Teaching students how to publish in nursing journals: a group approach.

A course in writing for publication in every graduate program would create a plethora of innovative projects, replication studies, and reviews of literature for the nursing community. Group participation in the critiquing of manuscripts provides many reviewers and consequently thought-provoking responses for a more clearly written manuscript. The interaction also provides a support system for the writer and allows the student to realize that the manuscript was not only well-written but informative and interesting to others.

Health locus of control, values, and weight reduction behavior.

This study, in a natural setting, attempted to predict health-related behavior on the basis of the personality construct locus of control. Thirty-six participants in a weight reduction program completed the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC) and a value scale that included the values of "health" and "physical appearance." Subjects also were asked to determine their weight loss goal in pounds. Three months later their progress was assessed, and 22 of the subjects again completed the MHLC and value surveys. Consistent with the first hypothesis, those subjects who perceived their health status to be under the control of powerful others and valued health and/or physical appearance highly weighed in more frequently at the weight center than did the other subjects. Contrary to the second hypothesis, subjects did not become more "internal" as a result of successful weight loss. Subjects who valued physical appearance highly were found to have higher "external" control beliefs. Theoretical significance and practical applications of the findings are discussed.

Arthritis patients' self-reported affective states and their caregivers' perceptions.

Differences between arthritis patients' self-reported affective states and caregivers' perceptions of their affective states were assessed. Thirty hospitalized arthritis patients completed the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, a component of which measures denial, after which an interview assessment of their denial was made. Following this, a caregiver sample, 26 registered nurses who were familiar with at least one of the patient subjects, completed the MAACL as they believed the patient would. T tests revealed that caregivers were generally accurate in their assessment of the patients' affective states. These results are discussed in light of Wright's (1960, 1983) requirement of mourning. Further significant findings of interest were: The caregivers' attribution of anxiety was positively correlated with the patient's socioeconomic status; and, the higher the nursing educational level of the caregivers the more accurate their assessments.

Self-esteem, social support, and positive health practices.

The purpose of this study was to identify relationships among perceived social support, self-esteem, and positive health practices among adults living in a south-western metropolitan area. The sample (N = 98) of convenience was selected from an adult apartment complex and the variables were measured using three self-report questionnaires (Personal Resource Questionnaire, Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, and Personal Life-style Activities Questionnaire). Initially, a positive association among the variables, self-esteem, social support, and life-style, was determined using a simple correlation matrix. To further explicate the relationships among the variables, a theoretical causal model was developed and tested. Using path analytic techniques, both the direct and the indirect effects of various independent variables on life-style were determined; 28% of the variance, p less than .0001, was accounted for by this model. The study suggests that both self-esteem and social support are positive indicators of life-style. Further, social support was found to exert influence indirectly through its direct effect on self-esteem.

Determinants of health promotion activities in nursing clinic clients.

Nursing clinic clients' health beliefs, values, and demographic characteristics were analyzed for their impact on health promotion activities. A sample of 175 clients was administered measures of health beliefs, health values, and health promotion activities. The type of health care clients had requested at the clinic for the previous 2 years was categorized as health promotion, illness prevention, health maintenance, or health restoration. Findings included: health value was not related to self-reported health promotion activities or to types of clinic visits; a strong belief in chance was negatively associated with engaging in health promotion activities; a strong belief in powerful others was negatively associated with a high percentage of restoration visits. The combination of beliefs, values, and selected demographic factors accounted for 16% of the variance in health promotion activities and 18% of the variance in the type of health care sought.

Perception of life change events by the elderly.

The perception of the amount of adjustment necessitated by the occurrence of common life events was assessed for 41 members of a senior citizens' club who ranged in age from 65 to 84. Significant agreement was found between the elderly subjects and the normative sample with regard to rank ordering of the life events. Markedly significant differences were found between the elderly and the normative sample in the magnitudes assigned to the life events, with the elderly group assigning the larger magnitude to most items.

Attitudes toward women in menopause: a Vignette approach.

The attitudes of women (1) toward a woman in menopause, (2) comparable male and non-menopausal female stimulus figures, (3) and themselves were compared using a vignette approach. Vignettes depicting a middle-aged female and a middle-aged male were presented to 152 women between the ages of 18 and 55. The women were asked to rate the vignette subjects on a semantic differential. Approximately half of the women received a vignette of a woman who was identified as being menopausal, and half received the identical vignette without the menopausal condition. Participants then completed a semantic differential rating of themselves and the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS). There was no difference in the semantic differential ratings of the menopausal vs. the nonmenopausal vignette characters, nor in the male vs. the female characters. Although the participants ranked themselves higher than both the female and male characters, there was no difference in the ratings of the vignettes or the self by women with lower vs. higher self-esteem.

The relationship between social support and self-care practices.

A two-study approach was used to investigate the relationship between individuals' perceived level of social support and their performance of specific, positive health practices. One sample consisted of 97 adults, age 55 and older, attending activities at a senior citizen's center. The second sample was comprised of adults attending a health fair. Subjects were surveyed using the Lifestyle Questionnaire and the Personal Resources Questionnaire. The primary study hypothesis--that a strong, positive association would be found between the social support and health practices variables--was upheld for both samples. A secondary hypothesis--that married participants would score significantly higher on both the social support and health practices instruments than would their nonmarried counterparts--was supported only among the senior center participants. An additional hypothesis generated for the senior center participants--that participants with a confidant would have significantly higher scores on both the social support and health practices instruments--was upheld.

Effect of simulation gaming on attitudes toward mental illness.

Sixty nursing students were administered the Opinions about Mental Illness (OMI) scale. Students whose scores fell above the median on authoritarianism and social restrictiveness were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental subjects' scores on authoritarianism and social restrictiveness decreased significantly (p greater than .001), wheras the control groups' scores on these two factors remained essentially the same.