Observer ratings of health and sickness: Can other people tell us anything about our health that we don't already know?

After administering interviews covering health conditions, physical limitations, optimism, and affect to 851 older adults, interviewers rated the health and sickness of the interviewees. Observers' ratings of health and sickness were more highly correlated with the severity of participants' self-reported health conditions than were participants' self-ratings of health. This finding is likely attributable to participants' self-ratings of health being more highly correlated with their optimism and positive affect than the observers' ratings. Participants rated as sicker and less healthy at baseline were at a 3 times greater risk for mortality over 114 months. This association was independent of participants' self-rated health as well as demographics, self-reported health conditions, years of smoking, physical limitations, body mass index, optimism, and affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk taking from the participant's perspective: The case of driving and accident risk.

Although perceived health risk plays a prominent role in theories of health behavior, its empirical role in risk taking is less clear. In Study 1 (N = 129), 2 measures of drivers' risk-taking behavior were found to be unrelated to self-estimates of accident concern but to be related to self-ratings of driving skill and the perceived thrill of driving. In Study 2 (N = 405), out of a wide range of potential influences, accident concern had the weakest relationship with risk taking. The authors concluded that although health risk is a key feature in many theories of health behavior and a central focus for researchers and policy makers, it may not be such a prominent factor for those actually taking the risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive and social functioning across adulthood: Age or student status differences?

20 younger adult students (aged 19–24 yrs), 21 older adult students (aged 61–76 yrs), and 22 older adult nonstudents (aged 62–76 yrs) were assessed for health (self-ratings of physical and mental health), social functioning (self-ratings of physical and mental activity, perceived role activity level, perceived roles, locus of control, and age–norm expectations), and cognitive functioning (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised [WAIS—R] Vocabulary and Block Design, and paired associate memory). Age differences were observed in self-ratings of health, social roles, intellectual performance, and memory. No student status differences were observed. Results are discussed in terms of plasticity of intellectual function and characteristics of student status in later adulthood. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of individual and group identity salience in the global self-esteem of youth.

Combined 9 specific self-ratings into a scale that used various weightings in an attempt to maximize correlations with global self-esteem measured by 2 content-free scales and to determine whether the content-free scales would tap the same self-esteem dimensions as the summated 9-factor scale. Ss were 1,528 7th, 9th, and 11th graders. Results suggest that measures based on summations of a large number of specific self-ratings tap a somewhat different phenomenon than content-free global scales. The most effective weighting of specific dimensions for predicting global self-esteem depended on group-identity salience rather than individual-identity salience—group means of the importance of the separate self-evaluation dimensions rather than each S's self-rating of the importance of that dimension. This result held even when interactive models of weighting were used. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Utilization of mental health consultation and self-perceptions of intraorganizational importance and influence.

Predicted that self-ratings of importance and influence for each of 17 volunteer workers in a mental health crisis center would be positively correlated to each worker's latency in the use of a mental health consultant. Results support the prediction for self-perceptions of influence and importance, but not for perceptions of the value of consultation in general, actual help derived from a consultant, or the number of hours in voluntary service. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Global attentional deviance as a marker of risk for schizophrenia: Specificity and predictive validity.

Evaluated global attentional deficits as possible childhood markers of schizophrenia. Performance deviance was assessed across a continuous performance test, an attention span task, and the Digit Span subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). 63 children of schizophrenic parents, 43 children of parents with affective disorders, and 100 children of normal parents were tested when the children were 7–12 yrs old. A subgroup of Ss at risk for schizophrenia displayed extreme global deviance across attentional measures. Only a small number of Ss at risk for affective disorders and normal comparison Ss showed similar extreme attentional deficits. The global attentional deficits measured at these early ages were related to behavioral disturbances (behavior was assessed in 3–6 mo intervals since 1971) in young adulthood for Ss at risk for schizophrenia, but not for Ss in the affective risk group or in the normal comparison group. It is concluded that global attentional deficits have considerable specificity for predicting behavioral problems thought to be precursors of schizophrenia or schizophrenia-related disorders. (54 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diabetic nephropathy and end-stage renal disease in Mexican Americans

Hispanics are the second largest minority group in the United States. Mexican Americans (MAs) are the largest subgroup at 14 million in 1990. MAs have a two- to threefold increased prevalence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Population-based studies of MAs with non-insulin-dependent diabetes have shown that these patients may be more likely than non-Hispanic whites to develop proteinuria and are more likely to develop end-stage renal disease. The reasons for this excess risk are yet to be completely elucidated, but may be due to worse glycemic control, worse blood pressure control when hypertension does occur, worse access to medical care, and/or genetics. When MAs are treated for diabetic end-stage renal disease, they have better survival. Much less data are available for other Hispanic subgroups. From a public health perspective, higher incidence and longer survival as well as relatively young and rapidly growing population predict an increasing burden for MAs if prevention measures are not instituted soon.     

Children's achievement and self-evaluations in mathematics: A longitudinal study.

Investigated changes in the correlation between mathematics achievement and self-ratings from 105 children who were tested in Grades 2, 5, and 10. Ss had completed the WISC Arithmetic subtest in Grades 2 and 5; the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) Arithmetic subtest in Grades 2, 5, and 10; and the WRAT and 3 additional mathematics tests in Grade 10. Structural modeling with LISREL was used to estimate the reciprocal relationship between constructs measured by computational and problem-solving tests and self-rating scales. Results show that between Grades 2 and 5 mathematics achievement is causally related to self-ratings of ability. There was evidence that between Grades 5 and 10 the strength of this causal relationship diminished. The importance of this developmental finding derives from the fact that theorists' generalizations about achievement and self-concept often have not been sensitive to the factor of age. During neither time span did self-perceptions have any significant causal influence on later achievement. The accuracy of Ss' self-ratings, as assessed by correlations with actual achievement, increased between Grades 2 and 5; there was no appreciable change after that. Mathematics achievement showed very high stability from year to year, whereas stability of self-ratings was considerably less. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mood as a moderator of acceptance of interpersonal feedback.

Two studies demonstrated that feedback is likely to be accepted when its affective tone matches an individual's mood state. In Study 1, Ss in an induced positive mood were more likely to change self-ratings in the direction of positive feedback, whereas Ss in an induced negative mood were more likely to change self-ratings in the direction of negative feedback. In Study 2, after a neutral mood induction, nondepressed Ss were more likely to change self-ratings in the direction of positive feedback, whereas depressed Ss were more likely to change self-ratings in the direction of negative feedback. After a positive mood induction, both nondepressed and depressed Ss were more likely to change self-ratings in the direction of positive feedback. These results suggest that motivations for self-enhancement or self-consistency do not generally underlie acceptance of feedback. Instead, a model of accessibility of information in memory is proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Loving yourself abundantly: Relationship of the narcissistic personality to self- and other perceptions of workplace deviance, leadership, and task and contextual performance.

The authors report results from 2 studies assessing the extent to which narcissism is related to self- and other ratings of leadership, workplace deviance, and task and contextual performance. Study 1 results revealed that narcissism was related to enhanced self-ratings of leadership, even when controlling for the Big Five traits. Study 2 results also revealed that narcissism was related to enhanced leadership self-perceptions; indeed, whereas narcissism was significantly positively correlated with self-ratings of leadership, it was significantly negatively related to other ratings of leadership. Study 2 also revealed that narcissism was related to more favorable self-ratings of workplace deviance and contextual performance compared to other (supervisor) ratings. Finally, as hypothesized, narcissism was more strongly negatively related to contextual performance than to task performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-concepts of institutionalized adolescents: A framework for conceptualizing labeling effects.

Assessed the self-concepts of 111 delinquents, 33 adolescent psychiatric inpatients, and 119 high school students in relation to 3 social labels (popular teenager, juvenile delinquent, and emotionally disturbed teenager). A semantic differential technique and discriminant analyses were used to compare profiles of self-ratings to profiles of role ratings. One analysis compared self-ratings with the control group's stereotypes, and the other compared self-ratings with an S's own group's stereotypes. Results reveal modest support for labeling effects only when self-ratings were matched with an S's own group's stereotypes. Findings suggest that an adolescent might choose one of several responses to a socially assigned label. Possible responses included accepting or rejecting the label as well as misperceiving the content of the role. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Televised self-confrontation and recalled affect: A new look at videotape recall.

Utilized 2 analogy studies of videotape feedback to investigate the extent to which 10 graduate students with previous video feedback training could recall feelings they experienced during a dyadic interaction, when shown a televised replay of that interaction. Pairs of Ss were trained to continuously rate their degree of comfort or discomfort during the actual ("live") interaction and, subsequently, as they watched a replay of their interaction. A push-button recording system was employed with the self-rating data from live and recall sessions, with the 2 sessions exactly synchronized for the purpose of analysis. Results of 2 studies with role-playing counseling students and with intimate male-female couples yielded moderate correlations between live self-ratings and those recalled under videotape stimulation. It was also found that playing the client rather than the counselor role (Study 1) or having one's self-ratings disclosed to a partner (Study 2) significantly increased the association between live and recalled self-ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 30 years' experience at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

BACKGROUND: Therapy for childhood lymphoblastic leukemia has evolved during the past three decades, but key questions about what are the least toxic, most effective forms of treatment remain unanswered because of the lack of comprehensive follow-up information. METHODS: To assess long-term outcome in the series of clinical trials conducted at St. Jude Hospital, we compared the results of treatment typical of four eras: exploratory combination chemotherapy (era 1, 1962 to 1966; 91 patients), regimens for the control of meningeal leukemia (era 2, 1967 to 1979; 825 patients), limited intensification of therapy (era 3, 1979 to 1983; 428 patients), and extended intensification of therapy (era 4, 1984 to 1988; 358 patients). ("Intensification" refers to strategies of systemic chemotherapy that are more aggressive than conventional ones.) The major end points were survival and event-free survival; we also calculated the relative risk of treatment failure and the rate of relapse or death after treatment ended (post-treatment failure rate). RESULTS: The probability of event-free survival improved significantly in each successive era (P < 0.001 by the log-rank test), reaching 71 percent in era 4. There was a decrease of approximately 50 percent in the risk of treatment failure from one era to the next in each subgroup of patients defined according to different combinations of the leukocyte count, race, age, and sex. Leukemia appeared to be eradicated in patients who remained in complete remission for three years or more after treatment in era 4. The incidence of death due to nonleukemic causes remained 4 to 6 percent despite the trend toward more intensive treatment. An estimated 765 patients (45 percent) are long-term survivors; most of them (80 percent) have no health problems related to leukemia or its treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The development and successful application of preventive therapy for meningeal leukemia, followed by the intensification of systemic chemotherapy, has progressively improved the rate of cure of childhood lymphoblastic leukemia, with relatively few adverse sequelae.     

Issues of validity and reliability in the use of real–ideal discrepancy scores to measure self-regard.

Investigated the validity and reliability of real–ideal discrepancy scores as measures of self-regard using 1,965 7th, 9th, and 11th graders. Real self-ratings were superior to real–ideal discrepancy ratings in predicting several measures of global self-esteem (e.g., Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory) and in predicting several measures of teachers' evaluations of the self-attitudes of the Ss. Further, similar-sized discrepancies did not translate into similar levels of self-regard at different points on scales of real self-evaluation, and the more dependent the discrepancy score was made on the real self-score relative to the ideal self-score, the more effective a predictor it was of global self-esteem. Finally, the test–retest correlations were low for a real–ideal discrepancy scale. Researchers are cautioned against the use of such measures. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rapid risk household screening by neonatal arm circumference: results from a cohort study in rural Burkina Faso

Neonatal arm circumference (NAC) and other attributes of the newborn and its household were analysed as potential predictors of child death in a cohort of 1367 newborn children representing the majority of births in a rural area of Burkina Faso from 1992 to 1994. During 3872 person years observed 264 children died, resulting in an average mortality rate of 6.8% per year. 90 mm was chosen as the best cut-off to differentiate low NAC associated with high mortality from normal NAC. The hazard ratio of children with low NAC (15.7%) compared to others was 1.7 (P < 0.001) in Cox regression. Kaplan-Meier curves of cumulative survival showed that this higher risk lasted throughout the first two years of life. Multivariate Cox regression comparing NAC with other variables known or suspected to influence child survival yielded a model including mother's death, twin birth, affiliation to a particular health centre, home delivery and birth during the rainy or harvest season as other significant risk factors beside NAC. Protective factors were mother's participation in antenatal care despite considerable distance to the health centre, medium household size (5-7 members) and household cash crop production. We propose a simple risk score for rapid household screening in rural Burkina Faso and comparable settings elsewhere for identifying households at risk of experiencing child death. As much of the other variables' contribution to the explanation of survival pattern is absorbed by NAC in more parsimonious models, even simpler screening strategies based on NAC make sense. In the study area risk households will be offered periodical home visits by the local nurse promoting immunization, treatment of illness and strengthening the mothers' competence to recognize and manage frequent health problems of their children as part of a 'Shared Care' concept.     

Peer ratings and self-ratings on twelve bipolar items and practicum counselors ranked high and low in competence by their peers.

Compared practicum counselors (N = 173), judged to be high and low in competence by their peers, on peer ratings and self-ratings which were factor analyzed separately. Results show differences between the factor structures of the peer and self-ratings, though each analysis yielded 2 interpretable factors. Counselors of both sexes judged high in competence by their peers had significantly better scores on both peer factors than low-competence Ss after items falling within each factor were summed. High-competence Ss also had a significantly better total rating on the 3-item Factor 2 of the self-ratings but not on the 7-item Factor 1. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognition and depression in a cohort of aging men: Results from the Western Collaborative Group Study.

Relationships between cognitive performance and self-ratings of depression on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D; L.S. Radloff, 1977) were examined for 1,217 older men. After controlling for demographic variables and both objective and subjective measures of health, significant associations were observed between several CES-D variables and measures of cognitive mental status, memory, and psychomotor speed. The Well-Being factor of the CES-D was the most robust predictor of cognitive scores. Therefore, for older adults with generally favorable health and socioeconomic resources, there may be a link between positive affect and maintenance of cognitive effectiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pessimistic explanatory style is a risk factor for physical illness: A thirty-five-year longitudinal study.

Explanatory style, the habitual ways in which individuals explain bad events, was extracted from open-ended questionnaires filled out by 99 graduates of the Harvard University classes of 1942–1944 at age 25. Physical health from ages 30 to 60 as measured by physician examination was related to earlier explanatory style. Pessimistic explanatory style (the belief that bad events are caused by stable, global, and internal factors) predicted poor health at ages 45 through 60, even when physical and mental health at age 25 were controlled. Pessimism in early adulthood appears to be a risk factor for poor health in middle and late adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assertiveness training as an intervention technique for low performance self-esteem women.

20–58 yr old women were given assertiveness training in 1 of 12 treatment groups. Outcome measures included the Performance-Self-Esteem Scale (PSES) and self-ratings of job performance. Follow-up data at 9–12 mo were available for 79.3% of the original sample. The PSES scores increased significantly in the training sample from pretesting to follow-up but not in a control group of 20 women. Perceived situational support for assertive behavior was not related to increases in PSES scores but was related to increases in self-ratings of job performance (p?