Mental health status among Puerto Ricans,Mexican Americans,and Non-Hispanic whites

Compared mental health characteristics of island Puerto Ricans to three groups from the Los Angeles Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study: Mexican American immigrants, U.S.-born Mexican Americans, and Non-Hispanic whites. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule was used to obtain both diagnostic and symptom scale information about affective disorders, alcohol abuse/dependence, somatization, phobic disorder, and psychotic disorder. Mexican American immigrants had the fewest mental health problems of all groups. Puerto Ricans had more somatization disorder, but less affective and alcohol disorders than U.S-born Mexican Americans or non-Hispanic whites. Results are considered in the light of selection factors, relative disadvantage of groups and methodological problems. This research was supported by grants MH36230 and MH45763 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and made use of data from the Los Angeles site of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program, which is a series of five epidemiologic research studies performed by independent research teams in collaboration with staff of the Division of Biometry and Epidemiology of the National Institute of Mental Health. The NIMH principal collaborators were D. Regier, B. Locke, W. Eaton and J. Burke. The NIMH project officers were C. Taube and W. Huber. The principal investigators and coinvestigators from the five sites were Yale University: J. Myers, M. Weissman, G. Tischler; Johns Hopkins University: M. Kramer, E. Gruenberg, S. Shapiro; Washington University: L. Robins, J. Helzer; Duke University: D. Blazer, L. George; University of California at Los Angeles: M. Karno, R. Hough, J. Escobar, A. Burnam, D. Timbers.     

The application of Michel Foucault's philosophy in the problem externalizing discourse of Michael White

This paper examines how Michael White's theoretical and practice orientation can be mapped onto the work of French philosopher/historian Michel Foucault. Specifically, Foucault's analysis of his three modes of the objectification of the subject and the inseparability of power and knowledge will be viewed as similar to, and shaping of, White's conceptions of externalizing internalized problem discourse.
Where religions once demanded the sacrifice of bodies, knowledge now calls for experimentation on ourselves, calls us to the sacrifice of the subject of knowledge
Michel Foucault: Madness and Civilization     

Predictors of feminist self-labeling

This study investigated the relations of demographic and attitudinal variables on self-labeling as a feminist. Male (N=22) and female (N=83) primarily white (79%) college students and other adults responded to a questionnaire assessing their opinion of the feminist movement, perceptions of feminists, agreement with profeminist attitudes toward women's roles, belief in the importance of collective vs. individual action, political liberalism, and perceived discrimination. Although self-labeling as a feminist was significantly related to all of the above, with the exception of perceived discrimination, two major predictors were shown to be independently important: profeminist attitudes toward women's roles and opinion of the feminist movement.     

People's awareness of their age-related sensory and cognitive deficits and the implications for road safety

Inevitable declines in sensory abilities may put older drivers and pedestrians at risk unless they become aware of these changes and can safeguard themselves by modifying their behaviour. A questionnaire designed to evaluate older people's awareness of their sensory abilities with regard to road use was administered to 80 individuals aged from 50 to 79 years, who were also given eyesight and hearing tests. Despite marked declines in their objective sensory efficiency, people in their 70s did not rate their sensory abilities as poor any more than did people in their 50s. Individuals of any age who did subjectively perceive declines in their sensory abilities also reported that they had made very sensible adjustments in their road-use behaviour, for example, avoiding complex junctions. Those individuals who reported taking such precautions also reported fewer recent accidents. One month after completing the questionnaire, and being given the results of their eyesight and hearing tests, two-thirds of individuals reported that they had made important changes in their behaviour on the roads. Many now avoided or took particular care in dangerous situations, and some had started to wear prescribed spectacles more appropriately. The implications of older people's lack of awareness of changes in their sensory abilities to their safety on the roads, and in general, are discussed. Factors causing the age-related mismatch between actual and subjectively perceived sensory abilities are discussed.     

A methodological review of “method skeptic” reports

The literature purporting to demonstrate that clinical neuropsychology is of limited validity in the forensic setting is reviewed critically and alternative interpretations are discussed. The methodological, procedural, conceptual, data analytical and survey/research design limitations are evaluated.Portions of this paper were presented at the 1992 annual meeting of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.     

Wrapping community-based mental health services around children with a severe behavioral disorder: An evaluation of project wraparound

During the past two decades there has been a significant increase in community-based mental health and educational services for children and youth with serious emotional and behavioral problems and their families. However, in the vast majority of programs there are no reliable longitudinal data on the adjustment of the children that are served. Project Wraparound was a community-based individualized treatment program which served children and youth with severely maladjusted behavior and their families by providing intensive home and school-based services. The purpose of this paper is to provide a longitudinal analysis of client and family adjustment data. Data on client adjustment within the home and characteristics of the home environment were obtained at intervals of 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year. Data on client adjustment in school was obtained at four points over a period of 2 years. The results from 19 cases indicate that substantial change occurred on measures of the home environment and client adjustment in the home with no significant change in adjustment in the school. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

How examples may (and may not) constrain creativity

Three experiments were performed to test Smith, Ward, and Schumacher’s (1993) conformity hypothesis— that people’s ideas will conform to examples they are shown in a creative generation task. Conformity was observed in all three experiments; participants tended to incorporate critical features of experimenter-provided examples. However, examination of total output, elaborateness of design, and the noncritical features did not confirm that the conformity effect constrained creative output in any of the three experiments. Increasing the number of examples increased the conformity effect (Experiment 1). Examples that covaried features that are naturally uncorrelated in the real world led to a greater subjective rating of creativity (Experiment 2). A delay between presentation and test increased conformity (Experiment 3), just as models of inadvertent plagiarism would predict. The explanatory power of theoretical accounts such as activation, retrieval blocking, structured imagination, and category abstraction are evaluated.     

Establishing the constructs of childhood behavioral disturbances in a Chinese population: A questionnaire study

The behavioral problems of Chinese children were examined in a questionnaire study of a representative sample of 3,069 seven-year-old Chinese schoolboys in Hong Kong using Rutter's questionnaires for completion by parents and teachers. Separate robust dimensions of hyperactivity, antisocial, and neurotic behaviors were evident. The correlations among different dimensions were similar to those reported in the West. Short-term longitudinal analysis suggested that these dimensions were stable over time and that antisocial behaviors might develop in hyperactive children. The finding highlights the necessity of differentiating the hyperactive domain from the antisocial one. A significant source effect was found in all three dimensions. Chinese schoolboys had nearly two times the level of questionnaire-rated hyperactivity compared with school boys in the West; but it is premature to conclude that hyperactivity is more common in Chinese schoolboys in Hong Kong. Cross-cultural differences in adults' expectations and tolerance remain a plausible explanation.This study was supported by the Croucher Foundation. We would like to thank the Education Department of Hong Kong for assistance in sampling. We are particularly grateful to the children, teachers, and parents who participated in this study.     

Harmonic analysis of a complex motor behavior

This study deals with the learning of a complex motor task. The example used is rock climbing, where the subject's motricity is highly constrained by the natural environment. The working hypothesis is that the sensorimotor system searches for behavioral solutions characterized by minimal energy expenditure in the dissipation of forces. Harmonic systems — which satisfy this requirement — are used as models for testing the source signal defined by the acceleration curve at the learner's center of gravity. It is shown that only the dynamics of an expert's motor behavior are harmonic, while those of a beginner are stochastic (or chaotic). It is also shown that for experts, the process of adaptation to environmental constraints involves the relaxation of the dynamics and the ensuing emergence of a stable state which corresponds to a quasi-periodic attractor. A harmonic analysis is used to distinguish the environmental and intrinsic components of the behavioral dynamics, shown to result from the coupling of these two components via resonance.