PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S K Wurtele

Publications and source records attributed to S K Wurtele.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Enhancing parent-child communication about sexual abuse: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if a commercially produced video, "What Do I Say Now?" (Committee for Children, 1996) leads to an increase in parent-child discussion about child sexual abuse (CSA). METHOD: Forty-five parents of children 2-6 years of age were randomly assigned to participate in either a CSA prevention workshop or a workshop on home safety (control). The post-test measure assessed parents' beliefs about the severity of CSA and their children's vulnerability to abuse (threat appraisal), along with their self-efficacy and response-efficacy beliefs (coping appraisal). The effects of the coping- and threat-appraisal components of Roger's (1983) protection motivation theory (PMT) on parents' intentions to talk to their children about the topic were also examined. During a followup telephone interview, parents were asked to report the amount of communication they had engaged in with their children about CSA since attending the workshop. RESULTS: Parents who had participated in the CSA workshop reported significantly greater intentions of talking to their children about CSA, compared to the control group. At followup, these parents also reported having had significantly more discussions about CSA with their children compared with control parents. The PMT coping-appraisal components were found to be associated with parent intentions to discuss the topic. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of an educational video for increasing parent-child communication about CSA. Support was also found for the coping-appraisal components of PMT. Suggestions for increasing parent involvement in CSA prevention efforts are offered.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Teaching personal safety skills to young children: an investigation of age and gender across five studies.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent to which preschool-aged boys and girls can benefit from instruction in personal safety. METHOD: Data compiled from five previous studies were employed. Four hundred and six preschoolers were pretested and participated in either the Behavioral Skills Training program (BST; Wurtele, 1986) or a control program. Children were posttested on skill and knowledge gains. RESULTS: Preschoolers who had participated in the BST program demonstrated greater knowledge and higher levels of personal safety skills compared with controls. Boys and girls reacted similarly to the program, as did children from younger and older age groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide support for the assertion that most preschool-aged children can benefit from participating in a developmentally appropriate personal safety program. Suggestions for expanding the efforts to prevent child sexual abuse are offered, so that children do not shoulder the full responsibility for prevention.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1996

Maximal effort during functional capacity evaluations: an examination of psychological factors.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patients with low back pain are often administered a Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) to determine levels of physical functioning at the conclusion of their rehabilitation program. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between psychological factors (ie, self-reported disability, anxiety, depression, self-efficacy) and maximal effort exerted during the FCE. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Sixty-four patients with low back pain were administered the the Oswestry Low Back Disability Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the FCE Self-Efficacy Scales before administration of the FCE. RESULTS: Compared with patients who gave maximal effort during the FCE, patients who did not exert maximal effort reported significantly more anxiety and self-reported disability, and reported lower expectations for both their FCE performance and for returning to work. There was also a trend for these patients to report more depressive symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION: Results provide evidence for the relationship between self-reported disability, depression, anxiety, self-efficacy, and patients' performance on the FCE. Suggestions for addressing the psychological factors in a comprehensive pain treatment program are provided.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1992

A comparison of teachers vs. parents as instructors of a personal safety program for preschoolers.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of parents and teachers as instructors of a personal safety program. Sixty-one low-income preschool children were pretested and participated in either a homebased program, a school-based program, or a control program. Children were posttested on knowledge and skill gains. No significant differences were found between groups of children taught by teachers or parents, and children in both of these groups demonstrated greater knowledge about sexual abuse and higher levels of personal safety skills compared with controls. Knowledge and skill gains were maintained at the two-month follow-up. No program-related increases in negative behaviors were reported by teachers, nor were the treatment children perceived by their parents as more fearful subsequent to participation. These results suggest that parents are as effective as teachers at teaching skills in personal safety to preschool-age children, and that the programs can be implemented safely and effectively both at home and at school.

Child Abuse, Sexual↗
PubMed1992

Child care workers' knowledge about reporting suspected child sexual abuse.

As reports of the sexual abuse of preschool-aged children increase and the number of children in day care expands, it is important to recognize child care workers as potentially important resource persons for sexually abused preschoolers. Although they are potential resources for abused children, they may fail to report suspected abuse if they do not know their legal responsibilities and their rights and protections under the law. The purpose of this study was to determine child care workers' knowledge about their reporting rights and responsibilities. Relative to child sexual abuse experts, day care personnel knew significantly less about the procedures for reporting suspected abuse and their protection under the law. Suggestions for improving child care workers' knowledge about reporting suspected sexual abuse cases are provided.

Child↗
PubMed1990

Sexually abused and nonabused children's conceptions of personal body safety.

This study compared characteristics of abused and nonabused children's conceptions about personal body safety. A projective type vignette describing a personal body safety violation was read to 25 abused children entering a treatment program in eastern Washington and 25 nonabused children matched on sex, age, and grade in school. The children were asked questions about the vignette incident, and responses were compared between the abused and nonabused children. Significant differences were obtained between abused and nonabused children's conceptions of personal body safety with regard to their definitions of sexual abuse, descriptions of violators, and perceptions of consequences for the violator. Few significant differences were observed regarding conceptions of the victim, and no differences were observed on responses to two control vignettes depicting violations of traffic and school safety rules. Comparisons are made between both abused and nonabused children's understandings of the phenomenon. In addition, suggestions are offered for incorporating this information into sexual abuse prevention and treatment programs as well as future research.

Attitude↗
PubMed1990

Childhood sexual abuse among chronic pain patients.

Recent literature indicates a relationship between history of sexual abuse and subsequent psychological and social dysfunction. Less thoroughly examined are the possible abuse-related physical effects. This article examines the prevalence of sexual abuse among 135 chronic pain patients. History of abuse for all patients was determined during initial interview. Twenty-eight percent reported child sexual abuse, with history of victimization more significant for women (39%) than men (7%). The abused and nonabused groups of women differed on such variables as marital status, occupation, history of rape and substance abuse, and age of hospitalization. The relationship between sexual abuse and chronic somatic reactions was discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Comparison of programs for teaching personal safety skills to preschoolers.

We compared the relative effectiveness of two educational approaches for teaching personal safety skills with 100 preschoolers. A behavioral skills training program was compared with a feelings-based program, which instructs children to trust their feelings when making safety decisions. Children's abilities to discriminate between appropriate- and inappropriate-touch requests, their prevention skills, and levels of emotional distress were assessed before, immediately, and one month after program participation. Parents and teachers were surveyed regarding children's reactions. Compared with a control presentation, both programs were effective in enhancing children's knowledge and prevention skills without making them fearful, suggesting that preschool children can benefit from such programs. However, children in the feelings-based program had difficulty recognizing the appropriateness of certain touch requests, suggesting that this approach may have limited utility with preschool-age children.

Accident Prevention↗
PubMed1987

School-based sexual abuse prevention programs: a review.

In response to the alarmingly high incidence and negative consequences of child sexual abuse, an increasing number of school-based prevention programs have appeared in communities across the United States. In this paper, programs which have been implemented in grades K-6 are summarized according to mode and content of presentation, audience and trainer characteristics, and program length. While many creative and entertaining prevention programs are available for children, empirical validation of these programs has lagged behind their actual development and implementation. Several research questions need to be addressed before we can confidently assert that such programs are effective in preventing the sexual exploitation of children. Evaluation efforts must be expanded in order to improve existing materials, obtain funding, and ensure public and professional support for school-based sexual abuse prevention programs.

Child↗
PubMed1987

Relative contributions of protection motivation theory components in predicting exercise intentions and behavior.

A factorial design was employed to test the relative effectiveness of the four cognitive appraisal processes (severity, vulnerability, response efficacy, and self-efficacy) contained in the revised protection motivation theory (PMT). One hundred sixty undergraduate women read persuasive appeals for increasing exercise, which varied on these four dimensions. As predicted, both the vulnerability and self-efficacy variables enhanced intentions to exercise along with similar effects on self-reported exercising. Intentions were predictive of self-reported changes in behavior. The obtained interaction between vulnerability, self-efficacy, and response efficacy suggests that individuals employed a "precaution strategy": They intended to adopt the recommended behavior even though they held weak beliefs about its effectiveness and were not convinced of their at-risk status. These findings are compared to others obtained using the PMT, and the issue of main and interactive effects produced by the model is also addressed.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗
PubMed1987

An evaluation of side effects associated with participation in a child sexual abuse prevention program.

Parents of children who participated in a school-based sexual abuse prevention program were surveyed regarding their children's reactions to the program. In addition, children were asked to rate their fears of various people and situations both before and after participating in the program. No increases in fear ratings were observed, and parents reported no increased frequency of problematic behaviors. Fathers reported a significant decrease in total frequency of problem behaviors after the program. No parent reported the program had an overall negative effect on their child. Instead, the program stimulated discussion in the home regarding sexual abuse. This exchange of information was important, as results indicated more than one-half the parents had not discussed the topic with their child before the program. The results suggest sexual abuse prevention programs can be implemented effectively in schools without harming the children.

Child↗
PubMed1984

Treatment package to reduce SIB in a Lesch-Nyhan patient.

Self-destructive behaviour in LNS children results in a tremendous burden to parents, teachers, staff members, and other responsible for their care. As constant vigilance is not always feasible, developing alternate methods of managing SIB becomes imperative. This report presents our efforts to improve the care of an LNS child and to ease the burden on staff members and parents by obtaining special devices (e.g. the custom-made mouthguard and the gloves) to prevent him from injuring himself. Others (e.g. Letts & Hobson, 1975) have likewise reported success in fabricating custom-designed chairs and devices in an effort to manage SIB in LNS children. Their devices were, however, more elaborate and much more expensive than the ones used in this report. The cost of obtaining a mouthguard similar to the one used with K. is estimated at between $20-$30 (US), while the gloves cost only $14.00. The major advantages of using such devices are that they safely allow employment of the extinction procedure along with allowing the child to participate more fully in activities of daily living. It is recognized that K. was in some ways an atypical Lesch-Nyhan child in that he possessed low normal receptive intelligence and scored fairly high (relative to most LNS children) on a test of verbal intelligence. His cognitive and verbal abilities made him a unique case in that he responded favourably to therapeutic instructions regarding relaxation and self-control tactics. The therapists were able to rely on K.'s verbalizations and feelings about his biting in structuring the treatment approach.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Experiments to increase return in a medical screening drive: two futile attempts to apply theory to practice.

Two experiments are reported which attempted to apply techniques derived from an extensive set of psychological theories and research to enhance return compliance in a tuberculosis detection drive. Experiment 1 manipulated four methods of providing return reminders (postcard, telephone call, direct person-to-person or take-home card) in combination with two types of authority sources (expert vs nonexpert). Experiment 2 manipulated types of patient commitment (verbal, verbal plus written or no commitment) and importance-or-returning message (enhanced vs standard) in combination with two types of return reminders (take-home card vs no reminder card). These theoretically-derived procedures failed to significantly enhance return compliance. The experiments are examined for procedural failures and the findings are discussed in terms of the limited applicability of some theoretical notions in health settings and particular populations. It is asserted that through such failures useful knowledge is gained for understanding the complex phenomenon of compliance.

Adult↗