Evaluation of an upper extremity student-role functioning scale using item response theory

Millions of workers suffer from upper extremity (musculoskeletal) disorders. Many of these workers are predisposed to upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders because of early exposure to ergonomic risks as students. Computer usage for four or more hours remains the greatest risk for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders for workers and students alike. Developing preventative methods to reduce student exposure, and thus protect future workers from upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders later in life, requires an appropriate measure for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorder prevalence and related limitations for student functioning. Item response theory analysis was used to evaluate and further develop a upper extremity functioning scale for the student role.     

Eating dysfunctions in college women: the roles of depression and attachment to fathers

The authors examined the roles of depression and attachment to fathers in college women's eating dysfunctions. Three-hundred six undergraduate women completed (1) a diagnostic measure of eating dysfunctions that categorized them as asymptomatic, symptomatic but not eating disordered, or eating disordered; (2) 3 dimensional measures of attachment to fathers; and (3) a dimensional measure of depression. Depression was directly related to severity of participants' eating dysfunction; the eating-disordered group had scores consistent with clinical depression. After controlling for depression, 3 facets of attachment to fathers significantly differentiated the 3 groups.     

Individual and crossover effects of stress on adjustment in medical student marriages

High-stress individuals may benefit from social support, although their support providers may be adversely affected via stress crossover effects. Individual and crossover effects of perceived stress within medical student marriages (n = 30) were investigated. Perceived spousal support was positively associated with individuals' own marital and emotional adjustment, attenuating stress effects. With regard to crossover effects, medical students' perceived stress was significantly associated with their spouses' emotional adjustment. Further, medical students' own emotional adjustment fully mediated this crossover effect. Results suggest that the contagion of negative affect may serve as a key mechanism through which stress crossover effects operate in marriage.     

Stigma Management Among Gay/Bisexual Men with HIV/AIDS

People with HIV infection are subjected to prejudice, discrimination and hostility related to the stigmatization of AIDS. To manage the stigma of their disease, they mount complex coping strategies. This paper reports results from a qualitative study that examined gay/bisexual men's experiences of living with HIV infection. Unstructured interviews from a diverse sample of 139 men were analyzed to examine how men coped with AIDS-related stigma. We discerned a variety of stigma management strategies that could be arranged along a continuum from reactive to proactive based on the extent to which they implicitly accepted or challenged the social norms and values that underlie the stigmatization of HIV/AIDS. Reactive strategies to cope with stigma involve defensive attempts to avoid or mitigate the impact of stigma, but imply acceptance of the underlying social norms and values that construct the stigma. Examples of reactive strategies include hiding one's HIV status, presenting one's illness as a less stigmatizing one (e.g., cancer), or distancing one's self from more damaging aspects of AIDS-stigma (e.g., attributing infection to blood transfusion). Proactive strategies challenge the validity of the stigma and imply disavowal and resistance of the social norms and values that underlie the stigma. Examples of proactive strategies include engaging in public educational efforts that address misperceptions about HIV transmission and social activism to change the social and political conditions that affect PWA/HIV.     

The use of therapeutic interventions to reduce crowding-related arousal: A preliminary investigation

Studies of mass transportation crowding have universally shown that such crowding is arousing and often anxiety producing. Attempts to intervene to reduce arousal and anxiety have met with mixed results. In this study four therapeutically based interventions were used to reduce the arousal evoked by a laboratory analogue of mass transportation crowding. Subjects in the intervention conditions showed significantly fewer increases in pulse rate during crowding. Two of the intervention conditions showed significant decreases in skin conductance level when compared to subjects in an uninstructed crowded condition. An intervention which increased feelings of control over the environment resulted in a more positive view of the environment but did not decrease physiological arousal any more than interventions which did not increase perceived control.The research reported in this paper was sponsored by grants from Rutgers University Research Council to Yakov M. Epstein and Robert A. Karlin.     

Structural Analysis of a Consumption-Based Stratification Indicator: Relational Proximity of Household Expenditures

This paper proposes a new analysis of consumption inequality using relational methods, derived from network images of social structure. We combine structural analysis with theoretical concerns in consumer research to propose a relational theory of consumption space, to construct a stratification indicator, and to demonstrate its analytical efficacy with aggregate consumption data. This allows us to emphasize the multi-dimensionality of the relationship between social groups and consumption patterns in the context of a stratification perspective. We utilize the concept of structural equivalence, derived from network models of social structure, to recover relational proximity between social groups and between consumption categories. Additionally, we use relational proximity to construct a new indicator of consumption hierarchy and we test its predictive ability in estimating consumption behavior. We discuss the theoretical implications of our findings for a spatial theory of stratification, as well as possible directions for future research.