Earl J. Ginter

Loneliness, social support, and anxiety among two South Pacific cultures.

This study was designed to investigate the relations among two sources of social support, various aspects of loneliness, and anxiety from two different cultural groups. One group was comprised of Polynesian, Melanesian, and Micronesian people (n = 54) and the other of East Indian and Caucasian people (n = 27). As hypothesized, significant correlations (direct and inverse) between scores on a measure of social support and loneliness were found and a positive one between anxiety and loneliness.

Intrafamily communication and familial environment.

This correlational study investigated the link between parent-adolescent communication and the family environment. The Parent-Adolescent Communication Inventory of Bienvenu, the Family Environment Scale of Moos and Moos, and a demographic questionnaire were administered to 115 students enrolled in a senior high school located in southeast Louisiana. Positive correlations were noted between perceived communication and factors of cohesion, emotional expressiveness, independence, intellectual-cultural orientation, active-recreational orientation, moral-religious emphasis, and organization within the family. Perceived communication correlated negatively with conflict and control. There was no evidence for a correlation between family communication and achievement orientation.

SELF-DISCLOSURE, LONELINESS AND FOUR INTERPERSONAL TARGETS: FRIEND, GROUP OF FRIENDS, STRANGER, AND GROUP OF STRANGERS

69 Lonely and 142 Nonlonely undergraduates were compared on self-disclosure to four interpersonal targets, i.e. friend, group of friends, stranger, and group of strangers. The Lonely group were less willing to disclose to all four targets and reported higher frequency and intensity of loneliness-related affects.

Loneliness Among Young Egyptian Adults: Affective Dimensions of Loneliness

A sample of 417 young adults from Egypt participated in the present study. Participants completed an Arabic version of the Loneliness Rating Scale. The current study hypothesized that loneliness is multidimensional in nature. It was also hypothesized that given the unique cultural environment of Egypt one of the affective dimensions uncovered would have a strong “social” theme and that the remaining dimension or dimensions would reflect themes that denote a sense of dejection and depletion. The 40 affective items comprising the revised scale were analyzed via factor analysis. A two-factor solution was retained as the most statistically sound solution; one factor was labeled Intrapersonal Loneliness and the other Interpersonal Loneliness. The results support the hypotheses.

Anxiety among Children in Israel

A sample of 676 children from Israel participated in the present study. They resided in either a city (n = 105) or kibbutz (n = 571) in northern or central Israel. Participants completed an Hebrew version of the Revised Childrens Manifest Anxiety Scale. The current study hypothesized that anxiety is multidimensional in nature. It was also hypothesized that anxiety, given the unique environment of Israel, would be associated with different sources of potential threat. The anxiety items comprising the revised scale were analyzed via a principal factor analysis with varimax rotation. A two-factor solution was retained as the most statistically sound solution; one factor was labeled Anticipatory Anxiety and the other Social Anxiety. The results support the hypotheses.

A Survey of North American Marriage and Family Therapy Practitioners: A Role Delineation Study

A comprehensive licensing examination is an integral part of the process used by states and jurisdictions to regulate the profession of marriage and family therapy. The examination was initially developed by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB), an organization representing various licensing boards that regulate marriage and family therapy. AMFTRB periodically updates the examination using a number of well-established psychometric procedures which include the use of a role delineation survey. The results of one such survey recently sponsored by AMFTRB are reported. Using a stratified random sampling procedure potential participants from North America (United States and Canada) were mailed the AMFTRB survey which netted a grand total of 473 respondents. A composite description formulated from data obtained in the survey indicates that a marriage and family practitioner is most likely to: have a Masters’ degree, be a Caucasian/non-Hispanic female aged 51 to 60, work as a private practitioner, be licensed as a marriage and family therapist (but not to have taken an examination), work mostly with individual clients, and theoretically rely upon behavioral therapy, solution-focused therapy, or Bowen family systems.

Loneliness, Perceived Social Support, and Anxiety among Israeli Adolescents

This study was designed to investigate the variables of social support, loneliness, and anxiety among two groups, i.e., participants who identified with the label “I am a lonely person” (Lonely group; n = 37) and those who did not identify with this label (Not lonely group; n = 107). Based on the findings of a 1994 study of South Pacific participants, hypotheses were formulated and tested using the grouping variable. As expected, significant correlations for scores on loneliness with social support and with anxiety were noted. Also, as expected, there were significant differences between the two groups on social support, loneliness, and anxiety. While such results support earlier findings it appears the association of loneliness and perceived social support may be more complex than proposed earlier. For the lonely group anxiety is significantly correlated with a need to seek acceptance.

Life-Skills as a Predictor of Academic Success: An Exploratory Study:

Traditional predictors of academic performance in college, such as measures of verbal and mathematical abilities [i.e., Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)] and academic achievement (i.e., high school GPA), often account for less than 25% of the variance in college performance, thus leaving a considerable amount of variance unexplained. The primary goal of this study was to examine developmental variables that may account for academic achievement beyond the traditional indices mentioned. Specifically, the relationships among four categories of life-skills and cumulative GPA were examined. A hierarchical multiple-regression analysis revealed that the four life-skills categories predicted an additional 9.4% of the variance in cumulative GPA beyond high school GPA and SAT scores. Of the four categories, physical fitness/health maintenance skills made a statistically significant, unique contribution to predicting cumulative GPA. Because of the exploratory nature of the current study, suggestions are made for conducting future research in light of the studys limitations.

Suinn Test Anxiety Behavior Scale: Normative Data for Graduate Students in Education

The Suinn Test Anxiety Behavior Scale was administered to both graduate and undergraduate students to reassess earlier findings (Suinn, 1969). The primary purpose of this study was to provide normative data for graduate students (N = 153). Such information does not appear in Suinns 1969 article. Means, standard deviations, and percentiles are reported for each sex, as well as for the total graduate sample. Females reported significantly higher test anxiety. Test-retest reliability over a 6-wk. interval was .73. In general, the findings for the graduate students were similar to Suinns findings for undergraduates.

Developmental factors and performance in remedial courses.

This study investigated the relations between various developmental factors and performance in remedial courses. The Iowa Developing Autonomy Inventory, Iowa Managing Emotions Inventory, and Iowa Developing Competency Inventory were administered to 231 students enrolled in a developmental studies program at a large state university (enrollment about 25,000). Regression analyses indicated that various developmental measures accounted for a small effect (amount of variance accounted for ranged from 2% to 7%) on performance in remedial courses. The percentage of variance accounted for by the three inventories was similar to what could be accounted for by more traditional measures of SAT scores and high-school grade point averages. The percentage of variance accounted for by traditional measures ranged from 2% to 10%.