Development and Evaluation of a Decision Aid About Prenatal Testing for Women of Advanced Maternal Age

Objective: To develop and evaluate a decision aid designed to prepare patients of advanced maternal age for counseling about prenatal diagnostic testing. Setting: A regional genetics center. Design: A before/after study. Interventions: Participants used an audioguided workbook to learn about options and outcomes and to clarify personal risks, values, questions, and predispositions. Subjects: 21 women of advanced maternal age and 17 spouses. Main outcome measures: Knowledge of prenatal testing alternatives, decisional conflict, level of anxiety, and acceptability of the decision aid. Results: After using the decision aid, participants had significantly reduced decisional conflict (uncertainty) and a significant increase in knowledge. There was no effect on state or trait anxiety. More than three-quarters of participants were satisfied with the length, clarity, balance, and acceptability of the decision aid. Conclusions: The decision aid shows promise as a useful aid for preparing couples for counseling.     

Teaching the Prophetic Marriage Metaphor Texts

This article considers those passages in the prophetic writings of the Hebrew Bible that present the relationship between God and the people by means of a metaphor of a man and his promiscuous female partner. It reflects upon how these texts may fruitfully be taught in a seminary or college introductory Bible course, arguing that they should be included in the curriculum and not ignored. Practical recommendations of methods for presenting such biblical passages in the classroom are suggested.     

Changing Perceptions About Self-Change and Moderate-Drinking Recoveries From Alcohol Problems: What Can and Should Be Done?1

Despite abundant indications that resolutions from alcohol problems without treatment are common, there appears to be little awareness that such recoveries occur and a general skepticism regarding their possibility. This paper presents results from a study investigating the impact of hypothetical newspaper articles about self-change and moderate-drinking recoveries on subjects' beliefs. It is concluded that newspaper articles do not appear to have much impact on the public's perceptions. The importance of modifying the general public's knowledge about recoveries from alcohol problems without treatment are discussed.     

A Comparison of the Influence of Conflictual and Supportive Social Interactions on Psychological Distress

Following a quantitative review examining the relative influence of positive and negative social exchanges on emotional health, a second-order factor model of negative social exchange was tested and supported in a sample of 906 college students. Structural equation analysis exploring the unique effects of negative social exchange and perceived support satisfaction on depression revealed both variables to predict this outcome, over and above the contribution of personality and coping variables. In addition to the direct effects of the Big Five personality dimensions on depression, indirect effects of the Big Five via negative social exchange, support satisfaction, and avoidant coping also were observed. Although the prevailing belief among support researchers is that the negative effects of conflictual social interactions outweigh the positive effects of social support, the results of the quantitative review suggest boundary conditions that qualify this conclusion. In addition to corroborating a hierarchical measurement model of negative social exchange, the results of the present investigation suggest that how social support and social negativity are measured substantially influences conclusions concerning their relative impact on psychological distress.     

Software for advanced ANOVA courses: A survey

In response to a survey of faculty regarding their commercial software preferences for advanced analysis of variance courses, it was found that the most frequently used packages were SAS, SPSS^x, and BMDP, all originally mainframe packages. The fourth choice, SYSTAT, was written for microcomputers but is currently also available for other host computers. Difficulty for students was the most frequently cited reason fornot using one of these four packages. The most important criteria for choosing software packages were variety of designs, accuracy, and ease of use. Cost was a factor only for microcomputer licenses. Packages using the general linear model approach were paramount to some, while others would not consider such packages. Instructors decried the lack of the “ideal program,” but the diversity of their desires makes it clear that no program could be ideal for all of them. Many faculty seemed unaware of newer software packages or of the extent to which older packages (particularly Minitab) have been modified; some had their choices constrained by departmental limitations. Better dissemination of information about statistical software is needed, whether it be from software publishers or through the professional literature.     

INCREASING HABILITATIVE SERVICES FOR PERSONS WITH PROFOUND HANDICAPS: AN APPLICATION OF STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS TO STAFF MANAGEMENT

We evaluated a structural analysis methodology for enhancing the utility of a staff management program. In Experiment 1, a structural analysis of direct-care staff behavior in a mental retardation facility revealed differences in work patterns over time. Specific times were identified when few basic care duties were necessary and staff engaged in nonwork activity. In Experiment 2, a management program was implemented to increase staff members' training activities during periods identified through the structural analysis. The program was accompanied by increases in training activities and decreases in nonwork behavior. The improvements were maintained during a 43-week period while the most labor-intensive component of the program was withdrawn. Staff acceptability measures indicated a positive response to the management intervention, although responses varied across components within the multifaceted program. The increased training was accompanied by beneficial changes among clients with profound handicaps. Results are discussed regarding practical considerations for improving staff performance and for adopting innovations resulting from applied research.     

SIGNS AS DETERRENTS OF ILLEGAL PARKING IN SPACES DESIGNATED FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

The percentage of illegal parking in spaces reserved for the physically disabled was monitored under three sign conditions: ground markings, ground markings plus vertical signs, and vertical signs containing a message that concerned citizens were watching the spaces. Illegal parking dropped from 69.3% of 102 vehicles during the initial ground-sign condition to 57.3% of 36 vehicles in the first vertical-sign condition. Following removal of the vertical signs, illegal parking increased to 68.7% of 43 vehicles. During the second vertical-sign condition, illegal parking dropped to 53.7% of 32 vehicles, followed by an increase to 69.5% of 68 vehicles after the vertical signs were removed. The lowest rate of illegal parking (27.1% of 78 vehicles) occurred in the vertical-sign-plus-message condition. Illegal parking subsequently increased to 34.6% (of 94 vehicles) when the message sign was removed, followed by an increase to 65.2% (of 105 vehicles) when the vertical signs were removed.     

Generating makes words memorable,but so does effective reading

In many experiments, memorial benefits have been found when subjects generate items from fragments rather than read items in their complete forms. Does generation cause-this-difference, or are subjects disposed to adopt different strategies when generating as opposed to reading? If generating causes the difference, items processed in the same way apart from a generative stage should therefore benefit from that generative stage. Our experiments did result in benefits for generating as opposed to reading, but only when the readers processed the words poorly—by pronouncing them. When the readers processed the items well, by imagining them, generating was no better than reading. A new generation effect was found in meta memory. Subjects thought they would remember more generated items than read items; however, the act of making the prediction entailed meaningful processing, and the generated items were not actually remembered better than the read ones.