Perceived Overqualification, Emotional Support, and Health

In the present study, we examined the effects of perceived overqualification on health and the moderating effect of emotional support. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses found 2 indicators of perceived overqualification: "mismatch" and "no-grow." Perceived mismatch had a significant negative effect on health but perceived no-grow did not. The main effect revealed that the greater the perceived emotional support, the greater the health. The significant interaction of perceived emotional support and mismatch, and perceived emotional support and no-grow on health indicates that the negative effects of overqualification on health was greater for those perceiving low emotional support than for those perceiving high emotional support. The significance of social support in illuminating the relationship between perceived overqualification and health are discussed.     

LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF PROCRASTINATION, PERFORMANCE, STRESS, AND HEALTH:

Abstract— Procrastination is variously described as harmful, innocuous, or even benefical. Two longitudinal studies examined procrastination among students. Procrastinators reported lower stress and less illness than nonprocrastinators early in the semester, but they reported higher stress and more illness late in the term, and overall they were sicker. Procrastination thus appears to be a self-defeating behavior pattern marked by short-term benefits and long-term costs.     

Effect of Persuasive Appeals in AIDS PSAs and Condom Commercials on Intentions to Use Condoms1

The study compared the effect of five persuasive appeals used in AIDS PSAs and condom commercials (fear arousal-no sex/condom theme; fear arousal-sex/condom theme; erotic; humorous; factual) on 122 male and 114 female college students' i]ntentions to use and taking of condoms. Results showed that the two fear appeals were more effective than other appeals in increasing intentions to use condoms with a new partner. The fear appeal–no sex/condom theme was more effective than other appeals for increasing intentions to use condoms with a steady partner. Compared to men, women rated commercials as more effective for increasing intentions to use condoms with a new partner. Persuasive appeals had no effect on the taking of free condoms. The best predictor of commercial effectiveness was the degree to which a commercial evoked a high fear of AIDS. Other significant predictors were subjects' a]ttitude toward condom use and commercial qualities of being humorous, romantic, credible, and factual. Implications are that all five types of appeals are potentially effective for use in AIDS PSAs. Recommendations include combining appeals (e.g. fear with erotic) and emphasizing the positive features of condom use.     

Evaluating the Impact of a National AIDS Prevention Radio Campaign in St. Vincent and the Grenadines1

Based on extensive formative research in the three Eastern Caribbean countries of St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada (Fishbein, Middlestadt, & Trafimow, 1993; Fishbein, Trafimow, et al., 1993), a three-nation, mass media, condom use campaign was developed. In order to assess the impact of the campaign, a follow-up survey was conducted in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This paper examines the effectiveness of the campaign by comparing responses on this survey by respondents who were or were not exposed to the campaign. A statistically significant impact of exposure to the campaign was obtained, indicating that a well-designed, empirically based, mass media campaign can be an effective tool in the battle to prevent the spread of AIDS.     

Exposure-based models of human parsing: Evidence for the use of coarse-grained (nonlexical) statistical records

Several current models of human parsing maintain that initial structural decisions are influenced (or tuned) by the listener's or reader's prior contact with language. The precise workings of these models depend upon the grain, or level of detail, at which previous exposures to language are analyzed and used to influence parsing decisions. Some models are premised upon the use of fine-grained records (such as lexical cooccurrence statistics). Others use coarser measures. The present paper considers the viability of models based exclusively on the use of fine-grained lexical records. The results of several studies are reviewed and the evidence suggests that, if they are to account for the data, experience-based parsers must draw upon records or representations that capture statistical regularities beyond the lexical level. This poses problems for several parsing models in the literature.Aspects of this work were supported by ESRC grant No. R0023 4062 to Don Mitchell, by a Spanish Government grant DGICVT No. PB-92-0656-C04-02 to Fernando Cuetos, and by the Belgian National Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, of which Marc Brysbaert is a Research Associate. We are grateful to Chuck Clifton, Barbara Hemforth, Martin Pickering, Matt Traxler, and an anonymous reviewer-all of whom made helpful comments on an earlier draft of the paper.     

Suicide attempts in twins whose co-twins' deaths were non-suicides

Familial similarity for suicidal behavior has been interpreted by psychosocially oriented researchers as reflecting extreme grief following loss. This view would anticipate a higher frequency of attempted suicide among bereaved MZ than DZ twins (regardless of cause of death), given their generally increased social closeness. Alternatively, support for a genetic influence on suicidal behavior has been provided by findings of greater concordance among monozygotic (MZ) than dizygotic (DZ) twins, and among biological than adoptive relatives. This approach predicts that the occurrence of suicidal attempts among bereaved MZ and DZ twins whose co-twins deaths were non-suicides should not differ and should be low in frequency, given an absence of predisposing genetic factors. Attempted suicide was compared in 166 MZ and 79 DZ twins whose co-twins' deaths were non-suicides. Suicidal attempts (during the first two months following the loss) were recalled by 3 MZ twins (1.8%) and by 3 DZ twins (3.7%), a difference that was not significant. The present study, together with previous twin and adoption studies, supports the view that concordance for suicide among family members reflects a common genetic predisposition to suicidal behavior.     

Aesthetic preference and DSM-IIIR personality disorders

This report tested whether those individuals with a cluster B DSM-IIIR personality disorder (narcissistic, borderline, antisocial or histrionic) had higher scores for aesthetic preference for visually complex drawings using the Barron-Welch Art Scale. In a sample of 141 patients and controls, the 56 subjects who met the criteria for one of the cluster B personality disorder diagnoses displayed higher Barron-Welch Art Scale Scores. A multiple regression analysis showed that narcissistic and borderline personality disorder contributed positively, while dependent personality disorder, negatively to preference for complexity. The findings support the notion that aesthetic choices and values reflected through the dimension of openness to experience may contribute to the behavioral manifestations of the personality disorders.     

PREVENTION OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN SCHOOLCHILDREN:

Abstract— After teaching cognitive and social-problem-solving techniques designed to prevent depressive symptoms, we followed 69 fifth- and sixth-grade children at risk for depression for 2 years. We compared these children with 49 children in a matched no-treatment control group The prevention group re- ported fewer depressive symptoms through the 2-year follow-up, and moderate to severe symptoms were reduced by half. Surprisingly, the effects of the prevention program grew larger after the program was over. We suggest that psychological immunization against depression can occur by leaching cognitive and social skills to children as they enter puberty     

Children’s reading skills: A comparison of traditional and computerized assessment

Student’s ability to read computer text was investigated by comparing reading performance on decoding and phonetics tests of the Woodcock-Johnson (Revised) Tests of Achievement, Forms A and B. Fifty-one students completed one form of the reading tests through the traditional administration method and a second form using computer administration. Initial form and administration order were counterbalanced. Coefficients of equivalence of .91 and .86 were obtained for traditional and computer administration methods of the two tests. The results are interpreted as indicating that computer-administered reading tests can assess the same domains as traditional measures, and that they may become increasingly important in the complete assessment of functional reading skills.