It has been suggested that supplying children with explicit information about the terminal illness of a parent is likely to enhance their coping with anxiety. To examine this claim, the anxiety level of 18 children who were informed by their parents was compared with that of 26 children who were not thus informed. The anxiety of the informed group was significantly lower. The results also show meaningful differences between developmental levels among the non-informed only. Possible explanations and implications of the results are discussed.

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This study explores the preference of patients for humorous or nonhumorous therapist interventions. Hysterical, obsessive, and depressive patients were presented with three functional kinds of humorous interventions: emotional confrontation, anxiety reduction and perspective development. The data indicate that the patients consistently favored the nonhumorous interventions, but the degree of this preference varied according to personality style. Obsessive patients stood out in their ardent repudiation of humorous interventions. The results suggest that the desirability of utilizing humor in therapy depends on a multiplicity of parameters.

The present study examined the relationship between age, integration of personality, and fear of death and two aspects of the meaning of life (content of values and degree of commitment). Three groups (young adulthood; middle adulthood; and late adulthood) of men and women from different cultural origins and various levels of education participated in the study. The subjects were requested to rank order eight types of values (understanding, relationship, service, belief, expression, obtaining, growth, and hedonism). They also responded to a questionnaire on the degree of commitment to the goal actualisation. The findings were analysed by means of analysis of variance, multiple regression, and smallest space analysis (S.S.A.). The results show that the late adulthood group differed from the other two groups in the content of meaning by shifting to a more spiritual set of values. Yet, interpersonal relationship was the most important value for all groups. Content of meaning was also related to one's level of education. The degree of commitment to goals was affected by integration of personality, age, and gender. Fear of death and cultural origin had no impact on content or commitment. The S.S.A. revealed two clear dimensions of the eight value categories: altruistic-egotistic and spiritual-materialistic.