Alcoholism and social isolation.

To control for biases in prior research, undiagnosed alcoholics (N = 238) were compared with nonalcoholics (N = 176) on social isolation. Both groups were patients given medical diagnoses by physicians instructed to diagnose all alcoholics admitted to the emergency service of a large general hospital. However, the undiagnosed alcoholics were rated alcoholic by separate criteria. Data were also available on all diagnosed alcoholics (N = 200). Standard biographical information, used to estimate current close contacts, stability in maintaining social involvement, and use of community resources, showed alcoholics to be more isolated than controls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of social status among mildly handicapped learners in self-contained special classes.

Studied the contributions of perceived cognitive competence and misbehavior to the variance in the sociometric status of 222 educable mentally retarded (EMR) and 65 educationally handicapped (EH) children in self-contained special classes. Teachers and peers rated Ss on academic competence and misbehavior. Results indicate that the combined teacher ratings of these 2 dimensions accounted for the most variance in both acceptance and rejection of EMR Ss, whereas ratings of academic competence were associated with both acceptance and rejection of EH Ss. Results are discussed in terms of differential factors associated with social status of mildly handicapped learners in special classes vs regular classes. In addition, the data suggest the importance of differences in the characteristics of children doing the rating of both independent and dependent variables. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body mass and social class: a comparison of Finland and Sweden in the 1990s

High physical weight affects public health as well as people's social relations. This study seeks to examine the distribution of physical weight across the social structure in Finland and Sweden in the early 1990s. We compare physical weight, classified by overweight and obesity, 1) between men and women, 2) between different age groups, and 3) between social classes in these two countries. Comparable interview surveys were conducted in Finland 1994 (N = 8,650, response rate 73%) and in Sweden 1991 (N = 5,306, response rate 79%). Physical weight, overweight and obesity of populations are described in terms of body mass index (BMI = weight (kg)/height (m2)). The average BMI is higher in Finnish men (25.6) and women (24.6) than in their Swedish counterparts (24.6 and 23.2, respectively). In both countries, the average BMI is higher in men than in women below the age of about 55-64 years. In both countries and in both genders the average BMI is higher, the higher the age. The level of overweight as well as obesity is lower in Sweden than in Finland. Social class differences can be found in both countries. The odds ratio for overweight is higher in Finnish male and female farmers (OR = 1.57 and 1.94, respectively) as compared to upper white collars (OR = 1.0). In Sweden, high odds ratio for overweight can be found among male entrepreneurs (OR = 1.80) and female unskilled manuals (OR = 2.65). Obesity varies by social class in Swedish men and women as well as in Finnish women, but not in Finnish men. The results show that Finnish men and women are more often overweight and obese than their Swedish counterparts, but social class differences in overweight and obesity are larger in Sweden than in Finland.     

Alcoholism and clinical symptoms.

Employed the MMPI to investigate symptom patterns of 200 male alcoholics. The Psychopathic, Depression, and Psychasthenia scales singularly and in combination were the most frequently observed T scores with elevations above 70. Indications for drug usage to alleviate clinical symptoms vs. techniques to alter drinking behavior are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcoholism in the aviation industry

A patient with Reye syndrome was studied throughout the course of the illness with continuous EEG monitoring, and these patterns were correlated with serial determinations of serum ammonia and short-chain fatty acid concentrations. There was high correlation between degree of EEG abnormality, clinical symptoms, and elevations of the short-chain fatty acids, while serum ammonia concentrations correlated poorly with the EEG and with the clinical state.     

Major differences in breast cancer risks among occupations

Breast cancer incidence and mortality measured for the population of a major metropolitan center included 7368 cases and 2357 deaths over 15 years, ascertained according to National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program procedures. Occupational risks were estimated with a census-based occupation coding system for cases and deaths, mean annual age-standardized rates, and age-truncated occupation allocation. Data limitations include absence of population frequencies of personal risk factors for breast cancer, occupation designation errors, lack of knowledge about chemical exposures in apparently high-risk occupations, and the possibility that the number of comparisons could produce significant differences by chance. Compared to community-wide reference incidence and mortality rates, significant excess breast cancer risks were identified for housewives, registered nurses, clinical laboratory technicians, schoolteachers, social workers, secretaries and typists, and meat wrappers and cutters. High incidence rates with unremarkable mortality rates were identified for dental hygienists, religious workers, electronic engineering technicians, authors and journalists, restaurant and bar managers, realty and insurance saleswomen, bank tellers and cashiers, telephone operators, canning and bottling workers, chemical and gas handlers, and papermill workers. These findings agree in part with similar reports and will contribute to the generation of hypotheses to be tested by more specific, in-depth studies.     

Cancer in the offspring of fathers in hydrocarbon-related occupations

Thirteen patients with bulbar urethral strictures were treated by excision of the stricture and end to end anastomosis of the urethra with uniformly good results.     

Workplace homicide: industries and occupations at high risk

The individual activities for adenosine kinase, deoxyadenosine kinase, adenosine deaminase, deoxyguanosine kinase, and purine nucleoside phosphorylase were determined during days 7 to 13 of mouse embryonic development. Adenosine deaminase increased 74-fold between days 7 and 9; deoxyadenosine kinase increased 5.4-fold during the same interval. Adenosine kinase, deoxyguanosine kinase, and purine nucleoside phosphorylase exhibited less than 2-fold changes in activity between days 7 and 13. Using Michaelis constants for each enzyme and the maximal velocities determined from enzyme assay, the relative routes of adenosine and deoxyadenosine metabolism via phosphorylation or deamination were modeled as a function of nucleoside concentration for days 7 through 13. For days 7 and 8, phosphorylation of adenosine is the principle route of metabolism at physiological concentrations. A switch occurred at day 9 and following where deamination is at least 5-fold greater than phosphorylation at all substrate concentrations. Deoxyadenosine phosphorylation was at most 10% of deamination at day 7 and then declined to less than 1% for days 9 to 13. Phosphorolysis was the principle route of deoxyguanosine metabolism through the 7 to 13 day period. Thus catabolism rather than phosphorylation was the principle pathway for purine deoxynucleoside metabolism during this period.     

Frequency of voice problems among teachers and other occupations

This study describes the frequency of reporting vocal problems among a random sample of elementary and high school teachers (n = 554) compared to individuals working in other occupations (n = 220). Teachers were more likely to define themselves as ever having a voice problem (32% versus. 1%, p < .05); having a tired, weak, or effortful voice (p < .05 each); and having a higher frequency of symptoms of physical discomfort with speaking (p < .05). They also were more likely to perceive that their voice problem negatively affected current job performance (p < .05) and limited options regarding change in work (p < .05). About 20% of teachers but only 4% of nonteachers had missed work due to their voice. These findings suggest that teachers are at high-risk for disability from voice disorders and that this health problem may have significant work-related and economic effects.     

Alcoholism and judgments of affective stimuli.

This study sought to differentiate alcoholism-related changes in judgments of emotional stimuli from those of other populations in which such changes have been documented. Two sets of visual stimuli, one containing words and the other containing drawings of faces (representing a range of emotional content), were presented to abstinent alcoholic adults with and without Korsakoff's syndrome, as well as to a healthy control group and four groups of patients with other neurobehavioral disorders: Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Participants rated the stimuli according to emotional valence and intensity of emotion. Results implicated bi-hemispheric frontal and subcortical involvement in the abnormalities of emotion identification associated with alcoholism, and they also support the notion of age-related vulnerabilities in conjunction with alcoholism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality correlates of voluntary midcareer change in enterprising occupations.

Compared the personality traits of 45 midcareer changers (mean age 35.5 yrs) with those of 66 vocationally stable controls (mean age 35.4 yrs). Career-change Ss were participants in a career counseling program, while the controls were participants in a selection/promotion assessment program in the same counseling center. All Ss were male and in management and sales occupations (Holland's enterprising type). Personality measures used were the EPPS, the Gordon Personal Profile, and the Gordon Personal Inventory. Discriminant analyses showed an overall significant difference in personality structure between the 2 groups. The traits contributing mostly to this difference were ascendancy, dominance, responsibility, endurance, and order. Midcareer changers were lower on all 5 traits. Results indicate that midcareer change is related to personality incongruity, thus supporting J. L. Holland's (1973) theory of vocational choice and stability. Results also suggest that lower task discipline may be associated with career change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement motivation, occupations, and labor turnover in New Zealand.

Used a nonprojective measure of achievement motivation to investigate the relationship among need for achievement (nAch), labor turnover, and occupations in New Zealand. Questionnaire results from 315 entrepreneurs, engineers, accountants, and middle managers revealed low turnover among high nAch self-employed Ss. High-turnover Ss displayed significantly higher achievement motivation levels than low-turnover Ss. Among engineers, accountants, and middle managers, those with high nAch had high labor mobility rates. Results are supportive of D. C. McClelland's theory and demonstrate the feasibility of extension of the model through use of nonprojective research methods. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Congruence between self-image and occupational stereotypes in students entering gender-dominated occupations.

Assessed gendered attributes in 6 occupational images and in the self-images of university students, and how the congruence of these attributes between self- and occupational images determines occupational choice. The Revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales (LAS-R) were used by 500 university students to describe 3 female- (nurse, rehabilitation therapist, teacher), and 3 male-dominated occupations (engineer, lawyer, physician). Six distinct occupational stereotypes were found, with male-dominated occupations viewed as less affiliative and more dominant than female-dominated occupations. In a 2nd study, a sample of 567 women and men entering these fields completed the LAS-R as a self-report measure. Analyses compared self-images to the 6 occupational stereotypes, and found the greatest congruence between self-image and intended occupation. Men, and generally Ss entering male-dominated fields, were less affiliative than women or Ss entering female-dominated fields. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)