The role of cultural norms in the self-esteem and drug use relationship.

It is widely believed that low self-esteem (SE) is associated with greater substance use, although previous research has been unable to support such a relationship consistently. The present study used the "social deviance model" to investigate whether SE was differentially related to substance use for respondents in varying cultural norms. Responses to intensity of tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, and drug use, SE, and cultural norm items from over 2,000 high school and college students failed to support this model.

Use of the theory of reasoned action to predict drug and alcohol use.

The present study examines the role of self-esteem (SE) in the prediction of drug and alcohol use. Consistent with research on the theory of reasoned action, we suggest that alcohol and drug attitudes and subjective norms are more useful in the prediction of self-reported drug and alcohol consumption than SE. In the present study, measures of SE, drug attitudes, subjective norms, and drug use behaviors were collected from 2,074 high school and college students. Results indicate that drug attitudes and subjective norms do predict drug and alcohol use, but that SE does not add significantly to the prediction of the drug and alcohol behaviors.

The effect of question preface on response rates to a telephone survey of sexual experience.

Given the heavy reliance on self-report measures in research on sexuality, issues surrounding nonresponse rates are of particular importance. Phone interviews were conducted with 400 adults living in a midsized midwestern city. Rates of nonresponse and reported sexual experience were analyzed as a function of the type of preface statement provided for four questions related to sexual behavior. One preface was general; the other referred to public concern over AIDS. On questions regarding number of sexual partners in the past year and involvement in extramarital sex, women who were given the AIDS preface were significantly more likely to answer the questions than were women who received the general preface. However, for both men and women, reported rates of sexual experience did not differ as a function of the preface statement. Differences between responders and nonresponders were explored. Men were more likely to respond to the sexual items. Education, age, marital status, and religious affiliation were unrelated to rates of response to the sexual questions. For men, responders to the sexuality items reported greater yearly incomes than did nonresponders. Some differences in reported sexual behavior were also found between responders and nonresponders; nonresponders consistently reported less sexual experience. Implications for research on sexuality and future investigation of factors affecting response to sexual items are discussed.

Satisfaction with health-related educational workshops: the role of environmental and logistical factors.

The present study examined correlates of the perceived quality of four educational conferences. Specifically, the study examined the relationships of ratings of subjective overall conference quality with environmental and logistical aspects of the conferences. The results showed that ratings of room quality as well as ratings of meeting structure were significantly related to ratings of overall conference quality. Follow-up coverall conference ratings, measured up to one year after the conferences, were predicted by initial ratings of food quality.

The experience of pain during women's first sexual intercourse: cultural mythology about female sexual initiation.

A sample of coitally experienced college females was utilized to explore the adequacy of several related beliefs that constitute the cultural mythology of female sexual initiation in American society and to identify possible correlates of the subjective experience of pain during women's first intercourse. The results were that a sizeable minority of the women reported experiencing no pain during their first intercourse, that other subjective reactions (pleasure, guilt, anxiety) were experienced at least as commonly as pain, and that many women acquired considerable noncoital sexual experience prior to their first intercourse. The experience of pain during first intercourse was found to be related directly to young age, conservative sexual values, an expectation of no pain, and negative affect. The report closes with a consideration of future research needs and the presentation of a tentative model of first coital pain in which noncoital sexual experience and qualities attributed to the male partner are projected as indirect influences on first coital pain.

Extramarital sexuality: implications for marital therapists.

Although large numbers of clients approach marital therapists with concerns about extramarital behavior (ES), little has been written specifically about the implications of ES for practitioners. This paper uses a script theory framework to suggest why there are important attitude-behavior discrepancies concerning ES and how these differences may affect therapy. The authors also examine research findings concerning ES which do not support some widely held beliefs. This discussion includes a list of seven factors which therapist may utilize to differentiate diverse ES experiences and help couples clarify their values and intentions. Several case examples illustrate this process. Attention is also paid to the therapist's own values about ES and how they may affect therapy. ES emerges as a very complex phenomenon which requires a high degree of knowledge, sensitivity, and recognition of individual differences on the part of therapists.