Genetic Testing Considerations in Breast Cancer Patients

Genetic testing is now feasible for a growing number of cancers. Although the implications for unaffected relatives have been widely described, the impact of the tests on affected individuals are often not recognized. We present and discuss four cases that highlight some of the issues—for example, feelings of guilt and anxiety, intrafamilial conflict, and support needs—that may arise in testing affected individuals. We offer some suggestions to aid in the approach to such testing.     

Precocious conservation in context: The solution of quantity tasks by nonquantitative strategies

C. Sinha and B. Carabine's (1981, Journal of Child Language, 8, 109–129) claim of a U-shaped course to the development of quantitative knowledge with an early stage of conservation based on functional significance was tested in two experiments. Children at three age groups from 3 to 6 years were presented with the original procedure or control versions in which the display was slightly altered. Results showed that although Sinha and Carabine's result was replicable, their interpretation is unwarranted. Performance in the younger groups was best interpreted as the use of nonquantitative possession or position strategies.     

Taking the Divinity from the Divine: The Interaction Between Death Concerns and Religiosity on the Evaluation of a Human Jesus

Journal of Religion and Health - Quest religiosity is characterized by an openness toward religious doubt and uncertainty as a way to grow existentially. The current paper examines how death...     

Attitudes to women in society: the role of social dominance orientation and social values

his research assessed the extent to which attitudes to women in society are predicted by the personality trait social dominance orientation (SDO) as well as the values international harmony and equality (INT) and national strength and order (NAT). Respondents were a community sample of adult non‐students (N = 158). Sex differences were observed on INT and attitudes to women. Multiple regression analyses showed sex differences in the extent to which SDO predicts attitudes to women, while no support was found for the view that social attitudes are underpinned by both security and harmony values. The results are discussed with reference to social dominance theory and the nature of the security value domain. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Grief Therapy: An Experiential Workshop

The authors conducted a workshop at a family therapy conference in South Africa in 1997 to explore the use of healing rituals in grief work. There were two levels involved: First, an experiential workshop, and, second, a metalevel in exploring the use of rituals as a rite of passage to facilitate transitions. A draft of the authors' paper was sent to all participants for their comments, which are included in the text.     

Measuring Daytime Drowsiness in Nursing Home Residents: The MSLT-NH

A standardized method of assessing daytime drowsiness in frail nursing home residents has not been previously available. We present here the development and test characteristics of an instrument to measure daytime drowsiness in nursing home residents with cognitive and functional impairment, the Multiple Sleep Latency Test-Nursing Home (MSLT-NH). In a standardized manner, the resident is tested three times in one day (at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1 p.m.) to measure the amount of time until the subject falls asleep. The average sleep latency (minutes to fall asleep) is the measure of interest. We tested the MSLT-NH in 95 residents from six community nursing homes in the Los Angeles area (82% of subjects were female; 81% were white, mean age was 86.6 years and mean score on the Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] was 9.4). Interrater reliability of the MSLT-NH was quite good (correlations between raters ranged from 0.98 to 0.99; all p values were <.0001). Validity was assessed by comparing MSLT-NH results to simultaneous wrist activity estimation of sleep, and by comparing MSLT-NH findings to results from nighttime sleep estimation by wrist actigraphy the night prior to MSLT-NH. The percent agreement between MSLT-NH and wrist actigraph ranged from 77% to 79% MSLT-NH results were significantly associated with peak duration of nighttime sleep episodes the night prior to testing. The MSLT-NH was also quite acceptable for use in the NH setting. In conclusion, we have developed a promising measure of daytime drowsiness in NH residents. Further testing will help establish whether this test is a clinically useful measure of daytime drowsiness from medications or other conditions in the NH setting.     

Prevention of child abuse and neglect

With the dramatic increase in recent reports of physical and sexual child abuse and neglect, professionals are well as the public are increasingly concerned about the prevention of child abuse. This article provides an overview of existing child abuse prevention programs (physical abuse and sexual abuse programs are treated separately). Five computerized data bases (psychology, social work, criminal justice, education, and social sciences) were searched for literature published between 1982 and 1991. We also call attention to critical issues that need to be considered in the development and planning of future prevention efforts and evaluations.     

Dual pathways of emotional competence towards incremental and radical creativity: resource caravans through feedback-seeking frequency and breadth

ABSTRACT

This study examined how employees’ emotional competence predicts feedback-seeking behaviour (FSB) and consequently incremental and radical creativity on the basis of conservation of resource (COR) theory. We posit that emotional competence enhances the two types of creativity by generating resource caravans through distinct patterns of FSB. Our analysis based on the data collected from 206 employees from 85 work teams revealed that emotional competence has a significant indirect effect on the incremental creativity of team members, as rated by leaders, through frequent feedback seeking. Emotional competence also exhibited a considerable direct effect on radical creativity. In addition, emotional competence predicted source variety, namely, feedback-seeking breadth, which in turn contributed to radical creativity. This study offers new and useful theoretical and practical insights regarding the different types of creativity in the workplace by employing COR theory and the resource caravan perspective.     

Parenting, coparenting, and effortful control in preschoolers

This study investigated the relations among parenting, coparenting, and effortful control in preschoolers. The sample included 89 families with 2 parents and their firstborn 36-month-old children. Information was obtained by means of observation and parent-report questionnaires. In general, maternal parenting, paternal parenting, and coparenting were related to effortful control. Effortful control was more strongly predicted from parenting and coparenting when the same measurement method (observation or parent reports) was used. For both observation and parent reports, coparenting contributed to effortful control over and above maternal and paternal parenting. The results indicate the importance of adding indicators of triadic family processes to the study of parenting and young children's effortful control.