NEW LOSS FROM AN OLD PROBLEM: HOW COUNSELORS CAN ASSIST PERSONS WITH POSTPOLIO SYNDROME

For many persons who were diagnosed with polio years ago, late effect symptoms were not anticipated. They believed they had gone through the more severe ramifications of the illness and were unaware that additional problems could occur. Currently, there are hundreds of thousands of persons in the United States who are experiencing significant difficulties with old symptoms and are also developing new physical and emotional difficulties. Unfortunately, little research has looked at the ways counselors can assist this population.Therefore, the purposes of this study were to identify the physical and emotional problems confronting persons with postpolio and to help counselors gain an understanding of issues they feel might be most appropriate to address in therapy sessions.     

Coping strategies and first year performance in postsecondary education

Coping was hypothesized to explain additional variance in first year grade point averages (GPAs) controlling for cognitive ability and conscientiousness. First year GPAs were assessed as criterion for performance in the first year. Results indicate active coping, denial, behavioral disengagement, and alcohol disengagement are related to first year GPA. Denial and alcohol disengagement coping strategies were significant predictors and negatively related to first year GPA in the final regression equation controlling for cognitive ability and conscientiousness. Latent growth modeling analysis demonstrated cognitive ability predicted both the intercept and slope of first year GPA. Conscientiousness was a predictor of initial GPA but not change. Lastly, coping was a significant predictor of change in GPA. Implications for research and theory are discussed.     

Economic pressure in African American families: a replication and extension of the family stress model

This study of 422 two-caregiver African American families, each with a 10-11-year-old focal child (54% girls), evaluated the applicability of the family stress model of economic hardship for understanding economic influences on child development in this population. The findings generally replicated earlier research with European American families. The results showed that economic hardship positively relates to economic pressure in families. Economic pressure was related to the emotional distress of caregivers, which in turn was associated with problems in the caregiver relationship. These problems were related to disrupted parenting practices, which predicted lower positive child adjustment and higher internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The results provide significant support for the family stress model of economic hardship and its generalizability to diverse populations.     

The ethics of human stem cell research

The medical and clinical promise of stem cell research is widely heralded, but moral judgments about it collide. This article takes general stock of such judgments and offers one specific resolution. It canvasses a spectrum of value judgments on sources, complicity, adult stem cells, and public and private contexts. It then examines how debates about abortion and stem cell research converge and diverge. Finally, it proposes to extend the principle of "nothing is lost" to current debates. This extension links historical discussions of the ethics of direct killing with unprecedented possibilities that in vitro fertilization procedures yield. A definite normative region to inhabit is located, within a larger range of rival value judgments. The creation of embryos for research purposes only should be resisted, yet research on "excess' embryos is permissible by virtue of an appeal to the "nothing is lost" principle.     

Evaluation of Rahim's Organizational Conflict Inventory-II as a measure of conflict-handling styles in a sample of Indian salespersons

A mail survey of 108 salespersons was conducted to examine their conflict-handling styles with customers. The Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II was used to measure the conflict-handling styles of respondents. An exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis were performed on the items. Analysis indicated this is a reliable and valid measure of salespersons' conflict-handling styles. Thus, sales researchers can use this measure to examine the conflict-handling styles of salespersons.     

Further evidence of reliability and validity for the driving anger expression inventory

This study provided evidence of reliability and validity for the four scales of the Driving Anger Expression Inventory. Alpha reliabilities for scales ranged from .84 to .89. Measures of aggressive anger expression while driving (Verbal Aggressive Expression, Personal Physical Aggressive Expression, and Use of the Vehicle to Express Anger scales) correlated positively with each other and negatively with the Adaptive/Constructive Expression scale. Scores on the three aggressive forms of anger expression correlated positively with trait anger and measures of driving-related anger, aggression, and risky behavior, whereas scores on the Adaptive/Constructive Expression scale correlated negatively with these variables. Reports of aggressive and risky behavior correlated most strongly with the Use of the Vehicle to Express Anger scale. Forms of anger expression were minimally or uncorrelated with rated trait anxiety and reports of moving violations, close calls, and accidents. Findings replicated earlier findings and provided further evidence for the reliability and validity of the Driving Anger Expression Inventory.     

Longitudinal direct and indirect pathways linking older sibling competence to the development of younger sibling competence

A 4-wave longitudinal model tested direct and indirect links between older sibling (OS; M = 11.7 years) and younger sibling (YS; M = 9.2 years) competence in 152 rural African American families. Data were collected at 1-year intervals. At each wave, different teachers assessed OS competence, YS competence, and YS self-regulation. Mothers reported their own psychological functioning; mothers and YSs reported parenting practices toward the YS. OS competence was stable across time and was linked with positive changes in mothers' psychological functioning from Wave 1 to Wave 2. Mothers' Wave 2 psychological functioning was associated with involved-supportive parenting of the YS at Wave 3. OS Wave 2 competence and Wave 3 parenting were indirectly linked with Wave 4 YS competence, through Wave 3 YS self-regulation. Structural equation modeling controlled for Wave 1 YS competence; thus, the model accounted for change in YS competence across 3 years.