The aim of this study was to examine variables that relate to dropping out of school among mainland Puerto Rican, adolescent females. It was hypothesized that risk of drop out from high school in this sample would be related to a number of psychological variables--acculturation, sex role attitudes, and adjustment. Sixty-five adolescent, Puerto Rican females, enrolled at the tenth and eleventh grade level at a public secondary school in Western Massachusetts completed a series of instruments. Ss were administered the Behavioral Acculturation Scale (Szapocznik, Scopetta, Kurtines & Arandalde, 1978) to establish level of acculturation. Sex-role attitudes were measured by the Traditionalism Scale (Soto, 1979). The Symptom Checklist-90 (Derogatis, 1977) was used to assess the degree of mental health symptomatology. Drop-out risk was measured by a scale designed especially for this study, as well as items derived from the Alienation Index Inventory: School Subscale (Turner, 1975). The data were analyzed using primarily t-test, Pearson correlation and discriminant analysis. The Behavioral Acculturation Scale and Symptom Checklist-90 were found to be highly reliable and valid for use with the adolescent, Puerto Rican female sample. The Traditionalism scale in its original version was converted into two scales: Traditional Values Scales and Liberal Values Scales, due to inter-item correlations. Significant relationships were found between the level of traditional sex-role attitudes and the degree of Obsessive-Compulsion. Ss reporting a low level of traditional values obtained higher scores on this symptom cluster. A significant relationship was reported between degree of symptomatology and Drop out Risk. Ss high in level of Drop out Risk obtained higher scores on the Anxiety subscale and reported a high level of symptomatology. This finding does not reflect adequately the experience of adolescent, Puerto Rican females due to the fact that adolescents at high risk for dropping out may generally manifest a high degree of symptomatology, i.e., Anxiety. The results of the discriminant analysis did yield marginal support in tapping the experience of acculturation in differentiating the high from the low risk groups in drop out from high school. A profile of the Puerto Rican adolescent female at risk for dropping out was presented based on the discriminant analysis. The most important factor found to contribute to drop out risk was the educational experience at the secondary level which did not acknowledge and address the needs of a bilingual-bicultural female. The female at risk reported a high level of Phobic Anxiety. Ss enrolled at the tenth grade level were identified as a high risk group. Limitations were mentioned regarding the Traditionalism Scale (Soto, 1979). This unequivocally identifies the need for the adaptation, development and standardization of a scale that addresses the experience of Puerto Rican females on the mainland. An educational implication would be to provide a Puerto Rican female counselor to bolster the role of education in overall development of the adolescent female. This would provide a model and support and reinforce their Puerto Rican ethnic identity. This individual could also provide training and consultation to the school personnel in meeting the unique bilingual-bicultural needs of Puerto Rican adolescent females. A clinical implication would be to develop a counseling model to promote adjustment in Puerto Rican females and to enhance their bicultural survival skills. These students could also benefit from skills in network utilization to enable them to seek out sources of information and support.

Abstract not available

In this study twenty-four bulimic women participated in a questionnaire and semi-structured interview designed to examine their perceptions of themselves, their eating problems, and their families. In accord with the literature in the field, the questionnaire and interview were structured and data analyzed to facilitate a comparison of bulimia and anorexia nervosa. The analysis suggests that eating patterns and family experiences of bulimics and anorexics differ in significant ways. There was no one significant or common eating pattern for all subjects. However, all the women engaged in secretive eating binges which did not appear to be motivated by hunger. Unlike anorexics, all women were acutely aware of their eating problem and shared an obsessive concern with food and body size. None were hyperactive. Most striking was the significance of the late adolescent transition of leaving home. Unlike anorexics for whom entering adolescence is a central conflict, bulimics experience mildly troubled adolescence and more severe difficulty entering adult womenhood. However, for bulimics the problems of adolescence centered on their emerging sexuality and peer relations. These problems highlighted certain characteristics of their relationships with parents. Subjects reported relationships with mothers to be overinvolved and conflict avoidant. Identification with mothers was problematic and conflictual for all women. Subjects described their fathers as emotionally unavailable. Alcohol abuse was present in a significant minority of fathers. During the transition from family of origin to living autonomously dysfunctional eating patterns intensified. It was suggested that conflicts between family culture and the larger culture played a significant role in the development of bulimia. It was concluded that the entire field of eating disorders is in need of further conceptual clarification. Current classification schemes fail to discriminate amongst phenomena that may be discrete in origins and dynamics. A comparison of the early dynamics of individuals suffering from a variety of eating disorders could provide some of the clarification needed.

This work introduces a comprehensive theory of behavior which integrates neurological factors with phenomenological concepts. The resulting neuropsychological model proposes that the concept of person actually defines the integrated functioning of the organism. Such a functioning is postulated to be under the direction of cognitive activity which is conceptualized as a system of stochastic neuronal networks. A fundamental element of the proposed theory is the notion of a phylogenetic negative affective state of limbic origins being the motivational root of behavior. The limbic activity in question is conceived as a subliminal sensation of danger to which the person is constantly reacting cognitively, behaviorally, and physiologically. Such an unwitting anticipation of harm, labelled as core affect, is postulated to be synonymous with emotional pain and universal. The inadvertent adaptive or maladaptive ways in which a person interacts with the environment are considered to occur as a direct reaction to the prevalent intensity of core effect. Such reactive behavioral maneuvers are understood in terms of a continuum which defines ordinary adaptive behavior at one end and emotional disturbances at the other extreme. Anxiety in the model is construed as an ordinary reaction of the organism to core affect. The manifestations of anxiety are conceived in terms of a gradient according to their severity and are classified into cognitive and physical types. A central purpose behind the development of the theory has been the determination of the nature of the psychotherapeutic change and the process of psychotherapy. Both of the latter concepts are articulated in terms of the normalization of an exaggerated core affect as a function of the interpersonal process in psychotherapy. The proposed model of behavior is incompatible with the traditional assumptions about psychopathology and unconscious processes. The material is presented in terms of progressive levels of integration from reduced neural constructs to behavioral phenomenology, including developmental perspectives.

Parents' abilities to decode their children's nonverbal expressions of four affects (happiness, sadness, fear, and anger) were contrasted with the decoding abilities of a matched group of nonparents. No differences were found between parents' and nonparents' decoding abilities. However, decoding abilities were found to vary as a function of the sex of the encoding child and, the type of affect expressed. Female children were found to be more accurate encoders of spontaneous affective expressions than male children. Of the four affects studied, communication accuracy was found to be highest for expressions of sadness and lowest for expressions of anger. Several hypotheses, including the differential effect of socialized display rules on male and female children, are discussed to explain the results.

A model of psychosis and schizophrenia, based primarily on symbolic interaction theory, is developed. Dialogic consciousness is defined as internalized communicative process, and certain constructs such as mind, self, and identity are defined as derivations of this process. Reality is defined as an intersubjectively constituted product of internalized social process. The development of dialogic consciousness is then discussed, and certain problematic processes in the developmental sequence delineated. Prelinguistic and linguistic experience are discussed, allowing a view of unconscious interactive phenomena to be addressed. Psychosis is then defined as the disintegration of dialogic consciousness and the emergence of non-dialogically organized interactive phenomena into consciousness. Schizophrenia is defined as a particular way of constructing one's reality that both increases the person's vulnerability to psychosis and determines the content of what non-dialogically organized phenomena emerge in psychosis. The schizophrenic drama is viewed primarily as a struggle to remain related to social process in some way that protects the person from psychological destruction within that social process. The model is then grounded in five case histories. Some basic implications of the model for how psychosis and schizophrenia must be addressed by the scientist/therapist are then discussed.

The purpose was to determine how effective the Elimination of Self Defeating Behavior group process was in decreasing the frequency and severity of self-selected self-defeating behaviors (SDB's) on the Participant SDB Questionnaire and on participant SDB's selected by associates on the Associate SDB Questionnaire, decreasing the score on the Internal Versus External Locus of Control Scale, and increasing the Global Self Esteem score on the Self Report Inventory. Group I (treatment and follow-up group) had the ESDB treatment during five weeks, two nights weekly (equaling 30 hours); while Group II (control and treatment group) acted as a control. Group II then replicated Group I's treatment period, while Group I waited for follow-up testing. Each group had 12 primarily college-educated, Caucasian, community participants with an average age of 31. The author, experienced in leading ESDB grooups, facilitated both groups. Correlated and independent t-tests were used to determine significant differences (p < .05). Limitations included the narrowness of the population studied, the lack of a longer follow-up period, and the subjective nature of the instruments used. Following treatment, significant SDB frequency and severity decreases were found for Groups I and II. One half of associates rated Group I SDB frequencies and Group II SDB severities as significantly decreased following treatment. Internal locus of both groups and self-esteem of Group I, significantly increased after treatment. Group II's increase in self-esteem following treatment was not significantly different from Group I's. Treatment procedure contamination may have led to significant frequency and severity decreases and self-esteem increases following the control period. There were no significant alterations in Group I gains two months after treatment. After determination of predicted significance in every measure (except one SDB frequency) from precontrol to posttreatment period for Group II, it was speculated that treatment enhancement follows from questionnaire completion and a five week pretreatment waiting period.

Factors influential in determining the decisions of 50 adolescents to terminate or continue pregnancy were explored via a structured interview and questionnaire at the time of pregnancy testing. Follow-up data were obtained in order to assess whether actual behavioral outcome was consistent with stated intention. The relationship between the adolescents' intention, attitudes, and beliefs about motherhood and abortion were analyzed in terms of the Ajzen-Fishbein Theory of Reasoned Action (1980). Demographic and psychosocial characteristics were also assessed as factors influencing decision outcome. Via qualitative analysis of individual case examples, the intersection of the pregnancy outcome decision with the adolescent developmental tasks of separation and identity consolidation was examined. Results revealed a highly significant, positive relationship between stated intention to abort or continue pregnancy and behavioral outcome. There were differential attitudes and beliefs between those planning to abort and those planning to continue pregnancy. Adolescents choosing abortion viewed themselves as less likely to experience guilt, more likely to finish school easily, be independent, and preserve peace in their families. In contrast, those intending to continue pregnancy wanted to take on the responsibility of parenting. They believed motherhood would result in having someone to love and care for, enable them to become closer to their boyfriends, and would impact only minimally on daily freedom and future plans. Of several sociodemographic and psychosocial variables examined in this study, presence of family conflict was a significant factor in the prediction of intention, as determined by a series of stepwise logistic regression analyses. A significantly greater number of subjects intending to continue pregnancy came from families characterized by highly conflictual relationships. Qualitative investigation revealed that the choice of motherhood could be seen as a solution to the adolescent developmental tasks of separation and identity consolidation. Family stability or conflict emerged as an important context within which the developmental process of separation and identity consolidation impacted on the pregnancy outcome decision.

This study was designed to consider how the therapist's work is affected by the special circumstances of her pregnancy. The aim was to use therapists' observations to examine the experiences of disruption and interruption in the work, processes of envy and identification, and the therapists' integrations of work and family life. The participants were eight experienced psychotherapists, all but one of whom had worked as therapists through more than one pregnancy. This allowed for some delineation of the effects of mothering on their work and development, and consideration of the differences between first and subsequent pregnancies. The study was conducted through intensive semistructured interviews that were recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. Some selections from the interviews are included in the presentation and discussion of the data. Data are reported and discussed in chapters that address the accommodation of the event, the experiences of the therapies, and the transitions and transformations experienced by the therapists in response to pregnancy and mothering. Factors that influence the patients' responses are explicated, and a discussion is offered pertaining to the interplay of patients' and therapists' responses. Particular attention was given to boundary phenomena; the influences of envy, guilt, and idealization; and the influences of mothering on the therapist's development.

The purpose of this study was to identify factors which statistically predict adolescent psychiatric hospitalization and to compare these factors with those associated with hospitalization in adults. A review of the literature revealed that several factors have been found to be correlated with inpatient treatment among adults, but that little research evidence exists for hospitalized adolescents. One-hundred-twenty-six research subjects were drawn from the total population of clients receiving acute psychiatric services at a regional mental health crisis center during fiscal year 1986. A total of 42 adolescents had been evaluated and subsequently hospitalized during that year. Same-size comparison groups were randomly drawn from the total pools of both psychiatrically evaluated but non-hospitalized adolescents and hospitalized adults (ages 32-42). Males and females tended to be equally distributed in all 3 groups. Thirteen demographic and clinical variables were selected for systematic study of their predictive value in the decision to hospitalize. In order to not only predict hospitalization but also to assign relative importance to significant variables, multiple regression analyses were performed on data. Results indicated that one can predict whether or not an adolescent who is evaluated will be hospitalized on the basis of the following rank-order variables: prior hospitalization, insurance availability, prior therapy and type of diagnosis. Furthermore, these regressors taken together, account for 53.89 percent of the variance in the dependent variable. Hospitalized adolescents were more likely to have diagnosis of organicity, schizophrenia, depression or bipolar illness. Presenting problem, premorbid function and social service agency involvement also statistically distinguished between adolescent groups. Using multiple regression analysis, only two variables distinguished between hospitalized adolescents and hospitalized adults. Fifty-one percent of the variance was explained by the following rank-ordered factors: social service agency involvement and substance involvement, with the adolescents more likely to be substance and DSS or court involved than the adults. Results of this study have largely supported and built upon research previously conducted. Furthermore, the current findings have implications for practice and future research.