John P. Galassi

The Patient Reactions Assessment: A Brief Measure of the Quality of the Patient-Provider Medical Relationship.

This article reports 3 studies in the development of the Patient Reactions Assessment (PRA). The PRA is composed of three 5-item scales designed to measure the perceived quality of the informative (Patient Information Index) and affective (Patient Affective Index) behaviors of the provider and the patients perceived ability to initiate communication (Patient Communication Index) about the illness. The PRA was constructed according to factor-analytic procedures using cancer patients as subjects

Participants' Perceptions of a Peer-Helper, Telephone-Based Social Support Intervention for Melanoma Patients

This descriptive study investigated perceptions of a peer-helper, telephone-based, social support intervention for melanoma patients receiving immunotherapy. Participants were 59 male and female Stage 3 or 4 melanoma patients (helpees) at a Comprehensive Cancer Center and 29 former patients (helpers). Helpers were matched with helpees about to begin immunotherapy based on the site of the melanoma, age, and, when possible, biological sex. The intervention consisted of 2 required telephone contacts initiated by the helper before the helpees first and second immunotherapy treatments. The reactions to this social support intervention were assessed using surveys and telephone interviews with both open- and closed-ended questions. Results indicated that (a) helpees became more sensitive and open to available social support in their environment; (b) helpers and helpees thought the intervention was effective; and (c) the telephone, as a medium for providing support, was a satisfactory substitute for face-to-face interaction. Limitations of the study and future directions for telephone-based support programs for melanoma patients are discussed.

The effects of role playing variations on the assessment of assertive behavior

The effects of role playing variations on the assessment of assertive behavior were investigated with 48 untrained low assertive college students. The effects of stimulus presentation (taped vs. live) and the number of subject responses required (single vs. multiple) were assessed on three dependent variables—assertive content, response length, and anxiety level. Results indicated that mode of stimulus presentation significantly influenced the level of subjective anxiety, while number of subject responses required significantly affected response length. Role playing variations did not significantly affect the content of responses.

A Proposal to Integrate Science and Practice in Counseling Psychology

Science and practice cannot continue together without a major attitudinal shiA a broadening perspective of science and practice and how these two activities can be integrated to strengthen each other. This article represents the culmination of a 2-year project that examined the roles of science and practice within counseling psychology. The central goal of the article is to present (a) specific recommendations for promoting the integration of science and practice within Division 17 and (b) suggest specific strategies for implementing the recommendations.

Are cognitive assessment methods equal? A comparison of think aloud and thought listing

The comparability of data generated by think aloud and thought listing was investigated. High math-anxious students completed two sets of mathematics problems. During one set they thought aloud while problem solving and during the other they listed their cognitions after completing each problem. Assessment method order and problem set order were counterbalanced in a split-plot design. The dependent variables included 11 cognitive content variables, subjective anxiety, number of problems correct, and amount of time for each problem set-assessment phase. Students were significantly more anxious and took longer to list thoughts than to think aloud. Differences on number of problems correct approached significance. On the average, think aloud produced about twice as many thoughts as thought listing and significantly more thoughts in four categories: review of information, strategic calculations, conclusions, and attention control. Thought listing produced significantly more positive problem-solving evaluations and more positive self-evaluations. An analysis on proportions revealed the same differences plus a significantly greater proportion of thoughts in five other categories for thought listing. The implications for cognitive assessment were discussed.

A Conceptual Framework for Counseling Psychologists in Schools

This article explores how contemporary developmental psychology, specifically developmental-contextualism, provides a conceptual framework for practice and research by counseling psychologists who work with schools. Developmental-contextualism articulates how human development (a) is affected by context, (b) involves bio-psycho-social levels, (c) occurs during the life span, and (d) includes strengths and deficits. The authors delineate how these four developmental principles, in conjunction with the traditional strengths of counseling psychology, can guide the application of effective interventions with school-aged children and their families.

A comparison of the factor structure of an assertion scale across sex and population

The factor structure of the College Self-Expression Scale (CSES), a measure of assertion, was investigated in two large universities and one womens college. For each population, a principal axis solution with squared multiple correlations on the diagonals and a varimax rotation of factors with eigenvalues greater than one was used. Factor structures were compared statistically within and across populations. Although only a modest percentage of total variance was extracted, the results indicated that the CSES is multifactored, that the factor structure is relatively stable within the same population, and that sex differences influenced the factor structure less than population differences.

Behavioral performance in the validation of an assertiveness scale

The study was concerned with validation of a self-report measure of assertiveness against behavioral performance criteria. Low, moderate, and high scorers on the College Self Expression Scale role played five short situations which required assertive behaviors. Planned nonorthogonal multivariate comparisons revealed significant differences between the low group and the combined moderate and high group and the low and high groups, respectively, on a linear combination of four dependent variables—assertive content, eye contact, subjective anxiety, and response latency. Univariate comparisons indicated significant differences between the low and high groups on assertive content and eye contact and between the low group and the combined moderate and high group on eye contact. Differences on the anxiety measure approached significance.

Modification of Heterosocial Skills Deficits

This chapter is concerned with heterosocial skills, which are those skills necessary for social interchange between members of the opposite sex. Although these skills are relevant across the life span, the bulk of existing research has been concerned with the skills that are important in the early stages of dating relationships between college students. Unfortunately, these skills represent somewhat a will-o’-the-wisp. When globally defined, effective skills can often be distinguished from ineffective ones. However, relatively little success has been enjoyed in identifying the specific behaviors that comprise them.

The test anxiety inventory: A confirmatory factor analysis

Abstract The study was a confirmatory investigation of the factor structure of the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) proposed by Spielberger, Gonzalez, Taylor, Algaze, and Anton (1978). The subjects were 752 college students (200 men and 542 women; 10 subjects did not report gender). The viability of a two-factor (emotionality and worry) oblique model was examined as compared to a two-factor orthogonal model, a single-factor model, and a null model. Results clearly supported the two-factor oblique solution. In addition, the invariance of the TAI factor structure across gender was supported as results indicated that a two-factor oblique solution with equal loadings and equal factor covariances provided a good model fit across both men and women. It was noted that two particular items, though empirically confirmed, appeared to be placed on the wrong factors. In addition, the necessity for a twenty-item, as opposed to a sixteen-item, TAI was questioned as the internal consistencies (coefficient alpha) of the two ...