"I Know Just How You Feel": The Validity of Healthy Women's Perceptions of Breast-Cancer Patients Receiving Treatment

The accuracy of healthy women's perceptions of how breast-cancer patients cope with treatment was assessed in this study. Standardized questionnaires measuring distress, coping, and illness perceptions were completed by 78 women undergoing postsurgical treatment for primary breast cancer. The patients' responses were then compared with assessments made by a matched community sample. The results showed a marked incongruity between healthy women's perceptions and actual patients' experiences of the disease and its treatment. Community women overestimated patients' distress, perceived the consequences of breast cancer to be more severe, and were more likely to believe that patients used denial and disengagement strategies. The discrepancy in findings has implications for the appropriateness of the support offered to patients by healthy women.     

Internet addiction: current status and implications for employees

The Internet is a new technology that has influenced the world and has provided many benefits to its users. At the same time, however, this influence has had negative ramifications. Some people are becoming preoccupied with the Internet, are unable to control their use of this technology, and are jeopardizing their employment and personal relationships. Internet addiction has been proposed as an explanation for uncontrollable, damaging use of this technology. Warning signs that an employee is having difficulty controlling his or her Internet use are reviewed. In addition, suggestions are proposed for managers to aid them in helping their employees with this problem.     

Do Villages Remain Christian Communities?

A house-to-house survey of a rural English community of around 400 people resulted in 100 completed questionnaires. Respondents were asked to rate a series of questions on a five-point scale to indicate whether they saw themselves as Christians, whether they considered themselves regular churchgoers, and other related indices of religiosity. The results show the sample to be more Christian than the national average in respect of both avowed belief and church attendance. This would seem to confirm that Christianity remains strongest in the countryside and that the community model of the church survives in rural areas. This in turn raises questions about the style of ministry most appropriate for rural parishes in England and Wales.     

Associations between myside bias on an informal reasoning task and amount of post‐secondary education

One hundred and twelve undergraduate university students completed an informal reasoning task in which they were asked to generate arguments both for and against the position they endorsed on three separate issues. Performance on this task was evaluated by comparing the number of arguments they generated which endorsed (myside arguments) and which refuted (otherside arguments) their own position on that issue. Participants generated more myside arguments than otherside arguments on all three issues, thus consistently showing a myside bias effect on each issue. Differences in cognitive ability were not associated with individual differences in myside bias. However, year in university was a significant predictor of myside bias. The degree of myside bias decreased systematically with year in university. Year in university remained a significant predictor of myside bias even when both cognitive ability and age were statistically partialled out. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distinguishing Between Subgroups of Adolescents Who Self‐Harm

The differences in factors associated with subgroups of adolescents in the continuum of deliberate self‐harm (DSH) phenomena were investigated. In an anonymous self‐report survey of 6,020 adolescents aged 15 and 16 years, 3.2% of adolescents (5.3% females, 1.3% males) reported DSH with intent to die, 2.8% (4.3% females; 1.5% males) reported DSH without intent to die, and 15% (22.4% females; 8.5% males) reported thoughts of DSH without acts. Regression analysis indicated considerable overlap in vulnerability factors along the spectrum of DSH thoughts and acts. A uniquely distinct relationship was found between DSH of a friend and DSH without intent to die on one hand and DSH of a family member with DSH with intent to die on the other. Results indicate that familial and nonfamilial social influences on DSH behavior may be important in designing prevention programs and that educational programs for the promotion of psychological well‐being may be helpful for adolescents at any point along the spectrum of DSH that was examined.