Family satisfaction with medical care after traumatic brain injury

Ratings during acute and follow-up care by 35 families having members with traumatic brain injury showed none of the medical facilities met families' needs though some aspects of patients' care were rated higher in hospitals. Findings suggest comprehensive surveys are needed.     

Harming future people

Hanser examines Derek Parfit's contention in his treatise on rationalism, Reasons and Persons (Oxford University Press; 1984) that acts that are not reproductive in nature can nonetheless predictably affect the identities of future people, and that this fact has unexpected and important consequences for ethical theory. Hanser argues tht this fact is not as significant as Parfit believes it to be. The arguments of both scholars concern the morality of choices that, while causing future persons to be badly off, do not make them worse off than they would have been if the choices had not been made. Hanser concludes his essay with a discussion of responsibility for acts that will affect the health of future offspring.     

Do substance abuse and mental health clients prefer automated assessments?

In both psychiatric and substance-abuse services, clinicians have been concerned with the introduction of automated assessments and with their clients’ reactions toward those assessments. The positive reactions of psychiatric clients have been well documented, but little has been known about substance-abusing clients’ impressions of automated assessments. The impact of automated assessment on clients seeking substance-abuse services was evaluated and compared with a previously analyzed sample of clients seeking mental health services. On the whole, both groups responded similarly and positively to automated assessments. Factor analyses revealed three underlying dimensions in client attitudes toward automated assessment,Completeness and satisfaction,Ease of use and enjoyment, andNegative attitudes. In addition, statistically, though not clinically, significant differences in attitudes were found between various demographic groups. Overall, the results support the use of automated assessments with individuals seeking either substance-abuse or mental-health services.     

Clinical pragmatism: a method of moral problem solving

This paper presents a method of moral problem solving in clinical practice that is inspired by the philosophy of John Dewey. This method, called "clinical pragmatism," integrates clinical and ethical decision making. Clinical pragmatism focuses on the interpersonal processes of assessment and consensus formation as well as the ethical analysis of relevant moral considerations. The steps in this method are delineated and then illustrated through a detailed case study. The implications of clinical pragmatism for the use of principles in moral problem solving are discussed.     

The psychology of christian prayer: a review ofempirical research

This paper presents, discusses and evaluates empirical studies concerned with Christian prayer. These studies are classified within four main areas. The first area concerns what is known about the practice of prayer from empirical surveys and demonstrates that a much higher proportion of people pray privately than attend public places of worship. The second area concerns what is known about changing patterns of prayer during childhood and adolescence and argues that these changes need to be interpreted within the context of both developmental and social psychology. The third area concerns the subjective effects of prayer, beginning with Galton's early observations concerning the comparative longevity of the clergy (who are regarded as praying people) and including more recent studies of the psychological correlates of self-reported prayer, like personal well-being and purpose in life. It is concluded that, while such studies may demonstrate the beneficial nature of prayer, they cannot demonstrate the causal efficacy of prayer. The fourth area concerns the objective effects of prayer, beginning with Galton's early observations concerning the absence of comparative longevity among royalty (who are regarded as prayed for people) and including more recent studies of the growth correlates of prayer for pot plants. It is concluded that such studies currently provide contradictory evidence. It is recommended that further research in the field needs both to observe the strict criteria of objective empirical research and to be alert to theological nuances regarding the actual claims made for the efficacy of prayer within the community of believers.     

An investigation of the effects of comorbid Axis II pathology on outcome of inpatient treatment for unipolar depression

DSM-based research on comorbidity has suggested thatdepression andpersonality disorder frequently occur together and that the combination of syndromes is associated with a poor response to treatment for depression. The present study was designed to explore the effect of comorbid Axis II pathology for a sample of 45 inpatients who received treatment for major depression. Both categorical and dimensional ratings of personality disorder were used in the statistical analysis. Positive categorical diagnosis of Cluster C (anxious-avoidant) disorder, as well as higher dimensional rating of Cluster A (odd-eccentric) pathology, was predictive of a poor response to treatment (p<.05), as measured by change in pre-post clinical ratings on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale. These results were construed as indicative of a significant Axis II comorbidity effect in the context of an inpatient, multimodal treatment setting for depression. The results also spotlight the influence of techniques of measurement in determining the outcome of statistical analysis.     

Children’s reading skills: A comparison of traditional and computerized assessment

Student’s ability to read computer text was investigated by comparing reading performance on decoding and phonetics tests of the Woodcock-Johnson (Revised) Tests of Achievement, Forms A and B. Fifty-one students completed one form of the reading tests through the traditional administration method and a second form using computer administration. Initial form and administration order were counterbalanced. Coefficients of equivalence of .91 and .86 were obtained for traditional and computer administration methods of the two tests. The results are interpreted as indicating that computer-administered reading tests can assess the same domains as traditional measures, and that they may become increasingly important in the complete assessment of functional reading skills.     

Social reinforcement of operant behavior in rats: a methodological note.

An apparatus was developed to study social reinforcement in the rat. Four Long-Evans female rats were trained to press a lever via shaping, with the reinforcer being access to a castrated male rat. Responding under a fixed-ratio schedule and in extinction was also observed. Social access was found to be an effective reinforcer. When social reinforcement was compared with food reinforcement under similar conditions of deprivation and reinforcer duration, no significant differences were observed.     

Antecedents and Consequences of Victimization of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young People: A Structural Model Comparing Rural University and Urban Samples

Research indicates that antigay victimization is widespread and that lesbian, gay, and bisexual young people may be very vulnerable to such victimization. The current study builds upon previous work by Hershberger and D'Augelli (1995), who studied the consequences of sexual orientation-based victimization in 194 urban lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths. Using structural equation modeling, the present study models both antecedents and consequences (including psychological distress, self-esteem, and suicidality) of victimization via a secondary analysis of their data set. In addition, a second sample of 54 lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths from a rural university setting was examined to cross-validate and generalize the relationships found in urban settings. Results indicated that a revised model of victimization exhibited sufficient fit to the urban sample data and provided preliminary support for the generalizability of the model beyond the initial sample. Additional similarities were found between the urban and rural university community samples, including a high prevalence of reported suicide attempts: 42% of the urban sample and 32% of the rural university sample had attempted suicide at least once. Results indicated that victimization based on sexual orientation has similar correlates for young people in different community settings.