Empty nest,cohort, and employment in the well-being of midlife women

Whether the empty-nest experience has positive or negative consequences for women's well-being at midlife may depend on their historical cohort membership and employment status. In this study, it was posited that the empty nest was likely to be a negative experience among the particular cohort of women (Cohort II) who reached adulthood during the period of strong societal emphasis on women's maternal role known as the feminine mystique, would be experienced positively among the earlier cohort (Cohort I) who as young adults were encouraged to enter the labor force during World War II. Analyses of covariance tested the relationships among empty-nest status, cohort membership, and employment status, and three measures of psychological well-being, adjusted for age, education, and marital status. The results of this study show that cohort and employment each have important independent associations with women's well-being at midlife, but that the experience of the empty nest depends on these two factors, especially cohort experiences.The authors wish to thank Joseph Veroff, Elizabeth Douvan, and Richard Kulka for the use of the data from The Study of Modern Living, and Joseph Veroff for comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

Family criticism and self-starvation: a study of expressed emotion

The measure Expressed Emotion (EE) has been established as an exceptionally useful indicator of relapse in people with schizophrenia and depression. EE is now also being applied more broadly for the investigation of other disorders. EE is usually rated by conducting the Camberwell Family Interview, i.e. in the course of separate individual interviews with the relatives of the symptomatic individuals. This paper reports the rating of EE in adolescents with eating disorders within a semi-structured family schedule - the Standardized Clinical Family Interview. Consecutive referrals for eating disorders were assessed prior to family therapy and again at regular intervals during therapy. EE ratings for this sample, the prognostic value of EE, and the changes in EE that took place during the course of therapy are presented and their clinical implications discussed. The findings suggest that even low levels of Critical Comments from the parents to the anorexic adolescent are associated with continuing symptoms.     

Caring: from philosophical concerns to practice

I read Hilde L. Nelson's article with great interest. To be "against caring" is tantamount to being against apple pie and motherhood. Caring as philosophy, theory, behavior, and ontology is pervasive in the literature of almost all socially interactive professions. Nelson's article raises common concerns about caring....My difficulties with Nelson's argument against caring center around three issues: misunderstanding of caring in nursing practice, discomfort with ambiguity, and heroism as a replacement for the ethics of care....     

Software review

Summary Coin Critters has many positive attributes. This program could be used successfully if teachers were careful to monitor student performance. However,due to the nature of this program, it should only be used as a supplement to direct, effective instruction.Coin Critters should only be used for drill and practice on skills taught within the classroom.     

Solution-focused Couples Therapy Groups: An Empirical Study

The professional literature contains numerous theoretical and case study articles regarding the development and use of solution-focused therapy. However, as with many models of systems-oriented therapy in use with couples, very little has been subjected to empirical investigation. This project was designed to make a contribution to the empirical literature regarding the effectiveness of solution-focused therapy in use with couples' groups. This study utilized pre-test comparisons of treatment and comparison groups, and examined pre- to post-test changes in the scores of the treatment group couples. Twenty-three treatment group couples participated in a six-week solution-focused couples therapy (SFCT) group. A separate group of thirteen couples served as a comparison group. The Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) was used to assess changes in the couples' relationships. Scores on the Marital Status Inventory (MSI), as a pre-test measure indicating the couples' likelihood of divorce, indicated no significant differences between groups. The remaining analyses revealed significant improvement in DAS scores. Self-reports from the couples involved indicate improvement in a variety of areas after completing the six-week solution-focused couples group therapy process.     

“The Turkish minority in Bulgaria”: A clarification

These short notes are not meant to justify the recent repression of the Muslims in Bulgaria; rather, they try to explain them objectively and in all their aspects, including external conditions and factors. Dr. Michel, the author of the article here examined, has worked on a rich data base in the form of history and chronicle of events. And yet he gives the impression of floating on the surface of things and here and there presents somewhat one‐sided and subjective evaluations. Using and quoting as evidence material mainly from the Turkish side he deprives the article in question of the objectivity and impartiality that are obligatory for scholarly research. I am very grateful for the opportunity of having access to Dr. Michel's article in advance of its publication and for being invited to present and interpret the interrelations of Muslims and Christians of Bulgaria in recent times from my point of view.     

An examination of sex differences in social support among older men and women

This paper is designed to empirically investigate sex differences in social support. Several types of sex differences are examined, including quantity and quality of support, the relationship between quantitative and qualitative measures of support, the number and source of support provided and received, and the relative predictive power of quality and quantity of support on well-being. The data are taken from the Supports of the Elderly, a national survey of older people (Kahn and Antonucci, 1984). Included in the present study are 214 men and 166 women ranging in age from 50 to 95 who are married and have at least one child. The analyses reveal that women have larger networks and receive supports from multiple sources, while men tend to rely on their spouses exclusively. Men report greater satisfaction with marriage than women. Quantitative supports are more related to qualitative supports for women than for men. For both sexes, the quality of support rather than the quantity of support has significantly greater effects on well-being; both the quantity and quality of social support have a greater impact on the well-being of women compared to men.     

Relationship between the Delay Task and Rating Scale measures of Inattention and Hyperactivity

A group of 187 elementary school children were administered a microcomputer version of the Delay Task (Gordon, 1979) in which responses were reinforced only when they followed the preceding response by at least 6 seconds. They were also rated on the Conners Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS) by their classroom teacher. Performance on the Delay Task was not correlated with any of the CTRS subscales for the overall sample. Sex differences were found in the Conduct, Inattention, and Hyperactivity factors of the CTRS. No sex difference was found for performance on the Delay Task. When performance on the Delay Task was correlated with the four CTRS factors by sex, correlations between the Delay Task and the inattention subscale and hyperactive subscale were significant only for the male subsample. Implications of the findings for assessment of hyperactivity are discussed.The research was supported by an equipment grant from the University of Auckland Research Committee. The first author's contribution was supported by a postgraduate scholarship from the Medical Research Council of New Zealand. We thank Lisa Tapp and Julia Rooke for assistance with data collection. We also acknowledge the support and cooperation of the staff of Mt. Eden Normal Primary School.