Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome educational program: effects on adolescents' knowledge and attitudes.

Although many schools are presenting acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) education programs for adolescents, few have evaluated the effects of the programs. The effects of two different types of program presentation, a lecture or a film, were compared to a no-program condition. Students who received the lecture demonstrated significantly greater knowledge gains than either of the other two groups. The lecture group's greater gain was maintained at the 1-month follow-up, although all three groups showed a decline in knowledge scores from posttest to follow-up. Both educational programs significantly increased students' positive attitudes toward patients with AIDS; there were no differences between the two groups. Positive attitudes decreased equally for both groups from posttest to follow-up, although these scores remained significantly more positive than the pretest scores. Students in both treatment groups showed a slight increase in positive attitudes toward practicing preventive behaviors following the programs, but those attitude scores returned to baseline levels at follow-up. Although educational programs increase knowledge and positive attitudes toward patients with AIDS, they do not appear to have a positive effect on attitudes toward practicing preventive behaviors. More intensive programs may be necessary to encourage behavioral changes.

Reducing presurgical anxiety: a possible visitor effect.

Previous research has suggested that the effectiveness of different types of preparatory information in reducing presurgical anxiety will depend on the locus of control orientation of the patient. This study examined this interaction and the relationship of presurgical anxiety to patient background variables. Subjects in this study were 60 female patients awaiting gallbladder surgery. Patients' state anxiety was assessed before and after the presentation of one of three types of information: reassurance, self-care instructions or a neutral message. Anxiety was measured with the Affect Adjective Check List (AACL), and locus of control orientation was measured with Rotter's I-E scale. The expected interaction of information type and locus of control orientation was not found, but anxiety differed significantly depending on the patient's age and whether or not the patient had had visitors. Patients' anxiety scores also declined significantly from initial to second AACL administration. Contact with visitors, including patients' contact with the investigator, appeared to be effective in reducing patients' anxiety. However, alternative interpretations for the significant findings are presented.

Alcoholism and the MMPI. A review.

The use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory in studies of the personality characteristics of alcoholics, marital interaction and alcoholism, alcoholism scales, and treatment outcome is reviewed.

The MacAndrew Scale: clinical application and theoretical issues.

The research literature on the MacAndrew (MAC) Scale was surveyed to identify factors that influence the scale's usefulness as a screening device for alcohol misuse, and to explore the meaning of MAC Scale scores. Although the MAC Scale's ability to discriminate alcoholic and substance misuse groups from nonalcoholic psychiatric groups is well documented, the scale may not discriminate between alcoholics and antisocial individuals, or between patients with combined alcoholic psychiatric diagnoses and nonalcoholic psychiatric patients. Recommendations for future research and for the clinical application of the MAC Scale are provided.

Characteristics of alexithymia and eating disorders in college women.

This study examined the relationship between characteristics of alexithymia and eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and obesity) in a nonclinical sample of 308 college women. Scores on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale were mostly unrelated to a weight index, which assessed subjects' deviation from their expected weight, but were correlated with subjects' scores on the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI). EDI scores were related to the affective deficits of alexithymia (difficulty identifying and communicating feelings), but not to the cognitive disturbance associated with alexithymia.

Family functioning, peer influence, and media influence as predictors of bulimic behavior.

One hundred and twenty undergraduate women students reported their height and weight and completed the Eating Disorder Questionnaire (EDQ), the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Family Assessment Device (FAD), the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), the Body Image Assessment (BIA), and measures of peer and media influence. Family functioning was shown to be a poor predictor of bulimic behavior, whereas peer influence was a significant predictor. Media influence interacted with body dysphoria to increase the likelihood of bulimic behavior. The BSQ was a better predictor of bulimic behavior than the BIA, suggesting that students' responses to a measure that asks questions about specific areas of the body may reflect their feelings of body dysphoria more accurately than a measure that relies on a generalized silhouette.

Social support and suicidal ideation in college students.

The present study examined the link between social support and suicidal ideation among 305 university students (90 men and 215 women) whose ages ranged from 18 to 24 years. Social support was significantly correlated with suicidal ideation (r = -.38), but social support did not contribute to the variation in suicidal ideation scores beyond the joint contribution of scores on the Beck Depression Inventory and scores on the Hopelessness Scale. A stronger relationship between social support and suicidal ideation might be found if investigators assessed different aspects of social support and if they examined the interaction of social support and level of reported stress.

Automated MMPI interpretation based on a modification of Gilberstadt's codebook.

Several limitations to commercially available automated MMPI reports prompted the psychology staff at Topeka VA Hospital to develop its own automated interpretive system. The computer programs of the system require further modification, and local validity studies of the automated interpretations are needed. However, it is hoped that this project will encourage others to consider the development of a local automated interpretive system as an alternative to commercial interpretive services.

MMPI scale development methodology.

A multitude of special MMPI scales have been developed without sufficient consideration for the methodology of empirical scale construction. Suggestions are presented in this article regarding the selection of items for a new MMPI scale and the tasks needed for the evaluation of a new scale. An investigator who develops a new MMPI scale should consider (a) the need for K corrections of scale scores, and (b) the possibility that the information provided by the special scale can also be obtained from the standard MMPI scales.

Mosquito circadian flight rhythms: differential effects of constant light.

The flight activity of Culiseta incidens was automatically recorded in constant darkness and constant light after entrainment to light:dark 12:12 to determine the usefulness of a formal circadian pacemaker model in which the periods of two oscillators respond reciprocally to light intensity. Period at activity onset lengthened approximately 0.4 h from darkness to 0.1 lx, whereas period at offset shortened approximately 0.4 h. Thus within this range, the onset of the nocturnal active phase obeyed Aschoff's rule for nocturnal animals, and the offset (or onset of diurnal rest phase) obeyed the rule for diurnal animals. These data supported a model in which, as light intensity increases, the period of one oscillator (evening) increases while that of another (morning) decreases. This model, with additional assumptions, also provided a framework for mutually consistent explanations of other features among the data. These included long periods at 3.5 lx, short periods at 35 lx, a progressively earlier occurrence of inactivity with increasing light intensity, and a clear example of circa-bi-dian (approximately 2 days) rhythmicity.