Mediators of the Relation Between Beliefs in a Just World and Emotional Responses to Negative Outcomes

Research shows that strong believers in a just world respond with less negative and more positive emotion to their own negative outcomes than do weak believers. The present study investigated mediators of this relation. We proposed that strong believers in a just world (versus weak believers) would make stronger internal and weaker external attributions for their negative outcomes, leading to reduced perceived unfairness, which, in turn, was expected to lead to less negative and more positive emotion. We assessed the just world beliefs of a sample of undergraduates as well as measuring their cognitive and emotional responses to an exam grade. Mediational analyses showed that our data were consistent with the processes proposed above. Various cognitive and motivational interpretations of the present findings are discussed     

Ego development in adolescence: Longitudinal studies

Adolescents from four schools (one inner-city, two suburban, and one private) were tested two or three times using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development. Testing intervals ranged from 1.5 to 6 years. About half (N=193) the original pool was retested at twelfth grade. Every sample showed a mean rise in ego level; for six of eight samples that rise was statistically significant. Every pair of testings showed a postive correlation between scores; 10 of 14 correlations were significantly different from zero. Thus both test-retest correlations (about 0.5) and change scores support the hypothesized sequence of ego development. Significant correlation between ego level and intelligence occurred in two schools (0.6 at elementary and junior high grades and 0.4 at twelfth grade), but correlation was about zero in the private school.These studies were supported by Grant MH-05115 and Research Scientist Award MH-00657, both from the National Institute of Mental Health, Public Health Service.Received her Ph.D. from Washington University. Main interest is adolescent development.Received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Main interest is theory and measurement of ego development.     

Adolescents view their mental health

A new 40-item behavioral checklist, the Adolescent Life Assessment Checklist (ALAC), was devised to be used with patient and nonpatient samples. A comparable form obtains information from a parent or guardian. Responses of 356 adolescents from three sources were analyzed for differences attributable to race, sex, age, sample source, and their interactions. A factor analysis was carried out on the average within-race-sex-source subgroup correlation matrix, resulting in seven meaningful and six usable oblique factors. Subscales were developed and corrections were computed to remove estimated differences due to race, sex, and age. Corrected scales significantly differentiate the three samples.This study was supported in part by MCHS Grant No. MC-R-390201, the Adolescent Clinic Foundation, and USPHSMH Fellowship Grant No. 0597921.Received her Ph.D. in psychology from Washington University, St. Louis; received a Foundations Fund for Research in Psychiatry interdisciplinary research-teaching grant, 1959–1965. Current research interests include test development, evaluation, and personality research.Received her M.D. from Medical College of Georgia at Augusta; her medical internship was at Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. Current research interests include stress, coping, and adaptation in children and adolescents.She is a licensed psychologist with the State of Ohio, with an M.A. from the University of Cincinnati. Current research interests include verbal behavior, psychotherapeutic efficacy, and dream research.Received his M.D. from College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati; his medical internship was with Boston City Hospital, and he is the founder of the Adolescent Clinic, Cincinnati General Hospital. Current research interests include growth and development and medical/social problems at adolescence.     

HIV/AIDS and older women in Zambia: Concern for self,worry over daughters,towers of strength

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa has exposed the way in which gender relations can place women in a particularly precarious position in respect of health matters (Ankrah, 1991; Baylies, Bujra et al , 1999; de Bruyn, 1992; Heise & Elias, 1995; Obbo, 1993; Ulin, 1992). As it advances, it is also evident that women do not face the epidemic as a homogeneous group, but as one which is divided by varying levels of vulnerability and varieties of response. This article focuses on generational differences, as well as those defined by marital status and economic security, and identifies older women who have completed their families as positioned not just to perform a caring role but also to serve as advocates for others in articulating the dangers which gendered practices may pose for their daughters and for women in general, both married and unmarried. It will be argued that they may become spokeswomen for their communities and their families and should be seen as powerful actors around AIDS issues.     

Personality Profiles of Veterans Entering Treatment for Domestic Violence

The purpose of this study was to reveal the typical personality profiles of veterans who have been perpetrators of domestic violence. Cluster analysis revealed that the MCMI-II profiles of 183 veterans entering treatment for domestic violence at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center fell into three clusters. These clusters were labeled Subclinical Narcissism, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and High General Psychopathology/ Substance Dependence. The typical MCMI-II profile for each cluster is discussed in terms how it might be associated with domestic violence. As this typology enables a fuller understanding of veterans who have been perpetrators of domestic violence, it can provide useful information for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.