William P. Sacco

Attitudes about condom use as an AIDS-relevant behavior: Their factor structure and relation to condom use

Two studies investigated the domain of attitudes about condom use as an AIDS-relevant behavior and their relation to self-reported condom use, past and intended. In so doing, the Condom Attitude Scale (CAS) was developed. Subjects for both studies (n=248, n=528) were undergraduates, primarily heterosexual

Invalid use of the Beck Depression Inventory to identify depressed college-student subjects: A methodological comment

Failure to reassess depression level immediately prior to conducting depression experiments using college-student subjects threatens the validity of the interpretation of results. This rather serious methodological error may hamper progress in depression research if unattended to by researchers (and reviewers) in the area. A recent article by Craighead, Hickey, and DeMonbreun (1979) is used to illustrate this methodological problem, though a survey of other published papers in the area indicates that the Craighead et al. (1979) study is clearly not an isolated example. The article (Craighead et al., 1979) describes an experiment that attempted to test a hypothesis derived from Becks (1967) cognitive theory of depression, namely, that depressed subjects will distort their perception and recall of neutral task-performance feedback in a negative direction. The authors failed to find support for the hypothesis and proceeded to discuss the results as an apparent inconsistency with Becks theory and the previous findings of others. However, the procedure used by these researchers for selection of depressed subjects is erroneous and therefore precludes any valid conclusions regarding the theoretical or empirical implications of their results.

Depression in adults with type 2 diabetes: the role of adherence, body mass index, and self-efficacy.

Considerable evidence links depression with the development and worsening of diabetes, but the factors contributing to this link have not been established. The authors examined the role of adherence, body mass index (BMI), and self-efficacy. Adult patients with Type 2 diabetes (N = 56) completed self-report measures of diet and exercise adherence, diet and exercise self-efficacy, and depression. BMI was obtained from medical records. Path and mediation analyses indicated that both adherence and BMI independently contributed to self-efficacy. Self-efficacy mediated both the association between adherence and depression and the association between BMI and depression. These findings are consistent with the proposal that lower self-efficacy in reaction to adherence failure and higher BMI contributes to depression in adults with diabetes.

Adherence, body mass index, and depression in adults with type 2 diabetes: the mediational role of diabetes symptoms and self-efficacy.

OBJECTIVE Evidence indicates that depression is linked to the development and worsening of diabetes, but the mechanisms underlying this link are not well understood. The authors examined the hypothesis that diabetes-related symptoms mediate the effect of both behavioral adherence and body mass index (BMI) on depression. In addition, they examined whether a prior finding that self-efficacy mediates the effect of behavioral adherence and BMI on depression would replicate with a larger sample size (W. P. Sacco, K. J. Wells, C. A. Vaughan, A. Friedman, S. Perez, & R. Morales, 2005). Also, the relative contributions of diabetes-related symptoms and self-efficacy to depression were evaluated. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS Cross-sectional design involving adults diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (N = 99). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome measure was depression (Patient Health Questionnaire: Nine Symptom Depression Checklist). Predictors of depression were diet and exercise adherence (Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities Questionnaire), diet and exercise self-efficacy (Multidimensional Diabetes Questionnaire), diabetes symptoms (Diabetes Symptom Checklist), and BMI (based on height and weight data from medical records). RESULTS Path and mediation analyses indicated that adherence and BMI each contributed to depression indirectly, via their effects on self-efficacy and diabetes-related medical symptoms. CONCLUSION Results provide evidence consistent with two independent pathways by which BMI and adherence could increase depression in people with Type 2 diabetes. The first pathway indicates that the effects of higher BMI and poor adherence on depression are mediated by lower self-efficacy perceptions. The second pathway indicates that the effect of higher BMI on depression is mediated by increased diabetes symptoms.

Childhood depression, interpersonal problem‐solving, and self‐ratings of performance

This study investigated the application of interpersonal and cognitive theories of adult depression to childhood depression. The Childhood Depression Inventory was administered to elementary school children, aged nine to eleven. Those scoring in the upper and lower third of the sample were designated as depressed (n = 20) and nondepressed (n = 20). Within two days, a measure of interpersonal problem‐solving ability, three questionnaire items assessing self‐ratings of interpersonal problem‐solving performance, and the vocabulary subtest of the WISC‐R were administered to the depressed and nondepressed subjects. Consistent with interpersonal and cognitive theories, depressed children showed poorer primary means‐ends problem‐solving performance and lower self‐ratings on items assessing social‐comparison and self‐satisfaction with interpersonal problem‐solving performance. Depressed children also scored significantly lower on the vocabulary subtest. These findings are discussed in terms of their similarity to...

Diabetes and Depression: The Role of Social Support and Medical Symptoms

Depression in people with diabetes is linked to poor physical health. Social support and physical health have been linked to each other and to depression. The present study examined three possible models of the interrelationship among depression, social support, and diabetes-related medical symptoms. Eighty-six diabetes patients completed measures of diabetes symptoms, depression, and diabetes-related social support. Depression, social support, and diabetes-related medical symptoms were significantly related to each other. Mediation analysis indicated that the effect of social support on diabetes-related medical symptoms was fully accounted for by social support’s adverse effect on depression. Consistent with theory and research on interpersonal aspects of depression, a bi-directional relationship between depression and social support was suggested. That is, while both diabetes-related medical symptoms and social support independently contributed to depression, depression also contributed to lower social support. Findings underscore the potential importance of interpersonal factors in the physical health of individuals with diabetes.

Attributional, perceptual, and affective responses to depressed and nondepressed marital partners

Husbands of wives with (n = 22) or without (n = 23) a history of a depressive disorder indicated their attributions about and affective reactions to real and hypothetical positive and negative events occurring to their wives, rated their wives on personality traits categorized as depression-related and depression-neutral, and reported their own marital satisfaction. Husbands of depressed, relative to nondepressed, wives made more dispositional attributions, reported more negative affect in reaction to negative events, and indicated less marital satisfaction. Depressed wives were rated more negatively on both depression-related and depression-neutral personality traits. Results are interpreted as suggesting that spouses of depressed wives have a generalized negative view of their wives, which may also be operating within distressed marriages.

Depression and hemoglobin A1c in type 1 and type 2 diabetes: The role of self-efficacy

AIMS To examine a self-efficacy explanation of the finding that depression is related to hemoglobin A1c (A1c) level in people with type 1 but not type 2 diabetes. METHODS Cross-sectional design involving 124 participants with type 1 (n=32) and type 2 (n=92) diabetes. Participants completed measures of depression and diabetes-related self-efficacy. A1c was obtained from medical records. RESULTS Replicating prior findings, A1c was significantly correlated with depression in type 1 participants (r=.51, p<.01), but not in type 2 participants (r=.11, ns). As hypothesized, A1c was significantly correlated with self-efficacy among type 1 participants (r=-.42, p<.05) but not among type 2 participants (r=-.01, ns). Self-efficacy also mediated the effect of A1c on depression among the type 1 participants (Z=2.21, p<.05). CONCLUSION In people with type 1, but not type 2 diabetes, A1c levels are related to diabetes adherence mastery (self-efficacy), which mediates the link between A1c and depression. Results are discussed with regard to the proposal that perceptions of ineffective control over ones health play a role in the development of depression (a consequence model of depression in diabetes).

Racial/ethnic differences in Body Mass Index: The roles of beliefs about thinness and dietary restriction☆

The greater BMI of African American relative to Caucasian women is implicated in racial/ethnic disparities in health outcomes. The principal aim of the current study was to evaluate a theoretical account of racial/ethnic differences in BMI. Thin-ideal internalization, the perceived romantic appeal of thinness, dietary restriction, weight, and height were assessed via self-report measures on a sample of female undergraduates of African American (n=140) and Caucasian (n=676) race/ethnicity. Using structural equation modeling, support was obtained for the primary hypothesis that racial/ethnic differences in BMI are explained by Caucasian womens greater thin-ideal internalization and perceived romantic appeal of thinness, thereby resulting in greater levels of dietary restriction. Current findings illustrate the potential for racial/ethnic differences in sociocultural standards of appearance to influence racial/ethnic disparities in physical health, of which BMI is a marker, via effects on weight control behavior.

Increase in number of authors per article in ten APA journals: 1960–1980

In an attempt to empirically verify informal observations of an increase in the number of authors per article in psychological journals, the current study analyzed the average number of authors per article in 10 APA journals over the past 20 years. A significant increase in number of authors was demonstrated. These observations raise important questions regarding possible changes over time in the process of establishing authorship.