The structure of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale scale: a reinterpretation

This research examines the structure of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center (PGC) Morale Scale. A multiple indicator structural equation model including three first-order factors and one second-order factor is proposed to account for the dimensionality of the PGC Morale Scale. Based on data from the 1968 National Senior Citizens Survey, the proposed model is consistently supported and replicated across four randomly divided subsamples. Given these results, the claim that the PGC Morale Scale is multidimensional is only appropriate for the first-order factors. On the level of the second-order, a unidimensional interpretation is more accurate.

Urbanism and life satisfaction among the aged

This study examines the impact of urbanism on the causal mechanisms by which life satisfaction is determined. Although the links between the type of community and life satisfaction have been the foci of many studies, the findings are by no means conclusive. Some have found that the rural elderly express greater satisfaction, others have not. Such a discrepancy may be due to (a) the neglect of other variables, (b) a lack of explicit causal specifications, and (c) the failure to distinguish main effects from interaction effects. In this study a causal model that incorporates urbanism as a polytomous variable and its interaction effects has been proposed. The model was evaluated by using four data sets with sample sizes ranging from 961 to 3,996. Urbanism was found to have indirect main effects as well as interaction effects on life satisfaction.

Hepatic damage in experimental and clinical paragonimiasis

The hepatic damage induced by Paragonimus skrjabini, and the migration route of this species and that of P. westermani, were investigated in a series of animal experiments and in 34 clinical and four autopsy cases of paragonimiasis. The major symptoms and signs of an unique case reported from Sichuan Province included hepatic tenderness, disturbance of hepatic functions, remittent fever, and cough with bloody sputum. Laparotomy revealed marked adhesions surrounding the liver, spleen and duodenum. Diagnosis was made by finding P. skrjabini in a bulla on the abdominal wall about 5 months after the onset of illness. After specific treatment with bithional, body temperature and liver functions returned to normal. Twenty-three of 33 cases independently studied from Fujian Province also showed similar hepatic function disturbance. Autopsy cases showed hepatic chronic eosinophilic abscesses with Charcot-Leyden crystals. Experimentally, P. skrjabini infection caused hepatic damage in all laboratory animals used. The main pathologic changes were initially acute eosinophilic abscesses in the liver, worms being found sometimes in the necrotic cavities of the abscesses; hepatomagaly also occurred. Some cysts containing mature worms were found in the liver of dogs 3-9 months after infection. Numerous eggs were deposited in the cyst walls. The migration route of P. skrjabini was studied in young dogs. Worms appeared in the liver initially on day 3 and reached their highest level on day 14. P. westermani also migrated into liver, but their numbers were less than those of P. skrjabini.

Sex differences in life satisfaction among the elderly

Sex differences in life satisfaction are a recurrent research issue in the field of social gerontology. However, the evidence concerning the effect of sex on morale is still inconclusive. This may be due to (a) the neglect of other relevant variables, (b) the failure to distinguish between main effects and interaction effects, and (c) the lack of formal statistical tests in making comparisons. In this study, a causal model of life satisfaction is proposed and evaluated by using four data sets with sample sizes ranging from 961 to 3,996. The proposed structural model fitted both the male and female subsamples reasonably well. The findings were also replicated across these four data sets. No systematic sex difference was found in terms of structural parameters. This indicates that the same causal mechanism is operating among the males as well as the females.

The risk of personal victimization among the aged

This study examines the likelihood of personal victimization among the aged as a function of a multitude of factors such as characteristics of the victim and environmental conditions. Although the effects of a number of variables (e.g., age, sex, race, and income) on victimization have been studied, they are generally restricted to descriptive or bivariate analyses. Attempts to examine the impact of all relevant factors simultaneously have been rare. This is probably due to the small proportion of crime victims included in most victimization surveys and the fact that statistical techniques dealing with discrete dependent variables are not yet widely used by researchers. In this study, a maximum likelihood logistic probability model was applied to delineate the effects of individual and environmental attributes on victimization. Data for this analysis came from the National Crime Survey conducted between 1973 and 1976 by the Census Bureau for the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. Logit analysis revealed that characteristics of both the victim and the environment have fairly consistent effects on the likelihood of personal victimization.

Calorimetric and ionimetric dosimetry intercomparisons I: U.S. neutron radiotherapy centers

In the U.S. neutron radiotherapy trial centers, absorbed dose is routinely measured using commercially available A-150 tissue equivalent (TE) plastic ionization chambers. The collecting volumes of these chambers are filled with either methane-based tissue equivalent gas or air. Absorbed dose in A-150 plastic, determined with these ionization chambers, was compared to that measured by an A-150 plastic calorimeter in an A-150 plastic phantom. These comparisons have yielded the following information: (1) Agreement of the total absorbed dose measured using the ionization chambers was within 2.5% of the calorimeter at all the centers visited to date. (2) For all the neutron fields measured, the product of the stopping power ratio (sw,g)N' between the A-150 plastic chamber wall and TE gas, and the average energy expended in the gas per ion pair formed, WN/e, was computed assuming Bragg-Gray theory and found to be 31.0 +/- 0.7 J/C. (3) The displacement correction factor employed to normalize measurements at a depth in a phantom using the type IC-17 ionization chamber was verified to be approximately 0.97 +/- 0.01.

Social integration and morale: a re-examination

The concern for social integration among the aged lies in its implications for well-being in old age. Evidence about the link between social integration and morale is still inconclusive. This appears to be due to poor conceptionalization and lack of specification concerning the relationships between social integration and other correlates of morale. In this study, social integration is viewed in terms of both its subjective and objective aspects. The central hypothesis is that the relationship between objective aspects of social integration and morale is mediated by the subjective sense of integration. This hypothesis was examined through the use of a structural equation model. Four data sets were used for this inquiry which included surveys conducted in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Detroit. Findings indicate that objective social integration only has an indirect impact on morale, with subjective sense of integration being the intervening variable. This relationship remains significant even when other factors such as socioeconomic status, financial satisfaction, and health status were controlled.

Alternative models of person-environment fit: prediction of morale in three homes for the aged

The notion of congruence or P-E fit has been suggested as a fruitful theoretical scheme for the understanding of the impact of environments on the well-being of older people (French et al., 1974; Kahana, 1975). Alternative models have been proposed for understanding the type of congruence which results in the most positive outcomes. Such models have differential implications for intervention to enhance well-being of the aged. This paper represents an initial effort to put these alternative theoretical models to an empirical test. Data for this study came from 124 interviews at three homes for the aged. In order to overcome methodological problems posed by conventional approaches, a procedure which measures incongruence in terms of non-linear transformations of difference scores was used. Congruence models examined included non-directional, one-directional, and two-directional models. The findings point to the importance of P-E fit in the arenas of congregation, impulse control, and segregation. In contrast, personal and/or environmental characteristics rather than fit were found to be more important along the dimensions of affective expression and institutional control in explaning morale.

Financial well-being among the aged: a further elaboration

This study represents a further elaboration of the relative deprivation model proposed and tested by Liang and Fairchild (1979). A central assumption underlying this inquiry is that the link between economic status and perceived financial adequacy is mediated by subjective interpretations of the situation such as relative deprivation (Stouffer et al., 1948) and distributive justice (Homans, 1961). In addition, the effects of ascribed status variables such as age, sex, race, and religion on the social comparison process are assessed. Data for this investigation came from a survey of 252 older people in the Detroit area. Findings indicate that financial satisfaction is directly influenced by relative deprivation and distributive justice, while it is only indirectly affected by social status, labor force participation, and income. Race and age are the two ascribed statuses which have a significant impact on social comparison and perceived income adequacy. Implications of these results in terms of theory building and the design of income maintenance policies are also suggested.

Relative deprivation and perception of financial adequacy among the aged

This paper presents a conceptual framework that incorporates the notion of relative deprivation to explain the perceived financial adequacy among the elderly. The model not only provides a more heuristic interpretation of older people's financial satisfaction but also further clarifies the role of actual income. The relative deprivation model was evaluated by using data from the General Social Survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Ctr. from 1972 through 1977. The findings support the predictions derived from the model and were replicated with high consistency across these six data sets. According to the findings, financial satisfaction is directly related to relative deprivation while income only indirectly affects one's sense of financial well-being. Social status, income, and labor force participation have been demonstrated to be either directly or indirectly related to feelings of deprivation.