Resilience in siblings of children with sickle cell disease

This pilot study was conducted to identify factors responsible for promoting resilience in siblings of children with sickle cell disease. Twenty siblings (10–17 years of age) of children (5–13 years) with sickle cell disease were selected from the Pediatric Clinic of Howard University Center for Sickle Cell Disease. The siblings responded to questionnaires, and the data obtained was analyzed by chi-square for association. The results indicated that age, birth order, and gender had no effect on resilience in the siblings. However, family size, number of parents in the home, sibling's knowledge of the illness, degree of morbidity of the illness, socioeconomic status of the family, and parents' attitudes and childrearing practices were all found to affect resilience. These findings provide additional insight into the psychosocial aspects of, and genetic counseling for sickle cell disease, as well as for other chronic genetic disorders.     

Seeking Social Support in Old Age as Reasoned Action: Structural and Volitional Determinants in a Middle-Aged Sample of Argentinean Women1

Given that the availability of social support influences physical and psychological well-being, the provision of positive contacts is often crucial for older women. The purpose of the present study was to test the utility of both structural and volitional factors as determinants of support-seeking intentions. Two intentions to seek social support were studied in a group of 106 middle-aged women: (a) the intention to go to a doctor at least once a year after 55; and (b) the intention to visit a family member at least once a week after 55. The structural variables of interest were age, educational level, presence of partner, number of children, and number of grandchildren. The volitional factors assessed were intentions, beliefs, attitudes, and norms. There was little evidence that structural factors influenced support seeking. In contrast, as predicted from the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein & Ajzen. 1975), intentions to go to the doctor and to visit a family member could be successfully predicted from attitudes and norms.     

Primate learning tasks reveal strong impairments in patients with presenile or senile dementia of the Alzheimer type

Eight subjects with the likely diagnosis of presenile or senile dementia of the Alzheimer type were tested on two frequently used primate learning tasks: a concurrent object discrimination task and a delayed non-match-to-sample task. In addition, various tests for cognitive, mnemonic, perceptual, and language functions were applied. The results suggest a severe decline of the Alzheimer subjects in all measures when compared with 10 control subjects matched for age, gender, and education. The two animal learning tasks revealed strong impairments, thus demonstrating a high sensitivity for the detection and assessment of human amnesic disorders. Implications of these findings for human neuropsychological, and especially comparative neuropsychological, research are discussed.     

The main features of value experience

Conclusion This brings us not only to the conclusion of my list of eight features proposed as being common to all or most value experience, but also to a reminder of its purpose. First, I hope that, in the spirit of Husserl's dictum, to the things themselves, this proposal will initiate a discussion of a basic research type of question, namely: What are the main features of value experience? Second, I hope that the fruits of such a discussion might eventually contribute to the working out of a metatheory for value inquiry: a theory about criteria of adequacy for any general theory of value.In a paper of this scope it is obvious that one cannot even begin to discuss all the points and subpoints made in the manner in which they deserve. Much less can one defend all, or even any, of its claims with the kind of logical rigor and linguistic fastidiousness which have come to be the norm in most Anglo-American philosophy today. As a counterbalance to a tendency in some professional circles to making adherence to this norm the end of, rather than merely a means for, philosophic understanding, I have offered this paper after the spirit of Socrates and Plato, who certainly appreciated appropriate logical rigor and linguistic tidiness. Philosophy was nevertheless always for them first and foremost a mutual adventure of exploration into value through significant dialogue. Thus, rather than submitting one more piece of logic or language to the microscope, it has been my purpose to go exploring this time with a telescope. I cordially invite other seekers to join me and to challenge my findings.Presidential Address delivered to the American Society for Value Inquiry meeting at the Denver Hilton, Denver, 19–20 April 1979. I wish to thank Gene G. James, Richard T. Hull, and Murray S. Hunt for helpful comments on an early draft of this paper.     

The effects of Δ9 THC on cutaneous sensitivity and its relation to personality

Pain threshold/tolerance and vibration perception were studied in a sample of female frequent and infrequent cannabis users. Interactions with personality characteristics were examined using the EPI. Performance on all measures was investigated after oral administration of either 10mgΔ⁹ THC or 20 mg Δ⁹ THC. Results indicated that while the 10mg dosage produced no consistent changes in cutaneous sensory response, the 20 mg dosage was followed by lowering of the vibration threshold. Frequent and infrequent cannabis users differed in their response to the pain stimulus (pain tolerance scores were higher among infrequent users). They also differed with respect to the personality measure (frequent users had lower E, N and L scores). The findings provide experimental support for cannabis users' reports of enhanced sensory awareness consequent to drug intake. The results also show that frequent and infrequent cannabis users differ in pain response and personality characteristics.     

Personal Dispositions and Shift‐Work Tolerance: A Longitudinal Study of Municipality Shift Workers

The aim of this study was to investigate how dispositional resistance to change and neuroticism could predict shift‐work tolerance (SWT) over a period of 6 months. Electronic questionnaires were completed by 74 shift workers employed in a municipality in Norway in January 2013 (1st wave of data collection) and in June 2013 (2nd wave of data collection). The findings suggest that individual differences, especially neuroticism, can predict SWT over a period of 6 months.     

On the dynamics of work identity in atypical employment: setting out a research agenda

Starting from the notion that work is an important part of who we are, we extend existing theory making on the interplay of work and identity by applying them to (so called) atypical work situations. Without the contextual stability of a permanent organizational position, the question “who one is” will be more difficult to answer. At the same time, a stable occupational identity might provide an even more important orientation to one’s career attitudes and goals in atypical employment situations. So, although atypical employment might pose different challenges on identity, identity can still be a valid concept to assist the understanding of behaviour, attitudes, and well-being in these situations. Our analysis does not attempt to “reinvent” the concept of identity, but will elaborate how existing conceptualizations of identity as being a multiple (albeit perceived as singular), fluid (albeit perceived as stable), and actively forged (as well as passively influenced) construct that can be adapted to understand the effects of atypical employment contexts. Furthermore, we suggest three specific ways to understand the longitudinal dynamics of the interplay between atypical employment and identity over time: passive incremental, active incremental, and transformative change. We conclude with key learning points and outline a few practical recommendations for more research into identity as an explanatory mechanism for the effects of atypical employment situations.