Validity and reliability of the EOM-EIS for early adolescents

The Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS) was examined for reliability and validity among early/middle adolescent subjects. The EOM-EIS represents a combination of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status and a structured interview of identity status. The instrument was designed to measure ego identity with regard to occupational, religious, political, philosophical, and social contexts along ideological and interpersonal dimensions. A total of 467 students aged 12 to 18 (median = 15.73) responded to the instrument. In general the results from the analyses of reliability, validity, demographic characteristics, and psychosocial maturity yielded results which parallel the theoretical framework and the results from college-aged subjects.     

The novels of S.E. Hinton: springboard to personal growth for adolescents

This article explores the use of fiction in the classroom as a tool for enhancing the self-understanding of adolescents. Specifically, two novels by S.E. Hinton are used as examples. Theoretical consideration as well as practical classroom activities are discussed.     

Adolescent pregnancy: effects of family support, education, and religion on the decision to carry or terminate among Puerto Rican teenagers

Why do some pregnant teenagers decide to carry to term while others terminate their pregnancy? This study examined the influence of family relationships and support, religion, and education on the decision to carry or to abort. A nonrandom sample of 43 pregnant Puerto Rican teenagers (21 who carried and 22 who aborted) were interviewed in 1982 using a 34-item interview schedule. It was found that girls in the carry group were more significantly influenced and supported by family and friends than were those in the abort group. Fathers were the least influential persons in both carry and abort groups, while mothers were the most influential in the carry group, and sisters in the abort group. Brothers, boyfriends, and best friends were more influential for carry girls than for abort girls. Contrary to expectations, girls in the abort group reported a greater degree of religiosity than did those in the carry group. Further, girls who received strong support from family and friends reported a higher degree of satisfaction with their decision than did those who received less support. Finally, girls in the abort group were more likely to continue their education than were those in the carry group. Overall, the findings of this study have immediate implications for research and counseling services. Practitioners should focus on the girls in conjunction with their families in order to achieve better results in both treatment and preventive services.     

Scientific origins of adolescent sport

The prominence of sport in the American secondary school curriculum owes much to 19th-century child development theories, the most prominent of which (Von Baer's Law) originated in embryology, the forerunner of modern psychology. Von Baer's Law held that embryonic development formed a condensed record of human development, that the embryo in the womb represented in miniature the overall organic evolution of man. The "law" held that youth passed through the same developmental gradations ontogenetically that the human race passed through phylogenetically; that youth repeated in their development approximately the development, from barbarity to civilization, of the human race. Indeed, they stood at a primitive developmental level and simply passed through a stage the human race had passed through thousands of years earlier. Von Baer's Law became a scientific rationale for sport in American schools, most particularly, football, which was believed to be spirited enough to "satisfy the racial claim" and mitigate against antisocial aggressiveness.     

An intervention program for adolescents with behavior problems

Adolescents with behavior problems (aged 12 to 14) attending a regular public high school were in need of an intervention program. The purpose was to enhance their personal and interpersonal functioning as well as to structure a stimulating learning environment. In order to improve their social, educational, and psychological functioning, program objectives were established to help students develop the ability to listen to one another, respect others as well as their opinions, become aware of their own emotions and those of their peers, and recognize and minimize derogatory remarks toward one another. To attain these objectives, relaxation sessions, magic circle activities, art sessions, future planning groups, and decision-making groups were used. Meetings with teachers enabled them to examine and improve their attitudes and relationship with students. Upon completion of the program, the adolescents manifested less disruptive classroom behavior, increased their class participation, and displayed a more positive attitude toward school. The achievement of these behavioral changes indicates that a psychologically oriented intervention program is a feasible addition to a conventional curriculum. Teachers learned the basic skills of program formation, implementation, and evaluation, and most importantly, revitalized their attitude toward troubled students and their profession.     

Psychobiological Factors Predicting the Course of Breast Cancer

Drawing on a carefully controlled sample of 52 women with a history of breast carcinoma and 34 healthy controls, this prospective study examined empirical associations between psychological factors and the progression of neoplastic disorders over a follow-up period averaging 624 days. Psychological variables were psychometrically assessed by self-report measures. A multiple regression analysis which controlled for disease stage at original diagnosis, age, total length of disease course, hematological factors, and blood chemistries measured at study onset showed neoplastic spread to be associated with a repressive personality style, reduced expression of negative affect, helplessness-hopelessness, chronic stress, and comforting daydreaming. The identified model of medical and psychological variables accounted for 56% of the observed variance. A psychobiological model of brain-body disregulation provided the best account of the observed associations between psychological functioning and the progression of disease. Future research is necessary to examine the role which psychological functioning may exert upon health-relevant behaviors that might blunt the benefits of professional health care.     

Visual information processing speed in hypnotized and nonhypnotized subjects

Using a backward-masking paradigm with a bias-free and ceiling-free psychophysical task, we tested hypnotized and control subjects for speed of visual information processing. Approximately half of each group received visual imagery suggestions in an attempt to influence attention. Imagery produced no significant differential effect. Although an absence of a hypnotizability-performance relationship was in keeping with findings of a previous study, those subjects in the present study who performed under hypnosis were, as a group, significantly superior to the other subjects in speed of information processing.     

Families of Adolescent Drug Abusers Are “Rigid”: Are These Families Either “Disengaged” or “Enmeshed,” or Both?

The FACES instrument, based on Olson's Circumplex Model of family functioning, was administered to 96 adolescent drug-abuse clients and their parents. The majority of these families categorized themselves as "disengaged" (rather than "enmeshed") on the cohesion dimension, and as "rigid" (rather than "chaotic") on the adaptability dimension. These findings were unexpected as they were substantially different from published findings on families with other types of problems. Family therapists, utilizing Olson's Clinical Rating Scale for the Circumplex Model, characterized significantly more of these same families as "enmeshed," rather than "disengaged." Possible explanations for the difference between the therapists' perceptions and the families' self-perceptions are discussed.     

CORRESPONDENCE TRAINING: AN EXAMPLE OF RULE-GOVERNED BEHAVIOR?

Two groups of six mentally retarded adults were exposed to either a “say/do” correspondence training program or a “do only” reinforcement procedure to evaluate the suggestion of Rogers-Warren and Baer (1976) that reinforcement of the nonverbal target behavior in the absence of the relevant verbal behavior may account for the behavior changes seen in correspondence training. The participants worked in an experimental setting on a variety of manipulatory responses leading to various auditory and visual consequences. Analysis of individual patterns of responding indicated no apparent differences between the groups during training; four individuals in each group appeared to develop generalized correspondence skills. We conclude that the outcome of correspondence training may not necessarily be verbal regulation of behavior as is assumed. Rather, we suggest that the notion of rule-governed behavior can best account for the type of behavior changes seen in correspondence studies.     

APPARENT COVARIATION BETWEEN CHILD HABIT DISORDERS: EFFECTS OF SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT FOR THUMB SUCKING ON UNTARGETED CHRONIC HAIR PULLING

We evaluated the effects of aversive taste treatment of thumb sucking on untreated trichotillomania (habitual hair pulling) in two children who chronically pulled their hair and sucked their thumbs. A combination of withdrawal and nonconcurrent multiple baseline designs showed that, concomitant with the successful treatment of thumb sucking, hair pulling was also eliminated. The results suggest an efficient method for changing behaviors that are difficult to treat directly.