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Objective: In this empirical study, the authors examined (1) actual use of counseling for emotional problems and (2) the assumptions that ethnicity, sex, social class, and psychological distress are associated with disparities in use of counseling. Participants: Participants were 1,773 diverse undergraduate students at an urban university. Methods: The authors collected data via self-administered questionnaires between 1999 and 2005; they used a cross-sectional correlational research design, including analysis of variance statistical procedures. Results: Students' level of counseling use (10%) was similar to that estimated for a national college sample. Students reporting higher levels of distress were more likely to use counseling; however, more than three-fourths of students who reported clinically significant levels of distress had not received counseling. Conclusions: The authors observed no disparities in use of mental health services in terms of sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. (Contains 3 tables.)

This empirical study investigated three mechanisms of protection (preventive, compensatory, buffering) for two factors (emotional social support, sense of personal control) in the relationship between exposure to community violence and psychological distress among 947 diverse, older adolescents. Findings indicate that social support and sense of personal control do provide protection; however, the primary mechanism is compensatory (for support r = -0.35; for control, r = -0.48). Support but not control serves a preventive function (r = -0.11). Neither variable protects via buffering--the mechanisms most commonly discussed in the literature. Protection is not a simple straightforward process.

A comparative cross-national study investigating the level of experience with community interpersonal violence, level of psychological distress, and the relationship between exposure and distress among adolescents is presented. Participants were 617 first-year college students comprising African Americans and Jamaican Americans living in New York City, and Jamaicans living in Kingston, Jamaica. The three groups are similar in terms of age, gender, educational level, and race; they differ in location of residence, culture, and immigration status. Location of residence is related to exposure; immigration status is related to distress; but culture is not related to vulnerability when exposed. The effect size of the relationship between exposure and distress appears to be robust across variations in culture, amount of exposure, and level of distress. (Contains 1 table.)

Study examined relationships among exposure to community violence during high school, psychological distress during first semester of college, and academic performance during first three semesters of college. Exposure to community violence and academic performance; and psychological distress and grade point average were not related. Exposure to community violence and psychological distress; and psychological distress and college persistence were related. (Contains 33 references.) (ADT)

A survey of 162 students in several sections of a master of social work basic research methodology and statistics course, taught by different teachers, found that student performance did not differ across instructors, undergraduate grade point average was positively correlated with performance, and an undergraduate social service major was negatively correlated with performance. (Author/MSE)

This empirical study investigated the multivariable relationship between psychological distress and the combination of a set of four trauma events (victim of violence, witness of violence, victim of accidents, and interpersonal loss) and a set of four protective factors (emotional social support, sense of personal efficacy, easygoing temperament, and gender) among a sample of 1,066 graduating high school seniors in a large urban community. Each of the eight independent variables had a statistically significant zero-order correlation with psychological distress. The set of eight variables (four trauma and four protective) had a multiple correlation of R = .61 with psychological distress accounting for 38% of the variance (considered a very large effect size by Cohen (1988)). The protective factors had a larger effect on psychological distress than did the trauma variables. The study demonstrates the desirability of using a multi- determinant approach rather than a single-determinant approach in the study of psychological distress., Psychological distress (symptoms of anger, anxiety and depression) is surprisingly common among adolescents. For example, approximately one-quarter of adolescents experience a major depressive disorder (Lewinsohn, Rohde, & Seeley, 1998) and [...]

This empirical study investigated three mechanisms of protection (preventive, compensatory, buffering) for two factors (emotional social support, sense of personal control) in the relationship between exposure to community violence and psychological distress among 947 diverse, older adolescents. Findings indicate that social support and sense of personal control do provide protection; however, the primary mechanism is compensatory (for support r = -.35; for control, r = -.48). Support but not control serves a preventive function (r = -.11). Neither variable protects via buffering--the mechanisms most commonly discussed in the literature. Protection is not a simple straightforward process., Exposure to community violence among adolescents is a major public health problem (Centers for Disease Control, 2000; Kilpatrick, Saunders, & Smith, 2003; U.S. Surgeon General, 2001). Exposure to interpersonal community [...]

A comparative cross-national study investigating the level of experience with community interpersonal violence, level of psychological distress, and the relationship between exposure and distress among adolescents is presented. Participants were 617 first-year college students comprising African Americans and Jamaican Americans living in New York City, and Jamaicans living in Kingston, Jamaica. The three groups are similar in terms of age, gender, educational level, and race; they differ in location of residence, culture, and immigration status. Location of residence is related to exposure; immigration status is related to distress; but culture is not related to vulnerability when exposed. The effect size of the relationship between exposure and distress appears to be robust across variations in culture, amount of exposure, and level of distress., This paper brings a cross-national perspective to the previously observed relationship between exposure to interpersonal violence in the community during adolescence and later manifestation of psychological distress. Exposure to community [...]

Four different studies using a total sample of 711 from the same New York City student population tested a model that has emerged from previous research on disasters. The model suggests that postdisaster psychological distress is a function of exposure to the disaster, predisaster psychological distress, acute distress following the disaster, time elapsed between disaster and observation of distress, and additional traumatic experiences since the disaster. Although findings replicate those of previous cross-sectional studies regarding association of exposure and distress after the disaster, before and after studies did not detect an effect on postdisaster psychological distress of the World Trade Center attack. Great caution must be used in attributing de rated psychological distress observed postdisaster to the effects of the disaster.

Ecological theory suggests that exposure to community violence should he related to individual, family, and community characteristics; traumatic stress theory suggests that exposure to community violence should be related to level of psychological distress. A correlational study of 468 older adolescents in New York City tested these hypotheses. Exposure was found to be moderately related to level of psychological distress, but was not related to family or neighborhood characteristics. It was concluded that the nature of exposure to community violence poses difficulties for interventions aimed at either prevention or amelioration of effects., Community violence in the United States is a serious public health problem (Centers for Disease Control, 1993; Cooley, Turner, & Beidel, 1995; Earls, 1992; Fingerhut, Ingrain, & Feldman, 1992a, 1992b; [...]

This study examined longitudinal relationships among exposure to chronic community violence during high school, psychological distress during the first semester of college, and academic performance during the first three semesters of college. The sample comprised 385 students of color in a large city. Exposure to community violence and psychological distress were measured with additive scales; academic performance (school persistence, grade point average) was obtained from transcripts. It was found that exposure to community violence and academic performance were not related; exposure to community violence and psychological distress were related; psychological distress and college persistence were related; and psychological distress and grade point average were not related. The findings are consistent with the causal chain model; specifically, that the effects of exposure to community violence in high school on academic performance in college are mediated by psychological distress., This paper is concerned with the longitudinal relationships among exposure to chronic community violence during the high school years, the level of psychological distress manifested during the first semester of [...]

This article is concerned with the 'size of the relationship' between exposure to chronic community violence and psychological symptoms among adolescents. It analyzes all relevant empirical studies in the published literature during the last 20 years; uses quantitative methods to summarize findings; and estimates the effect size using meta-analysis. The 37 independent samples (n = 17,322) were coded on 19 categories, including size and characteristics of sample, and characteristics of the independent and dependent variables. Findings indicate that there is a positive correlation between exposure to community violence and psychological distress; and that the effect size (r = .25) of this relationship is low-medium. The estimated effect size of the relationship points to new issues such as the characteristics of the psychosocial dynamics of resilience in the face of exposure to community violence and how exposure to community violence interacts with other potentially traumatic experiences in the producing of psychological distress.

This paper describes the relations of psychological distress with 11 ecological factors (5 community, 4 family, and 2 individual) among 423 older urban adolescents who are predominantly people of color. Data were obtained by means of self-report via group-administered questionnaires given between 1994 and 1996; most scales are multi-item. There is wide variation in distress. There are very few statistically significant relationships between the ecological factors and distress, and those are negligible. Girls whose parents have less education and live in extended families have higher distress; family and individual domains are correlated .04 and .03 with distress and the community domain .00, so this ecological model accounts for a mere 7% of the common total variance in distress.

This paper presents data testing the hypothesis that the relationship between exposure to recurring community violence during high school years and later experiencing of psychological distress symptoms is a quadratic curvilinear one. Data were collected between 1994-1996 by self-administered questionnaires using multi-item scales; the sample (N=452) comprises older urban adolescents. Although exposure to community violence was positively and linearly related to psychological distress, no statistically significant quadratic curvilinear relationship was found between community violence and psychological distress.

Data regarding belief in freedom of speech and press collected in early 1970 in face-to-face interviews with 2486 respondents in a national probability sample of adults test several hypotheses derived from previous empirical research. The general findings were: (a) a minority of adults in the U.S. fully accept the principle of free speech and press; (b) belief in free speech and press is related to a variety of demographic variables; (c) people who label themselves as liberal, who are high consumers of written mass media, and who are more active in the political process are more likely to endorse freedom of speech and press; and (d) patterns of relationship between belief in freedom of speech and press and other social psychological and demographic variables are rather stable over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pornography has not always been a social issue. Indeed societal concern about it has waxed and waned several times in the past 200 years, and this concern seems to have been a function of accessibility, religious influences, and social manners. The emergence of pornography as a current social issue is associated with a series of Supreme Court cases beginning in the late 1950s, posing the question as to whether or not legal prohibition of obscenity violates the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The ensuing discussion was based primarily on fear and speculation because there were few empirical facts to inform the discussion. In 1967 Congress declared that obscenity and pornography were matters of national concern, raised questions about the effects of. these materials, called for a thorough study, and authorized the use of funds for the collection of relevant scientific data. Thus the beginning of extensive ‘scientific’ analysis of the social issue of pornography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data are presented from a questionnaire mailed to a random sample of District Attorneys stratified by state and by population of county, achieving a 69% response. Prosecuting attorneys, as a group, vary greatly among themselves in their perceptions of the degree to which obscenity and pornography constitute a problem in their communities. Concern about pornography is very highly correlated with size of community and with changes in the availability of pornography: concern is found in large urban situations and when the availability of pornography seems to be increasing (but not when it is stable). Behavioral indices of concern, such as effort expended in law enforcement and numbers of prosecutions, do not indicate as serious concern as do verbal indices. Those aspects of the distribution of pornography that are verbally reported to be the source of concern are not the aspects of distribution that are prosecuted. The citizenry in general is perceived as somewhat apathetic about pornography. A post hoc analysis attempts to make conceptual sense of these empirical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an introductory statement to the September 1973 issue of "Journal of Social Issues."

The data reported in this paper come from a national probability sample survey designed to provide an empirical description of the national experience with explicit sexual materials, the public's attitudes toward these types of material, and social-psychological correlates of both experience and attitudes. An overwhelming majority of adults report having been exposed at some time in their life to very explicit sexual materials that are often labeled pornography. Nevertheless, considerable variation in experience does exist. Differential exposure is related to the content of depictions, mode of depiction, and characteristics of the viewer. The data do not support a concept of a "contemporary community standard" relating to the representation of sexual matters: There does not exist anything approaching consensus in attitudes regarding the availability of sexual materials; attitudes toward availability vary greatly according to the circumstances of availability; and attitudes vary considerably among groups formed on the basis of demographic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study concerning another scale of religious values, designed for use with individuals affiliated with a religious institution, and compares it with the Religious Conventionalism Scale. The study used samples rather homogeneous with respect to religion and a specific measure of prejudice. Study findings revealed that the Religious Conventionalism Scale concentrates upon the content of religious beliefs whereas the Extrinsic Religious Values Scale attempts to measure more directly the motivations for affiliating with a religious institution.