Teacher ratings of children's problem and competence behaviors: Normative and parametric characteristics

Teacher-rated adjustment differences among young elementary school children from (a) a recent sample and a 1974 cohort, and (b) urban/suburban, male/female, and grade-level subgroups were examined. A problem behavior checklist (Classroom Adjustment Rating Scale) and a school competence measure (Health Resources Inventory) for 974 children from 5 urban and 5 suburban schools were completed by 101 first- to fourth-grade teachers. Children from the more current cohort were rated as significantly more maladjusted than those from the earlier sample on 8 of 10 adjustment variables. In the recent sample, girls and suburban children evidenced a greater number of school competencies and fewer problem behaviors than boys and urban children, respectively. The implications of these findings for the future use of the teacher rating scales are discussed.     

Gay women,men, and families in rural settings: Toward the development of helping communities

The urban biases of empirical research on gay men, women, and families have resulted in minimal knowledge about gay people in rural settings. The diversity of lives of rural gay women and men and the variety of patterns of meeting the challenges of rural living are described. Processes of help-seeking and help-giving are discussed and the need for a helping community of family, friends, and caring others is affirmed. Collaboration between rural gay people and rural community psychologists is suggested to promote the development of helping communities for gay people and thereby initiate a process of change in rural settings.     

Modification of Type A behavior through aerobic exercise

This psychophysiological evaluation of an aerobic exercise program examined specifically whether aerobic training modified Pattern A for those individuals at behavioral risk for developing coronary heart disease, i.e., young Type A individuals. At pretest and posttest of this secondary prevention study, Type A and Type B subjects were assessed in three conditions: aerobic exercise program, nonaerobic activity (Aikido, a martial art) control, and notreatment control. After 10 weeks, Type A but not Type B subjects exhibited lower Pattern A behavior in the aerobic program than in control conditions. Average workout pulse rates and differentially reliable increases in aerobic capacity indicated that aerobic training was indeed aerobic, whereas aikido activity was not. Even though selected nonaerobic factors, such as locus of control and group participation, did not mediate the Pattern A decrease for Type A's when comparing aikido and aerobic conditions, changes in aerobic capacity may have been the mediator. Generalizability of the results and implications for theoretical development and clinical intervention are discussed.     

Sex differences in household labor time a comparison of rural and urban couples

A sample of 440 full-time employed couples from 11 states was examined to determine the differences between time spent on housework by husbands and wives in rural and urban areas. More time is spent in housework in rural families than in urban families because time spent in housework is greater for rural women than for urban women, while rural and urban husbands' times do not differ. Education of spouses, job status differentials, and age of the younger child do not significantly interact with rural-urban residence and sex of the spouse. However, family income does significantly influence the relationship between time spent on housework for rural and urban husbands and wives.     

New perspectives on child and adolescent depression

The Children's Depression Index (CDI) was administered to a group of 304 regular school students in Grades 3–12. It was found that 21% of the students reported mild to moderate levels and 7% reported severe levels of depression. Females reported more overall depression than did males. Specific CDI items selected more frequently by females than by males supports previous work suggesting that females tend to internalize difficulties whereas males are more likely to externalize problems. There were no age differences associated with overall depression; however, there were some developmental differences in specific items cited. Finally, “red flags” were identified that may be helpful in spotting children suffering from severe levels of depression.     

Spiritual issues in mental health care

Religious and spiritual issues in mental health are explored in the context of four conceptual models: the medical, the nursing, the humanistic, and the pastoral. This is done by looking at each model in terms of content, diagnostic focus, language and treatment goals, and primary qualities in the health provider.The models are illustrated by case studies gathered from a multidisciplinary setting. The discovery that each model can incorporate the religious and spiritual dimension in mental health care, but that each model does this in distinctive ways, is a key point.     

Observers’ sensitivity to dynamic anomalies in collisions

The present study examined observers’ ability to discriminate canonical and dynamically anomalous collisions that were presented in either frictionless or frictional systems. Whereas previous research has provided qualitative demonstrations that dynamic information can be extracted from visual events, the current study provides a parametric assessment of observers’ sensitivity to dynamic invariants. Our findings indicate that observers are competent when viewing both familiar, terrestrial (frictional) systems and unfamiliar but computationally simpler, 0-G (frictionless) systems. Thus, our sensitivity to these dynamic invariants in visual events is robust in natural systems whose dynamic properties differ from those of the environment in which we evolved and developed.     

Reactions to Patients' Self-or Chance-Blaming Attributions for Illnesses Having Varying Life-style Involvement

The effects of the perceived accuracy of attributions of self blame and chance blame were examined in the context of health care. Health practitioners ( N = 147) rated interviews in which patients made self-or chance-blaming attributions for diseases with high (heart attack, stroke), or low (cancer, arthritis) life-style involvement, or acidental injuries. Three discriminant analyses yielded p < .001. Self-blaming heart and stroke patients were rated as coping better and acting more appropriately and typically than chance blamers. Other self blamers were rated as more depressed, poorly adjusted, coping poorly, not accepting disability, needing counselling and information. Additionally, self-blaming accident victims were judged as more dependent, less likeable, and having poorer prognoses than chance blamers. Realistic self blame for life-style diseases did not lead to victimization, but other self-blaming patients were stigmatized and the adaptiveness of self blame as a coping strategy was unrecognized.     

Another look at the effects of the system of multicultural pluralistic assessment

The purpose of this study was (a) to determine if a declassification occurs when estimated learning potential (ELP) is used in reevaluation of special education students and (b) to assess the effects of the use of ELP by multidisciplinary teams. Subjects included 107 black and 13 white students (83 males and 37 females) referred for reevaluation from classes for the mentally retarded. Data analysis consisted of determining the percentage of students who would be classified as mentally retarded according to the main criterion of (a) Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) scores, or (b) ELP scores, or (c) multidisciplinary teams' placement. A chi-square test of independence indicated a significant difference between WISC-R and ELP scores; and between multidisciplinary teams' placement and ELP scores (p<.05). Students already in special education classes for the mentally retarded were not determined to be ineligible for services by multidisciplinary teams, even though 15% of the students would be ineligible for services according to ELP scores.