Gender role conflict, problem-solving appraisal, and the psychological functioning of firefighters

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on September 17, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Mary J. Heppner.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2009.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the meditational relationship between gender role conflict, problem-solving appraisal, and psychological functioning in firefighters. Participants were 95 male firefighters from a municipal fire department in the Midwest. Measures included the Gender Role Conflict Scale (O'Neil, Helms, Gable, David, & Wrightsman, 1986), Problem Solving Inventory (Heppner, 1988; Heppner & Petersen, 1982), and the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2 (Lambert et al., 2004). Using the methods of Baron and Kenny and colleagues (Baron & Kenny, 1986; Kenny, Kashy, & Bolger, 1998), regression analyses identified gender role conflict as a significant partial mediator between problem-solving appraisal and psychological functioning. The results provide several implications for understanding problem-solving appraisal and gender role conflict as well as for working with firefighters and similar occupations.Includes bibliographical reference

Adaptation of a Lay Health Advisor Model as a Recruitment and Retention Strategy in a Clinical Trial of College Student Smokers

This study describes and provides results from a process evaluation of a lay health advisor (LHA) model to enhance participation in a clinical trial of the effectiveness of motivational interviewing on smoking cessation in college fraternity and sorority members. The implementation of the model had two phases: (a) the selection and training of LHAs as liaisons between research staff and participants and (b) LHAs’ roles in recruitment and retention. Perceptions of the LHA model were explored using survey questionnaires. Trial participants (N = 118) and LHAs (N = 8) were generally satisfied with the model and identified LHAs as helpful to participation. Seventy-four percent of chapter members were screened and 73% of participants received three of the four motivational interviewing sessions. These results indicate the LHA model was well received and met the needs of the research project