Once medical treatment for gynecological cancer is completed, what happens to patients' sexuality and body image? Due to the delicate nature of the cancer site, treating this cancer typically affects sexual functioning and body image adversely, making it critical to identify the concerns of these patients and do so in a manner less restrictive than paper-and-pencil assessment. To gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenological experiences in question, we interviewed nine gynecological cancer patients and seven cancer-free women. After implementing a relaxation protocol, we asked each woman to describe her feelings and thoughts on her sexuality and body image in one-on-one interviews. A variety of themes emerged on patients' attitudes and perspectives concerning sexuality and body image following diagnosis and treatment of the cancer. The themes that were considerably different from those of the cancer-free women included decreased sexual functioning and body image, abrupt shifts in self-identity due to loss of physical integrity, and distancing in intimate relationships. Several implications of these findings for clinical practice are discussed, as well as the need to train medical professionals to properly assess these patients' alterations in sexuality.

This pilot study explored whether a manualized computer and Internet training program could enhance older adults' computer self-efficacy and attitudes toward computers and the Internet. A total of 32 community-dwelling adults 65 years of age or older were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group, with each group consisting of 8 women and 8 men. The experimental group received 6 weeks of training with 2-hour one-on-one sessions once per week. The same training was administered to the control group upon completion of the post-test, 6 weeks after the baseline assessment, to match the procedures on all counts with the exception of training administration. The results of two ANCOVAs indicated that participants within the experimental group improved significantly on both their computer self-efficacy (p < .001) and attitudinal scores (p < .001) at the post-training assessment. No improvements were found in the control group.

Several studies have documented the health-related benefits of older adults' use of computer technology, but before they can be realised, older individuals must be positively inclined and confident in their ability to engage in computer-based environments. To facilitate the assessment of computer technology attitudes, one aim of the longitudinal study reported in this paper was to test and refine a new 22-item measure of computer technology attitudes designed specifically for older adults, as none such were available.1 Another aim was to replicate, on a much larger scale, the successful findings of a preliminary study that tested a computer technology training programme for older adults (Laganà 2008). Ninety-six older men and women, mainly from non-European-American backgrounds, were randomly assigned to the waitlist/control or the experimental group. The same six-week one-on-one training was administered to the control subjects at the completion of their post-test. The revised (17-item) version of the Older Adults' Computer Technology Attitudes Scale (OACTAS) showed strong reliability: the results of a factor analysis were robust, and two analyses of covariance demonstrated that the training programme induced significant changes in attitudes and self-efficacy. Such results encourage the recruitment of older persons into training programmes aimed at increasing computer technology attitudes and self-efficacy.

Although researchers have related sexual desire in older women to quality-of-life variables such as overall physical health, well-being, and life satisfaction, little is known about the socio-cultural mechanisms that shape sexual desire in minority ethnic older women. We investigated this sexual variable among Mexican-American older women in a qualitative fashion. Date were collected from 25 community-dwelling women of Mexican descent (aged 59-89 years) using a semistructured interview protocol and a grounded theory approach. We inquired about dimensions of sexual desire including sexual fantasies and the desire to engage in sexual activity within the context of several socio-cultural and health-related factors. Using content analysis, we were able to identify key themes differentiating among respondents' levels of sexual desire and fantasies. These included the availability of a suitable partner, cultural and religious norms pertinent to women's sexuality, stigma related to sexuality in older age, and health status. Traditional sociocultural restrictions coupled with unmarried status and physical health problems emerged as critical issues associated with limited or no sexual fantasies and desire in our sample. Many respondents indicated that their sexual needs were unmet.

To examine the relations of emotional control and chronic pain to depressive symptomatology in persons with positive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status. Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Participants: One hundred twenty (51 women, 69 men) individuals with serologically documented HIV. Main Outcome Measures: Measures of depressive symptomatology (Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale [CES-D]; L. S. Radloff, 1977), emotional control (i.e., inhibited expression of feelings of anger, anxiety, or depression; Courtauld Emotional Control Scale; M. Watson & S. Greer, 1983), and chronic pain. Results: Full multiple regression analysis showed that constant pain, emotional control, and antidepressant use were all significant predictors of (and positively associated with) CES-D total scores. Conclusions: Within comprehen-