Examined the developmental trend of conflict from the initial recognition that the marriage may dissolve to its legal termination in 107 divorced persons using a retrospective interview. Conflict increased significantly from initial recognition to discussion and decreased significantly once action to secure a legal dissolution was initiated.…

Examined the marital status differences in the frequency and sources of loneliness among older women. Showed that loneliness for married women revolved around the marital relationship, whereas the amount of time since the marital dissolution and the quality of the closest friendship were critical for formerly married older women. (Author/ABB)

Investigated the relation of pain coping strategies to pain, health status, and psychological distress in a group of osteoarthritis patients with chronic pain. Patients completed various questionnaires. Medical status variables were also used. The Pain Control and Rational Thinking factor derived from the Coping Strategies Questionnaire proved to…

Described is the development of a method for identifying and classifying differing attachment organizations at six years of age. The system is based on an analysis of children's responses to reunion with parents following a one-hour separation. Sixth year attachment classifications to mother were found to be highly predictable from infancy…

Tallied graduating college students (N=1,843) who displayed personal adornment in addition to their traditional academic garb. Found that degree conferred, sex of recipient, and year of graduation were related to the frequency and forms (political and nonpolitical) of adornment. Indicated that personalization of graduation attire followed patterns…

Examined relationship between baseline adherence and attrition among families involved in a children's weight-loss program. Evaluated overall baseline adherence by the degree of families' completion of food intake and activity records. Anything but high adherence during baseline was predictive of dropout, suggesting that this is a useful index for…

Administered Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and Bem Sex Role Inventory to 194 adults. Found androgyny scale emphasizing masculinity was most predictive of self-esteem, due to strong correlation found between masculinity and self-esteem. Found no effects due to femininity, interaction of femininity and masculinity, or sex. (Author/NB)

Examined possible predictors of life satisfaction among 322 low-income young adults from rural Appalachia. Both objective and subjective conditions of life were predictors of life satisfaction: financial resources, self-esteem, and proximity to childhood home were positive predictors; frustrations about limited job opportunities and community size…

Examined aspects of patient status and caregiver perceptions in 46 pairs of elderly psychiatric patients and their caregivers. Found that significant predictors of caregiver burden included disruptive patient behavior, caregiver distress, and patients' functional limitations. Findings suggest that predictors of caregiver burden vary with patient…

Forty-five abusive parents were compared on 22 parent, child, and treatment variables posited to bear on reabuse. No one variable alone was strongly associated with reabuse, but interactions involving several variables (e.g., income source, marital status, and abuser's personal history) significantly differentiated between reabusers and…

Examined relationship between self-esteem and reported mourning behavior as it pertains to loneliness in young adults who, as children, had experienced parental death. Subjects (N=184) aged 18 to 25 completed four questionnaires. Revealed that self-esteem was the single best predictor of loneliness; reported mourning behaviors significantly added…

Tested Kohn's theory that people who work in highly supervised, routinized occupations are likely to value obedience and conformity in marital and parental relationships. Findings from 244 couples revealed that working conditions were not strong predictors of division of household labor. Concludes that nontraditional gender role values,…

Examined the degree to which depression predicted pain and pain behavior. The Beck Depression Inventory was administered to 207 low back pain patients. Depression and physical findings were the most important predictors of pain and pain behavior. Depression proved significant even after controlling for important demographic and medical status…

Examined Black subjects' preferences for salient counselor characteristics. The results revealed that the top five preferred counselor characteristics were more education, similar attitudes and values, older, similar personality, and same ethnicity, in that order. (Author/BL)

Interviewed heart attack victims (N=287) seven weeks and eight years after their attack. Explored interrelations among causal attributions for the attack, survivor morbidity, and heart attack recurrence. Found that patients who cited benefits from their misfortune seven weeks after the first attack were less likely to have another attack and had…