Barriers to and Motivations for Physician Referral of Patients to Cancer Genetics Clinics

Although it is well known that under-referral of colon cancer patients to cancer genetics clinics is a chronic problem, no study has yet examined why physicians may be ordering testing independently rather than referring patients to cancer genetics clinics. The current study explored variables which may impact a physician’s preference for ordering testing independently or referring patients to outside cancer genetics experts. An online questionnaire, distributed to the membership of the American College of Gastroenterology and the American Society of Colorectal Surgeons, yielded responses from 298 physicians. Motivations to refer to cancer genetics clinics rather than order testing independently included fear of genetic discrimination and a belief that patients benefit from genetic counseling about the risks, benefits and consequences of testing. These results suggest that in order to increase referrals, genetic counselors must educate physicians about the unique benefits patients receive from participating in genetic counseling.     

Cues To Consumer Susceptibility To Salesperson Influence: Implications For Adaptive Retail Selling

Consumer susceptibility to salesperson influence (CSSI) is developed as a multidimensional construct and segmentation base for adaptive retail selling strategies. Differences in informational, recommendational and relational CSSI by gender, age, and purchase pal utilization are investigated in a stratified national random sample of new vehicle purchasers. Specific retail and salesperson strategies are discussed.     

Motivated Suspicion: Asymmetrical Attributions of the Behavior of Political Ingroup and Outgroup Members

Suspicious attributional thought was assessed in the context of the political behavior of ingroup and outgroup politicians. Strong Democrats and Republicans read a newspaper article describing a Democratic or Republican politician's support of a bill. Half the participants read that the politician may have been motivated by an ulterior motive, obtaining campaign support from companies that benefited from the bill. In two studies, interaction effects revealed that participants discounted the behavior of an outgroup politician when an ulterior motive was salient. In contrast, they failed to discount the behavior of an ingroup politician when an ulterior motive was salient or either politician when no ulterior motive was salient. Study 2 also revealed evidence that negative, other-directed affect mediated the bias in attributional judgments.     

A COMPARISON OF TWO PHYSICAL GUIDANCE PROCEDURES IN THE TREATMENT OF PEDIATRIC FOOD REFUSAL

Physical guidance procedures can be effective in the treatment of severe pediatric food refusal. Researchers evaluating the use of physical guidance procedures often include a procedure referred to as a jaw prompt, but other variations of physical guidance may also be effective. An additional form of physical guidance, the finger prompt, might increase food acceptance. We evaluated nonremoval of the spoon and physical guidance (jaw prompt or finger prompt) in a reversal design. Results showed treatment packages including both procedures were effective in increasing food acceptance and decreasing inappropriate mealtime behavior. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

AN INDIVIDUALIZED LEVELS SYSTEM TO INCREASE INDEPENDENT MEALTIME BEHAVIOR IN CHILDREN WITH FOOD REFUSAL

An individualized levels system was implemented to increase independent eating in two children with food refusal. Participants earned access to different status levels associated with varying availability of preferred items/activities outside of meals according to criteria based on low levels of prompting throughout the meal. A reversal design was implemented to evaluate the effects of the intervention on independent mealtime behavior. Results demonstrated that the levels system was effective in increasing independent eating and in decreasing prompted bites for both participants. Although the effectiveness of an individualized levels system has been previously demonstrated in the treatment of severe problem behavior, it has not been empirically evaluated in the context of increasing appropriate behavior or with children with food refusal. These findings provide support for such a treatment to promote mealtime independence during an intensive feeding program and at two months follow‐up. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Taking Stock of Behavioral Measures of Adolescent Dating Violence

The past 2 decades have witnessed an increase in dating violence awareness and research. As the field evolves, it is critical to examine the definition and measurement of adolescent dating violence. This article summarizes the behavioral measures of adolescent dating violence used in the field. Based on a review of the literature and federally funded studies, we identified 48 different measures. The most commonly used measures were the Conflict Tactics Scale–2, the Safe Dates Scale, and the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationship Inventory, which all examine aspects of psychological, physical, and sexual violence. Researchers also adapted or created their own measures. This article concludes with a discussion of developments for consideration as the field moves forward.     

heroin injection among addicted felons: testing extant theories

Five causal explanations for heroin injection among addicted felons are summarized from extant literature: stratification hypothesis, market forces hypothesis, social network hypothesis, risk-taking syndrome hypothesis, and career intensification hypothesis. These theories were tested on a sample of 366 heroin-addicted felons from Brooklyn. Variables derived from these hypotheses correctly predicted 76 percent of the cases. The hypotheses with the strongest empirical support were the social network and risk-taking syndrome. According to the social network hypothesis, age, gender, and ethnic groups developed their own heroin subcultures that influence injecting behavior. In the risk-taking hypothesis, users who engaged in other non-drug reckless behaviors were at a higher risk of injecting heroin. The availability (street price) of heroin surfaced as the strongest correlate of heroin injection as more users self-identified as injectors during periods of lower availability. Age and longevity of heroin use were found to negatively correlate with injection. Policy implications derived from these findings are discussed.     

Calling in retirement: A mixed methods study

This mixed methods study aimed to examine the experiences of a calling in retirement with a sample of 196 retired adults. First, a qualitative analysis explored the types of activities participants experienced as a calling as well as the types of barriers that participants perceived as keeping them from living their calling. ‘Helping Others’ emerged as the largest category of calling that participants endorsed and ‘No Resources to Live Calling’ emerged as the most frequently endorsed barrier. Building on our qualitative findings, we conducted a quantitative analysis to examine the relation of perceiving a calling with well-being. Consistent with prior research with working adult populations and in support of our hypotheses, perceiving a calling related to life meaning and life satisfaction, and structural equation modeling demonstrated that life meaning and living a calling (via life meaning) fully mediated the perceiving calling–life satisfaction relation. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Evaluation of fixed momentary dro schedules under signaled and unsignaled arrangements

Fixed momentary schedules of differential reinforcement of other behavior (FM DRO) generally have been ineffective as treatment for problem behavior. Because most early research on FM DRO included presentation of a signal at the end of the DRO interval, it is unclear whether the limited effects of FM DRO were due to (a) the momentary response requirement of the schedule per se or (b) discrimination of the contingency made more salient by the signal. To separate these two potential influences, we compared the effects of signaled versus unsignaled FM DRO with 4 individuals with developmental disabilities whose problem behavior was maintained by social-positive reinforcement. During signaled FM DRO, the experimenter presented a visual stimulus 3 s prior to the end of the DRO interval and delivered reinforcement contingent on the absence of problem behavior at the second the interval elapsed. Unsignaled DRO was identical except that interval termination was not signaled. Results indicated that signaled FM DRO was effective in decreasing 2 subjects' problem behavior, whereas an unsignaled schedule was required for the remaining 2 subjects. These results suggest that the response requirement per se of FM DRO may not be problematic if it is not easily discriminated.