Search

Background and Objectives: In 2016, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) became legal in Canada for those suffering a grievous and untreatable medical condition. Currently, it is not available to minors or to those with an untreatable mental illness, although it is likely the scope of MAiD will be widened to include persons with severe and untreatable mental illnesses. However, little is known about the factors predicting acceptance or rejection of MAiD for persons with either a grievous medical condition or an untreatable mental illness. Methods: A survey was administered to 438 undergraduate students to examine factors associated with their acceptance or rejection of MAiD. The survey included four different scenarios: a young or old person with an untreatable medical condition, and a young or old person with an untreatable mental illness. Demographic questions (age, sex, religion, etc), personality measures, and an attitude towards euthanasia scale were also administered, as well as questions assessing participants’ general understanding of MAiD and their life experiences with death and suicide. Results/Conclusion: Overall, most of the Canadian undergraduate participants accepted MAiD for both terminally ill and mentally ill patients; however, different variables, such as age, religion, and ethnicity, predicted the acceptance or rejection of MAiD for each scenario.

Foreslår et paradigme - "Living in history" - til undersøgelse af forholdet mellem samtidshistorie og selvbiografisk hukommelse. Metoden spørger ikke direkte og altså ikke til den anknytning, man bevidst ville vælge at fremhæve, men undersøger indirekte, om der spontant associeres til samtidsbegivenheden fra andre erindringer. Vi undersøgte 10 grupper unge i forskellige lande med paradigmet. Resultaterne tyder på, at begivenheder som krig og jordskælv bliver organiserende for den selvbiografiske hukommelse - dvs mange andre erindringer associerer spontant dertil - men stærk symbol-værdi og emotionel ladning er ikke nok til at danne effekten; fx sås ingen effekt af World Trade Center-angrebet med denne metode, end ikke blandt unge fra Manhattan eller andetsteds i USA. Derimod sås klar effekt hos unge fra Balkan - især Bosnien-Herzegovina - og i et jordskælvramt område i Tyrkiet. Vi foreslår på den baggrund "Fabric of daily life"-teorien: Når (og kun når) samtidsbegivenheder giver direkte og længerevarende omvæltninger i hverdagen, får de organiserende effekt på den mentale selvbiografi. Udgivelsesdato: APR

OBJECTIVE: Process model of stress and coping guided psychometric assessment of two brief measures of psychological well-being: Parenting Morale Index (PMI); Family Impact of Childhood Disability (FICD) scale. METHODS: Canadian mothers (N = 195) of children with disability (CWD) completed PMI, FICD, and validation measures (Brief Family Assessment Measure [FAM], Personal Well-Being Index, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Social Desirability Scale) via computer-assisted telephone interview. Of these, 154 completed additional validation measures (Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale, Parenting Stress Index, Family Hardiness Index, Brief FAM) 1 year later. RESULTS: Factor structures of PMI and FICD were supported; both demonstrated internal consistency, temporal stability, and convergent and discriminant validity. After 1 year, PMI and FICD jointly predicted depressive symptoms, parenting stress, family hardiness, and family adjustment. CONCLUSION: PMI and FICD can identify mothers of CWD at risk for poor psychological well-being to increase the specificity of supports. Language: en

The present study examined psychometric properties of the Anger Expression Scale (AX) and the State-Trait Anger Scale (STAS) in an inmate sample. Principal component analysis of the Anger Expression Scale yielded three factors: anger-in, anger-out, and anger-control. The internal consistency reliabilities of the factor scales were .72, .80, and .87, respectively. Three factors were indicated for the State-Trait Anger Scale: experience of anger/hostility (state items), arousal of anger (seven trait items), situational anger when devalued (three trait items), with internal consistency alphas of .94, .79, .71, respectively. Although there was a factor distinction between state- and trait-anger, test-retest coefficients were stronger for the state than for the trait subscale, thereby questioning a temporal state/trait distinction. Overall, the results support the use of the Anger Expression Scale for inmates, but the State-Trait Anger Scale should be used with caution.

Computer sampling from a multivariate normal spherical population was used to evaluate the type one error rates for a test of sphericity based on the distribution of the determinant of the sample correlation matrix. The range of variates considered was 5 to 25, and the range of observations considered was 10 to 1,000. The type one error rates were estimated in each condition with 5,000 replications. The c.d.f. obtained from the asymptotic χ2 resulted in excessive type one errors in the conditions where the ratio of the sample size to the number of variates was small. The c.d.f. with finite sample corrections involving terms up to ο( N−3) performed much better in small samples but resulted in a biased test when the sample size was less than twice the number of variates.

Several measurement problems were identified in the literature concerning the fidelity with which the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) assesses psychopathology. A straightforward solution to some of these problems is to develop an orthogonal basis in the MMPI; however, there are 550 items, and this is a cumbersome task even for modern computers. The method of alternating least squares was employed to yield a singular value decomposition of these measures on 682 prison inmates. Unsystematic or sample-specific error variance was minimized through a two-stage least squares split thirds replication design. The relative explanatory power of models of psychopathology based on external, internal, naive, and construct-oriented measurement strategies is discussed.

Computer sampling from a multivariate normal spherical population was used to evaluate Type I error rates for a test of P = I based on Fisher’s tanh−1 variance stabilizing transformation of the correlation coefficient. The range of variates considered was 5 to 25 and Type I error rates were estimated for several sample sizes with 2,500 independent replications. Except for small samples the test was well behaved. After the test converges to an acceptable Type I error rate it is preferable to Box’s test of P = I.