bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Measuring influential police interviewing tactics: A factor analytic approach
Authors: Pearse John , Gudjonsson Gisli H. 
Published: February 2003

Purpose. This study was concerned with examining the types of tactics employed by police officers to overcome a resistant suspect and elicit a confession to a major crime. The main hypothesis is that tactics that seek to maximize or exaggerate the strength of the evidence against the suspect, or that seek to minimize the suspect's responsibility or role in the offence will be present in serious cases where initial resistance was overcome.Method. The interview data from 18 serious criminal cases were subjected to a detailed analysis using a specially constructed coding frame that identified the nature and number of tactics present in every 5‐minute segment of each interview.Results. A total of 39 interviewing tactics were identified, of which 33 were factor analysed. Six factors emerged and were rotated using the varimax procedure. The first three factors were ‘overbearing’ in character. They were labelled Intimidation, Robust Challenge and Manipulation. The remaining three factors were identified as Question Style, Appeal and Soft Challenge.Conclusion. This Police Interviewing Analysis Framework (PIAF) provides the first systematic attempt to identify, analyse, measure and display the dynamics of the police‐suspect interview. In order to overcome resistance the police resorted to manipulative and coercive tactics. The nature of the tactics used and their frequency were found to be related to the likelihood that the courts would rule the evidence inadmissible.
Public attitudes toward the treatment of sex offenders
Authors: Brown Sarah 
Published: February 2003

Purpose. To investigate public attitudes towards the treatment of sex offenders, and more specifically to investigate attitudes and anticipated behaviour towards a sex offender treatment centre being located in the local community and the acceptance, into the community, of known, convicted, sex offenders who have completed their sentences.Methods. A postal questionnaire sent to a sample (selected randomly from the electoral register) of 500 individuals in a British city, in May/June 1995.Results. Responses were received from 312 members of the original sample (response rate of 65%). Attitudes toward the treatment of sex offenders were often positive, although generally only if this takes place alongside some form of punishment. However, respondents were much less supportive of treatment taking place within their own communities and of accepting known sex offenders back into the community.Conclusions. Respondents tended to endorse the idea of treatment in custodial settings but if treatment is only provided in prison, large numbers of offenders would not be able to receive treatment and the process begun, for some, in prison would not be able to be continued after release. More work is needed to see why some groups (younger respondents and those in the Registrar General's socio‐economic groups I and II) are more favourable to treatment in the community, which may then be used to gain the support of a larger section of the community.
Offence seriousness in adolescent delinquent behaviour
Authors: Sankey M. , Huon G. F. 
Published: February 2003

Purpose. Crime statistics reveal that only a small minority of juveniles engage in serious delinquent behaviour. Yet scoring procedures in self‐report measures of delinquency do not differentiate between serious and non‐serious offenders. Rather, their total scores obscure such qualitative differences This study revisits the notion of classifying individuals as more or less serious offenders and argues that such a classification system should be included in studies of juvenile delinquency.Method. Scores on the Self‐Reported Delinquency Scale (Mak, 1993) were obtained from 131 adolescents (72 females and 59 males). Seriousness judgments for each of the items on Mak's scale were obtained from 13 police officers, 14 teachers, 12 lawyers and 15 psychology students. Those judgments were used to derive seriousness scores for each adolescent participant, and several strategies were evaluated for distinguishing serious from non‐serious offending.Results. The results show that the raters judged different categories of offences to be differentially serious, with crimes against the person being judged as most serious. Incorporating only the ‘most serious’ offences was identified as more useful than employing the range of offences in order to distinguish serious from non‐serious offenders.Conclusions. Acknowledging the difficulties involved in choosing an optimal classification system, it is proposed that self‐report measures for juvenile crime or delinquency ought to incorporate an index for distinguishing serious from non‐serious offenders. Distinguishing levels of offending seriousness could prove useful for identifying those adolescents who are most at‐risk for continuing involvement in crime.
The influence of consequentiality on perceptions of crime seriousness
Authors: Casey Sinead , O'Connell Michael 
Published: February 2003

Objective. To investigate whether some individuals take into account the consequences of an offence as well as the perpetrator's intention when evaluating the seriousness of that offence.Method. A sample of respondents (N = 133) was asked to rate the seriousness of two sets of offences, the sets differing not in the acts described but in the consequences of each act. A group of ratio scores was devised on the basis of the relationship between the ratings of two criminal acts differing only in their consequences.Results. Respondents did not show a uniform response to the change in outcome. One factor was extracted from the ratio scores and proved significant in explaining the variance of seriousness perceptions towards two further offence vignettes.Conclusions. The intentionality of the offender appears to be important for all individuals in rating seriousness while only some are also influenced by the outcome of the act. Consensus about offence seriousness is achieved despite the use of very different rules of evaluation.
Minor psychiatric disturbance in women serving a prison sentence: The use of the General Health Questionnaire in the estimation of the prevalence of non‐psychotic disturbance in women prisoners
Authors: Smith Catrin , Borland John 
Published: February 2003

Purpose. Minor psychiatric disturbance contributes considerably to the workload of health care staff in women's prisons, although the indefinite nature of the complaint makes epidemiological investigation problematic. This study tests the utility of a standard measure of psychological distress, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), and considers the relationship between minor psychiatric disturbance in women prisoners and other criterion variables.Methods. A questionnaire survey, including the GHQ, was distributed to 377 women prisoners, the total population of three women's prison in England on a given day.Results. In all, 214 respondents returned questionnaires (a response rate of 57%). The GHQ was completed by 95% (204) of the respondents who returned their questionnaires. Of these women, 107 (52%) were identified as possible psychiatric ‘cases’. Psychiatric morbidity was significantly associated with self‐reported ill‐health, psychosocial concerns, negative evaluations of aspects of prison life and an expressed need for help and advice.Conclusions. The results are broadly supportive of the utility of the GHQ in this setting and point to differential influences upon the psychological well‐being of women prisoners. The findings have implications for further research, requirements for service provision and for mental health promotion in women's prisons.
Skills training for aggression control: Evaluation of an anger management programme for violent offenders
Authors: Watt Bruce D. , Howells Kevin 
Published: February 2003

Purpose. In Western Australia approximately 450 violent offenders per year are referred to a cognitive‐behavioural anger management programme (Skills Training for Aggression Control; STAC). Efficacy of the STAC programme with male adult inmates was investigated in two studies.Methods. A pre‐test‐post‐test non‐equivalent group design was utilized for Study 1 (N = 39) and Study 2 (N = 50). Violent offenders participating in STAC programmes were compared to a waiting‐list control group on the dependent variables of anger knowledge, trait anger, anger expression, observed aggressive behaviour, and prison misconduct. Differential treatment effects according to trait anger level were examined in Study 2 anticipating greater gains for high trait anger violent offenders.Results. Data analyses provided little support for the hypothesized STAC participants' treatment gains relative to the control group participants. Hypothesized differential treatment effect by trait anger level was not supported.Conclusions. Based on the limited support for the STAC programmes' treatment efficacy, caution is recommended before implementing anger management programmes with violent offenders.
Pre‐infusion expectations predict post‐treatment nausea during repeated adjuvant chemotherapy infusions for breast cancer
Authors: Montgomery Guy H. , Bovbjerg Dana H. 
Published: February 2003

Objectives. To examine the relations between expectations of post‐treatment nausea (PTN) and experience of post‐treatment nausea beginning at the first infusion and continuing across a series of subsequent infusions in order to assess the influence of patients' expectations on a non‐volitional outcome in a clinical setting. Design. The study utilized a prospective, longitudinal design to capture the development of relations between expectations and experiences of post‐treatment nausea.Methods. Fifty‐two women with breast cancer scheduled to receive standard outpatient adjuvant chemotherapy were studied. Study questionnaires included measures of chemotherapy‐related side effects, patient expectations, emotional distress and mood disturbance.Results. Significant relations between expectations and incidence of post‐treatment nausea at Infusions 2‐7 were found (p < .05). To explore the possibility that expectations were simply based on patients' most recent experience of post‐treatment nausea, we statistically controlled for that experience. Expectations of post‐treatment nausea made a unique contribution to the prediction of post‐treatment nausea at Infusions 4‐7 (p < .05) in that analysis. No support was found for the possibility that the relations between expectations and post‐treatment nausea were due to patients' emotional distress at the time of the assessments.Conclusions. These results provide the first indication in the literature that the influence of expectations on post‐treatment nausea changes as patients gain experience with chemotherapy.
Acne: A biopsychosocial and evolutionary perspective with a focus on shame
Authors: Kellett Stephen , Gilbert Paul 
Published: February 2003

Purpose. Hypotheses regarding the psychological factors implicated in the development and maintenance of acne first emerged in the middle of the eighteenth century. However, the psychodermatological literature from this date relating to acne has variously been described as confusing, overly prone to conjecture and, in particular, atheoretical. The current paper has two key objectives; first, to present a biopsychosocial model of acne development and maintenance and, secondly, to understand the psychosocial strain imposed by acne from an evolutionary perspective with a particular emphasis on body shame reactions.Methods. The psychodermatological literature relating to acne is reviewed with the data analysed for potential biopsychosocial interactions and shame eliciting responses.Results. The review indicates that acne can be reconceptualized as a biopsychosocial phenomena which, in turn, provides the field with innovative hypotheses for empirical inquiry and the potential for expanding and evaluating treatment options. The evolutionary analysis illustrates that acne provides the potential for distressing body shame reactions due to the skin disease's potential for damaging self‐other evaluations of attractiveness.Conclusions. Acne has tended to e viewed as a minor dermatological complaint which imposes minimal psychological distress upon sufferers. The paper concludes that acne has the aility to elicit in some sufferers significant mental health concerns due to a heightened sense of shame relating to appearance.
Delinquency, health behaviour and health
Authors: Junger Marianne , Stroebe Wolfgang , Van der Laan André M. 
Published: February 2003

Objectives. This study investigated the association between delinquency and health in a sample of adolescents and young adults (aged 13‐24) and examined whether the association could have been due to delinquency‐related differences in demographic, socio‐economic and life‐style factors.Method. The study is based on cross‐sectional data from a sample of 3677 adolescents and young adults interviewed as part of a survey of Dutch households. Health, health behaviour, and delinquency were assessed through self‐report measures.Results. Delinquency was significantly related to three of the four measures of health behaviour (smoking, alcohol consumption, and drug use), even after control for demographic and socio‐economic factors. Delinquency was also significantly associated with all three measures of health assessed in this study (somatic symptoms, general health, and chronic conditions). However, only minimal support was found for the hypothesis that the association between delinquency and health was mediated by differences in health behaviour or demographic/socio‐economic differences.Conclusions. Adolescent delinquents are less healthy than non‐delinquents. Potential causes for this relationship are proposed. Possibly, personality factors, such as hostility, or psychosocial stress might explain why delinquency correlates with health.
Do self‐help interventions in health education lead to cognitive changes, and do cognitive changes lead to behavioural change?
Authors: Dijkstra Arie , de Vries Hein 
Published: February 2003

Objectives. The present study examined the extent to which self‐help interventions change specific cognitions and the extent to which changes in such cognitions are related to behavioural changes.Design. A randomized field experiment with follow‐ups after 2 weeks and 3 months.Method. Smokers (N = 1546) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions offering smoking cessation self‐help materials containing (1) outcome information, (2) self‐efficacy enhancing information, (3) both sorts of information, or (4) no information.Results. First, with regard to behavioural effects, only self‐help interventions that included self‐efficacy enhancing information were more effective than no information. Second, with regard to the cognitive changes, the data showed that outcome information led to increase in expected positive outcomes but also to increases in self‐efficacy expectations. Further, self‐efficacy‐enhancing information led to increases in self‐efficacy. Third, different cognitive changes between T1 and T2 were related to different types of quitting activity at T3 in different groups of smokers.Conclusions. Some types of information lead to specific cognitive changes, while other types have more generalized cognitive effects. Further, cognitive changes produced by a self‐help intervention predict future quitting activity.
Predicting exercise stage transitions over two consecutive 6‐month periods: A test of the theory of planned behaviour in a population‐based sample
Authors: Courneya Kerry S. , Plotnikoff Ronald C. , Hotz Stephen B. , Birkett Nicholas J. 
Published: February 2003

Objectives. To predict exercise stage transitions over two consecutive 6‐month periods using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). It was hypothesized that different social cognitive constructs would predict different stage transitions.Design. Prospective and longitudinal in order to predict multiple stage transitions over time. Assessments were made at baseline, 6 months and 1 year.Method. Participants were a randomly selected population‐based sample of 683 adults who completed two telephone interviews (baseline and 6 months) that assessed exercise stage, intention, perceived behavioural control, attitude, subjective norm, and social support, and a mailed survey (1 year) that assessed exercise stage.Results. Progression from pre‐contemplation was predicted by intention, attitude and subjective norm; progression/regression from contemplation was predicted by intention, perceived behavioural control, attitude, and social support; progression/regression from preparation was predicted by intention and attitude; and regression from action/maintenance was predicted by intention, attitude and social support.Conclusions. Different social cognitive constructs predicted different stage transitions, which indicates that exercise behaviour change may be represented by a series of stage transitions. Moreover, the TPB may be a useful model for highlighting the key social cognitive constructs that are important for exercise stage transitions.
Emotional expressivity and intrusive cognitions in women with family histories of breast cancer: Application of a cognitive processing model
Authors: Zakowski Sandra G. , Valdimarsdottir Heiddis B. , Bovbjerg Dana H. 
Published: February 2003

Objectives. Women with family histories of breast cancer exhibit significant distress and intrusive cognitions about cancer. The role of intrusive cognitions in adjustment to chronic stressors is unclear. While they may be a source of distress in themselves, they may also be part of a cognitive processing strategy that aids in the adaptation process, particularly if they are accompanied by more deliberate processing such as emotional expression. Applying cognitive processing models of stress, the present study examined the role of dispositional emotional expressivity in intrusive cognitions about breast cancer and distress in women dealing with the stressful experience of having a family history of breast cancer. Two competing hypotheses were tested: (1) emotional expressivity is associated with reduced intrusive cognitions and thus lower distress; (2) emotional expressivity buffers the relations between intrusive cognitions and distress.Design. Using a cross‐sectional design, hypotheses were addressed with multiple regression analyses according to established methods.Method. Healthy women (N = 104) who had one or more first‐degree relatives with breast cancer were recruited from cancer screening programs. They completed questionnaires regarding family history of cancer, emotional expressivity, distress, and intrusive cognitions.Results. Emotional expressivity was not associated with reduced intrusive cognitions (Hypothesis 1) but moderated the relations between intrusive cognitions and distress (Hypothesis 2).Conclusions. The data further our understanding of cognitive processing theories of stress and underline the importance of including emotional expression in interventions, helping women to process the stressful experiences associated with having family histories of breast cancer.
Perceived stress and coronary heart disease risk factors: The contribution of socio‐economic position
Authors: Heslop Pauline , Smith George Davey , Carroll Douglas , Macleod John , Hyland Fawzia , Hart Carole 
Published: February 2003

Objectives. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) and perceived stress, adjusted for socio‐economic position.Design. Cross‐sectional analysis of CHD risk factors, perceived stress and socio‐economic position.Method. A cohort of employed Scottish men (N = 5848) and women (N = 984) completed a questionnaire and attended a physical examination.Results. Higher socio‐economic groups registered higher perceived stress scores. Perceived stress was associated with the following CHD risk factors in the expected direction: high plasma cholesterol, little recreational exercise, cigarette smoking, and high alcohol consumption. Contrary to expectations, stress was related negatively to high diastolic blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and low forced expiratory volume. Correction for socio‐economic position tended to abolish the associations between stress and physiological risk factors; the associations between stress and behavioural risk factors withstood such correction. The residual patterns of associations between perceived stress and CHD risk were broadly similar for men and women. A lower BMI, a greater number of cigarettes smoked, and greater alcohol consumption were associated with higher levels of perceived stress for both sexes. Lower levels of recreational exercise were associated with higher levels of stress for men only.Conclusions. Self‐reported stress is related to health‐related behaviours and to physiological CHD risk factors. The direction of the association with physiological risk was often contrary to expectation and appeared to be largely due to confounding by socio‐economic position. In contrast, the association with health‐related behaviours was in the expected direction and was largely independent of such confounding.
The factor structure of the BDI in facial pain and other chronic pain patients: A comparison of two models using confirmatory factor analysis
Authors: Miles Anne , McManus Chris , Feinmann Charlotte , Glover Lesley , Harrison Sheelah , Pearce Shirley 
Published: February 2003

Objectives. 1) To compare two measurement models of the BDI in chronic pain sufferers to see which provides the better fit; 2) to assess whether model fit differs for a facial pain sample compared to a sample of pain sufferers attending a multidisciplinary pain clinic; and 3) to establish which affective and somatic sub‐scales of the BDI could be used in chronic pain research.Design. Two groups of chronic pain sufferers, a facial pain group, and a group attending a multidisciplinary pain clinic completed self‐report questionnaires on pain (Multidimensional Pain Inventory), depression (BDI), and measures of anxiety and depression‐related pain cognitions (the Spielberger State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Pain Cognitions Questionnaire). The measurement models of the BDI were tested using LISREL structural equation modelling and their construct validity examined using partial correlation analysis.Method. A total of 173 people attending a multidisciplinary pain clinic and 157 patients attending a facial pain clinic completed self‐report measures of pain and mood prior to their respective clinical consultations.Results. The model offered by Novy et al. (containing one affective factor ‘Negative‐attitude suicide’ and two somatic factors‘Performance difficulty’ and‘Physiological manifestations’) fitted both pain groups better than the model offered by Williams and Richardson (containing one affective factor ‘Self‐reproach’, one somatic factor ‘Somatic disturbance’ and one factor with a mixture of both affective and somatic items ‘Sadness about health’). However, when the factors were allowed to correlate in the latter model, both models were broadly equivalent.Conclusions. The two measurement models adequately fitted data in both pain samples when the factors were allowed to intercorrelate in the Williams and Richardson model. Both the affective scales offered by both models could be used in future research, although the somatic factor offered by the Williams and Richardson model offered much higher levels of internal reliability than either of those offered in the Novy et al. model. The findings are discussed in relation to the issue of depression in chronic pain.