Recommendations for the Treatment of Hypochondriac Patients

Hypochondriasis is a debilitating condition in which patients are persistently preoccupied with the possibility of being seriously ill. Its is a costly problem for the health care system whose treatment has not received systematic attention until recently. Although based on few controlled studies, results indicated that various brief cognitive-behavioral techniques produce significant changes in illness fears and attitudes. A list of therapeutic questions that require further study is presented and some indications for both therapists and patients are given.     

Psychometric Modeling of response speed and accuracy with mixed and conditional regression

Human performance in cognitive testing and experimental psychology is expressed in terms of response speed and accuracy. Data analysis is often limited to either speed or accuracy, and/or to crude summary measures like mean response time (RT) or the percentage correct responses. This paper proposes the use of mixed regression for the psychometric modeling of response speed and accuracy in testing and experiments. Mixed logistic regression of response accuracy extends logistic item response theory modeling to multidimensional models with covariates and interactions. Mixed linear regression of response time extends mixed ANOVA to unbalanced designs with covariates and heterogeneity of variance. Related to mixed regression is conditional regression, which requires no normality assumption, but is limited to unidimensional models. Mixed and conditional methods are both applied to an experimental study of mental rotation. Univariate and bivariate analyzes show how within-subject correlation between response and RT can be distinguished from between-subject correlation, and how latent traits can be detected, given careful item design or content analysis. It is concluded that both response and RT must be recorded in cognitive testing, and that mixed regression is a versatile method for analyzing test data.I am grateful to Rogier Donders for putting his data at my disposal.     

John Dewey,The Other Face of the Brazilian New School

This paper intents to analyze the influence of John Dewey’s ideas in the movement that defended the educationl renovation in Brazil (named New School) at the end of the 1920s and in the 1930s. For this, it explains two trends of that movement: the first is described by the metaphor of industrial or mechanical efficiency, whose emphasis was in the power derived from the disciplinary idea of progress, which was embedded in the process of rationalization of the social relations submitted by a factory model; the second, developed by influence of Dewey, is characterized by a project of democratization of society and school that prevented the individual massification and the adoption of the rationalizing model inspired by the factory without any criticism. When Dewey was put in the center of the debate on political, pedagogical and social goals of the Brazilian New School, he was called to introduce a series of concepts that helped to find the balance between the respect for individuality and the observation of the social needs. This paper has some of the conclusions of a major research project, “Philosophy and Science in the New Educational Discourse (Brazil: l930–1960),” sponsored by CNPq.     

Toward a Comprehensive Strategy for Effective Practitioner–Scientist Partnerships and Larger-Scale Community Health and Well-Being

This article articulates joint priorities for the fields of prevention science and community psychology. These priorities are intended to address issues raised by the frequent observation of natural tensions between community practitioners and scientists. The first priority is to expand the knowledge base on practitioner–scientist partnerships, particularly on factors associated with positive outcomes within communities. To further articulate this priority, the paper first discusses the rapid growth in community-based partnerships and the emergent research on them. Next described is an illustrative research project on a partnership model that links state university extension and public school delivery systems. The article then turns to the second, related priority of future capacity-building for diffusion of effective partnership-based interventions to achieve larger-scale health and well-being across communities. It outlines two salient tasks: clarification of a conceptual framework and the formulation of a comprehensive capacity-building strategy for diffusion. The comprehensive strategy would require careful attention to the expansion of networks of effective partnerships, partnership-based research agendas, and requisite policy-making.     

Is Workplace Harassment Hazardous to Your Health?

We examined cross-sectional and lagged effects of sexual harassment (SH) and generalized workplace harassment (GWH) on incidence of self-reported illness, injury, or assault in a sample of over 1,500 university employees. SH and GWH, but not other job stressors, were related to increased odds of illness, injury, or assault. This was true when SH, GWH, and illness, injury, or assault were measured at the same time point, as well as when SH and GWH were measured in year prior to illness, injury, or assault.The data presented here are part of an ongoing longitudinal study of workplace harassment conducted at the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Illinois at Chicago. This research was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (grants AA09989 and AA13332). Portions of this paper were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, April 2004, Chicago, Illinois. The data were collected by the Survey Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago.     

师生关系与中小学生学校适应性的关系

师生关系作为儿童人际关系的一部分,是儿童社会化的重要内容,对儿童的学校适应产生重要影响。本研究运用问卷法、访谈法等对6个年级867名中小学生进行测查,以了解中小学生师生关系对学生学校适应性的影响。结果表明:(1)中小学生学校适应性与师生关系之间存在显著正相关;(2)师生关系是影响学生学校适应性的重要因素。其影响程度从大到小依次为:亲密性、主动性、合作性;年龄也影响学生的学校适应性,但程度较小。     

Effects of Intimate Partner Violence on Low-Income Women’s Health and Employment

Rates of both intimate partner violence and poor health are high among low-income women This paper examines relationships among abuse, health, and employment stability using data from a 3-year study of over 1000 female welfare recipients in Illinois. Results demonstrate the importance of accounting for both recency and chronicity of intimate partner violence and understanding the mediational role of health in the relationship between intimate partner violence and employment. Chronic intimate partner violence is associated with poor health, whereas recent intimate partner violence is associated with unstable employment. Mediations analyses suggest that health does not mediate the effects of abuse on employment stability over a 3-year period.     

Parent Perception of Elementary School Aged Children’s Sleep Problems

Wide discrepancies exist concerning the reported occurrence of sleep problems for elementary school children. We describe parental perception of sleep problem behavior in elementary school aged children 5–12 years. Approximately 4% of parents reported their children experienced significant global sleep problems serious enough to adversely affect family functioning. Significant specific sleep problems reported by parents occurred for approximately 9–14% of the children in the sample. These ranges were in the low end of the ranges of sleep problems reported in previous literature for this age group.     

School Mobility and Students with Emotional Disturbance

We examined the school mobility of a cross-sectional sample of 70 secondary-age youth with emotional disturbance (ED). Data were collected through an archival review of school records. Students’ school mobility histories were examined in terms of the overall number of schools attended in the elementary school years, as well as the timing of the moves that were made. Findings indicate that sample students experienced high rates of school mobility with 66% having changed schools at least once by the end of 2nd grade and 89% having changed schools at least once by the end of 5th grade. Strategies for minimizing school mobility and the impact of high rates of school mobility are reviewed.     

The Association of American Medical Colleges and the Association of Medical School Psychologists: Finding Psychology’s Place in Academic Medicine

This paper highlights the role of the Association of Medical School Psychologists (AMSP) as a bridge between academic medicine and psychology. AMSP’s affiliation with Division 12 of the American Psychological Association is discussed, but the primary focus is AMSP’s affiliation with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the AAMC’s Council of Academic Societies (CAS). The history, structure, activities, and goals of AAMC and CAS are examined. AMSP’s affiliation with AAMC is important for psychologists in medical schools and academic medical centers, and for psychology in general, because AAMC is the major voice of academic medicine in the US. AAMC activities affect medical education at all levels, as well as research and health services at academic medical centers, and health care policy at the national level. AMSP’s dual affiliation with AAMC’s CAS and APA’s Society of Clinical Psychology will increase psychology’s visibility and influence in academic medical centers and enhance the two-way flow of ideas and information between academic medicine and psychology.