This study utilized a dynamic cumulative family risk model to explain changes in adolescent functioning. We used a person-centered approach to detect patterns of academic, emotional, and behavioral functioning and the stability of these patterns using two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 10,173). Four adjustment…

R.S. Lazarus's theory of coping was used to investigate appraisal and reappraisal of threat in repressors and sensitizers. Two indexes of stress, self-report ratings of affect and palmar skin conductance, were measured prior to performance on a reaction time task, after one-third of the task was completed and after two-thirds of the task was…

The paper describes the Coping Inventory, an observation instrument that provides an index of handicapped children's adaptive behavior by assessing the behaviors and skills they use to meet their own needs and adapt to the demands of their environment. Coping is defined as an active, adaptive process of using strategies to manage one's world.…

Understanding, one of the chief components of prevention in mental health, is not for the researcher or clinician only, but for all who may be concerned with their own conflict and pain or that of family members. Looking at neurotic disorders requires the examination of guilt which burdens individuals as they realize their failure to fulfill…

Patients suffering from factitious illness present complex problems for themselves and hospital personnel. This article describes a multidisciplinary intervention through confrontation approach that has proved to be successful with such patients. (Author)

It was predicted that orals selected by the Blacky Pictures would report a similar amount of movement of a light as an authority figure when viewing the autokinetic phenomenon in his presence, while anals would remain independent of his influence or would even respond oppositionally. (Author)

Based on Kelly's theory of Personal Constructs, it was hypothesized that there is a positive relationship between the degree of congruence of spouses Personal Constructs (PCs) and their reported marital success. Twenty-four couples, married from six months to 31 years, volunteered as Ss. To assess PCs, each S was administered a 40-dimension scale…

This study investigated the relationship between scores on the Defense Mechanisms Inventory and reaction to an experimental conflict situation in which Ss (85 undergraduate college students) were led to believe that their performance was deficient on a new test of scholastic ability. The pattern of defenses predicted residual posttest estimates of…

Although alcoholism is a focus of public concern and scientific interest, knowledge of the long-term patterns of alcohol abuse is only fragmentary. Subjects in a four-year followup study were alcoholics initially treated at special alcoholism treatment centers funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. These centers were…

Although stressful life change events are thought to influence the development of alcoholism and to enhance the probability of relapse after treatment, the actual coping responses to specific events among alcoholics remain largely unexplored. Efforts were made to operationalize and classify coping responses and to explore their relationship to…

An exploratory study concerned with the measurement of perseveration, or persistence, as a personality variable was based on the work of G.V. Hamilton, an early investigator in the field. Persistently maladaptive behavior was hypothesized to be a chief characteristic of neurosis. An experimental problem-solving situation was designed to…

Three areas of research have supported the conceptual relevance of Reduced Environmental Stimulation (RES) techniques in the management of psychological dependencies. First, preliminary studies through the late l960's indicated that relatively short periods of RES had a facilitative effect on the type of subject who might be most vulnerable to…

A research-based model is presented that accounts for major patterns of adaptive and maladaptive behavior in terms of underlying psychological processes. It is postulated that as individuals' self-attributes are translated into allied goals, these goals generate corresponding behavior patterns. (SLD)