AUGMENTING SIMPLIFIED HABIT REVERSAL WITH AN AWARENESS ENHANCEMENT DEVICE: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

The chronic hair pulling of a 36-year-old woman with moderate mental retardation was initially treated with a simplified habit-reversal (SHR) procedure that consisted of awareness training, competing response training, and social support. When SHR did not produce large and sustained reductions in hair pulling, an awareness enhancement device was added, and it reduced hair pulling to near-zero levels in two settings. The results are discussed, and directions for future research with this device are provided.     

Gender Differences in the Rewards to Publishing in Academe: Science in the 1970s

This paper makes use of a unique data set fordoctoral-level biochemists, earth scientists,physicists, and physiologists to examine the question ofwhether the rewards to publishing in science are gender blind. The longitudinal nature of the data, andthe inclusion of different research outcome variables,permit the estimation of a wage-change model thatcontrols for fixed effects and productivity differences. We find little evidence that the reward processin academe during the 1970s was affected by gender. Wedo, however, find evidence that catch-up was occurring,implying that all was not well in the past for the women scientists in the study. [The1975 Survey of Doctorate Recipients indicates thatracial minority groups (Blacks, American Indians, andAsians) comprised, respectively, 5.9%, 6.3%, 2.8%, and 6.3% of the doctoral populations in physics,chemistry, earth science, and thebiosciences.]     

FEMALE PARTNERS OF BISEXUAL MEN What They Don't Know Might Hurt Them

Individual interviews with 350 behaviorally bisexual men aged 18–30 revealed that 71% of their female sexual partners and 59% of their steady female sexual partners in the past 6 months had not been aware of their homosexual activity. Rates of nondisclosure were higher for African-American than White men. Compared to nondisclosers, men who disclosed to all their female partners were less self-homophobic and perceived their friends, families, and neighbors as more accepting of their homosexual behavior. Compared to men who had disclosed, the nondisclosers had more female partners and used condoms less consistently with women.     

Developing the matrix representation grid (MRG): A method for observing group processes. Findings from time-limited group psychotherapy for alcohol-dependent patients

The MRG was published 1988 in order to support developments in group psychotherapy methods as one of the all too few process observation research methods for studying group-as-a-whole. After 9 years of what pilot studies have labeled successful clinical trials, this study aims at validating the MRG against the established SAVI: Structural Analysis of Verbal Interaction (Agazarian & Simon 1989). Videotaped group sessions from short-term groups for alcohol dependent patients conducted along two therapy methods, one behaviorally oriented and the other group analytic, are used as material. The MRG is validated in the study, confirmed to be clinically valuable, and some interesting comparisons between the two treatment modalities are also made.     

The Superwoman ideal and other risk factors for eating disturbances in adolescent girls

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between disordered eating, the Superwoman ideal, competitiveness, and achievement motivation. The EAT-26, Personality Research Form (Achievement scale), and Self-Roles Inventory were administered to 69 10–12th-grade girls (69.6% White, 11.6% Hispanic, 5.8% Black, 5.8% Asian, 7.2% no information on ethnicity). EAT-26 scores were not significantly associated with attending an academically competitive high school, having a high achievement motivation, or considering a number of roles as important to one's sense of self (adherence to the Superwoman ideal). EAT-26 scores were significantly higher among the girls attending the average high school. It is important to conduct further investigations of the Superwoman ideal since it has been posited as a risk factor for eating disorders, but has been the focus of only a few empirical studies.     

Employment status and the attitudes and behavior of higher status women volunteers, 1975 and 1992: A case study

This study examines the relationships between employment status and women's attitudes toward and participation in a higher status voluntary service organization. Data were gathered in 1975 and 1992 from a sample of chapters of the International Association of Women (a pseudonym). The 1992 sample included three percent who reported a racial or ethnic identification other than white. Drawing on several theoretical perspectives, we expected to find differences in the attitudes and level of participation of employed versus non-employed members that would have important effects on organizational functioning. However, few differences in the attitudes of members employed full time, part time, and not in the labor force were found in either 1975 or 1992. There were, however, differences in behavior. Employed members reported spending much less time on organizational activities and were less likely to assume leadership roles, but these differences diminished between 1975 and 1992 as employed women became numerically dominant in the organization, suggesting that the growing presence of employed women in IAW led to the development of informal norms and new policies about the amount of time members should devote to the organization and a corresponding loss in the total number of volunteer hours devoted to it.     

RESPONSE TO CRITIQUES OF ETHICS IN AN AGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Abstract. Both Roger Shinn and Robert Stivers ask whether technology has a momentum of its own that is difficult if not impossible to control (“autonomous technology” or “technological inevitability”). I reply that the difficulty in controlling technology is a product of economic and political institutions (such as corporate lobbying and campaign contributions) rather than of any inherent characteristics of technology. Against Stivers's assertion that the ecosystem should be the center of value in environmental ethics, I defend the process view that all beings are valuable, but they are not equally valuable in their richness of experience or their contribution to the experience of others. I also consider his caveats about ambiguities in the concept of sustainability. Two questions raised by Mary Gerhart are taken up: the difficulties of interdisciplinary writing and the role of theological ethics in discussions of public policy. In dialogue with Frederick Ferre I explore the role of alternative visions of the good life as a source of social change. In the face of diminished concern about social justice and environmental sustainability among citizens and in Congress since the book was written, I express long-range hope, but not optimism about the short-term prospects for change.     

Retest stability of DSM-III-R diagnoses among adolescents using the diagnostic interview schedule for children (DISC-2.1C)

Retest stability of DSM-III-R diagnoses was assessed using the DISC-2.1C with a sample of Anglo, African, and Hispanic American adolescent patients 12 to 17 years of age. Based on the kappa statistic, retest stability was fair for any disorder ( =.50), for any anxiety disorder ( =.44), for any affective disorder ( =.53), for any disruptive behavior disorder ( =.58), and for substance use disorders ( =.46). Although there was a trend for reliability to be somewhat higher for African Americans ( =.58) than for Anglos ( =.42) or Hispanics ( =.49), these differences were not statistically significant. In general, 15- to 17-year-olds had somewhat better reliability ( =.58) than did 12- to 14-year-olds ( =.44). Males had somewhat higher reliability ( =.63) than females ( =.43). These findings are congruent with those reported recently using the DISC-R (Schwab-Stone et al., 1993) and suggest that the DISC appears to be at least as reliable as other available child diagnostic instruments. In view of the fair-to-moderate levels of reliability of these instruments in general, future research should focus on the joint effects of instrument, subject, interviewer, and nomenclature on operating characteristics of diagnostic interview schedules, focusing in particular on factors affecting accurate recall and reporting of symptoms and episodes. This research was supported in part by grants MH44214 and MH44773 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and by the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. The authors wish to acknowledge the participation and collaboration of A. J. Pumariega, J. W. Swanson, and C. E. Holzer III and staff of the Center for Cross-Cultural Research, directed by F. M. Treviño.     

Validation of a full body 3-D dynamic linked segment model

In studies related to human movement, linked segment models (LSM's) are often used to quantify forces and torques, generated in body joints. Some LSM's represent only a few body segments. Others, for instance used in studies on the control of whole body movements, include all body segments. As a consequence of the complexity of 3-dimensional (3-D) analyses, most LSM's are restricted to one plane of motion. However, in asymmetric movements this may result in a loss of relevant information. The aim of the current study was to develop and validate a 3-D LSM including all body segments. Braces with markers, attached to all body segments, were used to record the body movements. The validation of the model was accomplished by comparing the measured with the estimated ground reaction force and by comparing the torques at the lumbo-sacral joint that resulted from a bottom-up and a top-down mechanical analysis. For both comparisons, reasonable to good agreement was found. Sources of error that could not be analysed this way, were subjected to an additional sensitivity analysis. It was concluded that the internal validity of the current model is quite satisfactory.