Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Keogh.
Apocalypse or inconvenience? Will you be ready when the clock strikes for the first time in the Year 2000? Surviving the flip of calendar with systems intact is the dream of many CIOs. One hospital shares its plan.
This study examined "naturally occurring differences" in personal adjustment (social competence, behavior problems, and problem-solving skills) among representative groups of pregnant and nonpregnant adolescents and pregnant adults. Differences in parenting stress and parenting style were also assessed among a subsample of adolescent and adult mothers. Finally, the relationship between prenatally assessed personal adjustment and parenting was evaluated in the adolescent mother group. The contributions of important demographic characteristics (socioeconomic status and race) to both between- and within-group relationships were examined. Results suggested that pregnant adolescents were less socially competent and less proficient in their problem solving than their nonpregnant peers and that they exhibited more behavioral problems than a pregnant adult comparison group. Adolescent mothers displayed higher levels of parenting stress and were less responsive and sensitive in interactions with their infants than adult mothers. Support for the hypothesized link between prenatally assessed personal adjustment and adolescent parenting stress was found, whereas no relationship between socioeconomic status and race and parenting stress was established. These results suggest that intervention with young mothers identified during pregnancy as having personal problems might forestall parenting problems that arise during early child rearing.
Verbal prompts, modeling, physical guidance, positive reinforcement, fading, and chaining procedures were used to teach two nonverbal individuals, one severely and one moderately mentally retarded, an interactive signing dialogue in a naturalistic snack time setting. Both were required to initiate signed communication and to respond to signed communication with either action or manual signing. Using a multiple probe design across three dialogue situations, each client was successively taught his role in each dialogue with a staff member serving as his partner. After both trainees had mastered a dialogue role, signing competency was formally probed as they interacted with their staff partner in a maintenance situation and with the other trainee in a generalization situation. Results showed that clients could learn to use signed communication in each dialogue situation but that extensive training was required. Data also indicated that only partial generalization to the client-client situation occurred.