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Biomedical subjects

N E Mahon

Publications and source records attributed to N E Mahon.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Future time perspective and positive health practices in adolescents.

Samples of 84 middle and 106 late adolescents responded to the Future Time Perspective Inventory and the Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire. Statistically significant positive but weak correlations (.20-.26) were found between length of future time perspective and the practice of positive health behaviors in both samples. Subscale analyses of individual health practices in relation to future time perspective yielded some statistically significant positive but weak correlations for both samples.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

A study of sleep during adolescence.

The purpose of this comparative study was to examine differences in sleep disturbance, sleep effectiveness, and sleep supplementation, as measured by the Verran/Snyder-Halpern (VSH) Sleep Scale, according to phase of adolescence as determined by chronological age and gender. Data were collected from 116 early, 116 middle, and 116 late adolescent boys and girls in classroom settings. Two-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to analyze the data. Three statistically significant findings emerged in the analyses. First, middle adolescents had the highest level of sleep disturbance among the three groups, which was statistically significantly higher than that found in late adolescents. Second, adolescent girls reported less sleep effectiveness than adolescent boys. Third, when the amount of sleep per day was analyzed, findings indicated that adolescent boys slept more than adolescent girls. The discussion of the findings includes implications for nursing research and practice.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Health consequences of loneliness in adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to test a causal model developed from a theoretical formulation of the health consequences of loneliness in adolescents. The sample consisted of 325 adolescents, ages 12 to 21. Data were obtained in classroom settings on the variables of age, gender, and loneliness on one testing date; and on the variables of introspectiveness, symptom patterns, and perceived health status on another testing date 1 week later. The causal model was tested via the LISREL 7 program. By all indicators used in this study, there was a very good fit of the overidentified model with the data, the causal relationships predicted in the model were correctly specified, and modification of the model was not indicated. The results indicated that loneliness contributed to introspectiveness, that both loneliness and introspectiveness contributed to the reporting of symptom patterns, and that all of the aforementioned variables contributed directly and/or indirectly to a less positive perception of health status among adolescents. A vast majority of the direct and indirect effects of age and gender predicted on other variables in the model were supported.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

An empirical test of Rogers' original and revised theory of correlates in adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to examine Rogers' original and revised theory of correlates in adolescents. The correlates were measured by Perceived Field Motion, Human Field Rhythms, Creativity, Sentience, Fast Tempo, and Waking Periods. The original theory was tested with data obtained from samples of early (n = 116), middle (n = 116), and late (n = 116) adolescents. The revised theory was tested in a fourth selectively combined sample of adolescents, aged 12 to 21 (n = 89). Data were collected in classroom settings. Although the findings did not support either theory, they did indicate that: (1) four of the six correlates studied performed as correlates when examined in three discrete phases of adolescence, as determined by chronological age, (2) the means of the individual correlates increased slightly in frequency levels developmentally, and (3) the correlates emerged at different frequency levels when examined in adolescents, aged 12 to 21.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

The dimensionality of the UCLA Loneliness Scale in early adolescents.

The dimensionality of the UCLA Loneliness Scale was assessed in 326 adolescents aged 12 to 14. Based on theoretical grounds, a one-factor solution was examined. The results lend limited support to the assertion that the instrument measures a single dimension of loneliness. Factor solutions ranging from three to five were unacceptable according to the methodological criteria used in this study. A two-factor solution met the methodological criteria but the results were suggestive of a method artifact. This possibility was explored using a procedure that follows the logic of construct validation. The findings suggested that the instrument has two substantive dimensions. Continued support of the bidimensionality of the instrument would have implications for theory development regarding the phenomenon of loneliness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Testing the validity of categories in a theoretical perspective on chronic illness.

The purpose of this study was to analyze differences in future time perspective, loneliness and perceived maternal expressiveness between adolescents who were chronically ill with cystic fibrosis and adolescents who were reportedly healthy. The sample consisted of 30 adolescents with cystic fibrosis who were matched on selected variables with 30 healthy adolescents. They responded to the Heimberg Future Time Perspective Inventory, the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Perceived Maternal Expressiveness Scale. The three hypotheses were tested using the t-test. Since none of the hypotheses was supported, the validity of the categories was questioned. Theoretical and practical implications are addressed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Perceived stress and symptom patterns in early adolescents: the role of mediating variables.

The relationship between perceived stress and symptom patterns was investigated in 136 seventh and eighth grade boys and girls. Affective-oriented coping and social support, two variables hypothesized as mediators of this relationship, were examined also. Participants completed the Modified Adolescent Life Change Events Questionnaire, the Jalowiec Coping Scale, the PRQ-A Social Support System, and the Symptom Pattern Scale. As predicted, the positive relationship between perceived stress and symptom patterns decreased when controlling for affective-oriented coping, while it increased when controlling for social support. Implications for nursing practice and further theory development are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Alternate models of positive health practices in adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test two alternate causal models of positive health practices in adolescents, which built on a modification of the original theoretical formulation previously tested in adolescents by Yarcheski and Mahon (1989). The sample consisted of 202 adolescents, aged 15 to 21. In classroom settings they responded to instruments and a demographic data sheet measuring variables in both models (age, gender, self-esteem, social support, and positive health practices), and to additional variables in Model 1 (future time perspective) and Model 2 (perceived health status). Both causal models were tested by the LISREL 7 program. By all indicators used in the study, there was a very good fit of both models with their data, there were no specification errors in either model, and neither model required modification. Visual inspection of the indicators suggested that Model 1 had a slightly better fit than did Model 2 with their respective data. These results suggested that causal models explaining positive health practices should include endogenous variables that share a common orientation, such as those with a psychosocial focus versus those with a health-related focus.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An empirical test of alternate theories of anger in early adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Anger is an especially important phenomenon to understand in early adolescents. While many explanatory theories of state anger can be applied to early adolescents, few, if any, researchers have attempted to test these theories in this age group. OBJECTIVE: To test three theories explaining state anger vis-a-vis each other using hierarchical analysis of sets. METHOD: This was a theory-testing study with a complex correlational design. A total of 141 adolescents aged 12 to 14 years responded to the State Anger Scale and instruments measuring variables linked to stress theory (perceived stress and primary appraisal), differential emotion theory (depression and state anxiety), and trait theory (trait anger and hostility), that were randomly ordered across instrument packets. RESULTS: Using hierarchical analysis of sets, the results indicated that the sets of variables used to test all three theories explained a statistically significant proportion of variance in state anger when entered first in the analysis. Comparatively, the trait theory variables explained more variance in state anger when entered first (41%) in the analysis than did the emotion theory variables when entered first (31%) in the analysis or the stress theory variables when entered first (21%) in the analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The stress theory, the differential emotion theory, and the trait theory all provided theoretically sound and relevant explanations of state anger for early adolescents. However, the trait theory provided the most powerful explanation.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Validation of the PRQ85 social support measure for adolescents.

The purposes of this study were to factor analyze the 25-item Personal Resource Questionnaire (PRQ) 85-Part II, a social support measure, and to establish construct validity for the instrument among adolescents by testing two hypotheses derived from theoretical propositions by Weiss (1974) concerning the relational provisions of social support. The purposes were accomplished using a sample of 325 adolescents, aged 12 to 21. According to the criteria used in this study, a four-factor structure, resulting from a principal components analysis with an oblique rotation, best represented the multidimensionality of the PRQ85-Part II in adolescents. A second-order factor analysis indicated that the four first-order factors correlated to form one factor, which consisted of 17 items and was labeled Perceived Social Support. Evidence in support of construct validity for both the 17-item and 25-item PRQ85-Part II was provided by statistically significant correlations found between the two scales and the theoretically relevant variables of perceived health status and symptom patterns. The contributions of this study to the psychometric properties of the PRQ85-Part II can be used in future research concerning social support in adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Alternate explanations of loneliness in adolescents: a replication and extension study.

Alternate explanations of loneliness proposed by Weiss (1973)--the situational theory and the characterological theory--were tested in samples of early (N = 113), middle (N = 106), and late (N = 106) adolescents. In addition to completing the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, participants completed instruments linked to either the situational or characterological explanation of loneliness. Data were analyzed using hierarchical analysis of sets. For early adolescents, the results indicated that the characterological set of variables explained somewhat more variance in loneliness than did the situational set of variables. These findings did not replicate those of the original study (Mahon & Yarcheski, 1988). For middle and late adolescents, the results indicated that the situational set of variables explained more variance in loneliness than did the characterological set.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A causal model of positive health practices: the relationship between approach and replication.

This study supports the position that causal models developed a priori preclude replication with varied samples. Based on a critique of a study of positive health practices among adults (Muhlenkamp & Sayles, 1986), a causal model of positive health practices for adolescents was developed a priori from a theoretical formulation. Using data from a sample of 165 adolescents who responded to the Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Part 2 of the Personal Resource Questionnaire which measures a social support system, and a demographic data sheet, the intercorrelations among the study variables were analyzed using correlation coefficients. The causal model was then tested with the adolescent data using the LISREL VI program. The results showed a relatively good fit of the model to the data via a number of indicators. The model was then applied to data published from adults (Muhlenkamp & Sayles) using the LISREL VI program. The results indicated that there was a relatively poor fit of the model to the adult data, thus demonstrating the problem of replicating causal models with varied samples when the correct approach to causal modeling is used. The discussion focuses on theoretical and methodological reasons for the findings.

Adolescent↗