Prevalence and functions of stereotyped behaviors in nonhandicapped children in residential care

Caregivers in nine residential care institutions rated the occurrence of 15 stereotyped behaviors in 142 nonhandicapped children aged from 10 months to 11 years. The frequency and duration of each stereotypy as well as the typical situations in which it occurred were assessed. The most frequent stereotypies were thumbsucking, hair twisting, and body rocking in infants and young children; thumbsucking and making faces in preschool-age children; and nail biting/chewing in school-age children. Boys exhibited stereotypies more frequently than girls, and children with a suspected history of child abuse more frequently than other children. Typical situations for stereotypies could be classified to four types: concentration/demand, arousal/frustration, boredom/monotony, and stimulation/distraction. Nail biting/chewing and lip biting occurred predominantly in concentration/demand; thumbsucking and hair twisting in boredom/monotony; and pulling faces and scratching oneself in arousal/frustration and concentration/demand situations. These results provide preliminary indications regarding the different functions of individual stereotypies.The author would like to thank Jonathan Harrow (University of Bielefeld) for translating this paper from German into English.     

Support groups for medical caregivers of people with HIV diseases

As we enter the second decade of AIDS, medical caregivers are experiencing stress and burnout as a result of their work with people with HIV diseases. There are common themes to the stress, as well as differences in the experience of stress according to the characteristics of the healthcare setting. Caregiver support groups are a means of reducing this stress by helping medical caregivers cope better, manage difficult cases, normalize their feelings, put understanding and context to their experiences, decrease isolation, and instill meaning in their work. The use of support groups across various medical settings is presented.The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Nicholas Covino, Ph.D., Peter Kassel, Psy.D., Randall Paulsen, M.D., Veronica Rempusheski, Ph.D., Dan Silverman, M.D., and Susan Burns Tisdale, R.N., in ongoing research regarding caregiver support groups. The author also wishes to express gratitude to Genya Bernstein, Psy.D., for many editorial contributions.     

Reactions to job transfer by job type and career stage

In American industry, job transfer has been a common technique for staffing organizations and cross-training employees. Increasingly, employees have become reluctant to accept job transfers because of the potential for disruptions to their personal and family lives. In response, applied researchers have attempted to identify reliable employee reactions to job transfers. Empirical results have been inconsistent, however. These inconsistencies may be due, in part, to differences in the measurement of transfer and job types studied, and to a general atheoretical orientation. In this study, these two methodological problems were resolved empirically. Although a formal theory was not proposed, the concept of career stage showed promise as a new research direction. Implications are discussed.We thank Marilyn Gist, Terry Mitchell and Craig Pinder for comments on earlier drafts. Partial support for this study was provided by the National Park Service, Cooperative Park Studies Unit, University of Washington.