bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Olfactory Acuity as a Function of Age and Gender: A Comparison of African and American Samples
Authors: Barber Clifton E.
Published: May 2005

A frequently reported finding in age-related sensory impairment is that olfaction shows consistent and uniform decline with age. In most studies, discerning whether loss in olfaction is due to aging per se or to factors extrinsic to the aging process (e.g., smoking, chemical exposure, head injury) is difficult. Moreover, studies of olfaction have generally relied on data collected from samples drawn primarily from Western societies. As such, little is known regarding differences in olfaction involving non-Western cultures. Using international data from the 1986 National Geographic Smell Survey, responses of 19,219 American respondents and 3,204 respondents from Africa were analyzed. All respondents were screened for factors negatively affecting olfaction. Measures of olfactory acuity included odor detection, identification, intensity, and quality. The odor of interest was androstenone, a scent produced by bacteria on the human body and appearing in sweat. The results indicate that some measures of olfactory acuity tend to decline across age groups, but that this decline is less marked than reported in previous studies. The most important finding is that loss of olfaction is not consistent or uniform between geographic regions of America or Africa, between male vs. female respondents, or among the four measures of olfactory acuity. African respondents (both men and women) had significantly higher percentages of detection than did American respondents, women generally reported higher levels of olfactory functioning than did men, and some measures of olfaction were stable across age groups, or were higher among older respondents (e.g., odor identification).
Age-Related Health Stereotypes and Illusory Correlation
Authors: Madey Scott F. , Chasteen Alison L.
Published: May 2005

This experiment investigated how age-related health stereotypes affect people's judgments of younger and older patients' medical compliance. Previous research has shown that stereotypes of young adults include healthy components, but stereotypes of older adults include both healthy and unhealthy components (Hummert, 1990). We predicted that younger patients in poor health would violate people's expectations about health in younger individuals. As a result of this violation, people would perceive younger patients to be more non-cooperative than older patients. On the other hand, because people's stereotypes of older patients contain both good and poor health components, non-cooperative older patients would be no more memorable than cooperative older patients. These hypotheses were supported by data showing that both younger and older participants formed illusory correlations between younger patients and non-cooperative behavior, but not between older patients and non-cooperative behavior. Implications for how age-related health stereotypes might affect beliefs about compliance and healthcare policy are discussed.
The Meaning of life: Animism in the Classificatory Skills of Older Adults
Authors: McDonald Lorraine , Stuart-Hamilton Ian
Published: May 2005

Seventy-five participants aged from their teens to their seventies were measured on a battery of measures of personality, lifestyle, intelligence, and educational background. These measures were gauged against performance on a measure of animism, in which participants judged twenty-three items (4 alive, 19 non-living) as living or non-living. Although animism errors increased with age, all groups displayed animism errors, thereby contradicting Piaget (1965). Performance is partially explained by fluid intelligence level, but is more plausibly ascribed to progressive loss of what is essentially peripheral information to non-academic people.
Attitudes toward Aging Portrayed by Birthday Cards
Authors: Dillon Kathleen M. , Jones Barbara Spiess
Published: May 2005

In this article, contemporary attitudes toward the aged are inferred from an analysis of birthday greeting cards which are divided into six thematic categories. Overall, the attitudes appear to be negative supporting previous studies that analyzed attitudes toward the aged found in joke anthologies. The question is raised whether this kind of humor is being used defensively to counteract age anxiety by exaggerating age-related deficits to create a psychological distance, or whether, in fact, it reflects a healthy adaptation to a difficult truth.
Effects of a Preventive Alcohol Education Program after Three Years
Authors: Duryea Elias J. , Okwumabua Jebose O.
Published: May 2005

A three-year evaluation of Nebraska students ( N = 130) was conducted to gauge the long-term influence of an initial preventive alcohol education intervention. The initial intervention was developed around the inoculation model of McGuire which proposes that individuals can be inoculated against persuasive verbal appeals and thus resist specific pressures. Students in the initial program were assessed and found to be highly susceptible to peer pressure to misuse alcohol. Subjects were followed through their junior year in high school and assessed on the following self-report alcohol-related behaviors: frequency of riding with drinking drivers; frequency of drinking and, frequency of drinking to excess. Cognitive areas assessed included items assessing the concept of tolerance to alcohol. Results suggest that after three years frequency of risky alcohol-related behavior between experimental and control students was not significantly different. Assessments of cognitive items revealed no statistically significant differences between experimental and control students. When viewed in context with prior evaluations of these subjects at two-weeks and six-months time, the findings are disappointing yet informative. The claim that specific “educational inoculation” strategies play a long-term role in delaying the initiation of risky health behavior in adolescents is discussed. The judicious integration of periodic, sequential, and meaningful booster components into school-based environments is recommended as a potential way to achieve a more lasting effect in preventive inoculation efforts.
Aging and Suicide: Maturation or Cohort Effect?
Authors: Wenz Friedrich V.
Published: May 2005

Within the field of gerontology investigators have been concerned with determining whether social behavior can be explained by a cohort effect or a generational maturation effect. This paper considers the question by examining suicidal behavior from a subjective perspective. A Suicide Potential Scale is constructed for a sample population in the city of Flint, Michigan, and it is shown that the scale fits the Guttman scale criteria. The mean suicide potential scores of various age groups in the sample are then examined and it can be seen that the data lend support to the cohort model with the exception of individuals seventy-five and older, where it appears that maturation factors play an important role in explaining suicidal behavior.
Aging and Attractiveness: Marriage Makes a Difference
Authors: Giesen Carol Boellhoff
Published: May 2005

In order to explore women's agreement with the double standard of aging, thirty-two women ranging in age from twenty-eight to sixty-three were asked to share their definitions of attractiveness, femininity, and sexual appeal. They were then asked if they had changed these definitions over time and if they perceived themselves as growing more or less attractive, feminine, and sexually appealing as they grew older. The findings showed that attractiveness was defined primarily by appearance, femininity by behavior and inferred traits, and sexual appeal by both. More single than married women had changed definitions of these terms, and more single women perceived themselves as having grown more attractive, feminine, and sexually appealing as they grew older. Age differences in these evaluations were found among the group of married women, but few age differences were found among single women. The findings suggest there may be qualitatively differing experiences between single and married women that are reflected in their evaluations of attractiveness and sexual appeal.
The Incomplete Social Psychology of Aging: A Psychologist's Perspective
Authors: Blank Thomas O.
Published: May 2005

The social psychology of aging as currently practiced within social gerontology is incomplete. It is quite different from sociological approaches to (nonaging) social psychology and virtually unrelated to psychological ones. This incompleteness—its origins, range, and effects-is examined, and the outlines of a more complete social psychology of aging are presented in this article. The development of a more complete social psychology of aging, and its expansion toward a life span developmental social psychology, is possible and would have beneficial effects on both social psychologists and on social gerontological research and practice.
Late Archaic Settlement Patterns of the Inner Coastal Plain of New Jersey
Authors: Pagoulatos Peter
Published: May 2005

Late Archaic (4000-1000 B.C.) settlement patterns in the State of New Jersey are poorly understood in comparison with other parts of the Northeastern United States. This study is designed to evaluate current settlement pattern data, using logistical models of land use, against available archaeological data. Current data indicate that Late Archaic populations exhibited a complex series of seasonal movements, based upon seasonal availability of resources and highly ritualized cremation burial behavior. Late Archaic groups coalesced in riverine zones of the Inner Coastal Plain in the fall, as economic activities oriented toward nut harvesting, mammal hunting, and fishing, coincided with increasingly formal and complex cremation burial ritual; settlement systems at this time broadly correspond to collectors. With the completion of the fall season food harvesting and ritual cycle, mobile groups most resembling foragers dispersed into upland zones in the winter months to hunt mammals and coastal zones in the spring and summer to procure aquatic-related resources. Regional climatic changes toward the end of the Late (Terminal) Archaic and the early portion of the Early Woodland (1200-500 B.C.) may have necessitated higher group mobility more typical of foragers and corresponding changes in cremation burial ritual.
Influences on the Educational Degree Attainment of Two-Year College Students
Authors: Nippert Karen
Published: May 2005

With increasing numbers of students enrolling at two-year colleges, it is clear that additional research is needed to understand and predict the persistence behavior of this group of students. The central purpose of this study was to examine the effects of students' backgrounds, academic and social integration, external influences, and institutional satisfaction on the educational degree attainment of students who began their college experience at two-year colleges. The findings of this study are consistent with previous research and confirm the relationship of college academic activities and college grade point average with student persistence. Students' willingness to re-enroll in their freshman college was also found to positively influence educational degree attainment.
Throwing Patterns of Older Adults: A Follow-up Investigation
Authors: Williams Kathleen , Haywood Kathleen , Vansant Ann
Published: May 2005

Previous investigations of the movement patterns of older adults have focused on functional movements. Performance declines have been reported with increasing age. Many investigations, however, do not require older adults to perform maximal, force producing actions. Smaller declines might be observed if older adults made a maximal effort. This investigation examined changes in a maximal skill—the overarm throw for force. Active, older adults were videotaped as they threw tennis balls. Thirteen people were filmed for two consecutive years. Gender and age differences were examined for movement patterns, ball velocity, and selected kinematic measures. Participants threw using patterns and velocities generally observed in children in middle elementary-school years. This result suggested there was a decline in this force production skill. Some older adults regressed in the movement patterns they used over the two years of testing. Older males threw faster, using more advanced movement patterns than older females.
Predictors of Volunteer Status in a Retirement Community
Authors: Okun Morris A.
Published: May 2005

In the present study, actual volunteers, latent volunteers, conditional volunteers, and definite nonvolunteers living in a retirement community are compared on social-structural, role, environmental, resource, lifestyle, and individual difference variables. Three functions emerged from the discriminant analysis. Actual volunteers attend church frequently, are free of activity limitations due to health, have volunteered previously, and belong to several clubs and organizations. Latent volunteers engage in informal religious behaviors, attend church about once a month, are about seventy years old (i.e., they are younger than the other groups), and are very satisfied with their neighborhood. Conditional volunteers engage infrequently in informal religious behavior, have no instrumental activity limitations due to health, did not attend college, have very high neighborhood satisfaction, and are seventy-four years old (i.e., older than latent volunteers and actual volunteers). Implications for recruiting latent and conditional volunteers are discussed.
Aging and Information Seeking: Patterns in Sampling of Sucrose Solutions
Authors: Shapira N. , Kushnir T.
Published: May 2005

This study intended to explore age-related strategies of information seeking and decision making, utilizing a content-free task. Better understanding of skills and motives of aged behavior might contribute to more effective intervention for their welfare. Young and old female participants were engaged in detecting the presence of sucrose in solutions of various concentrations. They also reported the number of samplings required for an affirmative or negative decision about each test solution. Compared to young people, the aged sampled more (repetitions) and had a higher detection threshold (intensity of stimulus), indicating higher requirements for information. It was assumed that the sampling curve would be bell-shaped and peak at the point of least certainty about the presence or absence of sucrose (probability of detection = 0.5). Such curve was observed only among the young females when the samplings across concentrations were pooled according to probability of detection. In the aged, the sampling curve was rather monotonic, indicating low utility and interchangeability of information resources. This was attributed to a preset sampling strategy, labeled as over-resourcing, considering the higher baseline and low utility. The implications of such strategy to experimental procedures and every day life were discussed.
The Kendrick Battery: Sensitivity to Survival Effects
Authors: Hayslip Bert , Fish Michael , Wilson Rosemary
Published: May 2005

In an effort to establish the sensitivity of the Kendrick Battery (KB) to mortality effects among institutionalized aged, the residualized pre-death KB scores (Digit Copying, Object Learning Subtests), as well as measures of affect (Zung Depression), and organicity (Luria Pathognomic Scale, Orientation Test) were compared in a sample of fifty-three elderly persons (M̅ age = 82.7, SD = 7.76). Forty-two were female, eleven were male. Twenty-two of these individuals had subsequently died during an eighteen-month period following assessment. Six years after testing, thirty-six of these individuals had died. Step-wise discriminant analyses at each occasion yielded functions defined by the KB subtests, measures of organicity and depression, age of institutionalization, sex, and length of institutionalization that differentiated survivors and nonsurvivors. These data suggested that the Kendrick Battery subtests, measures of depression and organicity, in combination with length of institutionalization and age of admittance predict death among the elderly, for the most part, replicating previous research.
Preretired and Retired Women's Attitudes toward Retirement
Authors: Gigy Lynn L.
Published: May 2005

This study explored the phenomenological meanings of retirement for women and factors associated with adjustment among samples of employed and retired women. In comparing groups of preretired ( N = 25) and retired ( N = 30) white-collar women, no significant differences were found in overall levels of morale, adjustment, or self-esteem. Instead, correlations of various background, current status, and attitudinal variables with the measures of morale, adjustment, and self-esteem indicated that the factors associated with psychological functioning may be different before and after retirement. These data lead to the hypothesis that change does not directly affect levels of psychological functioning but, instead, cause a shifting in the content of elements or mechanisms which relate to adjustment.
Finances of Unmarried Elderly People over Time
Authors: Keith Pat M.
Published: May 2005

This research assessed the effect of widowhood, divorce, and life-long singleness on income and evaluations of finances at two points, and investigated factors associated with satisfaction with level of living in old age. Data were analyzed from two interviews with 2,047 older, unmarried men and women. Models explaining satisfaction with level of living were relatively similar for the marital status groups. Marital status affected the economic circumstances and perceptions of finances of women more often than men. The strains of divorce and widowhood for women and divorce for older men had an enduring influence on finances, and in the instance of men, were heightened over time.
The Development of Children's Prejudice against the Aged
Authors: Isaacs Leora W. , Bearison David J.
Published: May 2005

Children's prejudice against the aged was studied in terms of their responses to an attitude scale and measures of their social interaction with aged compared to nonaged confederates. Participants were 144 middle-class children, four, six, and eight years of age. Findings from the attitude scale indicated significant levels of ageist prejudice among six- and eight-year-olds but not in four-year-olds. Eight-year-olds had significantly higher prejudice scores than six-year-olds. There were six measures of participant interaction with aged compared to nonaged confederates: proxemic distance, productivity, eye-contact initiation, number of words spoken, number of conversation initiations, and number of verbal appeals. On all of these measures except productivity, participants in each age group showed significant levels of ageist prejudice. Ancillary findings indicated that, in general, participants were more prejudiced against women than against men. Attitude scores correlated significantly with some of the behavioral measures but not with all of them.
Subjective Quality of Life of Polish, Polish-Immigrant, and Polish-American Elderly
Authors: Berdes Celia , Zych Adam A.
Published: May 2005

This study compared the subjective quality of life of elderly Poles living in Poland, and Polish immigrants and Polish-American ethnics living in Chicago. The article is a secondary data analysis of a study that replicated an earlier study conducted in Poland. The study uses three measures of quality of life used in the earlier study—self assessments of health, initiative, and fulfillment of plans and wishes—and develops a composite measure. The results showed that Polish-American ethnic elderly had significantly better subjective quality of life than Polish-immigrant elderly, and Polish-immigrant elderly had significantly better subjective quality of life than elderly Poles in Poland. These conclusions lend support to the idea the U.S.-born elderly people and elderly immigrants to the United States have access to an American cultural construct of “vital aging.” However, immigration is also a risk factor worthy of being added to the traditional “triple jeopardy.”
School Performance, Academic Aspirations, and Drug Use among Children and Adolescents
Authors: Paulson Morris J. , Coombs Robert H. , Richardson Mark A.
Published: May 2005

The relationship between drug use, school performance, and academic aspirations among 446 Anglo and Hispanic youths, age nine to seventeen, is explored. Two groups of subjects–current substance users and non-users–were interviewed. Subjects in each comparison group were similar in age, ethnicity, and gender. Overall results, consistent with prior research, indicate a significant relationship between current school performance, future educational aspirations, and drug use. No difference was noted between substance use groups on indicators of general interest in school work or probability of dropping out of school. Important differences in response patterns occurring with age, ethnicity, and gender were found.
Older Widows and Independent Lifestyles
Authors: O'Bryant Shirley L.
Published: May 2005

Societies differ over the importance of individualistic/independent behaviors. In the United States, such behaviors are highly valued. Thus, subtle pressures exist on older widowed Americans to develop and maintain independent lifestyles. Respondents ( N = 300) were older widows, age 60+, who were individually interviewed in their own homes. Various measures of self-sufficiency were derived from a list of fifteen life-maintenance tasks. The ability of widows to accomplish traditionally female tasks is significantly related to health, education, age, and work history, whereas their ability to accomplish traditionally male tasks is significantly related to income, living alone, and work history. Results did not support the hypotheses in that neither high levels of overall self-sufficiency or male-task sufficiency are related to widows' psychological well-being or life satisfaction.
Societal Literacy and the Status of the Aged
Authors: Lee Gary R. , Kezis Mindy
Published: May 2005

The hypothesis that status of the aged is negatively related to societal literacy is tested on a sample of 122 cultures drawn from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample and the Human Relations Area Files. The hypothesis is not supported; instead, a small positive relationship is observed. This relationship, however, appears to be spurious due to the effects of variables indexing societal complexity, which are positively related to status of the aged for societies of the kind represented in this sample. The conclusions of this study are: (1) societal literacy has no independent effect on status of the aged; and (2) the overall relationship between societal complexity and status of the aged appears to be curvilinear. Both of those conclusions are contrary to existing theory.
Respect Redefined: Focus Group Insights from Singapore
Authors: Mehta Kalyani
Published: May 2005

This article re-examines the meaning of the concept of respect within the context of a fast modernizing Asian multicultural society—Singapore. Two key findings emerge. First, the meaning of respect both from the perspective of the aged and the middle-aged generation has shifted from obedience to courteous behavior. Second, in the majority of focus groups members concurred that the degree of respect accorded to elders has in general decreased. The focus group methodology was used in this research. Bearing in mind the limited sample size (88 participants) these findings alert us to the need for social scientists to monitor perceptual shifts in meaning of concepts critical in the sphere of interpersonal relationships. The findings throw light on the subjective views of intergenerational relations within the family as well as the community. As such, they would be valuable to counselors, social workers, and family therapists.
The Effect of Breastfeeding on Fertility in Bangladesh
Authors: Kabir Ahmad , Islam Mohammad Fahimul
Published: May 2005

This study, based on the 1996–97 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, attempts to find the effect of breastfeeding on fertility. The study reveals that breastfeeding status of the mothers placed a considerable role in the determination of fertility. The mean number of live births was lower in case of mothers who gave full breastfeeding compared to others. The relationship between the duration of breastfeeding and mean number of live births was direct and negative. A significant change in the breastfeeding pattern was observed by parity and age of mothers. The path analysis suggests that the longer the duration of breastfeeding, the lower will be the incidence of child mortality, and hence the lower will be the fertility.
The Healing Alliance: How Families Use Social Support after a Suicide
Authors: Barlow Constance A. , Coleman Heather
Published: May 2005

This article is based on a study that investigated family responses to suicide using a qualitative methodology. The intent of the study was to expand our understanding of family responses to suicide by asking the question, “What changes do families experience after a suicide?” One aspect of the data revealed how families use social support to integrate the death into its history. It was found that healing alliances created within and outside the family sustained its members as they engaged in the painful process of personal re-definition and family transformation.
Workable Community Concepts in Drug Abuse
Authors: Krowinski William , Fowler Franklin S. , Rotenberg Larry A. , Boyson Col. William A.
Published: May 2005

Self-actualization, confidence and trust from adults, and the development of meaningful goals are becoming more difficult for young people to achieve and realize. Drug abuse, with most regular drug users, is a comfortable, easy way to deal with the frustrations now becoming their heritage. The solution lies beyond acute treatment and traditional rehabilitation, to broad community programs where stimulating constructive activities for self-development can be created. This concept underlies the work of the Army's Impact Center on Okinawa.
Internal versus External Locus of Control for Three Age Groups
Authors: Staats Sara
Published: May 2005

Rotter's I-E Scale was administered to a non-college population of males and females in 3 age groups: 5–15, 16–25, and 46–60. Internal locus of control expectations increased with age. A trend for males to be more internal in their beliefs was suggested.
Communication with Alzheimer's Patients: An Analysis of Caregiver Listening Patterns
Authors: Bohling Hollis R.
Published: May 2005

Alzheimer's Disease is the leading cause of dementia in today's aging population. Behavioral manifestations of this illness have been studied primarily by focusing on diagnostic and assessment tests. Communication studies have emphasized identification of speech and language deficits, and little attention has been given to communication processes that are still in place. This study addresses caregiver listening responses as they occur in conversations with an Alzheimer's patient. This project videotaped twenty-six episodes of conversations between caregivers in an adult day health care setting. The dialogue was transcribed (enhanced by the use of video-taped data) and analyzed for caregiver listening responses. Frame analysis was used to identify several categories of caregiver's responses to the patient's message. In addition, this study found that sensitive listening and partial entry into the patient's frame (reality) may be an effective response to prevent behavior and anxiety related outbursts. This study also found that videotaping of natural conversations and frame analysis can be useful tools for continued study in the treatment and care of Alzheimer's patients.
The Perceptual Presence of the Life Course
Authors: Redfoot Donald L. , Back Kurt W.
Published: May 2005

Despite the recent popularity of the term, the degree to which the “life course” as such is experienced in everyday life is not clear. Explorations of this question have not been very satisfying because they tend to either eliminate biographical time (as in survey research) or assume its presence (as with clinical, biographical, and life historical research) through the methods used. Our exploratory research used the meanings of personal possessions as an indirect measure of the temporal framing of experiences among forty women who had moved into facilities for elderly persons. We found considerable variation in the relative frequency and importance of biographical references in descriptions of those possessions, which challenges the concepts that have been used to relate experiences of temporality to the self and the methods that have been used to explore these experiences.
Peers or Parents: Who Has the Most Influence on Cannabis Use?
Authors: Sheppard Margaret A. , Goodstadt Michael S. , Willett Margaret M.
Published: May 2005

What influences a young person to use or not use a psychoactive drug like cannabis? Does the peer group provide a model, availability, and approval for this behavior? Does the family provide an atmosphere of support for non-use? Can we use the peer group and family values to prevent cannabis use? These questions are explored through the results of a large scale cannabis educational project.
Age Differences in Adults' Self-Reports of Memory Ability: It Depends on How and What You Ask
Authors: Cavanaugh John C.
Published: May 2005

Self-reports of memory abilities and skills were obtained from fifty younger ( M = 20.2) and fifty older ( M = 68.7) adults. General rating questions (e.g., How good do you feel your memory is?) and specific questions about memory for certain types of content (e.g., people's names) were included. Consistent age-related decrements were found only for general questions, especially those assessing perceived changes over time. Less consistent differences were found for specific questions. Results were interpreted in terms of implications for assessing self-reported memory ability, and in terms of their meaning for research on the relationship between self-reported and actual memory ability.
The Effects of Internet Instruction, Prior Computer Experience, and Learning Style on Teachers' Internet Attitudes and Knowledge
Authors: Anderson Daniel K. , Reed W. Michael
Published: May 2005

What is now called the Internet started out as a small number of federally funded Department of Defense (Advanced Research Project Agency, or ARPA) supercomputers networked together to share information. In order to guarantee data transmission between these nodes, this network (ARPANET) shared a common set of protocols that was designed to allow for high speed and reliable transfer. This protocol suite is TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). Most microcomputers now have a TCP/IP implementation available (e.g., MacTCP) and can, therefore, join the millions of computers that have access to the plethora of resources on the Internet. The Internet is not a static set of nodes, not a limited number of library holdings, not a one-directional paradigm of data transmission. Rather, it is a vibrant and absorbing setting that can foster new learning environments, or enrage educators with its diverse commands, lack of direction, and tenuous consistency.
Response-Based Multimedia and the Culture of the Classroom: A Pilot Study of Kid's Space in Four Elementary Classrooms
Authors: Meskill Carla , Swan Karen
Published: May 2005

There are several reasons to believe that multimedia environments may support and enhance language arts education (see, for example, Meskill and Swan, 1995 [18]; Swan and Meskill, 1995 [17]). This project of the National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement is concerned with the match, real and potential, between the attributes of multimedia technology and students' development of literary understandings in response-based learning contexts. The study set out to determine how software that is specifically designed to complement response-based approaches to reading and writing ( Kid's Space) fared in four elementary classrooms. Precisely what factors influence the ways in which such software gets integrated into and used within diverse classroom contexts was the focus of our investigation. Results indicate that there is little doubt that it is a teacher's orientation to and incorporation of any technology that is paramount to its successful integration. One indication from this pilot is that technology may represent a means for promoting teacher reflection on their practice. By considering the intended role and purpose of response-based software, teachers can come to understand how discourse can impact understandings both personal and through interaction with a community of readers, writers, and responders.
Outdoor Recreation Participation across the Lifespan: Abandonment, Continuity, or Liberation?
Authors: McGuire Francis A. , Dottavio F. Dominic
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which outdoor recreation participation changes across the lifespan. Age differences and age changes in leisure involvement were examined within the framework of abandonment, liberation, and continuity. Personal interview data were gathered as part of the 1982–1983 Nationwide Recreation Survey (NRS). The NRS was conducted on a sample of individuals ( N = 6720) twelve years of age or older in the non-institutionalized United States population. The data indicated that neither the abandonment nor liberation perspective are accurate reflections of what happens with increasing age. In fact, there appears to be as much variation within age groups as across those groups. If any one pattern does occur more often than the other, it is continuity. There does, however, appear to be a perception of future abandonment among the oldest group of respondents. The findings of this study indicate variables other than age may account for expansion, contraction, and continuity across the lifespan.
Constructing a Consensus-Based Prevention Outcome Measurement Instrument
Authors: Siegal Harvey A. , Lane D. Timothy , Falck Russel S. , Wang Jichuan , Carlson Robert G. , Rahman Ahmmed , Chambers Deborah T.
Published: May 2005

This article describes Ohio's Prevention Evaluation Project (PEP). The purpose of the project was to develop a process and instrument to assess behavioral and attitudinal outcomes in primary drug abuse prevention programs targeting young people aged twelve to seventeen. One of PEP's principal achievements was the inclusion of community prevention program providers from throughout the state in the evaluation instrument development. The effort produced a self-administered questionnaire to capture data on young peoples' drug use practices, attitudes toward drugs, and problematic behaviors. Most significantly, the product produced was the acceptance and endorsement of community-based programs. The forty-one-item questionnaire has good to excellent reliability for virtually all measures, as assessed by the test-retest method. The instrument is a product of a process that brought together a university-based research team, state alcohol and drug abuse prevention administrators, and representatives of public programs. PEP demonstrates how to productively link service providers, administrators, and evaluators to develop a process for assessing the effectiveness of prevention programs. The process and tools described serve as a model for other communities wanting to evaluate their prevention programming.
A Measuring Instrument for Use in Drug Education Programs: Development of the Mc Leod High Risk Inventory
Authors: Archer Edith , Arundell Rita
Published: May 2005

In order to design a primary prevention program that has a reasonable likelihood of effectiveness, one must be able to generate data that can suggest appropriate areas of concentration. This paper discusses the development and refinement of the McLeod High-Risk Inventory. This instrument has been designed to test the statistical relationship between a number of psychological states and pro-drug attitudes or frequent drug use. The instrument is also used to measure the impact of a primary prevention program on those states that have been demonstrated to be correlated to pro-drug attitudes.
The Female Life Course: Life Situations and Perception of Control
Authors: Steitz Jean A.
Published: May 2005

The adult life course can be divided into socially defined age status periods differentiated not only by members' chronological age, but also by their experience within the family and work life cycles and degree of socially accorded rights, power, and privilege. The effects of individuals' social age status (adolescence, adulthood, retired adulthood) and gender on subjective perception of control and personal efficacy in familiar life situations from three domains (work, home, school) are examined within a multivariate cohort study. Results indicate that the adults, regardless of gender, perceived the greatest direct personal control or indirect control through the ability to influence powerful others. The adult females perceived a greater degree of influence on powerful others than adolescent or retired females, but the same as males of any age status period. The implications of these results for the female life course are discussed.
Coping Mechanisms of Physicians Who Routinely Work with Dying Patients
Authors: Schulman-Green Dena
Published: May 2005

Physicians routinely care for dying patients, yet many report being uncomfortable doing so. Discomfort with death can compromise patient care through insensitive or inadequate interactions and can lead to physicians' feeling remorse, anger, guilt, and inadequacy. The purpose of this study was to explore how physicians cope with the discomfort of caring for dying patients, as well as how the coping process can affect patient care. Twenty physicians who routinely cared for dying patients were interviewed about related discomfort. Transcripts were analyzed according to the grounded theory method using Atlas/ti software. Eight coping mechanisms were identified, including medicalization, dehumanizing the patient, anger directed at the patient, use of euphemisms, use of humor, denial of the lack of skill, going numb, and talking to others. Improvement of support mechanisms would provide a forum for physicians to speak about discomfort and would encourage the development and sharing of productive coping mechanisms.
Family Rejection of the Aged and Nursing Home Utilization
Authors: Karcher Charles J. , Linden Leonard L.
Published: May 2005

Changes in the structure and function of the modern American family have created a need for alternative means of caring for the elderly who cannot be accommodated in the nuclear family. The “sick role” and the nursing home provide a socially acceptable means of caring for the elderly while removing them from the family setting. Using data from national morbidity surveys, it is demonstrated that a large proportion of the elderly already in nursing homes do not need this type of long-term health care. This is placing strains upon the total health care system.
The State of Occupational Health in Community Europe: From Top-Down Reform to a Renewal of Trade Union Action?
Authors: Vogel Laurent , Dunn Mary Lee
Published: May 2005

Working conditions in Europe are getting worse, due to changes in work organization, including intensification and increasing insecurity. A critical assessment of the state of prevention in Europe remains essential. Trade union organizations on the Luxembourg Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work drafted a document on what Community occupational health policy should seek to achieve. In June 2001, the ETUC Executive Committee adopted a resolution based on the document. This article discusses the trade union strategy. The first step is to critique the few existing indicators. To a considerable extent, they actually conceal the health problems of work. The statistics on occupational disease reflect, above all, characteristics of the various national systems of benefits but say little about the real state of workers' health.

“Traditional” risks still cause tens of thousands of deaths and injuries every year. Risks associated with work organization are increasing steadily. The intensification of work is an important aspect of the reorganization of production processes and is associated with major changes in work management and organization. At the same time, the spread of Taylorized work procedures in certain sectors (probably correlating strongly with work performed by women in both services and some branches of industry) and the introduction of management methods may be summarized in the phrase “controlled autonomy.” It involves shifting some of the supervisory burden to the level of the team, which destroys collective solidarity and detracts from the conditions under which work can contribute to mental health. Labor insecurity has been facilitated by the reappearance of mass unemployment and technological changes. Work has become increasingly less “sustainable” and companies are swamping society with the real social costs of their appetite for profit.

In seeking harmonization, we must ensure consistent legislation based on the fundamental principles of the Framework Directive. Thus, trade unions demand that all risk factors be covered by directives based on effective preventive approaches. The new language of risk assessment and broadened approach to occupational health may initiate a process that (i) makes the invisible visible; (ii) moves on from observing individual complaints to collective analysis; and (iii) formulates a collective strategy based on identifying what “can be tolerated no longer.”
Issues of Institutionalization: Five Percent Fallacies and Terminal Care
Authors: Rosenberg Edwin , Short Cheri
Published: May 2005

Place-of-death data are analyzed for King County, Washington (1971) and Whatcom County, Washington (1971, 1975, 1978), allowing comparisons with previous studies on “the five percent fallacy.” The King County findings agree with past research on a major metropolitan area. For large urban areas, sex is found to be a significant correlate of place of death for whites (but not nonwhites), and race is found significant for females (but not males). Whatcom County data differ from earlier findings on a smaller geographic area. Changes in place-of-death distributions over time for Whatcom County are noted. Explanations are proferred for differences between the current data and past research, and for changes observed over time in one location. The implications of the findings for nursing homes and other extended care facilities, hospitals, health and old-age agencies, and the elderly themselves are discussed.
Metacognitive Instruction in Introductory Computer Programming: A Better Explanatory Construct for Performance than Traditional Factors
Authors: Volet S. E. , Lund C. P.
Published: May 2005

This article examines the effect of metacognitive instruction on students' achievement in introductory programming courses over traditional predictors of performance. Metacognitive instruction was conceptualized as a package, aimed at inducing students to develop a metacognitive strategy relevant for computer programming via interactive teaching. The metacognitive strategy consisted of a five-step planning strategy to guide students' program planning process. The interactive teaching approach involved explicit modeling, coaching and collaborative learning. An experimental field study conducted with twenty-eight experimental and twenty-eight matched control students revealed that metacognitive instruction is a better explanatory construct for students' computing performance than traditional person variables such as background knowledge, program major, gender or age. The impact of metacognitive instruction on the learning processes and outcomes of students with different personal characteristics was systematically examined.
Methodology in Measuring Attitude Change: Problems and Alternatives
Authors: Sawyer Charles R.
Published: May 2005

Numerous researchers have found that drug education programs produce little or no apparent change in students' attitudes. The present paper points out possible reasons for such findings, emphasizing problems in attitude measurement and research design. Suggestions are made for some methodological alternatives which are suitable even for researchers with limited experience and sophistication. Finally, a study in which such methods were effectively used is discussed.
Generations and the Generation of Theory in Social Gerontology
Authors: Hendricks Jon
Published: May 2005

The process of theorizing, creating theoretical explanations, and disseminating theoretical perspectives is most frequently discussed in terms of disembodied ideas. A more insightful rendering of how theory is used in the sociology of aging literature would attend to the real individuals who promulgate the ideas. Looking at theorizing as a career-related activity engaged in by scholars who are prone to the same demographic imperatives as other human beings is a way of shedding more light on the many uses of theory. The concept of theoretical generations is utilized as a means of accounting for the succession of models and explanatory frameworks.
Peer Group Leadership Program in Drug Abuse Prevention 1970–1971 Academic Year
Authors: Capone Thomas , Lin James H. Mc Laugh , Smith Frederick
Published: May 2005

The authors report a study which reviews, and evaluates in depth, the initial year of an innovative Peer Group approach to drug abuse prevention in the schools of New York City. The report was prepared for the Board of Education and the citizenry of New York City. The aim of the study was to facilitate the refinement of the program into the most effective drug prevention modality possible.

The study covers such areas as the history and goals of the program; the structure and distinctive features of the program; the administrative structure; reports of interviews with key program staff and student participants; the role of various components of the program; methods of student and staff selection and training; details of program operation; factors related to peer leader involvement; attitudes and behaviors of student participants, and perceptions of high school principals regarding the program. The authors draw conclusions, and make recommendations relative to the program.
A Report on a Drug Education Program
Authors: Wiener R. S. P.
Published: May 2005

This article describes the initiation of a drug education program in the Netherlands. The project arose because of increasing concern about young people who were experimenting with drugs. Due to the lack of success of many other preventive educational campaigns it was decided; first, to try a number of different approaches and second, to evaluate each of them carefully. Three different approaches were used; mild horror, factual, and individual adjustment.
Effectance Motivation, Perceived Scholastic Competence, and Higher-Order Thinking in Two Cooperative Computer Environments
Authors: Nastasi Bonnie K. , Clements Douglas H.
Published: May 2005

The purpose of the study was twofold. First, we examined social-contextual experiences hypothesized to contribute to the development of effectance motivation and perceived competence. We took observational measures at the initiation and termination of two educational computer interventions—Logo and curriculum-based instruction in writing (CBI-W) — as forty-eight third-grade students worked in pairs. Second, we examined the extent to which posttreatment group differences in teacher ratings of effectance motivation and self-ratings of perceived competence explained previously-documented posttreatment differences in cognitive performance [1]. Results suggested that evaluation of success was internally determined in the Logo environment, though students still sought external approval. Although students exhibited a higher frequency of difficult and failure experiences, Logo enhanced effectance motivation and higher-order thinking. Furthermore, Logo may foster cognitive growth in part by engendering effectance motivation.