Level validity of self-report whole-family measures

This article introduces an approach to testing the level validity of family assessment instruments (i.e., whether a family instrument measures family functioning at the level of the system it purports to assess). Two parents and 2 adolescents in 69 families rated the warmth in each of their family relationships and in the family as a whole. Family members' ratings of whole-family warmth assessed family functioning not only at the family level (i.e., characteristics of the family as a whole) but also at the individual level of analysis (i.e., characteristics of family members as raters), indicating a lack of level validity. Evidence was provided for the level validity of a latent variable based on family members' ratings of whole-family warmth. The findings underscore the importance of assessing the level validity of individual ratings of whole-family functioning.     

Spousal caregiver confidence and recovery from ambulatory activity limitations in stroke survivors.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether spousal confidence in care-recipient recovery can predict recovery from activity limitations following stroke and how spousal confidence relates to stroke survivor self-efficacy for recovery. DESIGN: A prospective design was used. Measures were gathered from stroke survivor/spouse dyads at two time points, both postdischarge from the hospital following stroke (N=109). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The dependent variable was recovery from ambulatory activity limitations over 6 weeks, as measured by the Functional Limitations Profile. A single spousal confidence item was tailored to an ambulatory behavior that the stroke survivors could not perform at Time 1. RESULTS: Spousal confidence was correlated with ambulation recovery (r=-0.23, p<.05) and stroke survivor self-efficacy for recovery (r=.25, p<.05). Higher spousal confidence was associated with a better recovery and greater stroke survivor self-efficacy for recovery, but not with initial health status or practical support received. CONCLUSION: The relationship between caregiver confidence, care-recipient self-efficacy for recovery, and recovery outcomes needs further elucidation.     

ENTHEOGENS,MYSTICISM, AND NEUROSCIENCE

Entheogens or psychedelic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin are associated with mystical states of experience. Drug laws currently limit research, but important new work is under way at major biomedical research facilities showing that entheogens reliably occasion mystical experiences and thereby allow research into brain states during these experiences. Are drug‐occasioned mystical experiences neurologically the same as more traditional mystical states? Are there phenomenological and theological differences? As this research goes forward and the public becomes more widely aware of its achievements, religious scholars and experts in science and religion will be called upon to interpret the philosophical and theological presuppositions that underpin this research and the significance of the findings that flow from it.     

Perspectives on relapse prevention: An exploratory study

This article explores the hypothesis that factors associated with relapse early in a quit attempt may lose their predictive power over time. Participants were 195 recent ex-smokers calling a telephone Quitline. Quitters were interviewed, then re-interviewed three weeks later to determine outcome (relapse or maintenance of attempt). There was strong evidence for a discontinuity in prediction of outcome between those who quit for less than one week, or who reported at least daily strong urges to smoke and those who quit for more than a week who reported less than daily strong urges to smoke. Several variables, including self-efficacy and scales of positive social and negative affect temptations, reversed predictive value. This study provides evidence of a perspective or stage within the Action stage of the TTM. More work is required to confirm both the findings and the exact nature of the discontinuity point.