Personality characteristics of eating-disordered outpatients as measured by the Hand Test.

The Hand Test was administered to 34 eating-disordered and 26 noneating-disordered college-age women to determine discriminating projective personality features. Eating-disordered women scored higher on response time, overall pathology, and passivity. Anorexics present more tension, aggression, and acting out potential whereas bulimics demonstrate significantly more passive responses. The more severely affected women scored higher on crippled, passive, and withdrawal variables. Similarities as well as differences between the groups may have important implications for the diagnosis of subgroups of eating-disordered women and for treatment planning.

The perception of empathy in alcoholism counselors.

Alcoholic inpatients evaluated the level of empathy demonstrated by a purported alcoholism counselor. Forty-two detoxified subjects viewed a 15-min videotape of a simulated alcoholism counseling session. Subjects had been randomly assigned to one of two groups: Group 1 was told that the counselor they were about to see was a recovering alcoholic whose empathy they were to evaluate. The subjects in Group 2 were given the same instructions; however, the information concerning the counselor's drinking history was omitted. A form of the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI) was administered immediately after the viewing. No statistical differences between group means on the empathy subscale of the BLRI were found. This finding does not support the contention that a history of drinking and rehabilitation enhances the perception of counselor empathy among alcoholics.