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As part of the admission process to the North Carolina state prison system, 1,494 prisoners completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The mean BDI score for this population was 12.57 ( SD=8.51), which corresponds to the “mild depression” range on the instrument. While overall BDI scores for prisoners were elevated relative to general population norms for the test, female inmates, younger prisoners, close custody inmates, and those serving their first period of incarceration produced even higher BDI scores. Thus, reports of generalized feelings of depression are common among prisoners. Results suggest that a score of 20 might serve as an appropriate cutting score to determine the need for further assessment and mental health intervention in this population. Factor analysis of the inmates' responses yielded four distinct, interpretable factors labeled (a) cognitive symptoms, (b) vegetative symptoms, (c) emotional symptoms, and (d) feelings of punishment. These factors may suggest different components of the response to incarceration.

Administered the Hopelessness Scale to 99 criminal psychiatric inpatients, 118 general psychiatric inpatients, and 197 upper‐level college students. Normative data were reported for each group. Both of the psychiatric groups endorsed significantly more items in the hopeless direction than did the college student sample. The scale was found to be more reliable with the psychiatric patients than with the college students. This difference in reliability may reflect the restriction of range of hopelessness scores among college students. An item analysis of the Hopelessness Scale for each of the three groups was presented. These data suggest that three items (4, 5, 13) were not measuring hopelessness as reflected in the other items. Suggestions for further research with the Hopelessness Scale to clarify the components of hopelessness in nonpsychiatric populations were presented.

Police, fire, emergency medical and hospital personnel were surveyed following two disasters in the same county: An apartment building explosion followed 1 year later by a devastating tornado. They completed a symptom checklist, the Coping Inventory, and rated the extent of their support net‐works. Reported symptoms revealed clinically significant emotional effects postdisaster. More post‐traumatic symptoms were reported following the tornado. Coping theory emphasizing cognitive appraisal was used as the conceptual framework for studying reported adjustment strategies. Workers' comments illustrated the cognitive processes intervening between the emergency events and reactions to them. The most frequently endorsed coping strategies following both events involved attempts to reach cognitive mastery over the event and to ascertain meaning. Strategies of altering activities and finding new interests were not frequently endorsed. A greater number of coping responses were endorsed following the tornado along with strategies which involved seeking support from others. Factor analysis of Coping Inventory responses revealed four factors: seeking of meaning, regaining mastery through individual action, regaining mastery through interpersonal action, and philosophical self‐contemplation.

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Background: Health educators have long advocated health promotion, yet their health measurement techniques have a pathogenic focus. Pathogenesis refers to the origin of a disease and the chain of events (precursors) leading to that disease. Traditional health measurement tools with this focus therefore measure health by assessing for the absence of disease or associated risk factors. Salutogenesis, as proposed by Aaron Antonovsky, refers to associated factors and precursors of good health similar to how pathogenesis focuses on associated factors and precursors of bad health. Purpose: This study proposes a health measurement scale with a salutogenic focus that measures health by assessing for the multidimensional capacity or potential for good health. Methods: Two samples of university students (N=226, N=365) were surveyed to develop and test the psychometric properties of the Salutogenic Wellness Promotion Scale (SWPS). Results: The SWPS demonstrated a multidimensional structure with good internal consistency, that positively correlated with and predicted perceived health (p<.001), and did not invoke socially desirable responses. Discussion: The SWPS demonstrated preliminary evidence of reliability and validity in its measurement of health potential. Translation to Health Education Practice: Using the SWPS could assist health educators in developing methodologies and practices that facilitate improved health status.

58 children enrolled in a university preschool or kindergarten program were administered the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test--Revised (PPVT--R). The PPVT--R correlated .75 with the K-BIT composite IQ, .69 with the K-BIT Vocabulary standard score, and .57 with the K-BIT Matrices score. The instruments also showed significant agreement (83%) in classifying children into average versus above average categories based upon a 110 standard score on either instrument. Analysis of K-BIT Vocabulary-Matrices differences showed a mean difference of 6 points favoring Vocabulary. Differences ranged from -32 points to 43 points. 64% of the subjects scored higher on the Vocabulary than on the Matrices subtest of the K-BIT. 48% of the sample showed differences between scores on Vocabulary and Matrices of 10 points or more disregarding the direction of the difference. Implications for the concurrent validity of the instrument and interpretation of subscale differences for preschool children were discussed.

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