bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Career Factors Inventory: Theory and Applications
Authors: Chartrand Judy M. , Nutter Kevin J.
Published: March 2007

The Career Factors Inventory (CFI; Chartrand, Robbins, Morrill, & Boggs, 1990) is a multidimensional measure of antecedents of career indecision. The first part of this article describes the purpose and theoretical origins of the CFI, as well as the psychometric characteristics of the instrument. The second part of the article discusses potential applications of the CFI and includes a number of examples that illustrate how the CFI has been used in problem prevention, counseling, career development, and administrative planning situations.
Perspectives on Career Assessment of Work-Bound Youth
Authors: Herr Edwin L. , Niles Spencer
Published: March 2007

In this article, work-bound youth are identified as an adolescent subpopulation whose goals are to attain occupational skills and to enter the workforce immediately on leaving secondary school. The characteristics of this population are discussed, and their needs for systematic career interventions are described. Particular emphasis is given to this group's need for career assessment, the types of assessments that may be useful, and the application of the Super, Osborne, Brown, Walsh, and Niles (1992) Career Development Assessment and Counseling (C-DAC) model as a frame of reference for the choice and use of the career assessments included.
The Integration of Interests, Aptitudes, and Personality Traits: A Test of Lowman's Matrix
Authors: Carson Andrew D.
Published: March 2007

Characteristics of Holland's (1959, 1985/1992) six personal orientations were determined through construction of a table reporting multiple-domain data (interests, aptitudes, personality traits) collected from a sample of 547 career clients. The resulting table was used to test Lowman's (1991) Matrix of expected characteristics across Holland's types.
Applications of the Coping With Career Indecision Instrument With Adolescents
Authors: Larson Lisa M. , Majors Mark S.
Published: March 2007

This article discusses the potential use of the Coping with Career Indecision (CCI; Larson, Heppner, Ham, & Dugan, 1988) instrument which identifies subtypes of undecided students. The CCI was later refined by Larson, Toulouse, Ngumba, Fitzpatrick, and Heppner (1994) across four studies, extending the use of the CCI to gifted adolescents seeking help in career exploration. Data from 125 adolescents were examined with respect to their CCI scores on five additional career planning measures: the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI; Heppner, 1988), the Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy- Short Form (CDMSE-SF; Betz, Taylor, & Klein, 1994), the Academic College Major Decidedness item from the Career Decision Scale (CDS; Osipow, 1987), the Career Barriers Inventory-Short Form (CBI-SF; Swanson & Tokar, 1991), and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Expanded Form (PANAS-X; Watson & Clark, 1994). Factor analysis of the scores revealed two underlying dimensions, personal agency and affective distress. Then, factor scores on both of these dimensions were generated for each participant and entered into a cluster analysis. The cluster procedure identified four groups based on their relationship to these underlying dimensions: (a) Low Agency/High Distress, (b) High Agency/High Distress, (c) High Agency/Low Distress, and (d) Low Agency/Low Distress. Applications for career counselors working with adolescents and the specific utility of the CCI are presented.
Task-Specific Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale: A Predictive Validity Study
Authors: Kelly Kevin R. , Nelson Russell C.
Published: March 2007

Using the social cognitive theory of career and academic behavior as a guide, we conducted a predictive validity study for the Quantitative and Verbal scales of the Task-Specific Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale (TSOSS). The Quantitative and Verbal TSOSS scale scores of a large group of undecided college freshmen were correlated with concurrent quantitative and verbal ability measures (SAT scores) and with subsequent quantitative and verbal performance in academic courses based on GPA. The TSOSS Quantitative scale was related to quantitative ability but failed to predict academic performance in quantitative courses. The TSOSS Verbal scale was unrelated both to a concurrent measure of verbal ability and to subsequent academic performance in verbal courses. These findings are used to provide a preliminary evaluation of the validity of the TSOSS Quantitative and Verbal scales.
Trade and Environment: On the Need to Improve Information and Decision Making
Authors: Fletcher Wendell , Weissler Robert , Sobin Rodney
Published: March 2007

Policies to promote free trade and to protect the environment can conflict. Efforts are underway to reduce the potential for conflict and to make trade and environmental goals more compatible, an outcome likely to contribute to sustainable development. This task will require better information about trade and environment interactions. It will also require more coordi nation of trade and environment policies both nationally and internationally, including new guidelines and institutional arrangements to avoid conflicts and to resolve them when they do occur.
Resolving International Environmental Disputes: Public Participation and the Right-to-Know
Authors: Spalding Mark J.
Published: March 2007

The North American Free Trade Agreement is the first trade pact that provides considerable protections for a country's environmental standards. The environmental side agreement to theNAFTA, negotiated at the insistence of and with the participation of environmental groups, has promoted the important roles in environmental regulation and enforcement played by the principles of transparency (right-to-know) and public participation (right-to-sue). The side agreement provides for: citizen submissions to the Secretariat of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation; the U.S., Mexican, and Canadian governments' guarantees of citizens' right-to-know, as well as citizen suits and remedies regarding environmental harm and requests for enforcement of environmental laws. As procedures under the NAFTA and its environmental side agreement are developed, opportunities remain to incorporate the principles af transparency and public participation even more broadly.2
Elephant Ivory and Tropical Timber: The Role of Trade Interventions in Sustainable Management
Authors: Barbier Edward B.
Published: March 2007

Trade interventions have been increasingly advocated in recent years as a means to influence the incentives for sustainable resource management in developing countries. The commonly held view is that, for a few key resources, international trade has been a contributing factor to over-exploitation and depletion. As a consequence, curtailing this trade has been advocated as a major part of the solution to the problem. In the case of African elephant ivory, a trade ban has been imposed through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. For tropical timber, there are moves to restrict trade to only sustainably produced timber. This paper argues that, at least in these two cases, restrictive interventions may at best be ineffective and at worst counterproductive. Instead, alternative trade and other international mechanisms ought to be developed to encourage trade-related incentivesfor sustain able management.
Regional Report
Authors: Van Der Mey Leo M.
Published: March 2007

The positive Dutch response to the appeal of the Brundtland Commission gives insight into the process of integration of sustainable development in government policy. In light of the crucial role played by nations in the implementation of sustainable development, it is important to analyze how countries like the Netherlands have made concerted efforts towards changes in environmental policy. This article deals with the ensuing external strategies of the Netherlands aimed at reforming and improving the United Nations system in order to promote sustainable development and to prioritize the environment in cooperation development policy. The Dutch experience demonstrates that while it is at first difficult, measurable results can be achieved, even if these results fall short of original expectations.
MMPI-2 Clinical Scale Differences between Dysthymia and Major Depression
Authors: Klonsky E. David , Bertelson Amy D.
Published: March 2007

Though dysthymia is considered less severe and more chronic than major depressive disorder, it is unclear whether the two disorders are truly different. In this study, MMPI-2 scales of 21 patients with dysthymia and 30 patients with major depressive disorder were compared. The average scores on Scales 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8 were in the clinical range for both groups. However, sizable differences between the two groups were found for Scale 1 and Scale 3. Smaller but reliable differences were found for Scale 2 and mean clinical scale T score with major depressives scoring higher on all of these measures. Results indicate that not only is major depressive disorder more severe than dysthymia, but also contains more physical/somatic symptoms than dysthymia.
Measuring Adaptive Behavior in Inpatient Neuropsychiatry: The Behavioural Assessment Scale
Authors: Iverson Grant L. , Woodward Todd S.
Published: March 2007

The Behavioural Assessment Scale (BAS) was administered to a sample of 95 inpatients with neuropsychiatric conditions. The total scores in the sample ranged from 26 to 145 (maximum possible score is 163), without any evidence of the "floor effect" encountered with other tests used with this population. Investigation into the psychometric structure of the BAS revealed three factors interpreted as Daily Living Skills, Communication/Social Skills, and Problem Behavior. The high intercorrelation between the two dominant factors was interpreted as general sensitivity of the BAS to global decline in functioning associated with severity of illness. These results confirm a previous psychometric investigation carried out on an elderly psychiatric sample. A recommendation is made for interpreting subscales based on these factor domains when specific abilities are of interest and using a Global Functioning subscale as a measure of overall adaptive behavior for both adult and geriatric inpatient neuropsychiatry patients.
Qualitative Analysis of Verbal Fluency Output: Review and Comparison of Several Scoring Methods
Authors: Abwender David A. , Swan Jeffrey G. , Bowerman John T. , Connolly Sean W.
Published: March 2007

We compared three approaches to scoring qualitative aspects of verbal fluency performance in 88 healthy young adults. Phonemic and semantic fluency output was scored for word clustering and switching between clusters. Convergent validity analyses using other tests presumed to tap into strategy use (California Verbal Learning Test, Ruff Figural Fluency Test) support scoring of phonemic and semantic clusters on both fluency tasks. Task-discrepant clustering (e.g., semantic clustering on phonemic fluency) may index intentional strategy use on both fluency tasks, whereas task consistent clustering (e.g., phonemic clustering on phonemic fluency) appears strategic only on semantic fluency. Switching can be decomposed into subtypes that appear to reflect different cognitive processes on phonemic versus semantic fluency. Principal components analyses suggest that earlier scoring methods do not fully capture the "process" aspects of verbal fluency performance.
Reliability and Validity of Set 1 of the Depression Adjective Check Lists with the Elderly
Authors: Grayson Paula S. , Lubin Bernard , Whitlock Rodney Van
Published: March 2007

The reliability (internal consistency, alternate form, and test-retest) and validity (concurrent and discriminant) of the state and trait versions of Set 1(lists A, B, C, D) of the Depression Adjective Check Lists (DACL) were studied in an elderly sample (N= 338).Reliability and validity estimates for both versions were sufficiently high so as to recommend their use in research with the elderly. Suggestions for further study are mentioned.
A Spanish Auditory Veuerbal Earning and Memory Test
Authors: Perri Ben , Naplin Nancy A. , Carpenter Gerald A.
Published: March 2007

A California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) format was used in developing a similar test in Spanish for a Denver Hispanic population. The Perri Test de Aprendizaje Verbal y de Memoria (Perri TAVM) was originally developed and normed in Spanish to address criticism of using translated versions of preexisting tests. It includes five learning trials, an interference list, an immediate recall trial, delayed recall, cued delayed recall, and delayed recognition. In developing the test, we selected word categories because they are common across a broad variety of Hispanic cultures and chose items based on frequency of use in Spanish. The resulting test uses a 16-word list consisting of four categories of four words each, and a 40-word recognition list. We present initial normative data for a Denver sample (N = 100); included are data from a clinical sample (N = 26) of patients referred for neuropsychological testing.
Cause Indicator Models for the Cognitive Component of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment-Short Form
Authors: Ferron John , Ng'andu Nicholas , Garrett Patricia
Published: March 2007

A form of criterion keying was used to examine alternative scales for cognitive development facilitation. Two cause indicator models linking the items of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment-Short Form (HOME-SF) to the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) were hypothesized. The first model was based on all of the HOME-SF items, and the second was based on the HOME-SF items comprising the Cognitive Stimulation scale of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Evaluation proceeded with data from two waves of children, under 3 years of age, assessed in the NLSY. The two proposed models were evaluated on the first wave of data using structural equation modeling. A third model was then empirically developed by making modifications to improve model fit. The three models were reevaluated on the second wave of data. The model developed empirically fit the second wave of data relatively well.
Response Manipulation on the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List-Revised
Authors: Lubin Bernard , van Whitlock Rodney , Rea Melinda , Petren Suzanne
Published: March 2007

The scoring pattern of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List-Revised (MAACL-R) under both "simulate good" and "simulate bad" conditions and under two instructional sets, either "simulate" (Sample 1) or "simulate with caution" (Sample 2), was studied in an experiment in which the MAACL-R state form was administered to two groups of college students, each consisting of 160 participants. Each participant was tested twice with both a baseline "actual" trial and either a "simulate bad" or "simulate good" trial with the "actual" and experimental "simulate" trials counterbalanced. Participants in Sample 2, but not Sample 1, received instructions to be "cautious so as not to be detected." As expected, the scoring pattern of the MAACL-R was susceptible to response manipulation in the predicted directions. However, instructions to "simulate with caution" did not produce significantly different scores than did instructions to "simulate" alone. In the second study, Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) was used to determine the utility of each MAACL-R scale to detect response simulation. For both "simulate bad" and "simulate good," the PA and PASS scales showed the highest correct classification rates. However, detection of simulating bad was more accurate than determination of simulating good.
The Neurobiology of Infantile Autism
Authors: Ciaranello Andrea L. , Ciaranello Roland D.
Published: March 2007

Early infantile autism is the most severe of a group of neurodevelopmental syndromes called the pervasive developmental disorders. The clinical features of autism vary greatly, but, by definition, include deficits in social relatedness, communication, and interests or routines. The onset of autistic signs and behaviors typ ically occurs in infancy, and the syndrome is usually fully present by the fourth year. The presence of mental retardation affects the clinical picture greatly. Severely autistic children may be retarded and mute and are often preoccupied with repetitive activities; they often exhibit motor stereotypes, such as rocking or hand flapping. They can be profoundly withdrawn and may show extreme aversion to social or physical contact. More mildly affected children may have normal or even superior intelligence, with well-developed language skills. Their deficits in social relatedness and preoccupation with rituals and routines may set them apart as very odd, but not necessarily as autistic. Autism occurs in 1 of 2000 live births; boys outnumber girls about 3 or 4:1. Although there are no localizing neurological signs in autism, mild or "soft" neurological signs are common and grand mal seizures are frequently present after puberty (Lotspeich LJ, Ciaranello RD. The neurobiology and genetics of infantile autism. In: Bradley R, editor. International reviews of neurobiology. San Diego: Academic Press 1993:87-129). The Neuroscientist 1:361-367, 1995
Physiology and Pathophysiology of Nitric Oxide in the Retina
Authors: Kelly Melanie E.M. , Barnes Steven
Published: March 2007

The role of nitric oxide (NO) signaling in the retina can be simply termed as "extensive." The picture remains incomplete, but it is now known that NO has many sites of production and action in the retina, both physiological and pathophysiological in nature. Perspectives from retinal neurophysiology and clinical pathology have merged in a number of studies examining NO action, but renewed emphasis is needed to discover the links between the roles of NO in the neurons, glia, and vasculature of the retina. NEUROSCIENTIST 3:357-360, 1997
REVIEW ■ : Mechanisms of Cortical Control of Hand Function
Authors: Lemon Roger N.
Published: March 2007

The direct cortico-motoneuronal (CM) projection from motor cortex to spinal motoneurons is a distinctive primate feature, and appears to be of particular importance for the control of fine hand and finger move ments. This review considers recent neurophysiological evidence showing that the degree of dexterity in different nonhuman primates is reflected in the strength of the CM connections to hand motoneurons. It also shows that phylogenetically older, indirect pathways may have been superseded by the direct CM system. The unique contribution of the CM system to hand function may reside in the focused and powerful facilitation it exerts on selective groups of muscles, as shown by recordings from identified CM neurons during performance of precision grip by conscious, trained monkeys. In man, damage by stroke to the corticospinal system often results in weakness and poverty of hand movement. New evidence from the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in stroke patients demonstrates that any recovery in the voluntary activation of hand muscles is always accompanied by recovery of short-latency responses to TMS, which are probably mediated by the fast corticospinal system, suggesting that the integrity of this system is es sential for recovery of hand function. NEUROSCIENTIST 3:389-398, 1997
Review : Walking After Spinal Cord Injury: Control and Recovery
Authors: Barbeau Hugues , Pépin André , Norman Kathleen E. , Ladouceur Michel , Leroux Alain
Published: March 2007

Spinal cord injury is associated with multiple motor problems leading to alterations of walking behavior reflected by a reduced walking speed and changes in the kinematic and electromyographic patterns. This review presents recent developments and concepts emerging from animal and human studies aimed at enhancing recovery of walking following spinal cord injury. Locomotor training, pharmacological interven tions, and their combination have been identified as important approaches in modifying the recovery process following spinal cord injury in both animals and humans. The nervous system still presents great plasticity even several years after spinal cord injury. NEUROSCIENTIST 4:14-24, 1998
■ REVIEW : Stress and Sex Effects on Associative Learning: For Better or for Worse
Authors: Shors Tracey J.
Published: March 2007

It is clear that male and female animals have distinct cognitive capacities and emotional responses. For instance, exposure to a fearful and stressful event of restraint and intermittent tail-shocks impairs instru mental learning in male rats, but has minimal consequence in female rats. Conversely, exposure to a similar stressor facilitates classical conditioning in male rats and dramatically impairs conditioning in female rats. Many such sex differences in learning and responses to stress are attributable to the effects of sex hormones on brain morphology and physiology. Indeed, the stress-induced facilitation of classical conditioning in male rats is dependent on activation of the NMDA type of glutamate receptor in the amygdala, whereas the impaired conditioning in female rats is dependent on activational influences of the ovarian hormone estrogen. The role of estrogen and progesterone in the diametrically opposed effects of stress on learning are dis cussed, as are neuronal mechanisms that underlie sex differences in memory formation. NEUROSCIENTIST 4:353-364, 1998
Review : Progesterone and Recovery after Traumatic Brain Injury: An Overview
Authors: Stein Donald G. , Fulop Zoltan L.
Published: March 2007

After traumatic brain injury (TBI), female animals often show better cognitive and behavioral recovery than male animals. In female animals, this advantage is conferred by higher levels of systemic progesterone at the time of injury. In rats, postmortem examination of brain tissue reveals that pseudo-pregnant female rats (high progesterone, low estrogen) have virtually no cerebral edema compared with male rats and low- progesterone-state normal cycling female rats after TBI. Progesterone injections can also eliminate cerebral edema in brain-injured male rats. Sex differences in the outcome of TBI highlight the importance of consid ering the timing of therapy and hormonal fluctuations in developing safe and effective treatments for CNS injury. NEUROSCIENTIST 4:435-442, 1998
REVIEW ■ : The Genetic Basis of Epilepsy: Mutant Alleles of Ligand- and Voltage-Gated Ion Channels
Authors: Steinlein Ortrud K.
Published: March 2007

Idiopathic epilepsies are a heterogenous group of conditions characterized by different types of seizures, ages of onset, and EEG features. By definition, idiopathic epilepsies show no underlying cause other than a possible inherited predisposition. For most syndromes, especially the common ones, the mode of inheritance is complex rather than monogenetic. However, some rare idiopathic epilepsies show an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance, and genetic studies have been most successful in these diseases. Thus far, genes underlying the rare syndromes of autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (ADNFLE), benign familial neonatal convulsions (BFNC), and generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) have been cloned. The first genes that were identified code for different types of ion channel proteins. Thus, it is likely that ion channels play an important role in the etiology of complex inherited forms of idiopathic epilepsies. A detailed under standing of the pathophysiological implications of these results could have important implications for the de velopment of target-specific antiepileptic drugs. NEUROSCIENTIST 5:295-301, 1999
Parents’ Perceptions of the Impact of a Telephone Support Group Intervention
Authors: Ritchie Judith , Stewart Miriam , Ellerton Mary-Lou , Thompson Donna , Meade Darlene , Viscount Patty Weld
Published: March 2007

Parents living with a child or adolescent with a chronic condition experience wide-ranging demands and an increased risk of health problems. Their social support resources serve as a protective factor and can help to moderate the health effects of stressful situations associated with caregiving. This intervention study tested the impact of a 12-week telephone peer support group intervention for parents in a randomized trial. The support group parents described their experiences and perceptions of the impact of the intervention in weekly diaries and in interviews at three points over the 6 months following the intervention. Parents described increased social support, enhanced coping, increased sense of confidence, and changed outlook, family activities and relationships, and health care encounters. The vast majority were satisfied with the support groups. The telephone support groups tested in this study may improve the day-to-day quality of life for parents and diminish the risk of long-term negative health effects of caregiving.
The Relationship Between Parent-Adolescent Communication and Safer Sex Behaviors in College Students
Authors: Lehr Sally T. , DiIorio Colleen , Dudley William N. , Lipana Jenny Ann
Published: March 2007

An increased incidence of HIV infection in adolescents has led researchers to examine factors that influence young people’s sexual behaviors. One of these factors is parent-adolescent communication about sexuality. In this study, two measurements of this communication were developed and tested through a mailed survey instrument methodology, with a sample of 732 college students. The instruments were found to be psychometrically sound. An exploration of the associations between selected demographic variables, parent-adolescent communication about sexuality, and specific safer sexual behaviors was conducted using a Chi Square Automatic Interaction Detection statistical technique. Overall, the study findings suggest that race, gender, and communication with parents are important factors within the sexual activity of college students.
Childhood Chronic Illness: A Comparison of Mothers’ and Fathers’ Experiences
Authors: Knafl Kathleen , Zoeller Linda
Published: March 2007

Despite a growing emphasis on gender differences in parental response to childhood illness and disability, relatively few studies have compared how mothers and fathers adapt to having an ill child. This article explores how mothers and fathers of a child with a chronic illness viewed their experience and its impact on family life. Within families, parents typically had a shared view of the experience and its impact on their life as reflected in both the qualitative interview data and quantitative measures of family and individual functioning. In the minority of cases where parents held discrepant views, it was the mother who emphasized the negative aspects of the chronic illness situation. The results of this analysis support the growing emphasis among family researchers on exploring family strengths in the face of illness challenges and collecting data from multiple family members.
Children in Research: Fathers in Cancer Research—Meanings and Reasons for Participation
Authors: Liaschenko Joan , Underwood Sandra Millon
Published: March 2007

Fathers of chronically ill children are not well represented in the literature, and we know even less about fathers whose children are involved in clinical research. This study explores the meanings of research and reasons for participation among 12 fathers whose children were engaged in clinical cancer research. Findings revealed two general meanings of the research: the contribution of data and the effect of the intervention on the body of the child. These meanings reflected the research design of survey and experimental or randomized controlled clinical trials, respectively. The possibility of improvement was the reason given for participating in experimental studies, whereas altruism was the reason more likely given unequivocally for survey research. The findings point to two issues inherent to the practice of medical research: the tension between the welfare of the individual and the welfare of the group and the constantly shifting boundaries between acceptable therapy and research.
Nursing Research on Family Processes in Chronic Illness in Ethnically Diverse Families: A Decade Review
Authors: Chesla Catherine A. , Rungreangkulkij Somporn
Published: March 2007

The aim of this article is to review the methods, innovations, and dilemmas reported in nursing research on chronic illness with ethnically diverse families. Articles published by nurse researchers were systematically searched using Medline, CINAHL, and PsychINFO for the years 1990 to 2000, with follow-up to methodological articles. Research was selected if it sampled families from diverse ethnicities living in the United States and employed family conceptualizations or measures. Four classes of research were identified that (a) examine the appropriateness of various research instruments for use with ethnically diverse families; (b) examine families of varied ethnicities, but report what is common, rather than unique to each ethnic group; (c) examine family processes in a single diverse ethnic group; and (d) compare family processes in at least two ethnic groups. Methodological recommendations for future research are offered.
Couple Relationships over the Transition to Parenthood: Methodological Issues in Testing for an Intervention Effect
Authors: Bryan Audrey A. Mattson
Published: March 2007

A conceptual framework using transition in meaning/identity, roles, and relationship/interaction was used to develop and test a three-class, prenatal couple relationship intervention. A nonrandomized convenience sample (treatment group [TG] = 43, control group [CG] = 62 prenatal class couples) was compared preclass and postclass and at mean 10.5 months postbirth. Couples with lower relationship quality self-selected into TG. Both TG and CG showed a rise in relationship satisfaction from preclass to postclass and a pattern of returning to baseline postbirth. ANCOVA (Time 1 children and parenting as covariate) found no treatment effect; TG declined in conflict resolution from Times 1 to 3. Methodological issues in intervention research that may have impeded a teamwork effect are discussed in this article, including randomization, intervention length, unintended intervention and control group effects, content “fit” and need for piloting, attrition, sample size, recruitment, tool length, and participant fatigue.
Predictors of Participation in Health Promotion Activities by Elderly Couples
Authors: Padula Cynthia A.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study is to identify predictors of participation in health promotion activities by elderly couples. Fifty-nine couples who had been married 35 years or more were recruited through the senior centers of three communities. Participants completed measures of perceived health, health value, health locus of control, social support, relationship quality, spousal influence, and participation in health promotion activities. Five variables accounted for 31% of the variance: relationship quality, perceived health, education, internal health locus of control, and social support.
A Test of the Wicks Family Health Model in Families Coping with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Authors: Wicks Mona Newsome
Published: March 2007

This study used the Wicksfamily health model to test relationships among family health and time since diagnosis, perception of symptom severity, caregiver stress, and family stressors in 140families coping with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Hypotheses were tested using Pearson's correlation coefficients and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Family health was influenced by time since diagnosis, patient perceptions of symptom severity, caregiver stress, and family stressors as predicted. Cognitive impairment (patient-reported poor memory) was the only symptom significantly influencing family health. Even when physicalfrailty is the hallmark of a disease, it may be the cognitive aspects of the disease that strain family relationships.
Social Chaos and Danger as Context of Battered Women's Lives
Authors: Langford David R.
Published: March 2007

This article describes the context of women's relationships with battering men. Social chaos as the context of battering emergedfrom a grounded theory study of women's perceptions of danger in their relationships with battering men. Social chaos is created by a combination of factors: abusive men's unpredictability and use of unbalancing behaviors, contradictions, women's impaired sense of self, and the secrecy of battering. Chaos creates a sense of danger in battered women and serves to control their behavior. Social chaos is a component of dangerousness and has implications for assessing danger in woman battering.
Self-Efficacy, Stress, and Parental Adaptation: Applications to the Care of Childbearing Families
Authors: Reece Susan McClennan , Harkless Gene
Published: March 2007

Successful adaptation to parenthood may require that parents believe they have the ability to succeed at this challenging task Relationships of selficacy, stress, and parental adaptation were assessed during the early transition to parenthood. Mothers exceeded fathers in self-efficacy, confidence, satisfaction, and support. For mothers, stress and self-efficacy were inversely related, and self-efficacy postpartum was positively associated with partner relationship, satisfaction, confidence, and support. Forfathers, self-efficacyand stress were not related, and self-efficacy at 4 months was associated with confidence and life situation. Self-efficacy and stress as predictor variables modestly explained adaptation to parenthood. Gender predicted confidence in parenting, and the interaction of gender and self-efficacy predicted support for parenting. Strategiesforassessingandenhancingparentingself-efficacyand implicationsforfuture research are discussed.
Parents' Perceptions of Their Children's Lung Transplant Experiences
Authors: Stubblefield Carol , Murray Ruth L. E.
Published: March 2007

There is little informationfrom the perspective of parents living with a child who has undergone lung transplantation. A phenomenological approach integrating Schutz's postulatesfor the construction of social reality with Colaizzi's method of analysis was used to investigate the meaning of the experience. Fifteen parents of 12 children were interviewed. Theme clusters reflecting the meaning of the stages of the transplantation experience were formulated. Parents perceived lung transplantation as creating hope for the future, creating a context of uncertainty and an opportunity for normalcy, and promoting the development of a new perspective on life. Humanistic nursing practice theory provided the link between study results and nursing practice. Implicationsfor nursing practice were identified.
Fathers of Children With Chronic Illness: Do They Differ From Fathers of Healthy Children?
Authors: Katz Shira , Krulik Tamar
Published: March 2007

This study compared 80 fathers of children with chronic illness to 80 fathers of healthy children in Israel on the following variables: stressful life events, self-esteem, social support, marital satisfaction, and involvement in the care of the child. These variables were chosen from the theoretical framework of the Double ABCX Model. The main findings indicated that fathers of children with chronic illnesses experienced a greater number of stressful life events and expressed feelings of lower self-esteem than did fathers of healthy children. However, no significant differences were found between the two groups on the other variables. Further analyses focused on (a) investigating relationships among the above variables and (b) examining the contribution of the predictors of life events, self-esteem, and social support on the dependent variables of marital satisfaction and father’s involvement in the care of the child. Recommendations for family nursing in education, research, practice, and administration are discussed.
Studying Users of the Why Files
Authors: DUNWOODY SHARON
Published: March 2007

Science Web sites proliferate, offering users a virtual avalanche of information that ranges widely across topic, message style, and quality of evidence. Users, too, are proliferating. But what kind of people visit these sites, how do they maneuver through the site once they arrive, and do they learn anything about science as a result of their visits? For the past five years, a team of researchers has been trying to answer these questions by focusing on one science Web site, the Why Files (http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu). Originally created as part of the National Institute for Science Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the site has won industry kudos for its efforts to offer users “the science behind the news.” Most importantly for this discussion, it has also served as a laboratory for examining the characteristics of Why Files users, for tracking their coping strategies on the site itself, and for experiments to assess science learning. This discussion will offer some of the results of that research.
Report: The Evaluation of National Programs of Science Awareness
Authors: GASCOIGNE TOSS , METCALFE JENNI
Published: March 2007

Most countries have national programs to increase the public awareness and understanding of science. The assumption behind these programs is that a scientifically literate population will ultimately lead to a healthy and economically prosperous country. How do we know if these programs achieve their aims? Are they evaluated, and if so, what methods are used? This report looks at the way the Australian Science and Technology Awareness Program has been evaluated and comments on the limitations of the methods used. It proposes a simple five-point model for evaluation. The conclusion is that the credibility of programs designed to enhance the public communication of science and technology will be questioned and funding threatened unless science communicators devote more resources to evaluation. On May 30, 2001, the Science and Technology Awareness Program was replaced by the National Innovation Awareness Strategy, a body with similar responsibilities.
Communicating the Future
Authors: BORCHELT RICK E.
Published: March 2007

This article reports the principal findings and recommendations of the Research Roadmap Panel for Public Communication of Science and Technology in the Twenty-first Century. Beginning in 1998, the Space Sciences Laboratory at NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center chartered a fifteen-member working group to develop a research strategy that would address the big questions in science communication academic research and identify the best practices in science and technology communication as they are being implemented in research institutions across the United States and abroad. The working group met eight times at various U.S. research institutions, invited science communicators and others to meet with them, and solicited public and other comment in preparation for this article.
The Inadaptive Knowledge
Authors: Passerini Pietro
Published: March 2007

The evolution of human sociotechnical systems shows some trends that, though initially adaptive, may become inadaptive if the long run is considered. Technical progress, for instance, entails an increase of destructive powers and augments the efficiency of intraspecific conflict as a mechanism for self-consumption of the species. It can be foreseen that technical advancement, which up to now has increased the species' dominance and genetic fitness, beyond a given threshold may make this fitness decrease, possibly leading the species to extinction or considerable reduction. It is argued that this critical limit has been already crossed or will be crossed before long.
The Transfer of Financial Management Knowledge Innovations
Authors: Sorg James D.
Published: March 2007

The article reports the findings of a study of a project that attempted to transfer financial management knowledge innovations to officials of small municipalgovernments. Because the project dealt with a type of knowledge and a set of clients that are not the typicalfocus of knowledge utilization research, it presented an opportunity to examine the generalizability of several of this research area's concepts and propositions. The study's findings suggest that a knowledge transfer project that attempts to serve organizations of various sizes must tailor its strategy to the size of target organizations, and that heterophilous change agents may be more successful than homophilous change agents in transferring knowledge innovations that will be accepted by the client without modification. The study demonstrated the utility of two research tactics proposed by other researchers on knowledge utilization, namely importing concepts from innovation research and looking for associations between variations in knowledge utilization and organizational characteristics.
Institutionalization of Modern Science and Technology in Non-Western Societies
Authors: Shahidullah Muhammad
Published: March 2007

This article argues that the role of the state is vitally important in the process of institu tionalization of modern science and technology in non- Western societies. The sustained institutionalization of modern science and technology in a given society depends primarily on three sets of conditions: the prevalence of a creative, competitive, and relatively autonomous internal environment for the doing of science; the cultivation of dynamic linkages between the society's institutions of scientific work and those of the global knowledge system; and the establishment of appropriate and adaptive linkages between its own knowledge system and its knowledge-utilizing regions of development. The nature and degree of development in these spheres of institutionalization will significantly depend on how the strategic political, bureaucratic, and intellectual elites in non- Western societies perceive the nature, role, and significance of modern science and technology. The cases of the institutionalization of modern science and technology in Japan and India provide some justifications to this claim.
Optimizing Scientific Validity
Authors: Neimeyer Robert A. , Shadish William R.
Published: March 2007

In his lead article for this series, Campbell discusses the role of a "disputatious and mutually reinforcing community of truth seekers" in promoting a sociology of scientific validity. Situating his work in the broader context of the sociology of science, we first raise a number of questions about the conceptual and empirical warrant for his recommendations, local factors that might affect their implementation, and temporal and "level of analysis "issues which could influence the optimal form that a scientific community might take. In general, however, these considerations do not vitiate Campbell's prescriptions so much as point up the need for conceptually informed empirical research on the outcome of varymg social structures for science. We then survey some of the potential contributions to science studies that are being made by psychologists of diverse specialties, ranging from a relatively mdividualistic focus on creativity and cognitive processes to a broader view of scientific behavior in a social context. As a complement to Campbell's predominantly sociological analysis, these psychological contributions reinforce the view that scientific validity can best be promoted through the collaborative study and eventual implementation of proposals generated by the multiple disciplines concerned with science studies.
Demonstrations as a Policy Instrument With Energy Technology Examples
Authors: Macey Susan M. , Brown Marilyn A.
Published: March 2007

Demonstration projects can be an effective tool in the diffusion of information and the promotion of new technologies and practices. This article provides a review of knowledge to date. It outlines the characteristics of demonstration projects, their goals, methods employed, and the means by which they are evaluated, using energy technology examples. Further, it discusses how the effectiveness of demonstration projects can be maximized and draws conclusions concerning their application and usefulness.
The Diffusion of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh
Authors: Auwal Mohammad A. , Singhal Arvind
Published: March 2007

Despite many decades of efforts to alleviate rural poverty, the number of rural poor in developing countries is steadily rising. Amid the general gloom and doom of failed poverty-focused programs, one bright spot is the experience of the Grameen (rural) Bank in Bangladesh. The Grameen Bank represents a radical institutional innovation because it provides collateral-free loans and various social services to poor Bangladeshis yet maintains a loan recovery rate of 98 percent. Founded as an action research project in 1976, the Grameen Bank has diffused to 50 of Bangladesh's 64 districts. The bank now has over one million members, 92 percent of whom are women. Over the past 16 years, the Grameen Bank has created a formidable knowledge base and expertise to combat rural poverty. The present article investigates the process through which this new knowledge base was created, and how it has diffused in Bangladesh to alleviate poverty.
From Student to Scientist
Authors: TUSS PAUL
Published: March 2007

This article provides a rationale for exploring ways in which science educators can structure learning activities that more accurately reflect the scientific inquiry processes used by practicing research scientists. Science learning activities based on the experiential model are better able to promote student construction of scientific knowledge and provoke students into making the transition from naive to higher-order, scientific ways of thinking. The conclusion is drawn that experiential education strategies will strengthen school science performance, particularly among students from underrepresented groups, and create an increased pool of scientific and technical workers.
A Comparison of Ambulatory Care-Sensitive Hospital Discharge Rates for Medicaid HMO Enrollees and Nonenrollees
Authors: Porell Frank W.
Published: March 2007

With an increasing volume of Medicaid recipient enrollees in managed care, many states are developing tools for monitoring service quality and access of Medicaid recipients. This article explores the use of ambulatory care-sensitive (ACS) hospital discharge rates as a simple, practical indicator tool for monitoring the access of Medicaid health maintenance organization (HMO) enrollees through an empirical application in Massachusetts in 1995. Although unadjusted hospital discharge rates were lower, Medicaid HMO enrollees had higher age-gender-race adjusted total and ACS hospital discharge rates than Medicaid recipients enrolled in a primary care case management program under fee-for-service reimbursement. Higher HMO discharge rates for the specific ACS conditions of asthma and dehydration were suggestive of potential HMO access problems.
Effect of CAHPS Performance Information on Health Plan Choices by Iowa Medicaid Beneficiaries
Authors: Farley Donna O. , Elliott Marc N. , Short Pamela Farley , Damiano Peter , Kanouse David E. , Hays Ron D.
Published: March 2007

This evaluation tested if Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study (CAHPS) information on plan performance affected health plan choices by new beneficiaries in Iowa Medicaid. New cases entering Medicaid in selected counties during February through May 2000 were assigned randomly to experimental or control groups. The control group received standard Medicaid enrollment materials, and the experimental group received these materials plus a CAHPS report. We found that CAHPS information did not affect health plan choices by Iowa Medicaid beneficiaries, similar to previously reported findings for New Jersey Medicaid. However, it did affect plan choice in an earlier laboratory experiment. The value of this information may be limited to a subset of receptive