Hostility, relationship quality, and health among African American couples

Objective: This study investigated the association between hostility and health and whether it is moderated by the quality of an individual\u27s primary romantic relationship. Method: Longitudinal data were provided by 184 African Americans, including 166 women. Participants averaged 38 years old and were married or in long-term marriagelike relationships. Hostility and relationship quality were measured at the first assessment. Hostility was based on participants\u27 responses to items tapping cynical attitudes about relationships. Relationship quality was based on trained observer ratings of videotaped couple interactions on behavioral scales reflecting warmth, support, and communication skills. At 2 assessments approximately 5 and 7 years later, participants provided health data. Health index scores were formed from responses to five scales of the SF-12 (Ware, Kosinski, & Keller, 1998) as well as to responses to questions about the number of chronic health conditions and the number of prescribed medications. Results: Stepwise regression analyses controlling for demographic variables and the earlier health score tested the main and interactive effects of hostility and relationship quality on longitudinal changes in health. Whereas no main effects were supported, the interaction of hostility and relationship quality was significant (p \u3c .05). The form of the interaction was such that high-hostile individuals had better health outcomes if they were in a high-quality relationship. Conclusion: Hostile persons in high-quality relationships may be at less risk for negative health outcomes because they do not regularly experience the physiologic reactivity and adverse psychosocial outcomes that they would otherwise experience as a result of recurring interpersonal conflict

Paper Session II-C - Space Welding: On the Agenda

In 1997 the United States and the Ukrainian Space Agency are scheduled to cooperate in the International Space Welding Experiment (ISWE), a flight demonstration on the U.S. Space Shuttle of the space welding tool developed at the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute. ISWE will demonstrate the feasibility of repairing a space structure by welding as well as providing more data on space welded joints. It will move welding in space closer to the same dominant position that welding occupies today in the terrestrial fabrication of launch vehicles and their payloads. The development of space welding will be a complex task, as exemplified by the long history of development in the Ukraine. Besides the welding process itself it is necessary to address component assembly, weld joint configuration and fit up, and post weld inspection and verification in any contemplated welding operation. But the reward, a basic and versatile “universal” tool for assembly, construction, and maintenance of hardware in space, is not trivial either. As we move into the twenty-first century America’s Space Program, pushing forward in its “better, faster, cheaper” mode, is embracing new ways of doing business to achieve its goals. The cooperation between the United States and the Ukrainian Space Agency represents such a new way of doing business in the interests of “better, faster, cheaper” progress into space

The 1988 David and Frances Scott Memorial Concert

This is the program for the David and Frances Scott Memorial Concert, sponsored by the Epsilon Delta Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota. The concert was held on April 4, 1988, in the Mabee Fine Arts Center. Guest musician Carolyn Staley, soprano, was accompanied by Russell Hodges on piano

Predicting relationship stability among midlife African American couples

Objective: This study examined predictors of relationship stability over 5 years among heterosexual cohabiting and married African American couples raising an elementary-school-age child. The vulnerability–stress–adaptation model of relationships (Karney & Bradbury, 1995) guided the investigation. Contextual variables were conceptualized as important determinants of education and income, which in turn influence family structure, stress, and relationship quality and stability. Religiosity was tested as a resource variable that enhances relationship stability. Method: Couples (N = 207) were drawn from the Family and Community Health Study. Variables assessed at Wave 1 (education, income, religiosity, biological vs. stepfamily status, marital status, financial strain, and relationship quality) were used to predict relationship stability 5 years later. Results: Higher levels of education were associated with higher income, lower financial strain, and family structures that research has shown to be more stable (marriage rather than cohabitation and biological-family rather than stepfamily status; Bumpass & Lu, 2000). These variables, in turn, influenced relationship quality and stability. Religiosity, an important resource in the lives of African Americans, promoted relationship stability through its association with marriage, biological-family status, and women\u27s relationship quality. Conclusions: Enhancing the stability of African American couples\u27 relationships will require changes in societal conditions that limit opportunities for education and income and weaken relationship bonds. Programs to assist couples with blended families are needed, and incorporation of spirituality into culturally sensitive relationship interventions for African American couples may also prove beneficia

Volatile hydrocarbons inhibit methanogenic crude oil degradation

Methanogenic degradation of crude oil in subsurface sediments occurs slowly, but without the need for exogenous electron acceptors, is sustained for long periods and has enormous economic and environmental consequences. Here we show that volatile hydrocarbons are inhibitory to methanogenic oil biodegradation by comparing degradation of an artificially weathered crude oil with volatile hydrocarbons removed, with the same oil that was not weathered. Volatile hydrocarbons (nC5-nC10, methylcyclohexane, benzene, toluene, and xylenes) were quantified in the headspace of microcosms. Aliphatic (n-alkanes nC12-nC34) and aromatic hydrocarbons (4-methylbiphenyl, 3-methylbiphenyl, 2-methylnaphthalene, 1-methylnaphthalene) were quantified in the total hydrocarbon fraction extracted from the microcosms. 16S rRNA genes from key microorganisms known to play an important role in methanogenic alkane degradation (Smithella and Methanomicrobiales) were quantified by quantitative PCR. Methane production from degradation of weathered oil in microcosms was rapid (1.1 ± 0.1 μmol CH4/g sediment/day) with stoichiometric yields consistent with degradation of heavier n-alkanes (nC12-nC34). For non-weathered oil, degradation rates in microcosms were significantly lower (0.4 ± 0.3 μmol CH4/g sediment/day). This indicated that volatile hydrocarbons present in the non-weathered oil inhibit, but do not completely halt, methanogenic alkane biodegradation. These findings are significant with respect to rates of biodegradation of crude oils with abundant volatile hydrocarbons in anoxic, sulphate-depleted subsurface environments, such as contaminated marine sediments which have been entrained below the sulfate-reduction zone, as well as crude oil biodegradation in petroleum reservoirs and contaminated aquifers

Direct and moderating effects of community context on the psychological well-being of African American women

The effects of community characteristics on well-being were examined among 709 African American women. Direct and moderating effects of neighborhood characteristics on distress were tested. Aggregate-level ratings of neighborhood cohesion and disorder were significantly related to distress, although the relation between cohesion and distress became nonsignificant when individual risk factors were statistically controlled. Aggregate-level neighborhood variables interacted significantly with individual risk and resource variables in the prediction of distress, consistent with trait-situation interaction theories (D. Magnusson & N. S. Endler, 1977). Community cohesion intensified the benefits of a positive life outlook. Community disorder intensified both the benefits of personal resources and the detrimental effects of personal risk factors. Results showed evidence of resilience among African American women

Method of Heat Treating Aluminum-Lithium Alloy to Improve Formability

A method is provided for heat treating aluminum-lithium alloys to improve their formability. The alloy is heated to a first temperature, maintained at the first temperature for a first time period, heated at the conclusion of the first time period to a second temperature, maintained at the second temperature for a second time period, actively cooled at the conclusion of the second time period to a third temperature, maintained at the third temperature for a third time period, and then passively cooled at the conclusion of the third time period to room temperature

Neighborhood context and financial strain as predictors of marital interaction and marital quality in African American couples

Demographic characteristics, family financial strain, neighborhood–level economic disadvantage, and state of residence were tested as predictors of observed warmth, hostility, and self–reported marital quality. Participants were 202 married African American couples who resided in a range of neighborhood contexts. Neighborhood–level economic disadvantage predicted lower warmth during marital interactions, as did residence in the rural south. Consistent with the family stress model (e.g., Conger & Elder, 1994), family financial strain predicted lower perceived marital quality. Unexpectedly, neighborhood–level economic disadvantage predicted higher marital quality. Social comparison processes and degree of exposure to racially based discrimination are considered as explanations for this unexpected result. The importance of context in relationship outcomes is highlighted

Neighborhood Racial Discrimination and the Development of Major Depression

This study examined the impact of neighborhood racial discrimination on the development of major depressive disorder (MDD) in a sample of African American women. Participants were 499 women from Georgia and Iowa with no history of MDD who were followed for 9 to 11 years. Several neighborhood characteristics (community social disorder, community cohesion, and community racism) and individual characteristics (negative life events, financial strain, personal outlook, religious involvement, relationship quality, negative affectivity, and individual experiences of racism) were employed as predictors of whether or not the women met criteria for MDD during this period of time. In a multilevel logistic regression analysis, neighborhood-level discrimination as well as individual-level variables including the number of negative life events, financial strain, and negative affectivity were found to be significant predictors of developing MDD. Analyses of cross-level interactions indicated that the effects of neighborhood-level discrimination were moderated by the quality of individuals’ relationships, such that better relationships with others served to lessen the effect of neighborhood discrimination on depression. Implications of these findings for understanding the negative effects of racial discrimination are discussed