Levels of functional impairment following a civilian disaster: The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire.

117 individuals (mean age 37.77 yrs) who were at the fire and 30 individuals (mean age 40.72 yrs) who were not at the fire (bereaved families and rescue workers) were assessed regarding objective stressfulness of their fire experience, subjective stressfulness, and intensity of psychological symptoms (the Psychiatric Evaluation Form, PEF) in a structured clinical interview approximately 1 yr after the fire. Ss also filled out the Symptom Checklist-90, Revised Version (SCL-90R). 88 Ss were followed-up at 2 yrs. The group as a whole was more impaired than comparison samples of normals but less impaired than outpatients. Ss at the fire were less impaired than those not at the fire, who were similar to outpatients on the PEF. The latter group improved significantly on several measures from 1 to 2 yrs postfire, whereas the group at the fire showed little change. Results are discussed in the context of the specific instruments and methodology used in the present study, impairment levels of other samples, and the nature of the particular disaster. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The phenomenon of panic.

Assessed 108 20–67 yr old patients complaining of anxiety using a structured interview and categorized them into the DSM-III anxiety-disorder and major-depression categories. The incidence and nature of panic was examined in a detailed fashion in Ss in 2 separate interviews and included a search for any difference as a function of whether panic was predictable or cued (e.g., panic when encountering a phobic object or situation) or unpredictable. At least 83% of Ss in each diagnostic category admitted to having had a panic attack. Frequency of DSM-III panic attacks distinguished among categories, but few differences emerged among diagnostic categories on severity of the 12 DSM-III symptoms associated with panic. Symptom severity was also similar for Ss reporting either predictable or unpredictable panic. However, Ss with unpredictable panic reported a significantly greater number of the 12 symptoms than did those with predictable panic. These data point to differences between these 2 types of panic and underline the importance of discovering the nature of these differences. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moving targets: Patients' changing complaints during psychotherapy.

Used standardized assessment procedure recommended by J. Mintz (1977) to follow up 44 22–58 yr old patients in time-limited marital or family therapy in an investigation of Ss' changing complaints during psychotherapy. Ss were divided into 2 groups: those who were contacted for target-complaint assessment twice (Weeks 1 and 10) and those who were contacted 4 times (Weeks 1, 4, 7, and 10). At termination of treatment, Ss completed global outcome ratings on their success, satisfaction, and improvement with regard to target complaints. It was hyothesized that (1) S-rated improvement on new target complaints would significantly raise the multiple correlation with outcome criteria compared with initial complaints only and (2) the 2 interim measurements of target complaints would not constitute a therapeutic intervention (although previous researchers have contended that defining target symptoms is therapeutic in itself). Results support the hypotheses. ANOVA revealed that membership in either the 2- or 4-contact assessment group was unrelated to the pooled global outcome rating. Across treatment, 56% of Ss listed new target complaints in addition to those mentioned at Week 1. S-rated improvement on these new issues accounted for a significant increment in outcome variance and was the single best predictor of therapy outcome. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for comparative-competitive psychotherapy studies and process and outcome research. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizophrenic intelligence, symptoms, and release from the hospital.

Used the WAIS and Inpatient Multidimensional Psychiatric Scale to assess changes in intelligence and symptoms over a 1-yr period in 64 male chronic schizophrenics (an additional 32 Ss were assessed only at the end of the 1-yr period). Hospital status 6 yr. later identified Ss who had been discharged successfully and those still hospitalized. Ss who improved in symptoms gained in test scores. Short-term symptomatic improvement showed no significant relationship to discharge within the next 6 yr., whereas short-term gains in intelligence predicted subsequent discharge to a highly significant degree (p     

Follow-up study of isolation-reared and mother-reared rhesus monkeys paired with preadolescent conspecifics in late infancy: Cross-sex pairings.

8 rhesus monkeys, 4 of each sex, which had been reared either with their mothers or in social isolation during early infancy, were paired with preadolescent conspecifics during late infancy. Some isolate-reared Ss appeared to have gained from this social experience. At nearly 3 yrs of age, each S was paired (sequentially) with 2 other-sex animals (1 isolate- and 1 mother-reared) after having been housed alone for the entire 2nd (and most of the 3rd) yr of life. Little social interaction occurred between the members of any pair. Several significant effects of rearing experience indicated that social experience with preadolescents in late infancy did not permanently reverse the deleterious effects of early isolation. However, the mother-reared Ss also failed to establish social rapport with one another. Comparison of these results with those of similar research employing mother-reared animals which had received supplemental social experience during the 2nd yr of life suggests that such social experience is of some importance for optimal development of later sociosexual behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of film modeling on the reduction of anxiety-related behaviors in individuals varying in level of previous experience in the stress situation.

Evaluated the influence of film preparation on 80 4–11 yr old children undergoing 3 dental sessions (prophylaxis, examination, and restorative treatment) with respect to (a) peer modeling vs demonstration of procedures and (b) amount of information. It was found that, by evaluating self-report (Children's Fear Survey Schedule), and behavioral (Behavior Profile Rating Scale), and visceral-arousal indices in a factorial design, Ss exposed to a peer-model videotape presentation immediately preceding their own restorative treatment exhibited fewer disruptive behaviors and reported less apprehension than those watching a videotaped demonstration without a peer model. The modeling film elicited less heart rate activity in the Ss than the demonstration. 4–6 yr old Ss had lower self-reports of fear after viewing a more complete synopsis of what to expect, whereas the 8–21 yr old Ss had the lowest report of fears after viewing the peer model receiving a local anesthetic and brief intraoral examination. Ss with previous treatment experience benefitted most from viewing the peer model undergoing the entire restorative procedure or a demonstration of the administration of local anesthetic in the absence of a peer model. Ss with no prior experience were sensitized by being shown the demonstration. It is concluded that the age and previous experience of the viewer are important factors in determining childrens' fear-related behaviors after exposure to preparatory stimuli. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of group progressive-relaxation training and cognitive-behavioral group therapy for chronic low back pain.

36 20–63 yr old chronic low-back-pain outpatients were randomly assigned to group progressive-relaxation training, cognitive-behavioral group therapy, or waiting list/attention conditions. Both relaxation-training and cognitive-behavioral-therapy Ss improved significantly on self-report measures of pain, depression, and disability (e.g., Sickness Impact Profile, Beck Depression Inventory) and on a significant-other-rated measure of physical and psychosocial dysfunction pre- to posttreatment, whereas waiting-list Ss did not. Posttreatment, cognitive-behavioral-therapy Ss did not differ from relaxation-training Ss on most variables, but they did rate themselves as having improved more in ability to tolerate pain and participate in normal activities. At 1-mo follow-up, relaxation-training Ss showed no significant further improvement and had a significant increase in pain. Cognitive-behavioral-therapy Ss demonstrated further improvement at 1-mo follow-up on several measures of pain, depression, and disability. A 1?–2 yr mail follow-up indicated a marked reduction in health-care use for Ss in both treatments, and the cognitive-behavioral-therapy Ss had improved markedly in time spent working. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of castration and replacement therapy on sexual behavior of adult male rhesuses.

Observed the sexual behavior of 10 male rhesus monkeys before and after castration and during replacement therapy with testosterone propionate. In 10 tests before castration, all of the Ss ejaculated at least once, and in Weeks 21-25 and 51-55 after castration, 50 and 30%, respectively, ejaculated at least once. In the 35 postcastration tests given over a 55-wk period, 2 males did not ejaculate. 50% of the Ss achieved intromission 1 yr after castration. The percentage of castrated Ss showing intromission and ejaculation and the frequency of these responses were higher than those reported for most nonprimate species but did not differ greatly from those reported for the dog. Within 1 wk testosterone propionate restored whatever aspects of behavior were affected to precastration levels. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"I can tell when my blood pressure is up, can't I?"

44 21–61 yr old insurance company employees were measured on blood pressure, mood and symptoms (using self-administered checklists), and predictions of their blood pressures, twice daily for 10 days. 20 Ss had elevated blood pressure, and 24 did not. The measures were correlated within-Ss to determine if blood pressure predictions were associated with moods, symptoms, or blood pressure readings and if moods and symptoms were related to blood pressure. Data show that self-predictions of blood pressure were most strongly associated with reported symptoms, next with reported moods, and least with actual blood pressure. A comparison of Ss who were accurate in predicting their blood pressure with those who were not showed no differences in blood pressure levels, systolic blood pressure variation, self-esteem, or private body-consciousness. Ss' beliefs that they could monitor blood pressure were little influenced by contrary information. Results suggest it would be an error to encourage Ss to believe they can successfully treat blood pressure elevations by monitoring symptoms related to blood pressure change. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress processes and depressive symptomatology.

75 community-residing married White couples (age ranges for husbands and wives were 26–54 yrs and 35–45 yrs, respectively) were interviewed once a month for 5 mo about the most stressful encounter they had experienced the previous week. Depressive symptomatology was assessed monthly with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Ss high and low in depressive symptoms were compared on appraisal, coping, emotion, and encounter outcome. Compared with Ss low in depressive symptoms, those high in symptoms felt they had more at stake in stressful encounters; used more confrontative coping, self-control, and escape-avoidance, and accepted more responsibility; and responded with more disgust/anger and worry/fear. The overall pattern suggested that high-depressive Ss were more vulnerable and hostile than those who were low. However, high-depressive Ss were not negative in all facets of their appraisal and coping processes. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supported work: An innovative approach to the vocational rehabilitation of persons who are psychiatrically disabled.

Presents a model for the vocational rehabilitation of persons with severe psychiatric disability (SPD) that helps clients find private-sector jobs and provides support to both client and employer. Preliminary data on a supported work program in which 152 Ss with SPD participated suggest that the model is effective in returning individuals with SPD to competitive employment. Close monitoring of a subset of 34 Ss during the 1st yr of the program revealed that Ss whose disabilities were identified in adolescence (age 19 yrs or younger) were almost twice as likely to be employed as those with an adult onset. Clinical stability and level of motivation also appeared to affect program outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life events and disorder: Event-symptom associations and the course of disorder.

74 18–58 yr old employees of a moderate size corporation were administered the Life Events Scale and the Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Once a month for 4 mo, psychological-symptom reports were assessed. Associations between event breakdowns (i.e., desirable vs undesirable events) and subsequent psychological-symptom reports were found to vary significantly as a function of Ss' initial assessment status (i.e., Ss initially presenting significant symptomatology vs those relatively free of initial symptoms). Results are discussed in terms of the methodological importance of controlling for initial symptoms or prescreening Ss in prospective life event studies on the dependent measures. The broader issues involving the conceptual importance of examining psychosocial influences on maintenance and remission of disorder as well as on disorder onset are also addressed. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-administered relaxation training and money deposits in the treatment of recurrent anxiety.

Evaluated 2 self-administered relaxation manuals and a money deposit in the treatment of recurrent, nonphobic anxiety in 61 18–44 yr old Ss from a college population. Ss were randomly assigned to a self-monitoring-only control group or 1 of 4 active treatment conditions. Ss in active conditions received a progressive relaxation manual or a manual that called for the client to devise his or her own relaxation method and were assigned to deposit or nondeposit conditions. Improvement did not differ for the 2 relaxation procedures, but relaxation training groups improved significantly more than self-monitoring-only Ss on both self-report questionnaires and self-monitored measures of anxiety. The deposit did not produce greater amounts of relaxation practice or adherence to the program, although Ss in this condition reported being more relaxed in practice sessions and improved more on 2 pre–post measures of anxiety (including the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). Ss' locus of control scores (Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale) were significantly related to a number of practice, adherence, and outcome variables, but Ss' ratings of the likelihood that they would practice and benefit from the program proved to be as good predictors. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention, unpredictability, and reports of physical symptoms: Eliminating the benefits of predictability.

Conducted 3 experiments with 135 undergraduates to investigate the established finding from the unpredictability literature that exposure to unpredictable noise leads to reports of more severe physical symptoms than does exposure to predictable noise. In Exp I, Ss performed a reaction time (RT) task while they listened to loud bursts of either predictable or unpredictable noise. As expected, RTs were slower when the noise was unpredictable than when it was not. This finding suggests that more attention had been directed to the unpredictable than the predictable noise. In Exp II and III, Ss were exposed to either predictable or unpredictable noise and were instructed to attend to the noise or were given no instructions. In both cases, Ss not instructed to attend to the noise reported more severe symptoms when the noise was unpredictable than when it was not, thus replicating the previous finding. Of greater interest, however, was the fact that equating the amount of attention directed to the unpredictable and predictable noise (by asking Ss to attend to the noise) eliminated the apparent benefits of predictability. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional, behavioral, and physiological effects of chronic stress at Three Mile Island.

38 Three Mile Island (TMI) residents (mean age 33.3 yrs) were compared with 32 people (mean age 35.8 yrs) living near an undamaged nuclear power plant, 24 people (mean age 34.1 yrs) living near a traditional coal-fired power plant, and 27 people (mean age 30.9 yrs) living in an area more than 20 miles from any power plant. A number of self-report measures of psychological stress were evaluated by administering the Symptom Checklist-90 and the Beck Depression Inventory more than 1 yr after the nuclear accident. Two behavioral measures of stress were obtained: performances on a proofreading task and an embedded-figures task. Urinary catecholamine levels were assayed to examine chronic stress-related sympathetic arousal. Results indicate that Ss in the TMI area exhibited more symptoms of stress more than 1 yr after the nuclear accident than did Ss living under different circumstances. Although the intensity of these problems appears to be subclinical, the persistence of stress may be cause for some concern. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult development, self-contexting, and psychotherapy with older adults.

Measured the effect of "self-contexting" on brief dynamic therapy with 15 50–81 yr olds, and 10 20–40 yr olds. Self-contexting is defined as the individual's explicit self-awareness within a larger context, relative to other individuals; it is hypothesized to occur in mid-life. The major presenting problems of Ss were anxiety or depression, the majority of which were situational, although most cases had significant contributing characterological dimensions. Evaluators other than the therapist rated psychotherapeutic outcomes, and a psycholinguistic measure of self-contexting was used to score the 1st 1,000 words of patient discourse. Correlations were calculated for the older and younger groups separately. Results show that a change in self-contexting phrases correlated positively and significantly with psychotherapy outcome in the older but not the younger Ss. Findings confirm an age-specific correlation between a hypothesized development of middle and later life and psychotherapy outcome in older adults. (51 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping skills training: An evaluation of a psychoeducational program in a community mental health setting.

40 21–60 yr old clients of a community mental health center were randomly assigned to either a coping-skills training program based explicitly on a psychoeducational model or a group-counseling control condition. Ss in the psychoeducational program were provided with 30 hrs of instruction and training in progressive relaxation, anxiety management, social skills, and self-reinforcement procedures. Group-counseling control Ss received an equal amount of attention devoted to analyzing personal problems with anxiety and interpersonal relations but with no direct skills training. Significant differences between the 2 groups on measures of general anxiety, fear, and assertiveness emerged immediately after treatment and at a 3-mo follow-up. Further analyses revealed that Ss were similar in terms of major demographic characteristics to clients who did not volunteer for training, that a greater percentage of program Ss than control Ss scored in the range of a sample of "normal" Ss on 2 of the 4 dependent measures, and that fewer program Ss were hospitalized within 1 yr after participation than were control Ss. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maintaining behavior change: An investigation of three maintenance strategies and the relationship of self-attribution to the long-term reduction of cigarette smoking.

After receiving an identical, nonaversive treatment package, 42 Ss (respondents to a newspaper ad; mean age 37.68) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 maintenance strategies: modeling, participant observing, or a self-monitoring control. These Ss showed a mean smoking rate of 46% of baseline at 1 yr and no significant relapse between 6 mo and 1 yr. Significant group differences and correlations with attribution and other questionnaire measures were found. A 2nd sample of 32 treated Ss, who observed the original Ss during their maintenance strategy sessions, achieved highly similar results on correlational, smoking, and abstinence rate measures, providing some support for the replicability of the results. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychological difference between temporally predictable and unpredictable stressful events: Evidence for information control theories.

80 18–40 yr old female volunteers participated in an experiment in which temporal information about the onset of an aversive stimulus (shock) was varied to test the hypothesis, implied by information control theories, that predictable aversive events are more beneficial than unpredictable ones. Each S acted as her own control and received 6 predictable and 6 unpredictable shock trials. Findings support information control views. Ss reported to have felt less distress during the interval before the predictable shocks, they perceived the predictable shocks to be less aversive than the unpredictable ones, and autonomic indexes of arousal were lower during the signal for the predictable condition than during the equivalent periods for the unpredictable condition. 64% of the Ss preferred the predictable condition. There were no individual differences in personality or anxiety dimensions, as measured by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and the Trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, that could account for these preferences. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressive reactions and unemployment.

Investigated correlates of situation-specific depressive affect associated with unemployment and correlates of more general depressive symptoms assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for 116 15–32 yr old unemployed Ss. Consistent with a frustrated work-motivation pattern, depressive affect was associated with concern about being unemployed and with stronger endorsement of external causes of unemployment. Consistent with a self-blame view of depression, BDI scores were related to stronger endorsement of internal causes for unemployment, to low self-esteem, and to feelings of helplessness. Stronger endorsement of internal causes was found among those Ss with a longer history of unemployment. Multiple regression analyses showed, however, that the attributional variables accounted for a relatively low proportion of the variance in the depression measures. Results question the adequacy of attributional accounts of depression. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)