Cognitive‐relational theory emphasizes the fundamental role of cognitive appraisal in the stress process. However, existing measures of stress appraisal suffer from conceptual and methodological problems. The present paper reports the development of a new stress appraisal scale that attempts to overcome some of these difficulties. Six dimensions of primary and secondary appraisal were identified: threat, challenge, centrality, controllable‐by‐self, controllable‐by‐others, uncontrollable‐by‐anyone. Items were generated for each of these dimensions, as well as for an overall perceived stressfulness scale. In three studies examining anticipatory stress experienced by undergraduates, these items were subjected to item‐selection, analysis and validation procedures. The findings provide strong support for the psychometric properties of the scales. Two factor analyses showed that the six appraisal dimensions were relatively independent. In multiple regression analyses, threat and centrality consistently emerged as significant predictors of overall stressfulness. The Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM) appears to be a promising instrument for use in future stress research.
Five actuarial instruments and one guided clinical instrument designed to assess risk for recidivism were compared on 215 sex offenders released from prison for an average of 4.5 years. The Violence Risk Appraisal Guide, Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide, Rapid Risk Assessment of Sexual Offense Recidivism, and Static-99 predicted general recidivism, serious (violent and sexual) recidivism, and sexual recidivism. The Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool–Revised and a guided clinical assessment (Multifactorial Assessment of Sex Offender Risk for Recidivism) predicted general recidivism but did not significantly predict serious or sexual recidivism. On its own, the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised predicted general and serious recidivism but not sexual recidivism. The results support the utility of an actuarial approach to risk assessment of sex offenders.
Three hundred men and women at five developmental stages from young adulthood to the old-old completed measures of life attitudes and well-being. Significant age differences were found on five life attitude dimensions: Life Purpose (LP), Death Acceptance (DA), Goal Seeking (GS), Future Meaning (FM), and Existential Vacuum (EV). LP and DA increased with age; GS and FM decreased with age; EV showed a curvilinear relationship with age. Significant sex differences were found for Life Control (LC) and Will To Meaning (WM). Women viewed life as more under their control and expressed a stronger will to find meaning as compared with males. FM, LP, and LC were found to predict psychological and physical well-being; EV, GS, and DA predicted psychological and physical discomfort. Preliminary findings attest to the importance of various life attitudes in promoting health and wellness.
This study describes the development of the Life Attitude Profile (LAP), a multidimensional measure of attitudes toward life. The instrument was designed to assess the degree of existential meaning and purpose in life and the strength of motivation to find meaning and purpose. Principle component factor analyses performed on the responses of 219 undergraduate psychology students to the 56-item, 7-point Likert scale resulted in the extraction of seven primary dimensions of life attitudes and three higher order factors, accounting for 48% and 67% of the total variance, respectively. Alpha and theta estimates of the internal consistency of the factor scales ranged from satisfactory to very good. Strong support for the validity of a number of the LAP dimensions was obtained; LAP dimensions were also shown to be relatively free from the influence of social desirability. The normative data showed that males scored significantly higher on the Death Acceptance dimension and on the total LAP compared to females. Age was significantly related to a number of the LAP factors for males but not for females. Further research should directly examine the utility of the LAP as a predictor of a number of relevant educational, social, and psychological variables.
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