Developing measures of perceived life quality: Results from several national surveys

This report presents the current status of a series of studies oriented toward the assessment of perceived life quality. The conceptual model proposes that a person's overall sense of life quality is understandable as a combination of affective responses to life ‘domains’, which are of two types-role situations and values. Over 100 items used to measure a wide variety of domains and 28 items assessing perceived overall life quality are presented. Various subsets of these items were used in interviews with several representative samples of American adults. Based on these data the domain items were grouped into a smaller number of semi-independent clusters which were internally stable across 10 different subgroups of the respondents and whose interrelationships were highly replicable in independent national samples. A series of analyses, some replicated in more than one survey showed: (1) an additive combination of 12 selected domains explained 50–60% of the variance in an index of overall life quality, (2) neither other domains nor several social characteristic variables contributed additional explanatory power, (3) this level of explanation was achieved in each of 22 subgroups of the population, and (4) additive combinations of domains worked as well as more complicated combinations.     

THE VICTIM-ACTIVIST ROLE IN THE ANTI-DRUNK DRIVING MOVEMENT

Three statuses—individually harmed victim, bereaved victim, and general community activist (non-victim)—found among local chapter officers of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) are analysed in terms of their impact on chapter leadership and operations. Victim and non-victim activists have the same general social background characteristics and level of community involvement, suggesting that they all come from a similar social base of potential activists. Victim-activists gain status and "experiential expertise' that facilitate playing leadership roles and affect the emphasis they give the program goals of youth education and victim services in the local chapters.     

The development of personal space in primary school children

Personal space in school cafeteria queues was observed for 1,047 children in kindergarten through sixth grade in seven public schools. It was found that children segregate themselves both racially and sexually in the queues. In three of the schools that were racially mixed, the children stood closer in the lower grades than in the higher grades, they stood closer to same-sex children than to other-sex children, but there was no racial difference. In three of the schools where all of the children were white, there was an increase in personal space across grades for all sex combinations except male to male. In two of the schools where all of the children were black, there was no significant increase in personal space across grades. The children in the white schools had greater queue distances than children in the black schools throughout the upper grades. In general, the results were similar to those obtained in other studies involving observation in natural settings and different from results obtained using simulated interaction.     

Cross-cultural perspectives on illness and wellness: Implications for depression

The purpose of this research is to determine the relationships among race, socioeconomic status (SES) and depressive symptomatology. Contrary to the findings of over 20 years of psychiatric epidemiology, two research teams have recently reported that Blacks, primarily those of low SES, are significantly more depressed than Whites occupying the same status. Using the same epidemiologic field survey data as one of these research groups (Whites=1,648; Blacks=450), the issues of race, SES, and depression are reopened for examination. Depressive symptomatology was measured by the Florida Health Study Depression Scale. The findings indicated that, in general, Blacks had significantly higher levels of depressive symptomatology than Whites. However, these differences were eliminated once SES, a composite of occupational status, education, and household income, was statistically controlled. Race, in other words, was not found to be an independent predictor of depression. The author concludes that poverty is hazardous to one's psychological well-being and that race, by itself, is merely a proxy for socioeconomic status. In addition, methodological issues associated with the conceptualization and operationalization of socioeconomic status and mental health constructs such as depression are explored.Paper presented at the Conference on Multicultural Perspectives on Mental Illness, May 1994, St. John's University.     

PROLIFIC WRITERS IN MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY: A RESEARCH NOTE

Success and promotion within an academic setting depends heavily upon one's ability to publishscholarly work. The "publish or perish" syndrome, and how it relates to marital and family therapy, is of importance to current and aspiring academicians' futures as well as those who wish to impact the field. Research was conducted to identify the most prolific journal writers in the field, and 18 persons were surveyed in order to ascertain how they organized themselves personally and professionally, in order to write productively. The results are analyzed, and recommendations are made regarding the organization of oneself for publishing success.