This study examined the association between positive and negative aspects of spouse responses and psychological adjustment among 158 individuals with cancer. Two contextual variables, gender and disease-related functional impairment, were taken into account when examining the association between spouse responses and patient psychological distress and well-being. Results indicated that negative aspects of close relationships played a comparatively stronger role than positive aspects in their associations with both psychological distress and well-being. For negative spouse responses, patient gender did not moderate the effects of these responses upon psychological outcomes. For positive aspects of spouse support, both gender and functional disability moderated the association between spouse support and psychological outcomes. These findings are integrated with the general literature on positive and negative aspects of close relationships. Implications for clinical interventions are also discussed.

Supportive and negative responses in the partner relationship: their association with psychological adjustment among individuals with cancer

Objective Personality Inventories: Recent Research and Some Contemporary Issues

The feasibility of the Section 8 certificate program for individuals with chronic mental illness (CMI) and the outcomes associated with independent housing are examined. The analysis is based on data from a longitudinal survey of Section 8 certificate users in Baltimore and Hamilton County (Cincinnati) and on information from Section 8 application forms in each site. A pre-post research design was used to examine changes in hospitalization, residential stability, and mental health service outcomes. Four key dimensions of the CMI certificate program are examined: affordability, housing conditions, neighborhood conditions, and service gaps. Results suggest that the certificate program has a positive effect on independent living, that certificate use is associated with positive mental health outcomes, and that there is no evidence of "creaming" among program applicants.

The effects of independent living on persons with chronic mental illness: an assessment of the Section 8 certificate program.

A household survey of 537 residents was conducted to test conflicting hypotheses about the correlates of life events derived from three general models of well-being: an equilibrium, a life crisis, and a positive mental health model. Consistent with the predictions of a positive mental health approach, positive life events were correlated with both reports of distress and satisfaction. Further, positive and negative events were intercorrelated; the distress effects of positive events could be accounted for to a large extent by the negative events associated with them. The findings suggest that community studies need to assess the potentially positive as well as stressful effects of life events.

Satisfaction and distress in a community: a test of the effects of life events.

Housing has long been a neglected area in research on persons with chronic mental illness (CMI). As a result, there is little reliable information to guide important resource allocation decisions by both the public and private sectors. There are compelling reasons for closing this information gap: the estimated 4.6 million individuals with CMI who now live most of their lives in the community; the plight of the homeless; the high cost of mental health service use by the CMI (Frank, Goldman, and McGuire 1996); attention to community-based care options in proposals to reform the health care system; research findings suggesting that housing may contribute in a significant way to a number of individual mental health outcomes (Baker and Douglas 1990; Hanrahan et al. 2001; Nagy, Fisher, and Tessler 1988; Earls and Nelson 1988); and the increased involvement of states and localities in funding housing for persons with CMI (Frank, Lave, and Goldman 1988).

This article examines the mental health service costs and residential instability of 670 persons with CMI living in alternative types of independent housing in the community (i.e., different housing structure, tenantry, and neighborhood). It also assesses whether residential features associated with lower mental health service costs are cost-effective in the sense that the mental health cost savings outweigh the cost of purchasing housing with these features. The next section provides a brief review of the literature on housing and mental illness. This is followed by a description of the approach taken in this study, the data and research methods. We then present the results, followed by a discussion of their implications for mental health services, housing policy, and research.

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Frederick Herzberg

Papers

Motivation-hygiene correlates of mental health: an examination of motivational inversion in a clinical population.