Gay Abuse Screening Protocol (GASP):Screening for Abuse in Gay Male Relationships

ABSTRACT

Thirty-two male patients in gay relationships and eight family physicians were recruited from a family practice in order to determine comfort with an eight-question Gay Abuse Screening Protocol (GASP). The GASP was administered during a typical clinical encounter. After the encounter, physicians and patients each completed a 5-point Likert Scale questionnaire to assess their comfort levels with each of the 8 GASP questions (Likert Scale: 1?=?not at all comfortable to 5?=?very comfortable). The mean comfort score was high (Likert?>4) for both patients (4.16 ± 0.18) and physicians (4.71 ± 0.18). However, mean comfort scores were significantly lower for abused patients (3.26 ± 0.75) than nonabused patients (4.57 ± 0.26). Patients were comfortable (Likert?>3) with 76.2% of GASP items while physicians were comfortable with all GASP items.     

Relations Between Social Problem Solving and Indicators of Interpersonal and Family Well-Being Among Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong

This study evaluated the dimensionality of the construct of social problem solving and examined the relationships between social problem solving and empathy, emotional well-being and family well-being in a sample of secondary school students in Hong Kong (N=1462). The participants completed measures of social problem solving (the 25-item short form of the Chinese version of the Social Problem-Solving Inventory: C-SPSI-R), empathy (the Chinese Interpersonal Reactivity Scale), emotional well-being (the Chinese Vengeance Scale) and family well-being (the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument and the Conflict Behaviour Questionnaire). Regarding the dimensionality of the C-SPSI, confirmatory factor analysis showed that the scale has a stable five-factor structure (RMSEA=0.05) and that the related subscales were reliable (with α ranging from 0.65 to 0.81). Participants with higher levels of social problem solving had higher levels of empathy and lower personal distress in applying empathy, which suggested that these personal competencies were inter-related. Higher levels of social problem solving were also related to better emotional well-being (less tendency to take revenge) and better family quality of life (better family functioning and fewer parent-adolescent conflicts).     

Relations Between Social Problem Solving and Indicators of Interpersonal and Family Well-Being Among Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong

This study evaluated the dimensionality of the construct of social problem solving and examined the relationships between social problem solving and empathy, emotional well-being and family well-being in a sample of secondary school students in Hong Kong (N=1462). The participants completed measures of social problem solving (the 25-item short form of the Chinese version of the Social Problem-Solving Inventory: C-SPSI-R), empathy (the Chinese Interpersonal Reactivity Scale), emotional well-being (the Chinese Vengeance Scale) and family well-being (the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument and the Conflict Behaviour Questionnaire). Regarding the dimensionality of the C-SPSI, confirmatory factor analysis showed that the scale has a stable five-factor structure (RMSEA=0.05) and that the related subscales were reliable (with ranging from 0.65 to 0.81). Participants with higher levels of social problem solving had higher levels of empathy and lower personal distress in applying empathy, which suggested that these personal competencies were inter-related. Higher levels of social problem solving were also related to better emotional well-being (less tendency to take revenge) and better family quality of life (better family functioning and fewer parent-adolescent conflicts).     

Men Who Have Sex With Men in Kisumu,Kenya: Comfort in Accessing Health Services and Willingness to Participate in HIV Prevention Studies

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are a crucial and marginalized at risk population for HIV in Africa but are poorly studied. Like other areas of Africa, homosexuality is illegal in Kenya. We assessed MSM comfort in accessing health services and willingness to participate in HIV prevention research in Kisumu, Kenya—an area of high HIV prevalence. We conducted a two-phase formative study with individual interviews (n = 15) and a structured survey (n = 51). Peer contact or snowball method (n = 43, 84.3%) was the primary recruitment strategy used to locate MSM. Exact logistic regression models were used for survey data analysis. Over 60% (32/51) of survey participants were not very comfortable seeking health services from a public hospital. Almost all MSM (49/51; 96.1%) reported willingness to be contacted to participate in future HIV research studies. Efforts to provide facilities that offer safe and confidential health services and health education for MSM is required. Continued community engagement with the MSM population in Kenya is needed to guide best practices for involving them in HIV prevention research.     

Sample Heterogeneity and the Measurement Structure of the Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale

Several measurement assumptions were examined with the goal of assessing the validity of the Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS), a measure of adolescents’ satisfaction with their family, friends, living environment, school, self, and general quality of life. The data were obtained via a cross-sectional survey of 8,225 adolescents in British Columbia, Canada. Confirmatory factor and factor mixture analyses of ordinal data were used to examine the measurement assumptions. The adolescents did not respond to all the MSLSS items in a psychometrically equivalent manner. A correlated five-factor model for an abridged version of the MSLSS resulted in good fit when all negatively worded items and several positively worded items (the least invariant) were excluded. The abridged 18-item version of the MSLSS provides a promising alternative for the measurement of five life domains that are pertinent to adolescents’ quality of life.     

What Makes Koreans Happy?: Exploration on the Structure of Happy Life among Korean Adults

The current study explored the perceptions of Korean people about what can make them happy and constructed a comprehensive measurement of happiness of Korean. A total of 61 Korean adults participated in Focused Group Interview (FGI), where they were asked three questions (e.g., What makes you happy? What could make you happier than now? In general, who is a happy person?). Participants’ responses were reviewed by the present investigators independently and 152 statements of happy life with 18 categories were derived from content-analysis. The list of 152 statements of happy life was administered to 517 Korean adults to assess the importance of each item for Koreans’ happy life through the objective rating scale (6-point Likert scale). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that most factors were unidimensional. The items with low reliability were deleted and some new items were added, resulting in the experimental form of the Happy Life Inventory with 156 items and 18 categories including a new category of religion. The preliminary form of the Happy Life Inventory and the Psychological Well-being scale were administered to a nationwide sample of 1503 Korean adults in order to assess their happiness through 6-point Likert scale. The responses from 877 participants were submitted to exploratory factor analysis. The items with low factor loadings were excluded and 98 items with 16 factors were included in the final version of the Happy Life Inventory. Confirmatory factor analysis of the responses from 611 subjects confirmed that the 16 factor model was appropriate and most categories had one underlying dimension with moderate to high reliabilities. Correlations between the Happy Life Inventory and the psychological well-being scale supported construct validity of the Happy Life Inventory. Suggestions for further research were discussed.     

Validating the Portuguese Version of the Satisfaction With Life Scale in an Elderly Sample

Life satisfaction is referred to a cognitive, judgmental process (Diener et al. in J Pers Assess 49:71–75, 1985), in which person’s quality of life is globally assessed according to his/her chosen criteria (Shin and Johnson in Soc Indic res 5:475–492, 1978). Thus, life satisfaction is a conscious cognitive judgment, based on the comparison of one’s life with a self-imposed standard or set of standards, which lead to a global assessment of life (Pavot and Diener in Psychol Assess 5:164–172, 1993). Among the many scales developed to measure life satisfaction, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS, Diener et al. in J Pers Assess 49:71–75, 1985) is one of the global life satisfaction scales more often used in the research arena. It is composed of five items assessing global life satisfaction, using a Likert type response format. The aim of this paper is to validate the Portuguese version of the SWLS via confirmatory factor analysis, with a sample of 1,003 elderly from Angola. Reliability, factorial and criterial validity estimates are presented. Overall, the results shown that the scale had an adequate one-factor confirmatory solution, satisfying reliability indices, and adequate criterion-related validity when assessed in a sample of Angolan elderly. The discussion relates the results with existing literature and posits the contributions of the paper: firstly, it offers the researchers on life satisfaction in Portuguese-speaking contexts a brief, self-rated measure of satisfaction with life that has sound psychometric properties, validity, and reliability; secondly, it is the first confirmatory validation of the scale in Portuguese.     

Measuring subjective well-being: Unfolding the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale

Factor analysis of the items in the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale has repeatedly shown that the positive and negative affect items are unrelated. Despite this, negative affect scores are routinely subtracted from positive affect scores to derive Affect Balance Scale Scores that apparently provide a valid measure of a sense of well-being. In this paper we offer a resolution to this paradox — and so justify the use of Affect Balance Scale Scores — by showing that the positive and negative affect items each form a single cumulative scale, and that the two cumulative scales taken together form one unidimensional unfolding scale. This explanation is based on a hypothesis by Coombs and Kao (1960) — later proved mathematically by Ross and Cliff (1964) — that when data that are unfoldable in r dimensions are factor-analyzed, r+1 significant factors will be found. In an empirical test, Bradburn Affect Balance Scale data collected from ten countries in the 1981 and 1990 European Values Study surveys were analyzed. The results clearly support the hypothesis that the data form a single unidimensional unfolding scale, although two of the ten Affect Balance Scale items are not homogenous with the rest.     

Exploring the Fear of Birth Scale in a mixed population of women of childbearing age—A Swedish pilot study

Aim

The aim of this pilot study was to explore the Fear of Birth Scale in a mixed sample of women of childbearing age, by investigating the levels of childbirth fear and the content of women’s thoughts when completing the scale.

Family life quality: Theory and assessment in economically stressed farm families

The purposes of this paper are to (a) describe a resource exchange theory which outlines the dimensions of life quality (Foa and Foa, 1974), (b) present a multidimensional measure of personal evaluations of family life quality based on this theory, and (c) report the results of a two-stage study in which the scale was used. The scale includes items representing love, status, services, information, goods, and money resources received from the family. Respondents evaluated the degree to which the receipt of these resources satisfied personal needs for: (a) love and affection, (b) respect and esteem, (c) comfort and assistance, (d) shared meaning, (e) personal things, and (f) money for personal use. Reliability, correlation, covariance, cluster, and factor analyses on data from 592 subjects provided information for reducing the number of items. A reduced version of the scale was administered to 331 of the same subjects one year later. The two stages provided evidence of construct validity and reliability for the scale.Research was supported by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station: Projects 52-054, 52-055, 52-058 Paper # 18,277 and the Minnesota Extension Service.     

A Scale on Beliefs about Children's Adjustment in Same-Sex Families: Reliability and Validity

In this study, we developed a new instrument named Scale Beliefs about Children's Adjustment on Same-Sex Families (SBCASSF). The scale was developed to assess of the adults' beliefs about negative impacts on children who are raised by same-sex parents. An initial pool of 95 items was generated by the authors based on a review of the literature on homophobia and feedback from several focus groups. Research findings, based on a sample of 212 university students (mean age 22 years, SD?=?8.28), supported the reliability and validity of the scale. The final versions of the SBCASSF included items reflecting the following two factors: individual opposition (α = .87) and normative opposition (α = .88). Convergent validity of the scale is demonstrated by predictable correlations with beliefs about the cause of same-sex sexual orientation and the support for gay and lesbian rights. Our study reveals a strong positive association between high scores on SBCASSF and beliefs that the origin of same-sex sexual orientation is learned and opposition to gay and lesbian rights.     

An evaluation of Midwifery Group Practice. Part II: women's satisfaction

BACKGROUND: Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) is a continuity of midwifery care model for women of all levels of pregnancy risk available at a tertiary metropolitan hospital in Australia. This paper presents Part II of the demonstration study exploring the effectiveness of MGP, and reports on women's satisfaction with the model of care. METHODS: A Maternal Satisfaction Questionnaire was developed and sent to all women (n=120) enrolled in MGP over a three-month period. The questionnaire comprised two open-ended questions asking women to list up to three things they liked and did not like about MGP, and a structured section exploring levels of satisfaction through a five-point Likert response format. The open-ended questions were analysed using qualitative content analysis, and analysis of the structured part of the questionnaire was undertaken by comparing mean scores of satisfaction ranging from -2 (very negative attitudes) to +2 (very positive attitudes). RESULTS: Of the 120 women who were sent a Maternal Satisfaction Questionnaire, 84 returned their questionnaire (70% response rate). Three overarching themes were identified in the content analysis of open-ended questions, namely: Continuity of care; Accessibility; and Personal and professional attributes of the midwife. Analysis of the structured part of the questionnaire showed that women were satisfied with the care they received in MGP, as indicated by positive scores on all questions. CONCLUSIONS: Women being cared for in MGP are satisfied with their care.     

Psychometric Evaluation of the Serbian Version of the Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate psychometric properties of the Serbian version of the Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS). The research was carried out on a sample of 408 high school students (250 females, 158 males), with the mean age 16.6. The Serbian version of the MSLSS has demonstrated good psychometric properties. The internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach’s α) for the MSLSS domain and total scores were adequate. Support for the validity of the MSLSS was provided by the pattern of correlations with various positive and negative indicators of well-being. However, it has been suggested that shortening the scale from 40 items to 25 items could provide more accurate measure of adolescents’ life satisfaction for the future research.     

Measuring Hope in the Philippines: Validating the Short Version of the Locus-of-Hope Scale in Filipino

A short version of the locus-of-hope Scale was developed and translated into the Filipino language for the purpose of assessing hope in Filipinos who have lower levels of education and who may not have adequate levels of proficiency in English. The 20-item scale had four locus-of-hope subscales (internal, external-family, external-peers, and external-spiritual) each with four items (another four were filler items); all items described thoughts associated with some capacity and strategy to attain important goals in life. A sample (N = 362) of adults from communities in Metro Manila were asked to answer the scale, as well as measures of optimism, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated an adequate fit between the hypothesized four-factor structure and the data, but the internal locus-of-hope scale was found to have low internal consistency. Regression analysis showed positive associations between the internal and external-family locus-of-hope subscales and the three measures of wellbeing. But external-peers locus-of-hope was negatively associated with optimism and self-esteem, and external-spiritual locus-of-hope was positively related with optimism.     

Quality of Life of Residents Living near Industrial Estates in Singapore

Quality of life (QOL) studies are increasinglygaining the attention of urban planners due toits usefulness in assessing and monitoringpublic policies. With this in mind, an attemptwas made in this study to assess the quality oflife of residents staying near industrialestates in Jurong, Singapore using 18subjective life indicators to measure theoverall life satisfaction.Based on a 5-point Likert scale, health (4.48),family life (4.37) and public safety (4.13)emerged as the more important aspects, whileself-development (3.90), religion (3.60) andpolitics (2.74) were named by the respondentsto be among the least important. On thesatisfaction level, public safety (3.92),family life (3.88), and public utilities (3.78)were deemed to be among the most satisfiedaspects, while consumer goods (2.92), politics(2.91) and environment (2.89) were consideredto be among the least satisfied aspects. Therelationship between the different demographicvariables with overall life satisfaction werealso determined and five variables, namely,marital status, education level, occupation,household income and household size were foundto contribute significantly to the overall lifesatisfaction scores.Overall, the residents in Jurong were found tobe generally satisfied with their life, scoringa mean satisfaction rating of 3.687. It ishoped that the data gathered from this studycan be used by planners in formulating andimplementing future policies.     

Effects of Interaction Experiences and Undergraduate Coursework on Attitudes Toward Gay and Lesbian Issues

College experiences can expand knowledge, decrease negative stereotypes, and increase acceptance toward diversity, especially regarding gay and lesbian issues. This study found that the more interaction undergraduate students have with gay and lesbian people on campus, the more accepting their attitudes are regarding (1) same-sex, consensual sex, (2) same-sex relations between adults is not unnatural, (3) vote for a gay presidential candidate, (4) friends with a feminine man, (5) friends with a masculine woman, (6) knowledge of GL issues important for future career, and (7) comfortable with GL roommate. Furthermore, the more undergraduate students are exposed to coursework addressing gay and lesbian issues, the more positive their attitudes are regarding the importance of knowledge of gay/lesbian issues for future career and comfort with a gay/lesbian roommate. Discussion explores possible long-term implications of systematic interaction experiences and coursework at all levels within the educational system to prevent negative attitude formation.     

Family planning in India]

India, one of the 1st countries to develop family planning, had a 19.9% decline in its birth rate from 1965-80. This, however, is not adequate in degree or speed. India's 1st private family planning clinic was established in 1925. A government sponsored family planning clinic was built 5 years later. By the early 1950s, governmental support for family planning included 6 5-year plans (1951-83), the target of which was to limit the birth rate to 25/1000 by 1984, and 21/1000 by 2001. A mortality rate of 9/1000 by 2001 was also targeted. By 1979, there were 51,972 Health Centers and Stations in rural areas, all manned by 2-3 physicians, and 50-80 support staff. In urban areas, there were over 1900 family welfare centers. But these do not meet the needs of the entire populace. As early as the 1950s incentives were given to those practicing birth control (e.g., free birth control operations, or priority in housing and jobs). A system of fines was instituted in 1976 for those refusing to participate in family planning, resulting in an increased use of contraceptives. For the years 1956-81, 80,000,000 women used some form of birth control. The percentage of married women practicing birth control jumped from 12% in 1970 to 28% in 1981. Of those successful in family planning, 20.2% were sterilized. But the rate of effective use of birth control varies greatly from area to area, ranging from 1% to 35%. Family planning work in India is hindered by a complex political system, religious beliefs, traditional customs, and illiteracy. By 2000, India's population might increase by 40% to 961,000,000.     

Arts and the quality of life: an Exploratory study

The aim of this investigation was to measure the impact of the arts broadly construed on the quality of life. A randomly drawn household sample of 315 adult residents of Prince George, British Columbia served as the working data-set. Examining zero-order correlations, among other things, it was found that playing a musical instrument a number of times per year was positively associated with general health (r = 0.37), while singing alone a number of hours per week was negatively associated with general health (r = ?0.19). The strongest positive associations with life satisfaction are satisfaction obtained from gourmet cooking and embroidery, needlepoint or cross-stitching, at r = 0.39 andr = 0.32, respectively. The satisfaction obtained from gourmet cooking (r = 0.35) and buying works of art (r = 0.32) were the most positive influences on happiness. The strongest associations with the Index of Subjective Well-Being are the satisfaction obtained from gourmet cooking (r = 0.37) and the satisfaction obtained from knitting or crocheting (r = 0.34). Examining multivariate relations, it was found that eight predictors combined to explain 59% of the variance in life satisfaction scores, with self-esteem satisfaction (β = 0.35) and friendship satisfaction (β = 0.27) most influential. Among the arts-related predictors in the eight, singing alone was fairly influential and negative (β = ?0.18), while the satisfaction obtained from reading to others (β=0.08) and the Index of Arts as Self-Health Enhancers (β = 0.11) were somewhat less influential. When the arts-related predictors were combined with a set of domain satisfaction predictors, total explanatory power was increased by only 3 percentage points. Seven predictors could explain 58% of the variance in satisfaction with the overall quality of life scores. Of the arts-related predictors, only time spent going to non-art museums was significant (β = 0.07). Arts-related predictors did not increase explanatory power at all beyond that obtained from domain satisfaction variables alone. Eight predictors explained 42% of the variance in happiness scores, with the most influential predictors including satisfaction with self-esteem (β = 0.37) and financial security (β = 0.21), followed by the Index of Arts as Self-Developing Activities (β = 0.18). Arts-related predictors added 3 percentage points of explanatory power to that obtained from domain satisfaction scores. Seven predictors could explain 65% of the variance in scores on the Index of Subjective Well-Being, led by self-esteem satisfaction (β = 0.35) and financial security satisfaction (β = 0.30). The Index of Arts as Community Builders had a modest influence (β = 0.11), but all together, arts-related predictors increased our total explanatory power by a single percentage point. Summarizing these multivariate results, it seems fair to say that, relative to the satisfaction obtained from other domains of life, the arts had a very small impact on the quality of life (measured in four somewhat different ways) of a sample of residents of Prince George who generally cared about the arts. Even in absolute terms, arts-related activities could only explain from 5% to 11% of the variance in four plausible measures of the self-perceived quality of respondents’ lives. By comparing the composition of our sample with census data from 2001, it was demonstrated that the sample was not representative of residents of our city. It would, therefore, be wrong to generalize our findings to the whole population of Prince George or to any larger population.     

Adaptation and Validation of a Positive Health Scale for Adolescents

There is a demonstrated need to develop alternative approaches to measuring health from a positive health perspective in order to support systematic planning and evaluation of health promotion in schools. The Salutogenic Health Indicator Scale (SHIS) aims to measure health from a positive perspective. However, it has not been developed, or previously been tested, for use with adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16, at which age youth often exhibit a need for extra support in order to be successful in school and life. Inspired by the SHIS, we generated a Positive Health Scale (PHS) appropriate for 12–16-year-olds and determined its validity and reliability using principal component analysis (PCA). In the study, the scale was tested in a sample of 1,527 Grade 6–9 students, using PCA. The findings indicated the need to reduce the scale to nine items, which was then shown to be valid and reliable for use with both adolescent boys and adolescent girls. We conclude that the PHS can be used in systematic health promotion planning and evaluation. Communities and schools can use this scale to examine and improve health determinants in different adolescent settings.     

Application of an Irt Polytomous Model for Measuring Health Related Quality of Life

Background: The Item Response Theory (IRT) has advantages for measuring Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) as opposed to the Classical Tests Theory (CTT). Objectives: To present the results of the application of a polytomous model based on IRT, specifically, the Rating Scale Model (RSM), to measure HRQOL with the EORTC QLQ-C30. Methods: 103 terminal cancer patients cared for by the home services of the Servicio Andaluz de Salud (Andalusian Health Service) (Andalusia, Spain) participated. These patients responded to the adapted Spanish version of the EORTC QLQ-C30. The application was carried out individually in the patients’ homes. Results: The results show that there is an adequate global fit between the data and the IRT model applied. The analysis of the items shows that for 31 of the 33 items there is a good fit. The items which measure the general perception of health and the perception of quality of life present a lack of fit. The study of the response categories of the items (by means of Category Probability Curves) indicates that all the alternatives work extremely well. Conclusions:The EORTC QLQ-C30 presents good metric qualities, under the RSM, ratifying the feasibility to measure HRQOL already shown in other studies carried out with CTT.