Elizabethtown College

About: Elizabethtown College is a education organization based out in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Social work & Spacetime. The organization has 329 authors who have published 636 publications receiving 10083 citations.

Grip strength and hand dominance: challenging the 10% rule.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to test the utility of the 10% rule in hand rehabilitation. The 10% rule states that the dominant hand possesses a 10% greater grip strength than the nondominant hand. This rule has been used for many years to assist therapists in setting strength goals for patients with injured hands. The sample for this study consisted of 310 male and female students, faculty, and staff from a small, private liberal arts college located in Pennsylvania. Grip strength was measured with a factory-calibrated Jamar dynamometer. Results showed an overall 10.74% grip strength difference between dominant and nondominant hands. This finding verified the 10% rule. However, when the data were separated into left-handed and right-handed subjects, a 12.72% difference for right-handed subjects and a -0.08% difference for left-handed subjects was found. In conclusion, this study showed that the 10% rule is valid for right-handed persons only; for left-handed persons, grip strength should be considered equivalent in both hands.

Loneliness and depression in independent living retirement communities: risk and resilience factors

Abstract: Socio-emotional selectivity theory posits that as individuals age, they desire less social stimulation and novelty, and tend to select close, reliable relationships to meet their emotional needs. Residence in congregate facilities affords social exposure, yet does not guarantee access to close relationships, so that loneliness may be a result. Further, the gerontology literature has suggested that loneliness in late life may be a risk factor for serious mental health concerns such as depression. This article examined data on loneliness and depressive symptoms from older adults aged 60-98, residing in two age-segregated independent living facilities. Overlap between those scoring in the depressed range on the Geriatric Depression Scale and those scoring more than one standard deviation above the mean on the UCLA Loneliness Scale was less than 50%, although zero-order correlation of the two continuous scores was moderately high. Potential risk and resilience factors were regressed on the continuous scores of the two scales in separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Depression was predicted by being older, number of chronic health conditions, grieving a recent loss, fewer neighbor visitors, less participation in organized social activities and less church attendance. Grieving a recent loss, receiving fewer visits from friends, and having a less extensive social network predicted loneliness. In addition, loneliness scores explained about 8% of the unique variance in depression scores, suggesting it is an independent risk factor for depressive symptoms. Loneliness scores were seen to be more widely dispersed in these respondents, with less variance explained by the available predictors. Suggestions are made for addressing loneliness in older adults as a means of preventing more serious mental health consequences.

Racial and Behavioral Cues in Black and White Children's Perceptions of Ambiguously Aggressive Acts

Abstract: To explore the way in which the interpretation of ambiguous social behavior can be influenced by racial stereotypes and cultural differences, 40 black and 40 white 6th-grade males were shown a variety of ambiguously aggressive behaviors performed by black and white stimulus figures. As predicted, both black and white preadolescents rated these behaviors as more mean and threatening when the perpetrator was black than when he was white. In contrast, rating of personal characteristics were in general determined by individual behavior rather than by group stereotypes, although blacks, whether they were the perpetrator or the recipient of the behaviors, were rated as stronger than their white counnterparts. Cultural differences between subject groups were apparent in the greater tendency of the white children to read threat into ambiguously aggressive behaviors involving no physical contact and to assume that the perpetrators of such behaviors were stronger than the recipients.

The latent structure of posttraumatic stress disorder: A taxometric investigation of reactions to extreme stress.

Abstract: Mental health professionals have debated whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be qualitatively distinguished from normal reactions to traumatic events. This debate has been fueled by indications that many trauma-exposed individuals evidence partial presentations of PTSD that are associated with significant impairment and help-seeking behavior. The authors examined the latent structure of PTSD in a large sample of male combat veterans. Three taxometric procedures-MAMBAC, MAXEIG, and L-Mode-were performed with 3 indicator sets drawn from a clinical interview and a self-report measure of PTSD. Results across procedures, consistency tests, and analysis of simulated comparison data all converged on a dimensional solution, suggesting that PTSD reflects the upper end of a stress-response continuum rather than a discrete clinical syndrome.

Informing the continuity controversy: a taxometric analysis of depression.

Abstract: Researchers and practitioners have long debated the structural nature of mental disorders. Until recently, arguments favoring categorical or dimensional conceptualizations have been based primarily on theoretical speculation and indirect empirical evidence. Within the depression literature, methodological limitations of past studies have hindered their capacity to inform this important controversy. Two studies were conducted using MAXCOV and MAMBAC, taxometric procedures expressly designed to assess the underlying structure of a psychological construct. Analyses were performed in large clinical samples with high base rates of major depression and a broad range of depressive symptom severity. Results of both studies, drawing on 3 widely used measures of depression, corroborated the dimensionality of depression. Implications for the conceptualization, investigation, and assessment of depression are discussed.