Ten Years of Career Development: A Nationwide Study of High School Students

The authors summarize trends for several indicators of student career development collected in 1973 (when career education and career planning programs began to receive renewed emphasis) and again in 1983. The indicators, obtained for nationally representative samples of junior and senior high school students (N = 18,129 in 1973 and 15,432 in 1983), included career-related concerns, career planning involvement, and reactions to career planning services. Among the major trends was a 32% increase in the proportion of 11th graders who reported receiving “some” or “a lot” of career planning help from their schools. Moreover, the proportion of students involved in typical career exploration activities increased significantly over the 10 years of the study. In general, the 10-year trends indicate that schools are having a greater impact on student career development than they were in 1973.     

Counseling Clients with AIDS

The authors discuss issues and suggestions relative to counseling clients with AIDS. Several psychosocial issues are presented, and a psycho-educational model of treatment to meet the needs of AIDS clients is described.     

Effects of Administrator and Participant Sex and Ethnicity on Self-Disclosure

Self-disclosure patterns of Anglo-Americans and Mexican Americans were analyzed according to overall frequency of reported self-disclosure and preferred targets (i.e., mother, father, male friend, female friend). Administrator sex and ethnicity were systematically varied so that the interaction of these variables with participant sex and ethnicity could be investigated. Results revealed that Anglo-Americans reported the most disclosure and Mexican-American men the least. Some suggestions are provided for counselors working with Mexican-American men.     

Psychopathology subtypes and symptom correlates among former prisoners of war

Psychopathology and symptom patterns were studied in 60 former prisoners-of-war (POWs) by administering standardized tests including the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), an adjustment problem checklist, and a structured clinical interview. Most POWs showed marked psychological impairment, but modal profile analysis identified two prototypic MMPI patterns, which differed in pervasiveness and type of psychopathology. Profile subtypes were defined by unique clusters of clinical symptoms and differed in confinement stress severity. The typology of symptoms argues against a homogeneous conceptualization of stress-induced disorders and suggests the need for definition of the severity and subtype of stress phenomena and individual difference factors in responding to trauma.     

Social adjustment in the offspring of parents with bipolar affective disorder

The social adjustment of the adolescent offspring of parents with bipolar affective disorder (n=41) was compared to that of the offspring of parents with nonaffective psychiatric disorders (n=22) and the offspring of normal controls (n=26). In addition, the relationship between social adjustment and cyclothymia in offspring was determined. Social adjustment was assessed using the Life Activities Inventory, a new measure developed to assess social functioning in adolescents and young adults. Cyclothymia was assessed with the General Behavior Inventory. As a group, the offspring of bipolar parents did not differ significantly from either control group on social adjustment. However, the cyclothymic offspring of bipolar parents exhibited significantly poorer social adjustment than the noncyclothymic offspring of bipolars and the offspring of psychiatric and normal controls. These findings suggest that poor social functioning in the adolescent offspring of parents with bipolar illness may be associated with the early manifestations of affective disorder. In addition, these data indicate that despite its subsyndromal intensity, cyclothymia can result in significant social impairment.This study was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Grant MH-39782 to Daniel N. Klein and NIMH Grants MH-33083 and MH-37195 to Richard A. Depue.     

Spontaneous alternation behavior in animals: A review

Factors affecting spontaneous alternation behavior (SAB) in animals, for example, age, gender and species studied; type of apparatus and cues employed; and neuro-anatomical, neuro-chemical and motivational status of the organism, were reviewed. Despite a myriad of experiments showing interesting main effects of such variables, little research has been performed assessing the interactive affects of these factors on alternation behavior. For example, psychologists test rats in central nervous system (CNS) lesion studies, whereas psychopharmacologists tend to assess SAB in mice. Most importantly, studies have not been reported investigating the possible interactions among species, brain lesions and drugs. This is an unfortunate omission since several important alternation models include propositions relating to cholinergic and/or serotonergic coding in the hippocampus. Examination of behavioral studies revealed the primary cue for alternation among invertebrates to be body turn, whereas vertebrates rely primarily on directional and odor cues. Reference to the seeking of stimulus change remains the most compelling motivational account of why animals manifest this ubiquitious and reliable behavior pattern. This review and the unpublished studies were supported by Research Grants MH16962, MH21288, and MH36491 from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Wake Forest University Research and Publication Fund.     

The process of scapegoating in a neonatal nurses' group

This paper reviews the literature on scapegoating, elaborating on the underlying mechanisms before describing the process of scapegoating as it occurred in a neonatal nurse support group. Illustrative vignettes are used to discuss how scapegoating was used by group members to avoid painful feelings arising from their care of extremely ill infants. Group process is related to the stages of the group's development as feelings were addressed more directly and the need to use scapegoating as a defense decreased.     

Effects of sex role identity and sex on definitions of sexual harassment

Individuals' own definitions of sexual harassment ultimately influence the success of their companies in responding to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) guidelines against sexual harassment. Previous research has consistently shown that women see more sexual harassment than do men. However, sex differences in definitions of sexual harassment could be explained by sex role identity. Results from a study of undergraduate business students and MBA students holding full-time jobs instead reaffirmed the existence of a sex effect and revealed the presence of a Sex X Masculinity interaction effect. Subjects' femininity had a minor effect on their definitions of sexual harassment.A previous version of this article was presented at the Academy of Management Meeting, Dallas, August, 1983. Appreciation is extended to Lisa A. Film for her assistance with data analysis.     

A model for courseware development in psychology

Many behavioral scientists are aware of the advantages of a systematic approach to research and the development of software used in research. However, coordinated and systematic efforts to develop instructional materials in the behavioral sciences are relatively rare. This paper and the symposium of which it is a part describe a systematic effort funded by FIPSE to assess the needs for microcomputer tools and courseware in the undergraduate curriculum in psychology and to stimulate the development of high-quality materials. The conceptual bases for development of materials are vertical and horizontal integration-the development of courseware that spans the curriculum from introductory to advanced, specialized, courses, and the systematic use of materials within a course and across courses and subject areas. The activities of the project, as well as implications for other computer-based development projects, are discussed.