Stanley Rabinowitz

USEFULNESS OF THE PROTECTION MOTIVATION THEORY IN EXPLAINING HEARING PROTECTION DEVICE USE AMONG MALE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS

The present study examined the usefulness of personal variables: noise annoyance, and components of the protection motivation theory (R. W. Rogers, 1983) along with social-organizational factors in explaining hearing protection device (HPD) use among Israeli manufacturing workers. Participants were 281 men exposed to harmful noise levels for which routine HPD use is required by regulation. In practice, 3 HPD user groups were identified: nonusers (n = 38), occasional users (n = 125), and regular users (n = 118). HPD use was objectively verified. HPD use was primarily related to the personal variables but not to management pressure, coworker pressure, or family support. The most powerful predictors of HPD use were perceived self-efficacy (for long-term HPD use), perceived susceptibility (to hearing loss), and noise annoyance, together explaining 48% of the outcome variance. These findings have implications for interventions aimed at motivating workers to use HPDs regularly.

Personal Determinants of Leisure-Time Exercise Activities

This study investigated the importance of personal determinants such as self-efficacy, beliefs about the contribution of exercise, health locus of control, and dispositional optimism for leisure-time exercise in a working population. The main predictors of such exercise were beliefs and self-efficacy with the generalization of the latter to eat correctly. Beliefs and efficacy expectations were highly correlated. Neither health locus of control nor dispositional optimism was related to leisure-time exercise; however, optimism was related to the positive belief that exercise contributes to health. Ramifications of the findings were carefully described.

Hostility and hearing protection behavior: The mediating role of personal beliefs and low frustration tolerance.

: The authors examined whether hostility would negatively be associated with occupational health behavior, namely, the use of hearing protection devices (HPDs). Also examined as possible mediators were the protection motivation theory (PMT) components and low frustration tolerance (LFT). Participants were 226 male industrial workers, all exposed to potentially hearing-damaging noise. Hostility was negatively related to HPD use. It moderately correlated with the PMT components: negatively with perceived susceptibility, severity, effectiveness, and self-efficacy and positively with perceived barriers. Hostility correlated highly with LFT. Regression analyses confirmed the mediating role of perceived barriers, low self-efficacy, and LFT in the negative relationship between hostility and the use of HPDs. Thus, intrapsychic characteristics of hostile people may be significant for hearing protection behavior.

Sensitizing occupational and environmental health professionals to interpersonal relationships and communication

Occupational health specialists were sensitized to communication skills and interpersonal relationships through a didactic and experiential course emphasizing the specialist-client interaction as well as communication aspects incumbent in interactions with team members, colleagues and nonprofessionals in the work setting. While there were no significant changes in psychological abilities and awareness, small differences were found in social support before and after the course. Course assessment after the course revealed general satisfaction with the course relating to teaching style, group involvement and course organization. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Malingering in the clinical setting: practical suggestions for intervention.

The complex nature of malingering observed in the military is examined, and a practical approach to the handling of such behaviour in the clinical setting is outlined. The complementary tasks of the mental health professional, the primary care physician, and other community agents are discussed.

True Conversive Hallucinations

A case of true conversive hallucinations in a 19-year-old female soldier is described. This phenomenon is rare and should be distinguished from psychotic or dissociative states.

DEBATE REAWAKENED: PREMORBID FACTORS FOR SOLDIERS WITH REFRACTORY POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER '

Soldiers with severe Posttraumatic Stress Disorder who did not respond favourably to the front echelon treatment units, were treated in a rear echelon treatment centre, named Combat Fitness Retraining Unit, an alternative to psychiatric hospitalization. The soldiers were given individual clinical interviews; their combat potential scores were measured to tap premorbid factors which may have contributed to the development of symptoms. Analysis indicated that (1) in the clinical interview subjects showed clear interpersonal, school, family, and army adjustment problems prior to the trauma, (2) soldiers with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder treated in the rear unit tended to come from the lower end of the military combat potential level. Ramifications of these findings were carefully elucidated.