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Biomedical subjects

I G Sarason

Publications and source records attributed to I G Sarason.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Children's perceptions of smokers and nonsmokers: a longitudinal study.

In a longitudinal study we investigated 5th- and 7th-grade children's perceptions of smokers and nonsmokers, changes in perceptions from 5th to 7th grades, and the degree to which these perceptions predict smoking in 9th grade. The participants were 1,663 students from 14 school districts in Washington state. The results showed large developmental shifts from 5th to 7th grade in children's perceptions of both smokers and nonsmokers: Students at 7th grade saw smokers in a much more positive light and nonsmokers in a much more negative light than they did at 5th grade. Children's positive perceptions at 5th grade of smokers predicted smoking 4 years later at 9th grade and were stronger predictors than positive perceptions at 7th grade. The results suggest that smoking prevention interventions must begin before 5th grade to counter perceptions predictive of subsequent smoking.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Increasing participation of blood donors in a bone-marrow registry.

In an experiment to increase recruitment of unrelated bone-marrow donors, Ss were selected from a list of people who had donated blood within the past 24 months. They were randomly assigned to 3 groups. Members of the experimental group, 2 months before receiving a mailed brochure about a bone-marrow registry, were complimented on being blood donors and asked to complete a self-descriptive questionnaire. One control group received only the mailed brochure, and the other did not receive any mailing. The experimental group joined the registry at over 2 times the control-group rates. These results appear to be attributable to an attitude change associated with being recognized as a special group that contributed to the community's welfare.

Blood Donors↗
PubMed1992

General and specific support expectations and stress as predictors of perceived supportiveness: an experimental study.

Fifty-four undergraduates and their mothers participated in an experiment to evaluate hypotheses derived from a theory of perceived social support (Pierce, Sarason, & Sarason, 1990). Regression analyses indicated that the variables in the model accounted for 14.83% and 40.93%, respectively, of the variance in students' perceptions of their mothers' behavior assessed during 2 standardized laboratory situations. Unique effects were found for students' expectations for support from and conflict with their mothers in both pre- and posttask situations, although the effect of conflict was contrary to prediction in the pretask situation. Stress had an impact only in the posttask situation. Students' general expectations for support had no unique impact in either situation. Implications for the role of general and specific expectations for support and conflict, and situational factors, in theories of perceived social support are discussed.

Attitude↗
PubMed1992

Adolescents' reasons for smoking.

Part of the Hutchinson Smoking Prevention Project, this study provides information on reasons reported by adolescents for their smoking behavior. A total of 1,615 10th grade students in 20 rural and suburban school districts in Washington state were asked why they currently smoke and why they first smoked. For beginning smoking, curiosity, social norms, and social pressure were the most frequently given reasons for smoking. For current smoking, pleasure and addiction were mentioned most often. A number of gender differences occurred with 10th grade students beginning and current smoking. More females than males reported social norms and social pressure as reasons for beginning to smoke, whereas for currently smoking, pleasure was given as a reason more frequently by females than males. When developing interventions, smoking prevention programs need to consider students' current and past smoking behavior, and the reasons they give for smoking.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

General and relationship-based perceptions of social support: are two constructs better than one?

Two hypotheses derived from a theory of perceived social support were investigated: (a) relationship-based perceptions of social support are distinct from general perceptions of support, and (b) measures of each construct contribute uniquely to the prediction of loneliness. Ninety-four male and 116 female undergraduates completed measures of loneliness and general perceived social support and the Quality of Relationships Inventory, a new instrument to assess relationship-based perceptions of social support, conflict, and depth in specific relationships. General and relationship-based perceptions of social support were found to be related, but empirically distinct, constructs. Relationship-based perceptions of support and conflict from mothers and friends each added to the prediction of loneliness after considering the contribution of general perceived social support. Implications of these findings for understanding the perceived social support construct are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Stress, anxiety, and cognitive interference: reactions to tests.

The nature of test anxiety and its relationships to performance and cognitive interference are analyzed from the standpoint of attentional processes. A new instrument to assess dimensions of reactions to tests is presented, and its psychometric properties are described. The scales of the Reactions to Tests questionnaire (Worry, Tension, Test-Irrelevant Thinking, Bodily Symptoms) were compared with regard to intellective performance and cognitive interference. The results were consistent with the idea that the problem of anxiety is, to a significant extent, a problem of intrusive thoughts that interfere with task-focused thinking. In the last of the three studies reported, it was shown that self- preoccupying intrusive thinking can be reduced by means of a task-focusing experimental condition. The studies suggest that the Reactions to Tests questionnaire may be useful in defining anxiety more sharply and improving understanding of how it relates to performance.

Attention↗
PubMed1982

Concomitants of social support: attitudes, personality characteristics, and life experiences.

Determining the extent of social support and its consequences and personality correlates has been of increasing interest to researchers. The two studies reported here deal with the possibility that people low in social support are characterized by rigid, authoritarian personality characteristics and a lack of confidence in the support that informal social networks can provide. Groups differing in social support were compared on scales measuring attitudes toward mental illness and personal feelings of anomy. Subjects high in social support had more benign attitudes concerning the mentally ill and felt less anomy than did subjects low in social support. They also perceived their own early relationships with parents as being more positive. The findings are in agreement with several hypotheses about individual differences related to social support differences, and suggest that studies geared toward understanding the causal relations involved would be both theoretically and practically valuable.

Attitude↗
PubMed1979

Helping police officers to cope with stress: a cognitive--behavioral approach.

Police Academy trainees participated in a stress management program which focused on developing skills for coping with anxiety and anger. Stress management training took place in six 2-hour sessions and included instruction and practice in the self-monitoring of reactions to stressful situations, muscular relaxation, and the development of adaptive self-statements. Self-report measures of anxiety and anger were obtained before and after the stress management program. In addition, self and observer ratings of trainees' performance in stressful simulated police activities were utilized as posttreatment dependent measures. In comparison to a control group of trainees, the performance of the treatment group was rated, by academy personnel, as superior in several of the simulated police activities. The results of the present study suggest that stress management with law enforcement officers may be most effective when the program focuses on the specific situations which are likely to be encountered by trainees. Limitations of the present program are examined and suggestions for future efforts with law enforcement personnel are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1979

Life changes and menstrual discomfort.

The present study addressed the relationship between the accumulation of life changes and problems with menstruation. Female college students completed a Life Experiences Survey, which assesses desirable and undesirable life changes, and a menstruation questionnaire, which contains items relevant to menstrual discomfort and irregularity. Correlational analyses showed that undersirable life changes were correlated with reports of number of symptoms of menstrual discomfort, but not irregularity. Separate analyses among oral contraceptive users and nonusers showed that the relationship between life changes and menstrual discomfort occurred only among nonusers. A regression of contraceptive use, desirable life changes, and undersirable life changes on factors derived from the menstruation questionnaire indicated that undesirable life changes was the strongest predictor of menstrual problems.

Contraceptives, Oral↗
PubMed1979

Arousal seeking as a moderator of life stress.

This study investigated the relationship between life stress and measures of anxiety, depression, and hostility as a function of subjects' arousal-seeking status. Results indicated significant relationships between negative life change and measures of both anxiety and hostility. These relationships, however, held only for subjects who were low on the arousal-seeking dimension. The results suggest that arousal-seeking status may serve as a moderator variable in determining the relationship between life stress and other variables.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1975

Personality research: components of variance attributable to the person and the situation.

Studies involving personality and situational variables were surveyed. Studies permitting determination of main effects and interactions involving these variables have increased since 1950. In one comparison, situational main effects were significant in 65.5% of the cases, whereas the figure was 31% for individual difference variables and 59.9% for interactions. In another comparison, 35% of situational main effects accounted for more than 10% of the variance, compared with 29% for personality indexes; 19% of the situational variable effects accounted for more than 20% of the variance, compared with 14% of the personality main effects. Low percentages of variance were accounted for by all variables investigated: situational, personality, demographic, and interactions among these variables.

Academic Dissertations as Topic↗