and the Church have for young people on the basis of empirical data. Five types of religious orientation of young people are identified: a churchly Christian type, an autonomously Christian type, a conventionally religious type, an autonomously religious type and, finally, a non‐religious type. The empirical data are taken from a study of about 800 pupils in the Grade 11 (age 16–17 years) from grammar schools (Gymnasien) in Germany.     

The Unhappy Marriage of Care Ethics and Virtue Ethics

The proposal that care ethic(s) (CE) be subsumed under the framework of virtue ethic(s) (VE) is both promising and problematic for feminists. Although some attempts to construe care as a virtue are more commendable than others, they cannot duplicate a freestanding feminist CE. Sander‐Staudt recommends a model of theoretical collaboration between VE and CE that retains their comprehensiveness, allows CE to enhance VE as well as be enhanced by it, and leaves CE open to other collaborations.