The Oral History Rating Scale–Revised: Preliminary Evaluation of a Clinician-Rated Measure of Divorce Potential

ABSTRACT

This study was a preliminary psychometric investigation of the Oral History Rating Scale–Revised (OHRS–R), a therapist-rated measure of married couples' divorce potential based a 90-min oral history interview. Findings suggest the OHRS–R shows promise as a clinical tool. Therapist and observing raters' total OHRS–R scores demonstrated high interrater reliability and discriminated from client reports of psychological functioning (Outcome Questionnaire-45.2) and marital satisfaction (Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale). Therapist OHRS–R ratings showed evidence of construct validity. Convergence between therapist OHRS–R ratings and a client-reported measure of divorce risk (Marital Status Inventory) was relatively low. Longitudinal research is needed to confirm predictive validity.     

Occupation and Residence: Cleveland, 1940–1970

Abstract

The residential distribution of employed males in eight different occupational categories is analyzed for Cleveland for four decade periods in time, from 1940 through 1970. There is considerable stability in the ordering of the residential distributions over time whether measured by the indexes of segregation, dissimilarity, or centralization. Changes, when they occur, are incremental, and are related to changes in socioeconomic indicators.     

Stages of change in batterers and their response to treatment

One important dimension of individual differences among batterers is their readiness to change. According to the transtheoretical model (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1984), all individuals go through precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance before a change in behavior is accomplished. The applicability of this model to intimate partner violence was assessed by administering the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) scales (with reference to their domestic violent behavior) to 210 court-ordered male batterers. Their responses were clustered, and two clusters were derived and then compared on other measures. As hypothesized, cluster 2 individuals (characterized by a profile of URICA scale scores suggesting an earlier stage of change) self-reported less initial distress (depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse), less violence, and fewer problems with anger than cluster 1 individuals (characterized by URICA scale sores suggesting a later stage of change), although partners reported no difference in violence perpetrated by the two clusters. Cluster 1 individuals evidenced greater improvement in self-reported depression, anxiety, and anger control. Strategies to engage the more resistant cluster 2 individuals as well as suggestions for future research are considered.     

Bridging Environmental Science with Environmental Policy: Plasticity of Population, Affluence, and Technology

Objective . Sound environmental policy is fully dependent upon sound science. However, we have little scientific knowledge of the driving forces behind environmental change. We use the well-known I = PAT formulation (environmental i mpacts are the multiplicative product of p opulation, a ffluence, and t echnology) as a framework to assess the relative impacts of driving forces. Methods . We introduce the concept of plasticity —the potential for each factor to vary, particularly because of purposive human action (e.g., policy)—to fine tune our understanding of how each factor can influence different impacts. We illustrate plasticity by assessing each driving force for a variety of environmental impacts. Results . We demonstrate that population, affluence, and technology have different potentials for mitigating different types of impacts and that no one factor is of greater importance than the others. Conclusions . We conclude that plasticity measures can guide policymakers toward identifying and prioritizing those environmental problems most responsive to policy solution.     

Personnel Selection Procedures and Invasion of Privacy

We conducted two studies on the perceived invasiveness of 12 personnel selection procedures. In Study 1, indirect scaling methods were used to examine the degree to which 84 employed adults in the United States perceived such procedures to be invasive of privacy. Results showed the application blank was the least invasive of privacy and the lie detector was the most invasive of privacy. In Study 2, data from 149 (mostly employed) adults in the Northeast were used to assess relationships between invasiveness and several hypothesized antecedents. Correlation analyses showed that invasiveness was predicted by several factors (e.g., the extent to which the procedures erroneously discredited job applicants). Implications for personnel selection practices in work organizations are considered .     

Comparison of Prediction Capabilities of Partially Replicated Central Composite Designs in Cuboidal Region

Three variations of partially replicated central composite designs have been compared. Their prediction capabilities with respect to their prediction variances are assessed using variance dispersion graphs in cuboidal region when the axial distance is α = 1. The results show that for n₀ = 1, 2, and 3 center points, the replicated star designs have better prediction potentials than the replicated cube designs when interest is in predicting responses in the face-centered cube. The face-centered cube is the second-order central composite design with axial distance, α = 1.     

Unique decomposition of low-order time series

ABSTRACT

We give necessary and sufficient conditions on the parameters of processes ARMA(1, 1) and ARMA(2, 1) for representation of each as unique sums of independent simpler ARMA processes, including deduction from the sum process of the innovation variances of these summands. This work on inversion is motivated by examples in the article of Granger and Morris (1976 Granger, C.W.J., Morris, M.J. (1976). Time series modelling and interpretation. J. Roy. Statist. Soc., Ser. A 139:246–257.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and by our earlier article (Ku and Seneta, 1998 Ku, S., Seneta, E. (1998). Practical estimation from the sum of AR(1) processes. Commun. Statist. Simul. Computat. 27:981–998.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), to which the present article is a self-contained sequel. The theory is illustrated by the analysis of tree ring data.     

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