Delia Birle

The measurement of moral values in adolescents and young Romanian adults

Measurement of moral values in adolescents and young adults has significant benefits in the area of counseling, developmental psychology, social psychology and moral development. With regard to moral values, cultural differences can be noteworthy. Thus, the necessity for an instrument that measures the degree of internalization of moral values of a Romanian population becomes evident. The Moral Values Internalization Questionnaire was administered to 175 students. Scores showed good estimates of alpha internal consistency values for each of the four types of perceived motivations that can point to the four different reasons adolescents and young adults may have for engaging in a specific behavior: external α = .834, introjected α =.771, identified α =.659, and integrated α =. 728. The results support the use of MVIQ as a measure of the internalization of moral values, both in assessing the level of development in Romanian adolescents and in checking the efficiency of programs that aim to develop moral values.

The Role of Religious Beliefs, Practices, and Metaphors in the Coping Strategies of Rare Disease Patients in Romania

Most rare diseases are chronic and some are life threatening, and as a consequence their impact on the lives of patients and their families is significant. Also, rare diseases are really not that rare. Some studies have estimated that as many as 25 million North Americans and 30 million Europeans are affected by one of the 5,000–6,000 types of rare diseases identified by that time, most of which are of a genetic origin (Haffner et al., 2002; Haffner, 2006). In Romania, unofficial reports suggest that around 1,300,000 individuals suffer from rare diseases (approx. 6–8 percent of the entire population), many of whom are lacking a correct diagnosis or adequate treatment and care (National Plan for Rare Diseases in Romania 2010–2014).