Differential Reactions to Male and Female Gender-Role Violations: Testing the Sexual Orientation Hypothesis.

Previous research has found that gender-atypical males are evaluated more negatively than gender-atypical females. According to the sexual orientation hypothesis, this asymmetry in evaluations occurs because the feminine characteristics taken on by males when they violate gender roles are more closely tied to perceived sexual orientation than are the masculine characteristics of gender-atypical females. The current series of studies were designed to confirm the existence and generality of the asymmetry phenomenon (Study 1), the preconditions for testing the sexual orientation hypothesis (Study 2), and then to test the hypothesis itself (Study 3). Study 1 found that, as predicted, adults (N = 195, females = 97) displayed more intolerance of males than of females committing gender-role violations across a wide variety of characteristics within multiple domains, although the existence of asymmetry varied somewhat depending on the domain. Study 2 revealed that, as predicted, adults (N = 196, females = 117) believed that gender-role violations indicate homosexuality more so for males than for females overall and across all four domains studied (occupation, activity, trait, and appearance). Study 3 directly tested the sexual orientation hypotheses by examining the relationship between intolerance of specific gender-role violations (scores from Study 1) and the perceived homosexuality associated with those violations (scores from Study 2). Overall, there was a positive relationship between intolerance and perceived homosexuality, indicating that the more a given gender-role violation is thought to implicate homosexuality, the more negatively/less positively people tend to react to the violation, consistent with the sexual orientation hypothesis.

Effects of gender-related domain violations and sexual orientation on perceptions of male and female targets: an analogue study.

The current study examined factors that influenced heterosexual male and female raters' evaluations of male and female targets who were gay or heterosexual, and who displayed varying gender roles (i.e., typical vs. atypical) in multiple domains (i.e., activities, traits, and appearance). Participants were 305 undergraduate students from a private, midwestern Jesuit institution who read vignettes describing one of 24 target types and then rated the target on possession of positive and negative characteristics, psychological adjustment, and on measures reflecting the participants' anticipated behavior toward or comfort with the target. Results showed that gender atypical appearance and activity attributes (but not traits) were viewed more negatively than their gender typical counterparts. It was also found that male participants in particular viewed gay male targets as less desirable than lesbian and heterosexual male targets. These findings suggest a nuanced approach for understanding sexual prejudice, which incorporates a complex relationship among sex, gender, sexual orientation, and domain of gendered attributes.

Driving and dementia of the Alzheimer type: beliefs and cessation strategies among stakeholders.

PURPOSE: Although driving by persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an important public health concern, we know little about the attitudes and perceptions of key stakeholders regarding driving safety in these individuals or the factors that precipitate and influence driving assessment and cessation decisions. DESIGN AND METHODS: We convened 10 focus groups composed of persons intimately involved in driving decisions for older adults to identify and compare beliefs and perceptions concerning AD and driving and to identify effective strategies to limit or cease unsafe driving. The 68 focus-group participants included health professionals, transportation and law-enforcement professionals, current and former drivers with AD, and family caregivers of current and former drivers with the disease. RESULTS: With few exceptions, participants said that a diagnosis of very mild AD alone did not preclude driving. Most regarded family members as pivotal in monitoring and managing unsafe driving and recognized their need for institutional and medical support, especially support from physicians in counseling and evaluation of health-related fitness of older drivers. Members of each group acknowledged their own roles and responsibilities in driving decisions and described difficulties they experienced in making assessments and implementing decisions to limit or stop the driving of given individuals with AD. IMPLICATIONS: Education of families, professionals, and transportation specialists is needed to understand the influence of AD severity on driving abilities, identify problem driving behaviors, make appropriate referrals of unsafe drivers, and access available resources for drivers with AD and those most responsible for their safety.

Predictors of preclinical Alzheimer disease and dementia: a clinicopathologic study.

BACKGROUND: To understand the earliest signs of cognitive decline caused by Alzheimer disease (AD) and other illnesses causing dementia, information is needed from well-characterized individuals without dementia studied longitudinally until autopsy. OBJECTIVE: To determine clinical and cognitive features associated with the development of AD or other dementias in older adults. DESIGN: Longitudinal study of memory and aging. SETTING: Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, St Louis, Mo. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical Dementia Rating, its sum of boxes, and neuropathologic diagnosis of dementia. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty control participants who eventually came to autopsy. RESULTS: Individuals who did not develop dementia showed stable cognitive performance. Entry predictors of dementia were age, deficits in problem solving as well as memory, slowed psychomotor performance, and depressive features. Minimal cognitive decline occurred prior to dementia diagnosis, after which sharp decline was noted. Even individuals who were minimally cognitively impaired (Clinical Dementia Rating = 0.5) typically had neuropathologic AD at autopsy. Histopathologic AD also was present in 34% of individuals who did not have dementia at death; these individuals without dementia showed an absence of practice effects on cognitive testing. CONCLUSIONS: Increased age, depressive features, and even minimal cognitive impairment, as determined clinically by Clinical Dementia Rating sum of boxes and by slowed psychomotor performance, identify older individuals without dementia who develop dementia. Older adults who do not develop dementia have stable cognitive performance. The absence of practice effects may denote the subset of older adults without dementia with histopathologic AD, which may reflect a preclinical stage of the illness.

Absence of effect of depression on cognitive performance in early-stage Alzheimer disease.

BACKGROUND: Depression can interfere with the normal expression of cognitive abilities in adults of all ages, but it is unclear if depression in demented people, which is common, is associated with reduced cognitive performance beyond the effect of the dementia itself. OBJECTIVE: To determine if depression adds to the cognitive deficit in dementia. DESIGN: Performance on psychometric tests of memory and other cognitive function was correlated with the number of depressive features reported by the individual and by a knowledgeable collateral source, as well as the judgment of a research clinician as to whether the person was depressed. SETTING: An Alzheimer disease research center. PARTICIPANTS: The convenience sample included individuals with very mild (Clinical Dementia Rating, 0.5; n = 167 [mean age, 76.03 years]) or mild (Clinical Dementia Rating, 1; n = 155 [mean age, 78.41 years]) Alzheimer disease who were enrolled in ongoing longitudinal studies at the center. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Psychometric measures of memory and cognition. RESULTS: Depression was present in 15% of the very mild and 24% of the mild dementia groups. There was no relation between the clinicians' diagnoses of depression and psychometric scores. Little relation was found between performance on the cognitive tests and the number of depressive features (maximum, 9) reported by the individual or collateral source. The few statistically significant (P<.05) correlations were modest (< or =0.21). CONCLUSION: Depression does not worsen cognitive test performance beyond the effect of dementia.

Accuracy of collateral source reports in very mild to mild dementia of the Alzheimer type.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the reporting accuracy of collateral sources (knowledgeable informants) regarding very mild and mild dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) and to identify characteristics associated with collateral source accuracy. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis of initial visits of individuals enrolled in a longitudinal study of healthy aging and Alzheimer disease. SETTING: Urban Alzheimer disease research center. PARTICIPANTS: Pairs of 515 individuals with very mild (n = 203) or mild (n = 312) DAT and their collateral sources. MEASUREMENTS: Collateral sources were asked separately during a semistructured interview by experienced clinicians to report current ability of the individual with DAT in memory, orientation, and judgment and problem solving. The clinical performance of the individuals with DAT in these domains was compared with these predictions. RESULTS: Collateral sources were consistently and significantly accurate in reporting the cognitive capabilities of individuals with very mild and mild DAT. Although all types of collateral sources performed significantly better than chance, individual variables that correlated with collateral source accuracy included spousal relationship; living with the individual with DAT; frequent exposure to the individual; and age, education level, sex and dementia severity of the individual with DAT. CONCLUSION: Collateral sources are accurate in reporting the cognitive capabilities of individuals with DAT, even in the very mild stage of dementia.