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This paper examines the factors surrounding the use of alcohol among Latino males. Prevention and treatment strategies for the provision of culturally competent treatment services are proposed, based on an analysis of the literature.

This article reports data collected from a national survey of all accredited social work programs conducted between December 1995 and February 1996. The purpose was to assess current usage of distance learning in social work education. The findings suggest that the use of distance learning has increased, and that the most prevalent issues reported by educators involve adapting instructional material for course presentation and faculty preparation. Implications of the study findings for social work education are also discussed.

Normalization is the use of culturally valued means to enable people with disabilities to live culturally valued lives. In this article, the authors describe an effort to bring normalization practices to acute psychiatric care. They describe a day hospital/crisis respite diversion program that serves as an alternative to acute inpatient hospitalization and sketch the research project that fostered it. The authors argue that a day hospital/crisis respite provides effective clinical care comparable to inpatient hospitalization but achieves greater potential for recovery through a normalizing philosophy and practice. An implication of this finding is that such programs based on the principle of normalization may be both cost effective as well as more empowering for patients.

It is important that the delivery of health and mental health prevention and treatment services within Latino communities be culturally sensitive. This article outlines several ways in which agencies can develop programs that can meet the needs of Latino communities. The most important aspect of the provision of health prevention and treatment services is that the organization integrates itself into the community through outreach, recruitment, and inclusion in decision-making. In addition, the organization needs to be structured so communication and participation from the community and health professionals are open and mixed. Otherwise, the likelihood of success of the provision of services in the community will be diminished. © 1996 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The authors hypothesized that schizophrenic communication disturbances reflect specific cognitive deficits in the areas of working memory and attention. They examined the cognitive correlates of communication disturbances, as measured by linguistic reference performance, in schizophrenic (n = 48), bipolar (n = 24), and nonpsychiatric control (n = 23) individuals. Reference performance ratings in the schizophrenic patients were associated with scores on tests of working memory and attention and were not related to performance on concept formation or verbal fluency tests. In contrast, in the bipolar and nonpsychiatric individuals, reference performance was associated with concept formation and verbal fluency test scores but was not related to performance on tests of working memory. Implications with respect to the processes underlying schizophrenic communication disturbances are discussed.

Most community college graduates do not continue on for study in 4-year colleges and universities. Fewer than 20% do so within the first few years after receiving their associate's degrees. Concerns have been expressed about the extent to which older students (e.g., students who received their degrees at age 25 and above) persist (go on) to 4-year colleges and universities and about the correlates of persistence for this group. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between a selected number of academic, social, and personal variables in the context of predicting persistence to a 4-year public university among older graduates of a New England state’s public 2-year institutions. Data were collected in 1988 and 1989 from a random sample of 3,762 older associate's degree students from the 12 community colleges in Connecticut. These data were then subjected to a two-group, single-function discriminant function analysis to determine the predictive power of the dependent measures used in the study. The results indicated that the higher the perceptions of social and institutional support in community colleges and the higher the age of the graduates, the more apt they were to persist to a 4-year institution. Further analysis, however, revealed that the average persister was 38 years old, whereas the average attritor was 34 years old, suggesting the need for further research among 2-year college populations among the over-30 age group as well as replication of the study in states with both similar and dissimilar demographic shifts in college populations. © 1996 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Homophobia and heterosexism are complementary social processes that shaped the social construction and the public health response to AIDS. Both concepts view gay and lesbian oppression from different vantage points. Homophobia is a weapon of sexism and is manifested in fear and hatred. Heterosexism is an ideological system that denigrates non-heterosexual behavior. Both processes are well served by the social institutions of family, religion, law, and the ideologies of sexuality and gender. The consequences have been societal and personal: inadequate HIV medical and social services; lack of a national AIDS policy; widespread discrimination and prejudice against gay men, lesbians, and persons living with AIDS; stress, violence, and suicide; substance abuse; and HIV risk behavior and relapse. Mental health and social services, social supports, education and prevention programs, community development, and social action to broaden civil rights and to challenge institutional oppression are required to counter the ravages of hate and discrimination. © 1995 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

An escalating elderly population has necessitated a corresponding need for social workers trained in gerontology and who can practice in nursing homes. In order to enhance professional knowledge and skills, the authors present a teaching model that uses an apprenticeship framework to help students develop social work skills in working with elderly residents in long term care facilities. Responses to student reaction worksheets were analyzed in order to assess student experiences, the progress of skill development and the amelioration of bias as a relationship develops develops between client and social worker. The authors propose the use of a "reflective practicum" enhanced by group processes as a way to enhance training. © 1995 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Homelessness is one of the most pressing social problems today. Society has responded to the problem with the creation of homeless shelters. Yet, the nature of the operation of the shelter is not defined. This study explored the operations of two single adult homeless shelters to understand how they operate in addressing the problem of homelessness. The study identified two different types of services, one called `'house” and the other `'home”. House services provided basic food, shelter, and linkage to social services, which fulfilled the basic definition of the problem of homelessness as defined by the Institute of Medicine. Home services provided the basic services of house but also went one step beyond by providing these services within the context of a supportive environment, thus creating informal social supports. The study discusses the implications of each of these modalities in addressing the problems associated with people who are homeless as well as the differences in policies and structures which contribute to one shelter providing house and the other home services.

Spelling is one of several important operations involved in the act of writing but until recently has received attention primarily in the applied domain. Orthographic abilities, because of their strong association with reading (e.g. Perfetti, 1985), are now of increasing interest to those who study the cognitive bases of literacy development. It is generally acknowledged that phonological processes underlie essential aspects of word recognition (Adams, 1990; Dreyer, 1989; Liberman, Shankweiler & Liberman, 1989; Stanovich, 1986; Wagner & Torgesen, 1987; Williams, 1986). An expanding body of research suggests that orthographic factors can account for a significant amount of variance in word recognition over and above phonological abilities (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1990; 1993; Dreyer, 1994; Stanovich & West, 1989; Stanovich, West & Cunningham, 1991).

A comprehensive cognitive appraisal of elementary school children with learning disabilities showed that within the language sphere, deficits associated with reading disability are selective: Phonological deficits consistently accompany reading problems whether they occur in relatively pure form or in the presence of coexisting attention deficit or arithmetic disability. Although reading-disabled children were also deficient in production of morphologically related forms, this difficulty stemmed in large part from the same weakness in the phonological component that underlies reading disability. In contrast, tests of syntactic knowledge did not distinguish reading-disabled children from those with other cognitive disabilities, nor from normal children after covarying for intelligence.

Hypotheses concerning possible correlates of sexual satisfaction in marriage were tested using the replies of 797 married women and men of diverse ages to a 70-item mailed questionnaire that contained seven Likert-type sub-scales measuring different sexual and non-sexual variables. Multiple regression analysis, using sexual satisfaction as the dependent variable, yielded a five-variable model that accounted for a significant portion of the variation in sexual satisfaction (Adjusted R Squared = .602). The variable 'overall satisfaction with marriage' had the highest correlation with sexual satisfaction (r = .622), followed by 'satisfaction with non-sexual aspects of the relationship' (r = .609), frequency of spouse/partner orgasm per sexual encounter (r = .529), frequency of sexual activity (r = .370), and 'sexual uninhibitedness' (r = .230). None of three measures of religiosity made a significant contribution to explaining the variation on self reported sexual satisfaction. Men and women did not differ in level of sexual satisfaction, and adding gender to the regression model did not increase the level of explained variation. The results indicate that sexual satisfaction in these married respondents could not be compartmentalized to their sexual interactions, but was strongly associated with non-sexual aspects of the overall marital relationship as well.

PURPOSE: African-, Hispanic-, and Native Americans are underrepresented in the field of epidemiology including degree programs. As part of the assessment component of its mandate, the American College of Epidemiology Committee on Minority Affairs conducted a survey of minority recruitment activities of U.S. epidemiology degree programs. METHODS: The survey, containing questions related to marketing activities, institutional infrastructure, financial support, academic offerings, and receptive/supportive environment, was mailed to all programs identified in Episource as offering epidemiology degrees. Separate responses were requested concerning activities at the department and school levels. RESULTS: Fifty- two completed questionnaires were received (response rate of 79%). All but two institutions had at least one activity conducted by either the department or the school. However, all activities were more common at the school- than at the department-level. Indeed, some activities [a written minority student recruitment plan (6% of departments and 52% of schools), personnel with minority recruitment responsibilities (4% of departments and 73% of schools] were almost exclusively school-sponsored. Although marketing-type activities were the most common minority recruitment tool used by departments, only 21% made visits to minority schools, 17% visited other colleges specifically to recruit minorities, and 12% produced materials targeted to ethnic/racial minorities. Six percent of the departments and 19% of the schools offered financial support (grants, fellowships, scholarships) to almost all underrepresented minority students. CONCLUSIONS: Even though individual epidemiology degree programs may not see a need for general recruitment activities in order to maintain the size of their applicant pool, minority- specific recruitment activities should be undertaken to enhance and diversify that pool. We recommend that epidemiology departments develop, adopt, and implement comprehensive written plans for the recruitment of underrepresented minority students into their programs.

Increasing emphasis on the need for medical student education about substance abuse has led to the development of a variety of training efforts through faculty development. The Yale University School of Medicine Faculty Development Program or CADRE (Clinical Alcohol and Drug Research and Education) was instituted in 1992 for the purpose of enhancing substance abuse teaching in the Yale medical student curriculum. CADRE faculty were identify in internal medicine, pediatrics, and psychiatry. Prior to the program, there was limited formal teaching about substance abuse in the Yale curriculum and no coordinated effort across disciplines. The enhancement of teaching activities occurred primarily within four required “core”; clinical clerkships for third‐and fourth‐year medical students. Student evaluations of this new teaching activity were positive. The CADRE program was successful at developing a multidisciplinary core faculty group with expertise in substance abuse teaching and resulted in the development of a coordinated, multidisciplinary substance abuse curriculum for Yale medical students.

Comparisons of service use and treatment outcomes for 145 black and 236 white homeless veterans with mental disorders showed few differences. A greater improvement in psychiatric symptoms and alcohol problems among white than black veterans did not hold true when black veterans had participated in the residential treatment component of the program. The implications of the findings for the successful treatment of homeless black veterans are discussed.

Objectives: This study examined the clinical significance of non-complexed (free) prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the differential diagnosis of prostate cancer with an emphasis on patients with total PSA values between 4.0 and 10.0 ng/mL (the diagnostic gray zone). Methods: Serum samples were obtained from three specimen banks. Patient samples consisted of 55 untreated historically confirmed primary cancer, 62 men with untreated benign prostatic disease histologically confirmed by 6 negative sextant biopsies, and 64 asymptomatic healthy male controls with normal digital rectal examinations and PSA values less than 4.0 ng/mL. All patients were between the ages of 50 and 75 years. Total PSA levels were determined using the PA immunoassay performed on the TOSOH AIA-1200 automated immunoassay instrument. Free PSA levels were determined using a monoclonal-polyclonal antibody sandwich radioimmunoassay. The proportion of free to total PSA was calculated by dividing the patient's free PSA value by the total PSA value. Results: When all subjects were included, both total PSA and the proportion of free to total PSA significantly differentiated between patients with prostate cancer and patients with benign histologic conditions (P< 0.0001). However, in men with total PSA values between 4.0 and 10.0 ng/mL, the proportion of free to total PSA significantly differentiated between patients with benign and malignant histologic conditions (P = 0.0004), whereas the total PSA did not (P = 0.13). Among this subgroup of patients, the analysis of sensitivity and specificity showed that the proportion of free to total PSA had a clearly higher specificity compared with that of the total PSA at the same level of sensitivity. Conclusions: Measurement of the free PSA level in a patient's serum and calculation of the proportion of free to total PSA enhances the ability to distinguish benign histologic conditions from cancer while retaining high sensitivity for detecting cancer in men who present with total PSA levels between 4.0 and 10.0 ng/mL. A large-scale population-based study is currently in progress to confirm this preliminary finding. © 1995.

Pigeons were presented with a concurrent-chains schedule in which terminal-link entries were assigned to two response keys on a percentage basis. The terminal links were fixed delays that sometimes ended with food and sometimes did not. In most conditions, 80% of the terminal links were assigned to one key, but a smaller percentage of the terminal links ended with food for this key, so the number of food reinforcers delivered by the two alternatives was equal. When the same terminal-link stimuli (orange houselights) were used for both alternatives, the pigeons showed a preference for whichever alternative delivered more frequent terminal links. When different terminal-link stimuli (green vs. red houselights) were used for the two alternatives, the pigeons showed a preference for whichever alternative delivered fewer terminal links when terminal-link durations were long, and no systematic preferences when terminal-link durations were short. This pattern of results was consistent with the predictions of Grace's (1994) contextual choice model. Preference for the alternative that delivered more frequent terminal links was usually stronger in the first few sessions of a condition than at the end of a condition, suggesting that the conditioned reinforcing effect of the additional terminal-link presentations was, in part, transitory.

The present study compared compliance, noncompliance strategies, and the correlates in 5-year old Japanese and American children were observed during three standardized laboratory procedures. Compliance, noncompliance strategies, and negative affect were coded during Toy Pick Up procedure. Maternal directiveness and mother-directed behaviors were coded during Mother-Child play and Free-play procedures, respectively. A baseline level of play was also obtained during the Free Play procedures to ensure that the children's willingness to engage in the Toy Pick Up procedure would not be confounded with their level of involvement with the toys. Consistent with predictions derived from a review of cross-cultural research on socialization practices, Japanese children showed longer latencies to begin picking up toys in response to maternal requests and were also more likely to engage in the `less skilled' noncompliance strategies of direct defiance and passive noncompliance than American children. The two groups of children did not, however, differ in their level of negative affect during the Toy Pick Up procedure. Contrary to expectations, maternal directiveness was not associated with compliance in either group of children. However, approach behavior to mother during Free Play was inversely correlated with compliance in Japanese, but not American children.

Direct behavioral observation and motility monitoring procedures provide reliable data, and both are appropriate for sleep/wake state measurements starting immediately after birth. Using these procedures, newborn rats, rabbits, and humans were found to have a greater amount of quiet sleep on the day of birth rather than 24 hr later. Changes in active sleep and wake were inconsistent across the 2 days. The quiet sleep findings are contrary to the developmental course which increases with age. The findings are interpreted as a temporary adaptive response to the stress of the birth process.