Browsing by Author "Wilson, Melvin N."
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Item A multivariate analysis of the contribution of environmental and personality components to privacy satisfaction in a sample of mental hospital residents(1978) Rauter, Udo Klaus; Baxter, James C.; Osburn, Hobart G.; Rozelle, Richard M.; Wilson, Melvin N.This investigation examined the relationships among selected setting variables in a large psychiatric institution, a personality attribute regarding privacy needs and privacy satisfaction of psychiatric inpatients. It was hypothesized that a patient's privacy satisfactions would be significantly related to these sets of variables. In addition, possible relationships between social and demographic variables and privacy satisfaction were explored. One hundred and twenty recently admitted male and female psychiatric inpatients, residing in New Hampshire Hospital, Concord, New Hampshire, were interviewed over a period of three months. Patients resided in four residential buildings which, because of architectural differences, were assumed to show a variable influence on privacy attainment and consequently privacy satisfactions of residents. In order to control for possible differential patient management practices by ward staff, each of the admission wards in the target residential buildings of interest was evaluated prior to commencement of the main investigation. Instruments used were the Residential Management Survey and the Characteristics of the Treatment Environment. The selected wards included in the study were statistically comparable in terms of treatment orientation and patient management practices. A subject's privacy needs were assessed by the Privacy Needs Scale (PNS), a twenty-item instrument sampling situations and settings reflecting diverse privacy behaviors and privacy situations. This instrument represents a modified and abbreviated form of the PPS originally developed by Marshall (1970). Other measures assessed the degree of spatial movement (Home-range measures), duration of residency on a locked ward and an objective description of the hospital environment in terms of privacy opportunities (Privacy Questionnaire). Reliability measures were obtained by interviewing ward staff on several parallel instruments. A subject's privacy satisfaction during hospitalization, the predicted variable, was measured by a 39-item questionnaire, the Privacy Rating Form. This instrument inquired about issues related to actual or perceived privacy opportunities at the hospital. Dimensions of interest reflected satisfaction with control overt movement, space, solitude and interpersonal disclosure. A total of 30 predictor variables were correlated with the subjects' privacy satisfaction ratings. Predictor variables with a correlation at or below the .05 level were included in a multiple regression analysis. The results show a highly significant correlation between positive descriptions of the hospital environment and privacy satisfaction. Hospital residential buildings accounted for a total of four percent of unique variance in the predicted variable. A discriminant analysis failed to predict above chance levels single or combined residential buildings from a subject's privacy satisfaction score. Variables measuring the restrictiveness of the hospital experience (duration of residency on a locked ward, Home-range measures) did not contribute significantly in understanding privacy satisfaction ratings. A subject's privacy needs (PNS) were significantly and inversely related to privacy satisfaction ratings and accounted for about four percent of unexplained variance. A subject's age resulted in positive and significant correlations but failed to account significantly for privacy satisfaction in the multiple regression analysis The largest and most significant amount of variance (about 27 percent) was accounted for by the subject's legal status (ccxnmitment-type). Voluntary patients obtained significantly larger privacy satisfaction ratings, reflecting a more positive perception of the hospital environment than for involuntary patients. This finding remained unchanged when duration of residency on a locked ward was statistically controlled. The unexpected and small contribution of hospital setting variables and the subjects' privacy needs suggests that the hospital setting variables and personality variables singularly or combined are inadequate measures of privacy satisfactions. These results were discussed within the framework of Kelvin's (1974) theory linking privacy to interpersonal power. Subsequent discussions related these findings to the consistency-inconsistency issue in personality research. Finally, practical implications of these results on patient management practices in psychiatric hospitals and therapeutic issues were discussed.Item Investigation of the reliability of the A.A.M.D. adaptive behavior scale(1978) Atkinson, Bonnie Lynn; Millham, Jim; Carmical, LaVerne L.; Wilson, Melvin N.The purpose of this Study was to provide reliability data on the American Association of Mental Deficiency Adaptive Behavior Scale. The subjects consisted of 80 adult mentally retarded residents in a community centered residence. Half of the subjects were mildly and half the subjects were moderately retarded men and women. The three methods of administration described in the test manual were all examined. For the First Person Assessment Method Raters trained in the standardized administration and scoring of the tests independently filled out the Adaptive Behavior Scale. In the Third Person Administration Method Examiners asked the Informants all questions on the Scale. The Interview Method utilized Examiners who asked Informants in a general way about each of the 24 subdomains on the Adaptive Behavior Scale. Two different reliability indices based upon inter rater agreement were employed. In order to obtain a measure of agreement between two raters in specifying each competency a Mean Number and Percent of Disagreement was calculated. Another index of reliability obtained was the Mean Range and Mean Percent Range of Disagreements for each Behavior Domain. In addition, for comparative purposes reliabilities for each Behavior Domain were found using the same statistical technique the Manual describes. A rank order correlation was done to compare each method of administration to the Adaptive Behavior Scale scores. Mild and moderate categories did not differ greatly in mean number or percent of rater disagreement. Nor were great differences found between the two categories of mental retardation for mean ranges and percent range of disagreement. An examination of the reliability by means of a correlational analysis revealed that the reliability for all methods of administration were much lower than that reported in the A.A.M.D. Manual. Reliability was however, highest for the Third Person Administration Method. An examination of the individual Behavior Domains revealed that some Behavior Domains were consistently more reliable and could be characterized as being categorically oriented and of infrequent occurance. Behavior Domains which were specific in nature were found to be less reliable. These results raise serious questions about the reliability of the scale and further provide information about the Behavior Domains which need much more examination before the instrument can be considered useful in the diagnosis of mental retardationItem Self and other deceptive components of evaluative dependence(1978) Kellogg, Richard Wright; Millham, Jim; Howard, George S.; Hutchison, Laveria F.; Wilson, Melvin N.The present study utilized the bogus pipeline technique to separate the self and other deceptive components in social desirability responding and need for social approval. Under bogus pipeline condition a person believes that any deviation from accuracy in responding can be detected by the evaluator. Since need-approval instruments are constructed and keyed to reflect unrealistic and inaccurate self-description, need for approval score under bogus pipeline could be viewed as a measure of the self-deceptive component of evaluative dependence. Similarly, the difference or change in score occurring when a person shifts from a standard to a bogus pipeline administration can be viewed as that component of need approval score which is in the service of impression management and thus conceptualized as 'other deceptive.' The results indicated that the need for approval score is significantly and moderately related to both the proposed self-deceptive and other deceptive components of evaluative dependence. Need for approval score, however, was significantly (p<.01) more highly related to the self-deceptive than to the other deceptive component. Further, the results indicated a very low, non-significant correlation between the self and the other deceptive components of evaluative dependence. This finding supports the independence of the two components of evaluative dependence from each other while affirming their separate, independent relationship with overall need for approval score. The relationship of scores on self and other deceptive components of evaluative dependence to recall of socially desirable and socially undesirable self-descriptive characteristics were analyzed by means of a repeated measure analysis of variance. Levels of self-deception and levels of other deception were employed as the between group variables and the number of socially desirable versus the number of socially undesirable traits recalled was employed as the dependent, within subjects variable. Levels of both self and other deception were determined by means of a median split on those variables. While both self and other deception are significantly and positively related to evaluative dependence, a different pattern of response to negatively evaluative stimuli emerges for the two dimensions. Self-deceptive persons attended less well to negative evaluation of themselves than to positive evaluation of themselves and to attend less well to negative evaluation than do low scoring self-deceivers and than do other deceptive persons. Other deceptive persons, on the other hand, attended more closely to negative evaluations of themselves than to positive evaluation and to attend more closely to negative evaluation than do low scoring, other deceivers than do self-deceptive persons.Item The development, implementation, and evaluation of a community-based tutorial-couseling program in a West End community in Houston, Texas(1978) Zinn, Annette Mazur; Wilson, Melvin N.; Millham, James F.; Rouce, SandraRecently, it has become increasingly apparent that human service institutions have failed, to provide needed, interventions to high-risk and underserved populations, (Rappaport, 1977). The purpose of this current intervention in a West End Community in Houston, Texas, was to supplement an underserved population. The intervention was based on a "strengths approach", (Rappaport, 1977), and attempted to address two primary goals: (1) To provide tutoring-counseling services to area adolescents. (This program aspect was designed to prevent school drop-outs.) (2) To assist with community development by involving the area youths in community projects. In order to assess the accomplishment of these goals, an evaluation was conducted. At the conclusion of the program, a more effective program evaluation was suggested. Feedback from the parents, teachers, and adolescents in the community, was of a positive nature-i.e. grades had improved, and parent-teacher-child relationships. It is recommended that the community intervention be continued, and that a more effective quantitative evaluation be attempted.Item The effect of program selection procedures on participants' motivations-attitudes: in regard to the program, evaluation of the program, participative behaviors, and program outcome(1979) Owens, Gayle Renée; Rozelle, Richard; Baxter, James C.; Howard, George S.; Frankiewicz, Ronald G.; Wilson, Melvin N.Effects of three program-participant selection modes randomization, volunteering, and qualifying by possessing certain characteristics (systematic merit) upon participants' attitudes-motivations, their participative behaviors, and program outcome were researched. Bern's self-perception theory was integrated with attribution theory to predict: 1) random assignment would adversely affect the measures; 2) systematic merit assignment would favorably affect them; and 3) the volunteer condition would produce no effect. A program purported to provide techniques which could increase test-taking ability was created. Seventy-five subjects, lower level undergraduates, were randomly assigned to three selection groups. Gender was held constant across the groups. All subjects participated in the experimental sessions individually. Random condition subjects were told that "scientific reasons" required subjects to be randomly chosen as participants. They subsequently engaged in a "chance" drawing with a confederate to determine if they would participate in the study. Systematic merit subjects were told that a reading test and an attitude questionnaire all subjects had earlier completed would be scored to determine their eligibility; i.e., to determine if they had "reasonable test taking skills, adequate reading ability, and a reasonable attitude towards the task at hand." Each subject waited with a confederate while the tests and questionnaires were supposedly being scored. The confederate received her scores first and indicated that she was not qualified. The subject was then told that s/he had qualified for the program. For the volunteer condition subjects became program participants with no prior manipulation. After the selection manipulation subjects answered a questionnaire which measured their attitudes and motivation in regard to the program. Then they were given a packet containing the test-taking strategies and a number of practice exercises. They were instructed to proceed at their own pace, and they completed as few or as many of the practice exercises as they desired. When the subjects had finished the packet they were given a test to measure their test-taking ability. Finally, subjects responded to a session evaluation questionnaire and then were asked if they would return for a second session. Subjects returning for the second session completed the same attitude-motivation and evaluation questionnaires; they again completed a brief test after they had finished their individualized, self-paced packet, and they were asked if they would attend a potential third session. To recapitulate, dependent variables were: attitude motivation in regard to the program, evaluation of the program, effort (number of practice exercises completed and length of time per session), program outcome (test score), and committment (number of subjects returning for the second session, and number of subjects volunteering for a third session). A multivariate analysis of variance for the first session dependent variables revealed no overall statistically significant effect. It appears that the three selection conditions did not differentially affect the dependent measures. However, univariate analyses did suggest that two of the variables—number of practice exercises and time approached significance and were in the predicted direction for the systematic merit group (p < .07 and p < .06, respectively). For the second session no statistically significant results were found. Level of committment also did not differ significantly for the three groups. It was observed that all groups held highly favorable views towards the program and evaluated it very positively. From Bern's statements about the functioning of internal cues, it was concluded that when attitudes-motivation are initially quite salient selection experiences do not cause attitude-motivation change. It appears that if programs offer positively valued activities selection modes will not affect program clients' motivation-attitudes or behavior.Item The effects of a culturally relevant ethnic study program on the global self-concept of Black potential high school dropouts(1979) Bailey, Diane Lyons; Wilson, Melvin N.; Baxter, James C.; McDaniel, Clyde O., Jr.Social scientists have discussed the demoralizing influence of American society on the self-concept of black youngsters, but few have suggested and evaluated methods for improving the self-concept of the black youngster. The present study investigated the effectiveness of an alternative high school program, Ethnic Arts Center (EAC), designed to enhance the personal self-concept, racial-esteem, and school attitude of the black potential high school drop-out. The EAC was evaluated by the results obtained from the pre-tests and post-tests assessments of the subjects' personal self-concept, racial-esteem, school attendance and classroom environment attitude. Twenty males and twenty females, indicated as potential high school dropouts by their shcool counselor, participated in this study. Twenty subjects attended the EAC for the first time and .the remaining twenty subjects stayed in their regular schools to act as a control. The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (Fisk, 1955), the Classroom Environment Scale (Moos and Tricket; 1976) and an unpublished Black Pride Scale (Lyons-Bailey) were used as instruments in this study. The results of the investigation indicated that the EAC significantly (.05) facilitated in the process of eliminating negative feelings which contributed to the low personal self-concept of the black youngster. In addition, the results suggested that the EAC helped to increase the level of racial-esteem, near to significance, through emphasizing the ethnicity of their students in their curriculum. Overall, the results of the present study indicated that there is a need for alternative ethnic study programs which focus on enhancing personal self-concept, racial-esteem, and school attitudes of the potential high school dropout.Item The trajectory of fidelity in a multiyear trial of the Family Check-Up predicts change in child problem behavior(Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 10/1/2015) Chiapa, Amanda; Smith, Justin D.; Kim, Han Joe; Dishion, Thomas J.; Shaw, Daniel S.; Wilson, Melvin N.Therapist fidelity to evidence-based family interventions has consistently been linked to child and family outcomes. However, few studies evaluate the potential ebb and flow of fidelity of therapists over time. We examined therapist drift in fidelity over four years in the context of a Family Check-Up prevention services in early childhood (age 2–5). At age 2, families engaging in Women, Infants, and Children Nutritional Supplement Program (WIC) services were randomized and offered annual Family Check-Ups. Seventy-nine families with a child in the clinical range of problem behaviors at age 2 were included in this analysis. Latent growth modeling revealed a significant linear decline in fidelity over time (M = ?0.35, SD = 0.35) and steeper declines were related to less improvement in caregiver-reported problem behaviors assessed at ages 7.5/8.5 (b = ?.69, p = .003; ? = ?.95, CI: ?2.11 | ?0.22). These findings add to the literature concerning the need to continually monitor therapist fidelity to an evidence-based practice over time to optimize family benefits. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.Item The Validation of Macro and Micro Observations of Parent–Child Dynamics Using the Relationship Affect Coding System in Early Childhood(Prevention Science, 2018-05) Dishion, Thomas J.; Mun, Chung Jung; Tein, Jenn-Yun; Kim, Han Joe; Shaw, Daniel S.; Gardner, Frances; Wilson, Melvin N.; Peterson, JeneneThis study examined the validity of micro social observations and macro ratings of parent–child interaction in early to middle childhood. Seven hundred and thirty-one families representing multiple ethnic groups were recruited and screened as at risk in the context of Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) Nutritional Supplement service settings. Families were randomly assigned to the Family Checkup (FCU) intervention or the control condition at age 2 and videotaped in structured interactions in the home at ages 2, 3, 4, and 5. Parent–child interaction videotapes were microcoded using the Relationship Affect Coding System (RACS) that captures the duration of two mutual dyadic states: positive engagement and coercion. Macro ratings of parenting skills were collected after coding the videotapes to assess parent use of positive behavior support and limit setting skills (or lack thereof). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the measurement model of macro ratings of limit setting and positive behavior support was not supported by the data, and thus, were excluded from further analyses. However, there was moderate stability in the families’ micro social dynamics across early childhood and it showed significant improvements as a function of random assignment to the FCU. Moreover, parent–child dynamics were predictive of chronic behavior problems as rated by parents in middle childhood, but not emotional problems. We conclude with a discussion of the validity of the RACS and on methodological advantages of micro social coding over the statistical limitations of macro rating observations. Future directions are discussed for observation research in prevention science.