Eileen L. Cooley

Assessing levels of adaptive functioning: the Role Functioning Scale

This paper reports data on reliability and validity of the Role Functioning Scale (RFS) a measure of level of functioning of adults in four domains. Psychometric properties were tested on an inner city sample of 112 psychiatrically disturbed and well, predominantly African-American, low-income mothers of young children. The RFS has good interitem, test-retest, and interrater reliability. The four scales and global RFS Index discriminated accurately between well and disturbed subjects. The Global RFS Index was significantly correlated with self-esteem and degree of disturbance. Individual scales demonstrated predicted relationships with quality of childrearing and other independent behavioral indices. Results are discussed in terms of the unique information provided by the RFS and its potential contribution to treatment planning.

Locus of control and self-esteem in depressed, low-income African-American women

Depressed, schizophrenic, and well low-income, African-American women were studied in an effort to extend previous hypotheses of the association between depression and the two personality constructs of low self-esteem and externality to this population. Subjects were 113 low income African-American women including 26 who had been diagnosed as depressed, 54 diagnosed as schizophrenic, and 33 well women. Locus of control was measured with the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Control Scale (Nowicki & Duke, 1974). Self-esteem was measured with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). Contrary to prediction, a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but not depression, was associated with more external locus of control. For self-esteem, severity of disturbance, rather than diagnosis, seemed to be of primary importance. Also, lower self-esteem scores were correlated significantly with higher levels of externality for both depressed and schizophrenic women but not for well controls. The present study indicates that self-esteem and locus of control are related to depression differently in low socio-economic status (SES) African-American women than in previously studied middle SES depressed whites. The findings emphasize the need for more normative studies to clarify the complex relations among SES, race, emotional disturbance, self-esteem, and locus of control.

Family expressiveness and proneness to depression among college women

Abstract The poor social functioning that is frequently associated with depression may partly reflect styles of emotional expressiveness learned in the family of origin. The relationships between proneness to depression and the amount and types of family expressiveness were studied for 57 college women. Although total family expressiveness was not significantly correlated with depression proneness, results suggested that lower levels of positive family expressiveness and higher amounts of negative family expressiveness each were associated with proneness to depression. A group of high depression-prone women reported approximately equal amounts of positive versus negative family expressiveness while a low depression-prone group reported more positive than negative family expressiveness. An emphasis on the positive expression of emotions within the family may be associated with a decreased risk of depression. Women who learn to express and receive positive emotions may have more satisfying relationships and less depression.

Classroom Behavior and the Ability to Decode Nonverbal Cues in Boys With Severe Emotional Disturbance

Abstract Nonverbal decoding skills are important for successful social functioning, particularly for emotionally disturbed children. Boys with severe emotional disturbance (n = 25) and a control group of boys (n = 22) were compared regarding the relationship between ratings of classroom social behaviors and nonverbal decoding skills. Participants were predominantly African American. The Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy (Nowicki, 2001; Nowicki & Duke, 1994) was administered individually to the boys while teachers completed ratings of their social behavior in the classroom. The 2 groups of boys did not differ in nonverbal skills. However, aggressive classroom behaviors were associated with specific nonverbal skills only for the boys with severe emotional disturbance. These findings suggest that nonverbal abilities may have a greater impact on the social behavior of emotionally disturbed boys. Future research is needed to better understand the social difficulties of boys with severe emotional disturbance.

Advice from working women with retired partners

ABSTRACT In the 21st century, as more women are employed full-time and couples increasingly share egalitarian values, more women continue employment after their partners have voluntarily retired. However, we know very little about the experiences of this growing population of women. We asked working women with retired partners to share their advice for other women who may face this developmental transition. Open-ended responses from 97 women were analyzed to identify pertinent issues and themes. Four primary content areas were identified: time management, division of household labor, financial planning, and communication. Communication between partners was both a topic of concern as well as the solution suggested to resolve conflicts or differences that may arise when women live with a retired partner. It is expected that future changes in the workforce and improvements in the gender balance within relationships will continue to impact experiences for working women with retired partners.

WORD-TYPE EFFECTS IN WORD-STEM PRIMING: EVIDENCE FOR SEMANTIC PROCESSING IN THE PERCEPTUAL REPRESENTATION SYSTEM? '

While a presemantic Perceptual Representation System is believed to mediate implicit memory tasks such as word-stem priming, clinical studies suggest semantic information can be processed during priming. To clarify the nature of this system, we investigated word-type effects in word-stem priming in a nonclinical sample of 41 undergraduates who rated the pleasantness of threatening and non threatening words, performed implicit and explicit memory tasks, and completed measures of mood state. More nonthreatening words were primed and scores on the Beck Depression Inventory were negatively correlated with production of nonthreatening words. During cued recall, more threatening than nonthreatening words were remembered and ratings of state anxiety were negatively correlated with recall of nonthreatening words. Our findings support the contention that semantic information is processed during priming and that mood congruent biases also operate. These results may call for a reconceptualization of the Perceptual Representation System.