Exposure to community violence and social support as predictors of anxiety and social and emotional behavior among African American children

We examined the effects of exposure to violence and social support on self-reported state and trait anxiety and parental rated problem behaviors among school-aged African-American children in low and high violence areas. Ninety-seven (97) fourth through sixth graders and their parents were interviewed about exposure to community violence, social support, and state and trait anxiety. Results indicate that trait anxiety was correlated positively with exposure to violence and negatively with social support. State anxiety was correlated negatively with family social support. Problem behaviors were correlated negatively with family support and income. Hierarchial multiple regression analyses indicated that children's reports of their exposure to community violence continued to explain significant variability in trait anxiety, and problem behavior after controlling for both income and social support measures. Social support from peers, family and teachers played differential roles in predicting problem behaviors among children from high and lower violence areas. These findings suggest that in planning intervention programs for children exposed to violence, greater attention to empowering parents to support their children, to fostering peer group support, and to bolstering teacher support may be useful, but attention to the underlying socio-political causes of violence exposure is essential.     

Social problem solving: A moderator of the relation between negative life stress and depression symptoms in children

The social problem-solving skill of generating effective alternative solutions was tested as a moderator of the relation between negative life stress and depressed mood in children. Boys ( n= 25) and girls ( n= 25), ages 8 to 12 years, from inner-city, lower socioeconomic group families, completed measures of depression symptoms, negative impact of life events, and quantity and effectiveness of alternative solutions to social problems. Results indicated that the effectiveness of alternative solutions children generate in response to peer social problems moderates the relation between stress and depression. Children who experienced a high impact of negative life events, with less effective social problem-solving skills, reported higher levels of depression compared to children who experienced a high impact of negative life events but exhibited more effective social problem-solving skills. Results are discussed in terms of alternative theoretical models for the mechanisms whereby effective social problem-solving skills moderate stress-related depression.     

PHYSICAL AND PSYCHIATRIC CORRELATES OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION

We tested the model that sexist discrimination, measured by the Schedule of Sexist Events (SSE), would account for additional variance in women's physical and psychiatric symptoms, above and beyond that accounted for by generic stressors. A series of hierarchical regression analyses, predicting symptoms on 10 different symptom outcome measures from generic stress and sexist stress (discrimination) were conducted, with the generic stressors entered on the first step and sexist discrimination on the second. Results revealed that sexist discrimination contributed significantly to the variance in women's symptoms, accounting for additional variance in those symptoms. Furthermore, sexist discrimination accounted for more of the variance than did generic stressors in premenstrual, depressive, obsessive-compulsive, somatic, and total psychiatric and physical symptoms. These findings varied with the age and ethnicity of the women and with the symptom measure used, but nonetheless suggest that sexist discrimination plays a significant role in women's most prevalent symptoms.     

A model for police officer burnout

This article presents an empirically derived model of police officer burnout based on 199 male police officers. A brief review of research on police officer stress is also provided.This chapter is a summary of research conducted by Dr. Alan M. Goodman for his doctoral dissertation entitledA Model for Police Officer Burnout, June 1983, California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego.Alan M. Goodman, Ph.D. obtained his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego, California. In addition, Dr. Goodman is a School Psychologist and is a consultant to several school districts in Southern California. Dr. Goodman has been employed in both inpatient and outpatient mental health settings. Most recently, Dr. Goodman has been a Registered Psychologist at Catholic Community Services in San Diego where he conducted individual, conjoint and family therapy sessions for a varied socioeconomic population, including city service personnel.Dr. Goodman has conducted extensive observations of police officers on the job through the Ride-A-Long program in which non-police personnel may accompany police officers on a particular shift of duty. In addition, he has consulted with numerous police chiefs regarding the various high-risk factors for those police officers who may be experiencing burnout and stress. In addition, intervention strategies in order to alleviate these feelings were discussed with these officials.     

Using Social Cognition and Persuasion to Promote Energy Conservation: A Quasi-Experiment1

A quasi-experiment was conducted to determine if the effectiveness of the R.C.S. Home Energy Audit Program could be improved by training auditors to use social-psychological principles during the audit procedure. Nine experienced home energy auditors attended two 1-day workshops in which they were trained to: (a) communicate vividly; (b) personalize their recommendations to homeowners; (c) induce commitment; and (d) frame their recommendations in terms of “loss” rather than “gain”. The effectiveness of the trained auditors was compared with a control group of experienced auditors who did not receive specific training. Both telephone interview data and utility company records pointed to the success of the auditor training. In interviews, customers served by the trained auditors reported a greater likelihood of acting on the auditors' recommendations, and a large number of these customers reported applying for utility programs to finance retrofits. Utility records validated these customer claims: A significantly larger number of customers served by trained auditors actually did apply for retrofit finance programs. A longitudinal measure of actual energy consumption showed no difference between experimental and control households. Taken as a whole, these findings demonstrate the potential for using principles uncovered in the social psychological laboratory to design applied interventions.     

Psychology and self-help groups. Predictions on a partnership

Continued growth and increased legitimacy are anticipated for the American self-help group (SHG) phenomenon. Currently estimated at six and a quarter million participants annually, self-help groups will assume a central role in the nation's mental health delivery system over the next two decades. The first part of this article illuminates the self-help group phenomenon itself. Its scope, characteristics, supporting social climate, and associated research issues are reviewed. The second part is a futuristic examination of its interface with the newly industrializing world of health care. Massive increases in mental health services are predicted, especially via the SHG format. Theory development, research sophistication, changing SHG formats, a place in public policy, and acceptance into graduate curricula are also expected, as are collaborative relationships with a variety of professional disciplines. Psychologists are urged to enhance the relevance of the profession by taking an early leadership role in these developments.     

The compatibility of hunting and mothering among the agta hunter-gatherers of the Philippines

Women's hunting is widely held biologically impracticable in foraging societies, chiefly because hunting is presumed incompatible with maternal responsibilities. A three-year study of hunting practices among the Agta Negrito people of northern Luzon reveals women's active participation in hunting, singly and in groups, without detriment to normal fertility and child care.     

Sex of employee and sex of supervisor: Effect on attributions for the causality of success and failure

An industrial “employee-testing” situation was simulated in two laboratory studies to determine if differential attributions would be made for the causality of success and failure, as a function of the sex of the “supervisor” and of the “employee.” The saliency of the relative success of the performance was confirmed in both studies, as was the importance of the sexual composition of the dyad. Two surprising results were the general lack of derogation of females by themselves and others, as was generally found in prior research, and the different self-attributional patterns made in the presence and absence of a supervisor. The latter result calls into question the ipsative conception of attributions.