Rebecca G. Ryan

Rural mental health and psychological treatment: a review for practitioners

Practitioners in rural areas face particular challenges in providing psychological services, ranging from disparate rates of mental disorders to unique circumstances in treating special populations. In this article, we discuss the burden of mental disorders in rural areas, current trends in integration of mental health care and primary care, and unique concerns practitioners face in treating two special populations in rural areas (children and families, and older adults and their caregivers). Implications for practice are also discussed.

Professor–Student Rapport Scale Predicts Student Outcomes

Rapport traditionally has been measured in therapy or in other one-on-one relationships such as with roommates. As yet, no scale is available to measure professor–student rapport. In this study, 51 undergraduates created items to measure professor–student rapport, and subsequently, 195 different college students rated their agreement with items based on their professor. Factor analysis revealed 1 meaningful component of professor–student rapport represented by 34 items. Rapport correlated with professor immediacy, providing convergent validity. Hierarchical linear regression with immediacy entered first and rapport entered second revealed significant improvement in prediction of student attitudes toward the instructor and the course as well as student motivation, perceptions of learning, and self-reported grades. Thus, we propose that professor–student rapport as measured by the current scale serves as a useful predictor of valuable student outcomes.

Professor-Student Rapport Scale: Six Items Predict Student Outcomes.

Rapport between students and teachers leads to numerous positive student outcomes, including attitudes toward the teacher and course, student motivation, and perceived learning. The recent development of a Professor–Student Rapport scale offers assessment of this construct. However, a Cronbach’s α of .96 indicated item redundancy, and the 34-item scale is unwieldy in a survey-heavy culture. In addition, the most valuable outcome of student learning is actual grades, which remained to be assessed. In the current study, we relied on principal component analysis to reduce the number of items on the Professor–Student Rapport scale and examine predictive power of fewer items. We measured traditional student outcomes such as attitudes, motivation, and perceived learning. We also assessed end-of-semester grades to remove any potential student bias in learning or grade reporting. Six rapport items concerning student engagement and enjoyment of a course predicted all student outcomes, including course grades.

What Do Older Adults Seek in Their Potential Romantic Partners? Evidence from Online Personal Ads

Because of the dearth of available partners, older women looking to date may have to relax their dating standards to find a dating partner, perhaps accepting a life situation that is not what they had hoped for. However older women may be reluctant to sacrifice an often recently-gained lifestyle free of caregiving obligations. Older men, on the other hand, have a large pool of potential dating partners and do not face the same dilemma. We compared Internet dating profiles for 100 older adults and 100 younger adults, and found that older adults (and especially older women) were more selective than younger adults when it came to the age, race, religion, income, and height of a prospective dating partner. However, older adults were willing to travel substantially farther than younger adults to meet the right partner. These findings paint a clear picture of older Internet daters as eager to meet the right person, but not desperate to meet just anyone.

Psychometric Characteristics Of The Professor-Student Rapport Scale

In this study, the authors assessed the psychometric properties of the Professor–Student Rapport Scale, the first scale to measure professor–student rapport. The scale was found to have adequate test–retest and internal-consistency reliability. In addition to these findings, measures used to determine convergent validity included the Working Alliance Inventory, a social support scale, and a measure of verbal aggressiveness. The rapport scale was found to significantly correlate in the expected direction with these measures. Specifically, the rapport scale correlated positively with the Working Alliance Inventory and the social support scale and correlated negatively with the verbal aggressiveness scale. Applications are discussed in terms of using the scale to identify areas of improvement in teaching practices and the potential usefulness of the scale for predicting student outcomes.

Needle Sharing for the Use of Therapeutic Drugs as a Potential AIDS Risk Behavior among Migrant Hispanic Farmworkers in the Eastern Stream

In the United States, 41 percent of the AIDS cases are found in ethnic minorities. While it is true that AIDS is disproportionately represented among minorities, not enough research has been directed at identifying risk factors peculiar to different ethnic groups. This study explored critical knowledge of AIDS, patterns of sexual behavior, and self-injection for therapeutic reasons among migrant workers. Data were collected through face to face interviews with 378 hispanic migrant workers. Respondents, seventy-nine (21.4 percent), reported self-injecting antibiotics and vitamins for medicinal reasons while only 2.6 percent self-injected recreational drugs. The likelihood of contracting AIDS escalates as the number of risk factors increase. Self-injection of therapeutic agents is a great risk when considered in concert with the other risk factors present in the migrant farmworker population. Exposure to additional factors such as sexual promiscuity, frequenting prostitutes, homosexual behavior and having vaginal or anal intercourse without a condom creates a potentially dangerous situation. Hence, each of the individual AIDS risk factors may be multiplied and broadcast through the needle risk. AIDS health education needs to deal with this cultural pattern of self-injection in its intervention programs.

Developing Culturally Sensitive Materials for AIDS Education Specifically Targeted to Migrant Farmworkers

Abstract Migrant farmworkers are an isolated and hard to reach population who are at considerable risk for contracting AIDS. Latins comprise the largest segment of the migrant farmworker population and account for eight percent of the total population in the United States. While Hispanics comprise a relatively small percentage of the total population, they account for 15 percent of the male cases of AIDS and 20 percent of the female cases of AIDS in this country. These people are sequestered from mainstream America by distance, economic status, language, and cultural factors. AIDS education efforts targeted to migrant workers and their families must pay special attention to cultural and special idiosyncrasies of Hispanic farmworkers because they are socially and culturally different from Hispanic people in urban areas of the United States. These programs also must take into account the fact that migrant farm work dictates an itinerate lifestyle for the workers and their families. Educational programs in s...