Treatment career snapshots: profiles of first treatment and previous treatment clients

To examine the substance abuse recovery process from a treatment-career perspective, this study compared the profiles of clients entering treatment for the first time versus those returning to treatment. Clients (N = 7,092) presenting for publicly funded treatment were assessed as part of the St. Louis Target Cities project. Previous treatment clients were more likely to have more severe substance abuse problems, additional psychiatric problems, and greater problems in other life areas. Comorbid psychiatric problems and motivation to change were identified as areas of focus for clinical intervention. Discriminant analysis yielded a significant function that accounted for 6.5% of the variance between groups. Results suggest that change occurs via multiple processes.

Gender differences in evaluating social-sexual conduct in the workplace

Qualitative interviews exploring gender differences in perceptions of sexual harassment were conducted with 100 full-time St. Louis area employees. Women more than men reported that telling dirty/sexual jokes was a non-harassing behavior, qualified behaviors as harassing when they happened in the workplace, and considered behaviors as non-harassing when the man's intentions were not harmful. Men more than women reported that requesting a date was a non-harassing behavior, qualified behaviors as harassing when the woman did not welcome the behavior, and considered behaviors as non-harassing when they did not violate workplace norms. Logistic regression analysis predicted the respondent gender with 86% accuracy. Finally, concept mapping suggested that when women think about harassers they are concerned with power and social aptitude, while men seem to be more concerned about the responsibility and psychological adjustment of perpetrators of sexual harassment. When women think about victims of harassment they are concerned with a woman's assertiveness and work effectiveness, while men are more concerned with the psychological state of the woman and how provocative she is when they think about victims of sexual harassment.

Psychological and cognitive status before and after heart transplantation

Advances in the technical aspects of heart transplantation and the medical management of rejection have allowed a shift toward research evaluating psychological factors affecting heart transplant candidates and psychosocial sequelae following transplantation. This study examined the psychological and cognitive status of patients presenting for heart transplant evaluation. The findings indicated that this patient group was characterized by impaired verbal memory and a tendency toward depression and anxiety. The second part of the study examined changes in psychological and cognitive status from the initial evaluation to a follow-up assessment 1 year after transplantation. The results indicated that psychological distress (depression, anxiety) and several indices of cognitive function improved after transplantation. Finally, correlations were determined to evaluate the association between the psychological and cognitive measures and episodes of rejection in the first 6 months after transplantation. Anxiety, depression, and a nonverbal measure of intelligence were found to be associated with the number of episodes of rejection. The implications of these findings are discussed.