THERAPISTS' PERSONALITIES AND THEIR EVALUATION OF THREE FAMILY THERAPY STYLES: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

This study examined the relationship between beginning therapists' personalities and their evaluations of three divergent family therapy styles. Sixty clinical and counseling psychology students completed the Adjective Checklist (Gough & Heilbrun, 1983) and rated videotaped therapy sessions conducted by Bowen, Minuckin, and Whitaker. Adjective Checklist ratings of each subject were also obtained from three friends/family members. Self-rated personality factors of dominant-masculinity and, to a lesser extent, nurturant-femininity were significant predictors of subjects' ratings of the tapes. Gender was a factor in ranked ratings of the tapes. Other-rated personality traits were not significant predictors. Implications for therapy training and supervision are discussed.     

Horse Races,Governance and the Chance to Fight: On the Formation of Organizational Agendas

We consider the formation of issues on the organizational agenda of a manufacturing firm. We find that the patterns of issue formation vary markedly and we develop an analytic framework to examine a number of emerging, potentially ambiguous issues. We emphasize the importance to the organization of perceptions of collective freedom to construct an issue, the role of issue labelling and perceptions of emerging consensus over the construction of an issue. Jointly, these considerations affect whether an issue gains salience on the agenda and whether it is resolved constructively.     

The Association of Sexual Experience with Attitudes,Beliefs, and Risk Behaviors of Inner‐City Adolescents

We compared knowledge, attitudes, and demographic characteristics of 630 sexually experienced and 422 inexperienced inner‐city adolescents aged 14–17 years. Sexual experience was associated with indicators of risk previously reported in the literature: male gender, older age, single‐family home, smoking, drinking, and poorer academic performance. We found lower HIV knowledge in sexually inexperienced youth, which suggested an area of vulnerability compared with sexually active teens. However, most inexperienced adolescents intended to remain virgins for the next 6 months, most had peer groups they also perceived to be virgins, and they were more positive and confident about remaining abstinent. Differences between the groups suggest there may be benefits to developing intervention programs targeted to their different strengths and weaknesses.     

Sociodemographic and Health-Related Risk Factors Among African-American,Caucasian and Hispanic Homeless Men: A Comparative Study

Data from a 1989-1990 cross-sectional survey of homeless adults in California were stratified by ethnicity to examine whether adverse childhood events and adult medical disorders preceding homelessness differed between 269 African-American, 599 Caucasian, 201 foreign-born Hispanic, and 136 native-born Hispanic men. Although African-Americans were overrepresented (21%) compared with their presence in local (3%) and state (7%) populations, within the homeless they were better educated and more likely to have held white collar jobs than Caucasians or Hispanics. In addition, despite being more likely to grow up in poverty, African-Americans reporled lower prevalences of alcohol and drug abuse, overnight psychiatric hospitalizations, placement in foster care, and physical or sexual abuse than Caucasians. Foreign-born Hispanics were the most likely to have low levels of education and job skills, but were least impaired by adult medical disorders. Native-born Hispanics reported lower rates of adverse childhood events, illegal drug use, and psychiatric hospitalizations than Caucasians, but were most likely among the three ethnic groups to suffer from alcohol abuse. The lower prevalences of adverse childhood events, addictive disorders, and psychiatric hospitalizations among homeless African-Americans, despite their higher representation in absolute numbers, suggests that factors such as childhood poverty may play a disproportionate role in homelessness among this ethnic minority group.     

Project VOGUE: A Partnership for Increasing HIV Knowledge and HIV Vaccine Trial Awareness Among House Ball Leaders in Western New York

Men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender individuals of color, the largest demographic in the House Ball Community (HBC), are amongst the group at highest risk for HIV infection in the United States. The HBC have limited access to culturally appropriate HIV education. This study aimed to develop a partnership with HBC leaders to uncover strategies for increasing HIV prevention knowledge, including participation in HIV vaccine trials. To this end a research institution-community-HBC partnership was established. In-depth qualitative and quantitative data were collected from the 14 HBC leaders in Western New York, revealing that knowledge of HIV and related vaccine trials was limited. Barriers to increasing HIV knowledge included fear of peer judgment, having inaccurate information about HIV, and lack of education. Among the HBC, community partnerships will further aid in the development of future HIV prevention programs and increase individuals’ willingness to participate in future HIV vaccine trials.     

Delivering LGBT-sensitive substance use treatment to sexual minority women

Abstract

Epidemiologic studies have consistently found elevated rates of alcohol and other substance use among sexual minority women (SMW), and despite calls for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-specific” services and culturally tailored interventions, few such services exist. This study involved qualitative interviews with directors from substance use treatment programs (N?=?10) about how they addressed the needs of SMW. Strategies implemented primarily focused on creating a safe and welcoming environment for sexual minority clients. Findings highlight challenges involved in meeting the treatment needs of SMW and provide guidance to researchers and service providers on how to improve the quality of care for them.     

Risk Factors for Chlamydia Trachomatis Infection in a California Collegiate Population

Abstract

Chlamydia trachomatis infection in college students has not undergone a detailed large-scale evaluation. The authors undertook a cross-sectional study of 4,086 students enrolled on the campuses of California State University, Sacramento, and 3 local community colleges from fall 2000 through spring 2002. They used an outreach screening model to determine the presence of infection by testing urine for chlamydial DNA by polymerase chain reaction. Participants completed demographic and behavioral risk questionnaires and a chlamydia knowledge assessment. Overall, 3.4% of participants tested positive for infection. Screening of male and female students was evenly distributed and incidence rates for males (3.03%) and females (3.78%) were similar. Variables associated with significantly increased risk were younger than 25 years, ethnicity other than White, more than one sexual partner in the preceding year or a new partner in the preceding 2 months, and current symptoms. Innovative outreach programs to screen a majority of at-risk college students should be developed.     

A characterization of the independence - distribution - preserving covariance structure for the multivariate maximum squared - radii statistic

Necessary and sufficient conditions on the observation covariance structure and on the set of linear transformations are given for which the distribution of the multivariate maximum squared - radii statistic for detecting a single multivariate outlier is invariant from the distribution assuming the usual independence covariance structure. Thus, we extend the work of Baksalary and Puntanen (1990), who have given necessary and sufficient conditions for an independence-distribution-preserving covariance structure for Grubbs' statistic for detecting a univariate outlier. We also extend the work of Marco, Young, and Turner (1987) and Pavur and Young (1991), who have given sufficient conditions for an independence-distribution-preserving dependency structure for the multivariate squared - radii statistic.