Relationships between quality of life,spiritual well-being,and psychological adjustment styles for people living with leukaemia: An exploratory study

This paper reports on the relationships between quality of life, spiritual well-being, and psychological adjustment styles for people living with leukaemia. Participants were 40 adults (26 women and 14 men) aged between 22 and 80 years living with acute or chronic leukaemia in Western Australia. Participants completed three scales measuring spiritual well-being (FACIT-Sp-12-C Version 4; Cella, 1997 Cella, D. 1997. “Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) Manual, Version 4”. In Chicago: Center on Outcomes Research and Education CORE, Evanston, Chicago: Northwestern Healthcare and Northwestern University.  [Google Scholar]), psychological adjustment styles (MAC; Watson, Greer, & Bliss, 1989 Watson, M, Greer, S and Bliss, JM. 1989. Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) Scale: User's manual, London: CRC Psychological Medicine Research Group The Royal Marsden Hospital.  [Google Scholar]), and quality of life (FACIT-G; Cella, 1997 Cella, D. 1997. “Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) Manual, Version 4”. In Chicago: Center on Outcomes Research and Education CORE, Evanston, Chicago: Northwestern Healthcare and Northwestern University.  [Google Scholar]). No differences were found between the men and women participants, with the exception of the anxious preoccupation adjustment style. Significant positive correlations were found between spiritual well-being and quality of life (r?=?0.72, p?=?<0.01), and between fighting spirit and both spiritual well-being (r?=?0.55, p?<?0.01) and quality of life (r?=?0.67, p?<?0.01). Spiritual well-being and quality of life were both significantly negatively correlated with hopelessness/helplessness, fatalism, and anxious preoccupation, suggesting that people who are able to find meaning in their illness are more likely to utilize functional psychological adjustment styles. A stepwise multiple regression revealed that spiritual well-being was most strongly associated with quality of life for people living with leukaemia, followed by a fighting spirit; together, these accounted for 61% of the variance in quality of life scores. Thus, having a reason for living, making life more productive, finding comfort in faith or spiritual beliefs, being determined to control the environment, and feeling a sense of meaning, peace, harmony, purpose, and comfortable in oneself are factors that contribute to a better quality of life among patients with leukaemia. Strengths, limitations, and implications of the findings are discussed.     

Career guidance in Northern Ireland: retrospect and prospect

The history of careers guidance in Northern Ireland has many similarities but also many differences from experiences in other parts of the UK. The Careers Service has remained within central government for the duration, and this has provided a degree of consistency in service provision over time. In line with the Department for Employment and Learning's Corporate Plan for 2005-2008, the new Careers Service for Northern Ireland will aspire to be an all-age guidance service. The development of careers education provision in the education sector is examined, as is the emergence of adult guidance as a province-wide provision. Issues considered include staffing, training, evaluation, targeting need, the merits and demerits of locating the Careers Service within the Civil Service, and potentially conflicting responsibilities to clients and to the employing department.     

Examining the relation between PTSD and insomnia on aggression

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and poor sleep have been identified as potential causals factor in aggression, violence, and impulsive behavior. Given the high cost of aggression to society and public health, identifying modifiable factors related to aggression, such as insomnia, may guide treatment strategies to help decrease aggression. Participants were 143 Veterans seeking treatment for PTSD at a VA outpatient PTSD clinic. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relation between PTSD and insomnia on aggression. Results from bivariate analyses indicated that while both PTSD and insomnia severity were associated with higher aggression scores independently, when PTSD and insomnia were examined together, PTSD severity was the only significant predictor of aggression. Interaction effects yielded nonsignificant results suggesting that poor sleep did not moderate the PTSD and aggression relation. Results suggest that addressing PTSD symptoms as a first treatment target may be more important for decreasing risk for aggression than targeting insomnia. More research is needed to understand whether treating PTSD and insomnia reduces aggression in Veterans.     

Disappearance elicited by contrast decrements

The observation that physically present visual stimuli can sometimes disappear from consciousness has intrigued vision scientists for centuries. Two situations are known to cause such disappearance: stationary peripheral images and images (centrally or peripherally viewed) masked by abrupt contrast increments of stimuli in adjacent retinal areas. Both of these situations require near-image stabilization on the retina. Here, we describe a third way to remove stimuli from conscious awareness. It involves contrast decrements (CDs) of nearly stabilized images in the periphery. Unlike the Troxler effect, with sufficient CD, complete disappearance can be achieved almost instantaneously without significant adaptation periods. Unlike traditional masking effects, CD disappearance does not result in an after-image at or near the locus of stimulation. We report the results of four experiments in which some of the characteristics of this newly discovered phenomenon were examined. The results indicate that CDs produced by changes in the luminance of the target (see Experiment 2) or by changes in background luminance (see Experiment 3) result in an immediate loss of sensitivity to stimuli that would take much longer to fade with Troxler-like adaptation (see Experiment 1). However, the duration of such loss of sensitivity (approximately 2 sec) is comparable for the two paradigms. The frequency of disappearance increased with greater contour eccentricity, but disappearance duration remained fairly constant.     

Effects of Self-graphing on Written Expression of Fourth Grade Students with High-Incidence Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of self-graphing on the writing of 3 fourth grade students with high-incidence disabilities. Measures of written expression included total number of words written and number of correct word sequences. During intervention, students self-graphed their total number of words written in response to a timed story starter. A functional relationship was found between the self-graphing intervention and the total words written and number of correct word sequences. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE, CULTURE, AND COPING: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF LATINAS

The purpose of this study was to articulate a model of how Latinas cope with childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and the ways in which personal and cultural variables influence their coping strategies. Nine women who identified as Latina and as survivors of CSA participated in an in-depth interview. The data were analyzed using a grounded theory methodology. Results suggested that participants' coping efforts were influenced by a variety of cultural factors and that they engaged in a wide range of coping behaviors, all of which served two main functions: (1) seeking relief from negative emotions and (2) protecting one's self from further abuse.     

Visual Attention to Antismoking PSAs: Smoking Cues Versus Other Attention‐Grabbing Features

This study examines how addicted smokers attend visually to smoking‐related public service announcements (PSAs) in adults smokers. Smokers' onscreen visual fixation is an indicator of cognitive resources allocated to visual attention. Characteristic of individuals with addictive tendencies, smokers are expected to be appetitively activated by images of their addiction—specifically smoking cues. At the same time, these cues are embedded in messages that associate avoidance responses with these appetitive cues, potentially inducing avoidance of PSA processing. Findings suggest that segments of PSAs that contain smoking cues are processed similarly to segments that contain complex stimuli (operationalized in this case as high in information introduced) and that visual attention is aligned with smoking cues on the screen.