Journalistic bias toward new religious movements in Australia

Earlier research in America and elsewhere has shown considerable bias and misinformation in media coverage of so‐called “new religions”; (sometimes referred to as ‘cults'). This paper reports mostly qualitative research which raises questions about the overall objectivity and neutrality of journalists covering such groups. The paper includes discussion of specific episodes of media bias concerning new and minority religions in Australia, as well as other research from that country. A situation which involved an Australian journalist facing ethics charges in relation to a story written about a number of groups referred to as ‘cults’ is included, as a development with implications about how journalists treat such phenomena.     

Measures of effect size

Two different approaches have been used to derive measures of effect size. One approach is based on the comparison of treatment means. The standardized mean difference is an appropriate measure of effect size when one is merely comparing two treatments, but there is no satisfactory analogue for comparing more than two treatments. The second approach is based on the proportion of variance in the dependent variable that is explained by the independent variable. Estimates have been proposed for both fixed-factor and random-factor designs, but their sampling properties are not well understood. Nevertheless, measures of effect size can allow quantitative comparisons to be made across different studies, and they can be a useful adjunct to more traditional outcome measures such as test statistics and significance levels.     

The public's perception of psychotherapy and counseling: Differential views on the effectiveness of psychologists,psychiatrists, and other providers

This study examined the public's perceptions relative to the effectiveness of psychotherapy and counseling, expectations of treatment efficacy for different psychotherapy and counseling providers (i.e., clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, counselors, general medical practitioners, marital and family therapists, psychiatrists, self-help groups, and social workers), professional characteristics, and factors that may influence treatment utilization in an adult population. The sample viewed psychotherapy or counseling as moderately effective and perceived psychotherapy/counseling to be effective for 26 to 50 percent of all cases. The perceived amount of time necessary for noticeable improvement in psychotherapy or counseling was approximately four months, and the expected necessary length of treatment was approximately eight months. Participants stated they were moderately willing to seek psychotherapy or counseling if they were to experience a mental problem, and reported discernible differences among the eight psychotherapy/counseling providers in terms of treatment efficacy. Differences were also found in the relative perception of providers' personal/professional qualities and characteristics.     

Peer relationships as a source of support for adolescent mothers

There is speculation that the pregnancy and parenthood of adolescent mothers cause changes in their peer relationships such that their peers become less able to provide support. Little empirical evidence exists to support such speculation. The authors assessed the relative amounts and types of support provided by friends and relatives to adolescent mothers, and examined peer support in relation to parenting stress. Invitations were sent to all 480 women recruited through public access birth records in two northeastern Ohio counties who were 19 years old and younger and who had given birth to their first child during the previous nine months. The counties incorporate urban, suburban, and rural communities. 66 women volunteered, of whom 46 eventually participated in the study. They were aged 13-19 years (mean age, 17.43 years) at the birth of their child. Approximately 66% were White and 12 were married. Of the 36 women who reported their family income, 88% reported yearly income of less than $20,000; of those, 15 reported income of less than $5000. 28 of the adolescent mothers were unemployed. 22 were enrolled in school at the time of data collection. Of the 24 who were not enrolled in school, 15 had already completed 12th grade. The Inventory of Social Contacts measured levels of perceived child-rearing, emotional, and material support and interference from family and friends, while the Parenting Stress Index assessed self-reported parenting stress arising from child and parent characteristics. Results of repeated-measures ANOVAs and Pearson correlations indicate that, compared to family, friends provide more emotional support and less interference. Parenting stress is buffered more effectively by the support provided by friends.     

THE NATURALNESS OF CREATION AND REDEMPTIVE INTERESTS IN THEOLOGY,SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY

Abstract. This paper advances ways in which the understandings of “nature” and “creation” can be seen to overlap through specialized relations between humans and their environment. The hope of redemption of nature, united with evidences of grace in the advancements of science, can become helpful guides toward a theological interpretation of technology and the emerging character of human relations with nature.     

Anxiety and unrealistic optimism

Substantial evidence suggest that people tend to be unrealistically optimistic that positive events will happen to them and that negative events will not. However, recent research indicates that under certain conditions they may be unrealistically pessimistic. Variations in the levels of optimism and pessimism experienced towards events are generally given cognitive explanations. A relation between optimism and pessimism and anxiety, a variable related to emotion as well as cognition, was investigated in the present study. An inverse correlation was found between how anxious female students in England felt about certain negative events and how unrealistically optimistic they were about the occurrence of those events. It was concluded that the degree of anxiety experienced toward a negative event may affect the level of unrealistic optimism or pessimism toward it.     

Performance in free recall following rupture and repair of intracranial aneurysm

There have been many reports of global memory disorder following rupture and repair of intracranial aneurysms. These reports suggest a more anterior basis for the amnesic syndrome than the various sites in the diencephalon and the temporal lobe that have so far been implicated. Patients from a consecutive series of 76 cases of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage demonstrated a moderate deficit in free recall, but aneurysms at different sites within the cerebrovascular system did not produce significantly different degrees of impairment. The results are consistent with the idea that aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage gives rise to diffuse cerebral damage, and do not necessitate any revision of conventionally accepted accounts of the neuropathology of amnesic conditions.