A preliminary study of an attraction-barrier model of patients' commitment and responses to dissatisfaction in psychotherapy.

In a cross-sectional study, 168 psychotherapy patients (mean age 24.57 yrs) reported on how they dealt with problems pertaining to the therapist or the therapy process. Ss were asked to think about a session in therapy when they experienced a problem or dissatisfying event pertaining to the therapist or the therapy process. It was found that commitment to therapy mediated the effect of level of Ss' disclosure in therapy in endorsing constructive accommodation (voice and loyalty as opposed to exit and neglect) to deal with the dissatisfying events. Severity of the dissatisfying event with the therapist had direct effects on increasing the use of voice and exit and decreasing loyalty; it also had indirect effects on accommodation via the mediating variable of commitment. The results are explained jointly in terms of G. Levinger's (1999) attraction-barrier model of commitment and C. E. Rusbult et al.'s (1991) model of accommodation processes. It is concluded that the proposed conceptual framework, derived from theory and research on the social psychology of personal relationships, may be useful in understanding when interpersonal problems between patients and therapists encourage patients to withdraw or drop out of therapy before it is therapeutically appropriate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

State legislators' intentions to vote and subsequent votes on tobacco control legislation.

The predictive validity of state legislators' behavioral intentions in relation to their votes on tobacco control legislation was assessed by using the theory of planned behavior (I. Ajzen, 1991). Intentions to vote for cigarette tax increases were measured through interviews in the summer of 1994. A bill containing cigarette tax increases was considered about 8 months later. Votes were compared with intentions and were found to be consistent for 78% of these legislators (N?=?120). Multiple logistic regression analyses showed a strong independent relationship between intentions and voting and a similar effect of political party; results suggested but did not confirm that votes were predicted by interactions between intentions and perceived control. Legislator surveys that use this conceptual model can provide results relevant to understanding tobacco policy development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

'Changing the mix': contestation surrounding the public housing stock transfer process in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania

This article presents the findings of a study examining the rationale and practices of stock transfer from state housing authorities to community housing associations in three Australian states--Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. It begins with an analysis of the policy context that has informed debates about housing management and supply options in Australia. The main section of the article draws on written documentation and interviews with policy actors and tenants in each of the case studies to highlight the conflicts and tensions that surface in moves to reconfigure the management of public housing. Alongside a brief discussion about the policy themes that emerge from the findings, it is suggested in the conclusion that the continuing contestation and uncertainty about the stock transfer process is symptomatic of the national 'policy vacuum' about the future direction of public housing in Australia.     

The West Wing as Endorsement of the U.S. Presidency: Expanding the Bounds of Priming in Political Communication

This study uses priming as a theoretical basis from which to investigate potential effects of NBC's The West Wing on individual-level perceptions of the U.S. presidency. As a result, this work extends political communication-based priming research to entertainment television content. Josiah Bartlet, the fictional president portrayed on the show, is generally perceived more positively by viewers than either the Republican President George W. Bush or Democrat William Jefferson Clinton. Perceptions of the importance of being engaging to presidential success rose as a result of watching the program, and The West Wing viewers retained more positive images of Bush and Clinton after the viewing experience. Viewing The West Wing seems to prime more positive images of the U.S. presidency that subsequently influence individual-level perceptions of those individuals most directly associated with this office. The authors make theoretical connections to previous work on role display and trust in democratic institutions.     

Measuring self-critical and interpersonal preoccupations in an adolescent inpatient sample.

The validity of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire—Adolescent version (DEQ–A, S. Blatt et al., 1992) in an inpatient sample (N?=?823; 414 girls) was examined. Specific hypotheses addressed the distinctiveness, concurrent validity, state vs trait properties, and predictive validity of the Interpersonal and Self-Criticism scales. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) showed that observed responses to a subset of items (the most discriminating of the 2 scales in the original solution) better fit a model positing separate Interpersonal and Self-Criticism factors, than one positing 1 Dysphoric Concerns factor. Cross-sectional analyses relating unit-weight Interpersonal and Self-Critical scales, developed from the CFA results, to Personality and Depressive Symptom factors supported the scales' concurrent validity. Also, analyses using data from 92 patients collected at 2 or 3 times during the hospital stay showed that the underlying constructs assessed by these scales have both state and trait properties and that antecedent measures of self-criticism can predict later measures of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Seismic re-evaluation of nuclear facilities worldwide: overview and status

Existing nuclear facilities throughout the world are being subjected to severe scrutiny of their safety in the event of an earthquake. In the United States, there have been several licensing and safety review issues for which industry and regulatory agencies have cooperated to develop rational and economically feasible criteria for resolving the issues. Currently, all operating nuclear power plants in the United States are conducting an Individual Plant Examination of External Events, including earthquakes beyond the design basis. About two-thirds of the operating plants are conducting parallel programs for verifying the seismic adequacy of equipment for the design basis earthquake. The U.S. Department of Energy is also beginning to perform detailed evaluations of their facilities, many of which had little or no seismic design. Western European countries also have been re-evaluating their older nuclear power plants for seismic events often adapting the criteria developed in the United States. With the change in the political systems in Eastern Europe, there is a strong emphasis from their Western European neighbors to evaluate and upgrade the safety of their operating nuclear power plants. Finally, nuclear facilities in Asia are also being evaluated for seismic vulnerabilities. This paper focuses on the methodologies that have been developed for re-evaluation of existing nuclear power plants and presents examples of the application of these methodologies to nuclear facilities worldwide.