Structure and organization of research efforts following the bombing of the murrah building

Abstract

In the days and weeks following the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19,1995, Oklahoma state authorities, university faculty and staff, and leading experts from across the nation formed a coalition to address issues of clinical service delivery, educational intervention, and research. This article focuses on the centralized approach applied to the administration of research endeavors. This centralization was designed to minimize revictimization of both survivors and affected families, enhance the quality of data collected, and facilitate cooperation between participating investigators. The resultant set of projects includes a variety of research methodologies and study populations and will serve to significantly enhance understanding of the mental health sequelae of such disasters.     

The Prediction of Students' Satisfaction with Community College Vocational Training

The present study was conducted with 1,632 college vocational students in North Carolina to test the job satisfaction postulate of Rusbult's (1980a) investment model. The model postulate, that satisfaction is a function of perceived positive and negative outcomes, received support and proved to be defensible even after controlling for a broad array of situational variables. This postulate has also received empirical support from studies of satisfaction with business relationships, friendships, and romantic associations. The present study also introduced a new measure of outcomes: the Perceived Outcomes of College Life measure.     

The predictive validity of cognitive complexity measures on social perspective-taking and counseling communication

We compared the predictive validity of two cognitive complexity measures on two communication-relevant abilities: social perspective-taking and person-centered counseling. Forty-six undergraduates completed versions of Crockett's Role Category Questionnaire and Bieri et al.'s repertory grid task to measure cognitive complexity. Measures of social perspective-taking ability and person-centered counseling messages were also obtained from the subjects. Whereas Crockett's complexity measure was significantly and consistently related to the communication-related measures, Bieri's complexity measure was only marginally related to these same measures.     

Prevalence,correlates, and psychosocial outcomes of sport participation in young adult cancer survivors

Young adult cancer survivors (YACS) face unique challenges from their disease and treatments that may influence their sport participation choices as well as their psychosocial response.ObjectivesTo examine the prevalence, correlates, and psychosocial outcomes of sport participation in YACS.DesignA provincial, population-based mailed survey of 588 YACS in Alberta, Canada, was completed in May 2008 and included measures of sport participation, psychosocial health (depression, self-esteem, and stress), quality of life (QoL), and medical and demographic variables.ResultsOne third (32.5%) of YACS reported participating in a sport in the past month with the most common being golf (40.8%) and ice hockey (8.3%). YACS participating in sport reported an average frequency of 1.7 (SD = 1.0) days/week and an average duration of 119 min/session (SD = 68) for a total of 189 (SD = 164) min/week. Independent t-tests showed that YACS who participated in sport reported better psychosocial health and QoL including physical QoL (p < 0.001), mental QoL (p < 0.001), self-esteem (p < 0.001), depression (p < 0.001), and stress (p < 0.001). In multivariate regression analysis, 8.5% (p < 0.001) of the variance in sport participation was explained by being male (β = 0.17, p < 0.001), Caucasian (β = 0.15, p = 0.001), in better general health (β = 0.15, p < 0.001), and having a normal body mass index (β = ?0.10, p = 0.024).Discussion/conclusionsSport participation is associated with better psychosocial health and QoL in YACS but only a third participated in the past month. Randomized controlled trials examining sport as an intervention strategy to increase physical activity and improve health outcomes in YACS are warranted.     

Socio-spatial cognition in vervet monkeys

Safety in numbers is thought to be the principal advantage of living in groups for many species. The group can only provide protection against predators, however, when group cohesion is maintained. Vocalisations are used to monitor inter-individual distances, especially under conditions of poor visibility, but should be avoided in the presence of predators. Mentally tracking the movements of silent and invisible group members would allow animals foraging in dense vegetation to stay close to their group members while reducing the use of vocal contact. We tested the socio-spatial cognitive abilities of wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) by comparing their reactions to plausible and implausible displacements of group members simulated by sound playbacks. Our methods are comparable to those used in studies of ‘object permanence’ and ‘invisible displacements’ of inanimate objects. Our results show that vervets can track the whereabouts of invisibly and silently moving group members, at least over short periods of time.     

Discourse on medicine: meditative and calculative approaches to ethics from an international perspective

Heidegger’s two modes of thinking, calculative and meditative, were used as the thematic basis for this qualitative study of physicians from seven countries (Canada, China, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, & Thailand). Focus groups were conducted in each country with 69 physicians who cared for the elderly. Results suggest that physicians perceived ethical issues primarily through the lens of calculative thinking (76%) with emphasis on economic concerns. Meditative responses represented 24% of the statements and were mostly generated by Canadian physicians whose patients typically were not faced with economic barriers to treatment due to Canada’s universal health care system.