Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS)

Guided by the idea that alexithymia and other psychopathological phenomena are connected with decreased sensitivity to internal emotional states, Lane and Schwartz (1987) presented a cognitive-developmental theory describing different “Levels of Emotional Awareness”. In 1990, Lane et al. developed a performance measure to identify different states of sensivity to internal emotional states, the “Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale” (LEAS). Subjects are asked to describe anticipated own feelings and those of another person in 20 scenes in a short written answer. We present the results of a study using the German version of the LEAS, the 20-item-version of the Toronto Alexithymia-Scale (TAS 20) and the state-version of the State-Anxiety-Inventory (STAI) on 338 Students of medicine of the Cologne university. The study is discussed with regard to a similar study conducted in the USA (Lane et al. 1996). Theoretical background and psychometric charateristics of the LEAS are related to actual trends in research on alexithymia.     

Work Stress and Marriage: A Theoretical Model Examining the Relationship Between Workaholism and Marital Cohesion

Using structural equation modeling the relationship of work stress and marital cohesion was empirically investigated. It was hypothesized that work stress would have an inverse relationship with marital cohesion. Participants were a random sample of 326 adult females who were members of the American Counseling Association. The results of the data-model fit analyses support the hypothesized relationship. The coefficient of determination for the structural equation was 0.60 indicating a substantial degree of explanation for the relationship tested. Implications of these findings for future research are presented.     

Research and Theory Religion and Spirituality in Coping With Stress

Relations among and between religion, spirituality, and the ability to cope with stress were examined using a sample of 115 graduate students in counseling. Religion and spirituality positively correlated with coping with stress. Counseling students who expressed spirituality through religious beliefs had greater spiritual health and immunity to stressful situations than counseling students who identified themselves as spiritual but not religious. Counseling students with a religious/spiritual affiliation indicated more discomfort counseling clients hostile to religion compared with counseling students with a spiritual‐only affiliation. The results have implications for preparing counseling students to work with clients with religious/spiritual issues.     

The Performance of Pre‐Founding Entrepreneurial Teams: The Importance of Learning and Leadership

Entrepreneurial teams often struggle with simultaneous task and team challenges at an early stage of new venture creation. The way in which teams shape their teamwork is key in leveraging performance in the pre‐founding phase. Learning should help the team in establishing good teamwork and in expanding its members’ entrepreneurial capabilities. Leadership is needed to facilitate and guide this learning. Accordingly, we investigated learning and leadership as facilitators of performance in the pre‐founding phase. Specifically, we examined team reflexivity as a collective internal learning process and boundary spanning behaviour as an externally directed individual activity, operating at different levels in fostering team and individual performance. Charismatic team leadership was examined as a catalyst of learning, shaping team and individual performance ultimately. The multilevel mediation model was tested based on data from 196 members of 58 teams of a venture creation programme. Team reflexivity predicted team and individual performance. Boundary spanning behaviour was not related to performance. As hypothesised, charismatic team leadership predicted team and individual performance, both mediated by team reflexivity. This research highlights the relevance of team learning in pre‐founding teams and emphasises leadership in shaping learning and moving new ventures forward.     

A study of college women: Androgyny and perceptions of a feminist therapist

The present study examined the dimensions of instrumentality and expressiveness with respect to sex role orientation and perceptions of a feminist therapist. Also investigated was the willingness of the subjects to see a feminist and a traditional therapist for personal and career counseling. The 167 undergraduate female students from various programs completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Adjective Check List to describe their perceptions of a feminist therapist, and four willingness scales. Results indicated that the subjects, regardless of sex role orientation, perceived the feminist therapist as predominantly instrumental rather than expressive or androgynous. In addition, the subjects, regardless of sex role orientation, were more willing to see a traditional therapist for personal counseling but more willing to see feminist therapist for career counseling.     

Understanding Clients' Perceptions of Stress

The association of individual behavioral and personality characteristics with the stress response provides a natural role for stress management and the development of coping responses within the counseling process. The incorporation of stress management within the counseling process requires a theoretical framework for examining clients' perceptions of their coping capabilities as they experience difficulty with stressful life events. In this article the author presents a framework based on learned helplessness, called systematic rationalization. Empirical support and applications of the framework for working with clients experiencing difficulties coping with stressful life events are discussed.     

Computer-Based Precision Learning: A Course Builder application

An interactive tutoring and evaluation system, the Computer-Based Precision Learning System has been evolving at Jacksonville State University since its inception in 1978. Based on the Precision Teaching goal of developing fluency in learners, the Computer-Based Precision Learning System reinforces high frequencies of correct student responding. The system relies on the flexibility of Course Builder, a symbolic, icon-based programming language for Macintosh microcomputers. Course Builder is described from both the designer’s perspective and the student’s perspective. Its strengths and weaknesses are also discussed. Data from three semesters of a personality theories course indicated that students quickly reached mastery on the system, performing at over 22 correct responses per minute. Their fluency generalized to essay performance as well. Implications for using the Computer-Based Precision Learning System to develop measurably effective instructional strategies are discussed.     

A multiple-risk interaction model: Effects of temperament and divorce on psychiatric disorders in children

Effects of family status on the trajectory of problematic temperament-adjustment at 1 to 10 years of age and associated psychiatric disturbance 8 years later were examined in an epidemiological sample of 648 children. After adjusting for predivorce temperament-adjustment and background factors, logistic regression yielded independent effects of single custodial mother (SCM) family status for increased risk of disruptive and anxiety disorders, and of stepfamily status for increased risk of disruptive disorders. Increased risk of psychiatric disorders was more pervasive for SCM family boys versus intact family boys than for SCM family girls versus intact family girls, however only significantly more so for depression. No significant sex interaction was observed for stepfamily status. When girls and boys were treated independently, patterns of family status and outcomes of internalizing disorders varied. In stepfamilies, an elevated risk of depression and anxiety disorders was observed in girls but not boys, whereas in SCM families an elevated risk of depression was observed in boys but not girls. Within each family status group there was support for an altered risk of later psychiatric disorders given specific problematic predivorce temperament-adjustment characteristics. Implications for future research and treatment are discussed.The research described was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and by the W. T. Grant Foundation.