Empathy, Expectations, and Situational Preferences: Personality Influences on the Decision to Participate in Volunteer Helping Behaviors

Although considerable evidence indicates that dispositional empathy is associated with the degree of help that observers will offer needy targets, little is known about the effect of empathy on one's initial willingness to enter situations in which such needy targets might be found. Three studies were conducted to evaluate two related propositions: (1) that dispositional empathy influences such situational preferences, and (2) that this influence is mediated by the expectancies one holds regarding the emotions likely to occur in those situations. Using hypothetical judgments, Study 1 found support for both propositions. Study 2, in which participants believed that their responses actually committed them to encountering needy targets, provided further support for the model, as did Study 3, which examined the experiences of actual community volunteers. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Principles for Designing Randomized Preventive Trials in Mental Health: An Emerging Developmental Epidemiology Paradigm

An emerging population-based paradigm is now being used to guide the design of preventive trials used to test developmental models. We discuss elements of the designs of several ongoing randomized preventive trials involving reduction of risk for children of divorce, for children who exhibit behavioral or learning problems, and for children whose parents are being treated for depression. To test developmental models using this paradigm, we introduce three classes of design issues: design for prerandomization, design for intervention, and design for postintervention. For each of these areas, we present quantitative results from power calculations. Both scientific and cost implications of these power calculations are discussed in terms of variation among subjects on preintervention measures, unit of intervention, assignment, balancing, number of pretest and posttest measures, and the examination of moderation effects.     

Why Do Conceptual Analysts Disagree?

The practice of a priori conceptual analysis requires that the concept being analyzed be available in the analyst's mind. The difficulties of analysis and the existence of disagreements among analysts are explained by distinguishing the implicit knowledge we have of these concepts from the explicit knowledge we seek. This view of disagreement assumes that those who disagree are typically attempting to analyze a single shared concept. In this paper, reasons are developed for replacing this guiding assumption with the alternative assumption that members of a conceptual community often have similar, but not identical, concepts. Adopting this alternative requires that we rethink the nature and aims of conceptual analysis.     

The Prophylactic Mastectomy Dilemma: A Support Group for Women at High Genetic Risk for Breast Cancer

The goal of this pilot study was to test the usefulness of a six session psychoeducational support group for women at high genetic risk for breast cancer who were considering prophylactic mastectomy. The themes of the group sessions included overestimation of and anxiety about risk; desire for hard data; the emotional impact of watching a mother die of breast cancer; concerns about spouse reactions; self- and body image; the decision-making process; and confusion over whom to trust in decision making. Both the participants and the multidisciplinary leaders concluded that as a supplement to individual counseling, a support group is a beneficial and cost-effective treatment modality. Recommendations for the optimal format for such a group are described.     

Update and Review: Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most commonly inherited recessive disorders in U.S. Caucasians, with a carrier frequency of approximately 1 in 29. Genetic counseling and CF mutation analysis has traditionally been offered to the affected patient and his/her extended family, in keeping with policy statements from professional organizations (ASHG, NSGC, ACOG). The target population for CF testing and counseling may be evolving after the release of the 1997 National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement, Genetic Testing for Cystic Fibrosis, which recommends that CF screening be offered to all preconceptional and pregnant couples. Genetic counseling for CF is complicated by reports of polymorphisms in the CF gene that are associated with symptoms that do not meet the diagnostic criteria for CF, such as bilateral congenital absence of the vas deferens, bronchiectasis, and idiopathic pancreatitis. To aid genetic counselors with these issues, this review explores the symptoms of CF, patient management, gene function, genetics, genotype/phenotype correlation, and genetic counseling issues.     

Evaluating Environmental Arrangement as Setting Events: Review and Implications for Measurement

Environmental arrangement alters the physical, social, or programmatic aspects of classrooms to increase task engagement, facilitate prosocial behaviors, and reduce or prevent the challenging behaviors of children and youth. Research shows specific arrangements can affect student engagement and deportment, but this literature is not well integrated theoretically or empirically with other effective behavior change tactics. This article proposes that some environmental arrangements may serve as setting events for child behavior change. Setting events and environmental arrangement were defined and critically outlined. A total of 43 physical environmental arrangement articles were reviewed as to the specific type of arrangement and research methodology. Several methodological problems (e.g., lack of measurement or control of antecedents, consequences, or environmental arrangements, manipulation of more than one environmental arrangement) precluded conclusions about the setting event function of environmental arrangements. Suggestions for future research on setting events and environmental arrangements are proposed.     

Dating couples and their relationships: intimacy and contraceptive use

Investigations of ineffective contraceptive use have generally focused on individualistic rather than dyadic factors. The present study used a sample of dating couples to investigate four intimacy dimensions in relation to contraceptive use. Fourteen consistent contraceptive use (CCU) couples and 16 inconsistent contraceptive use (ICU) couples participated. It was found that the two groups' expectations of intimacy did not differ significantly. However, the ICU couples reported experiencing significantly lower levels of emotional, social, and intellectual intimacy than did the CCU couples. Significant differences between realized and expected levels of intimacy were found only among ICU couples. The results indicate that partners with mutually dissatisfying levels of intimacy were more likely to use contraceptives inconsistently.     

Assessing attitudes and behaviors of high-risk adolescents: an evaluation of the self-report method

This study evaluated the self-report method in the assessment of attitudes and behaviors. Forty-two problem youth from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds were surveyed. In addition, their parents were surveyed and school and police data were collected. Five self-report factors were compared against parental report factors and police and school records. Significant relationships were found only for self-report factors that contained more positively oriented items. Self-report factors that contained items inquiring directly into high-risk behaviors were not significantly associated with parental report factors or school and police data. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

A specialized apperception test for ambulatory-impaired adolescents

A specialized apperception test for physically impaired adolescents was developed, and a pilot was conducted using ten nonimpaired and ten impaired adolescents. Ten cards depicting various scenes with physically impaired male and female models were designed to elicit themes that may be particularly relevant for this adolescent population. Two raters evaluated how well each card elicited issues identified in the literature as pertinent to physically challenged adolescents.