Patient sexual behaviors and sexual harassment: a national survey of physical therapists.Sexual harassment sexual harassment, in law, verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, aimed at a particular person or group of people, especially in the workplace or in academic or other institutional settings, that is actionable, as in tort or under equal-opportunity statutes. of health care workers has become a topic of increasing concern. Research suggests that a variety of health care workers, including nurses,[1] physicians,[2] psychologists,[3] and others,[3-7] are frequently subjected to sexual harassment in the course of their work. McComas et al[8] reported that over 80% of physical therapists and physical therapist students experienced some form of inappropriate patient sexual behavior sexual behavior A person's sexual practices–ie, whether he/she engages in heterosexual or homosexual activity. See Sex life, Sexual life. . These results are disturbing and suggest that strategies to deal with inappropriate patient sexual behavior should be an important component of a physical therapist's education and training. McComas and colleagues' study, however, may have limited generalizability because all of the 152 respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. in the survey were drawn from a single urban community: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I sought to assess the generalizability of their findings by surveying the incidence of sexual harassment and sexually related patient behaviors in a nationwide survey of randomly selected members of the American Physical Therapy Association The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is a national professional organization representing more than 66,000 members. Its goal is to foster advancements in physical therapy practice, research, and education. (APTA APTA American Physical Therapy Association. ). Evaluating sexual harassment within the context of the physical therapist-patient relationship is a particularly complex task. Many elements of physical therapy treatments require close physical contact. Asking a patient to partially disrobe, for example, may have the potential to stimulate sexual feelings sexual feelings A constellation of psychological sentiments that constitute desire for sexual satisfaction or release of sexual tension and associated behaviors in patients. Such feelings and behaviors may or may not be perceived as harassment Ask a Lawyer Question Country: United States of America State: Nevada I recently moved to nev.from abut have been going back to ca. every 2 to 3 weeks for med. by therapists. Thus, to obtain a valid assessment of sexual harassment, one must take into account that a variety of sexually related patient behaviors occur in the course of physical therapy, only some of which may constitute sexual harassment. Consequently, I sought to examine the range of sexually related patient behaviors that occur in physical therapy, the extent to which these behaviors are perceived as sexual harassment, and the overall incidence of sexual harassment in physical therapist-patient interactions. In contrast to the study by McComas et al,[8] who chose to examine only those behaviors that they believed clearly fell within the definition of sexual harassment, my study was designed to assess the broad range of sexually related patient behaviors that occur in physical therapy without labeling them in advance as "inappropriate" and constituting sexual harassment. Thus, for the purposes of this article, I will use the more neutral term sexually related patient behaviors to refer to the broad class of behaviors that were surveyed. It was hypothesized (1) that, in line with the findings of McComas et al,[8] this national sample of physical therapists would report a high rate of sexually related patient behaviors, (2) that most of the behaviors would not be perceived as sexual harassment, (3) that younger therapists would experience more sexual harassment than older therapists, and (4) that female therapists would experience more sexual harassment than male therapists. Method Subjects and Procedure A total of 750 individuals were selected from a computer-generated, randomized ran·dom·ize tr.v. ran·dom·ized, ran·dom·iz·ing, ran·dom·iz·es To make random in arrangement, especially in order to control the variables in an experiment. sample provided by APTA of members who identified themselves as being licensed physical therapists and currently engaged in practice. In October 1995, an introductory letter and a two-page questionnaire titled the "Physical Therapist Survey" (RA deMayo, unpublished manuscript), which was to be completed and returned anonymously, were mailed to potential subjects. The introductory letter requested the therapists' participation in a study of sexual harassment of physical therapists and included the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC EEOC abbr. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC n abbr (US) (= Equal Employment Opportunities Commission) → comisión que investiga discriminación racial o sexual en el empleo ) definition of harassment as "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors sexual favor Any sexual act occurring in an employee-employer relationship, exchanged for privileged treatment in a workplace, ↑ salary, career advancement. See Sexual bribery, Sexual harassment. and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature."[9] The letter also informed the therapists about the potential benefits and risks of participation in this study. Approximately 2 weeks after the initial mailing, a second mailing was sent to those therapists who had not responded to the initial request for participation. Instrument The Physical Therapist Survey was developed as part of a larger project assessing sexual harassment of health care professionals. The survey instrument contained questions to assess each therapist's age, gender, highest degree attained, number and type of clients seen per week, years of clinical experience, and primary employment site. The survey instrument asked respondents to indicate whether they had experienced incidents of sexual harassment by their patients, and if so, the number and circumstances of the incidents. Respondents were asked to describe their most severe incident in detail, including the age and gender of the patient, and their own response to the incident. Respondents were also asked to indicate whether they had experienced any of 15 types of sexually related patient behaviors (see the Table for a list of these behaviors), and if so, the extent to which they would characterize the event as sexual harassment on a seven-point Likert-item scale, ranging from "not at all harassing" to "moderately harassing" to "severely harassing. " These 15 types of patient behaviors were gleaned from a pilot study that asked health care professionals to identify the range of sexual behaviors they had experienced with patients. The behaviors listed in the Table range from relatively mild behaviors, such as suggestive sug·ges·tive adj. 1. a. Tending to suggest; evocative: artifacts suggestive of an ancient society. b. looks, to potentially criminal behaviors, such as sexual assault. Thus, the list represents a continuum of the types of behaviors the health care professionals reported in our pilot study. A comments section provided an opportunity for respondents to describe their experiences in an open-ended manner.
Table.
Sexually Related Patient
Behaviors
Experienced
Patient Behavior Yes Percentage
Patient directed sexist remark at you 240 67.0
Patient requested hug 187 52.5
Patient gave you a suggestive look 183 51.3
Patient made a sexual remark about you 159 44.7
Patient asked you for a date 147 41.2
Patient brushed against, touched, or grabbed you 111 31.0
Patient suggestively exposed body parts 86 24.2
Patient made sexually suggestive gestures 63 17.5
Patient requested intimate physical contact 45 12.6
Patient gave an inappropriate romantic/sexual gift 34 9.5
Patient described sexual fantasies involving you 28 7.8
Patient touched you in grossly inappropriate way 28 7.8
Patient made physical sexual assault 2 0.6
Patient threatened sexual assault 1 0.3
Patient attempted to solicit sexual
activity by promise of gift/reward 1 0.3
Patient Behavior No Percentage
Patient directed sexist remark at you 118 33.0
Patient requested hug 169 47.5
Patient gave you a suggestive look 174 48.7
Patient made a sexual remark about you 197 55.3
Patient asked you for a date 210 58.8
Patient brushed against, touched, or grabbed you 247 69.0
Patient suggestively exposed body parts 269 75.8
Patient made sexually suggestive gestures 292 82.5
Patient requested intimate physical contact 313 87.4
Patient gave an inappropriate romantic/sexual gift 323 90.5
Patient described sexual fantasies involving you 329 92.2
Patient touched you in grossly inappropriate way 329 92.2
Patient made physical sexual assault 355 99.4
Patient threatened sexual assault 356 99.7
Patient attempted to solicit sexual
activity by promise of gift/reward 355 99.7
Patient Behavior If "Yes," Mean
Rating of
Severity of
Harassment.
Patient directed sexist remark at you 3.1
Patient requested hug 2.0
Patient gave you a suggestive look 3.4
Patient made a sexual remark about you 3.9
Patient asked you for a date 2.9
Patient brushed against, touched, or grabbed you 4.2
Patient suggestively exposed body parts 4.2
Patient made sexually suggestive gestures 3.7
Patient requested intimate physical contact 4.6
Patient gave an inappropriate romantic/sexual gift 3.6
Patient described sexual fantasies involving you 5.2
Patient touched you in grossly inappropriate way 5.4
Patient made physical sexual assault 6.5
Patient threatened sexual assault 7.0
Patient attempted to solicit sexual
activity by promise of gift/reward 3.0
(a) Participants could select a whole number between 1 and 7. Numbers 1, 4, and 7 were anchored with the following descriptive language: 1=not at all, 4=moderately harassing, 7=severely harassing. Data Analysis Percentages, means, and standard deviations In statistics, the average amount a number varies from the average number in a series of numbers. (statistics) standard deviation - (SD) A measure of the range of values in a set of numbers. were computed to profile respondents by age, gender, education level, and ratings of sexually related patient behaviors. Stepwise stepwise incremental; additional information is added at each step. stepwise multiple regression used when a large number of possible explanatory variables are available and there is difficulty interpreting the partial regression multiple regression Multiple regression The estimated relationship between a dependent variable and more than one explanatory variable. equations were calculated to assess the relationship between personal and professional characteristics of the respondents and reports of sexual harassment. These analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (statistics, tool) Statistical Package for the Social Sciences - (SPSS) The flagship program of SPSS, Inc., written in the late 1960s. ["SPSS X User's Guide", SPSS, Inc. 1986]. (SPSS A statistical package from SPSS, Inc., Chicago (www.spss.com) that runs on PCs, most mainframes and minis and is used extensively in marketing research. It provides over 50 statistical processes, including regression analysis, correlation and analysis of variance. 6.1) integrated software Separate software components or applications that have been combined into one package. See integrated software package. system.(*) Results After accounting for undeliverable un·de·liv·er·a·ble adj. Difficult or impossible to deliver: undeliverable mail. un and incomplete questionnaires, the final sample totaled 358 out of a possible 733 (48.6%). The return rate met or exceeded that of similar national surveys of physical and sexual harassment of health care professionals.[10-14] Furthermore, the demographics The attributes of people in a particular geographic area. Used for marketing purposes, population, ethnic origins, religion, spoken language, income and age range are examples of demographic data. and education level of the sample closely resembled those of the general physical therapist membership of APTA.[15] For example, the respondents ranged in age from 26 to 62 years, as did approximately 96% of the physical therapist members of APTA, with a median age in the sample of 37.2 years compared with 36.0 years for the general physical therapists membership of APTA. Similarly, the vast majority of respondents held either a bachelor's degree (69.7%) or a master's degree master's degree n. An academic degree conferred by a college or university upon those who complete at least one year of prescribed study beyond the bachelor's degree. Noun 1. (27.7%), compared with the overall APTA physical therapists membership figures of 71.9% and 16.8%, respectively. A large majority of the respondents (81.5%) were women, compared with 74.0% of all APTA members, suggesting that female therapists may have been slightly more willing or motivated to respond to a questionnaire regarding sexual harassment than male therapists. Respondents worked at a variety of employment sites, including outpatient clinics (24.8%), private physical therapy offices (20.0%), acute care hospitals (18.3%), home health agencies (14.9%), and skilled nursing facilities skilled nursing facility n. Abbr. SNF An establishment that houses chronically ill, usually elderly patients, and provides long-term nursing care, rehabilitation, and other services. (9.9%). Sexually Related Patient Behaviors Because sexual harassment is a complex phenomenon involving interpersonal in·ter·per·son·al adj. 1. Of or relating to the interactions between individuals: interpersonal skills. 2. events and subjective appraisal of these events, respondents were asked to indicate whether they had experienced any of 15 types of patient behaviors with sexual connotations, and if so, the extent to which they would characterize the behaviors as sexual harassment. The results of these ratings are presented in the Table. Eighty-six percent of the respondents indicated that they had experienced at least one of the 15 types of sexually related patient behaviors on the survey. Relatively milder sexually related behaviors were generally reported with greater frequency than more intrusive in·tru·sive adj. 1. Intruding or tending to intrude. 2. Geology Of or relating to igneous rock that is forced while molten into cracks or between other layers of rock. 3. Linguistics Epenthetic. behaviors. For example, 44.7% of the respondents indicated "yes" to the item "Patient made a sexual remark about you." In contrast, only 7.8% of the respondents indicated "yes" to the more intrusive item "Patient touched you in a grossly inappropriate way." Although the more intrusive behaviors were less common, they were also rated as more severely harassing when they did occur. For example, for those respondents who reported being touched in a grossly inappropriate way, the mean level of reported harassment was 5.4, and 50.0% rated the experience as extremely harassing. Conversely con·verse 1 intr.v. con·versed, con·vers·ing, con·vers·es 1. To engage in a spoken exchange of thoughts, ideas, or feelings; talk. See Synonyms at speak. 2. , for those respondents who reported a patient making a sexual remark about him or her, the mean level of harassment was 3.9, and only 13.2% rated the incident as extremely harassing. Sexual Harassment In addition to inquiring inquiring, v to draw information from a client—whether by verbal questioning or physical examination—to assess the person's state of health. about sexually related patient behaviors, the survey instrument asked respondents to describe their experiences of sexual harassment in a more open-ended manner. Overall, 63.4% of the respondents reported at least one incident of sexual harassment by a patient ([bar X]=4.7, SD=5.2, for respondents who reported harassment). Despite this high incidence of harassment, 68.1% reported that they had received no formal training in coping with The Coping With series of books is a series of books aimed at 11-16 year olds, written by Peter Corey and published by Scholastic Hippo. The first book, Coping with Parents, was released in 1989, and the series continued until the last book, Coping with Cash sexual harassment. The therapists were asked to describe their most severe incident of sexual harassment. Of those respondents who reported at least one incident, 84.5% reported that the most severe incident occurred with a male patient and 15.5% reported that the most severe incident occurred with a female patient. Patients' ages ranged from 16 to 85 years ([bar X]=41.7, SD=17.4). Almost 70% of the respondents who had been harassed (69.8%) reported that they had discussed the incident with someone other than the patient. The therapists were instructed to "briefly describe your most severe sexual harassment by a patient." In response to this open-ended question A closed-ended question is a form of question, which normally can be answered with a simple "yes/no" dichotomous question, a specific simple piece of information, or a selection from multiple choices (multiple-choice question), if one excludes such non-answer responses as dodging a , therapists mentioned events such as "patient exposed himself," "patient asked me to massage his genitals gen·i·tals pl.n. Genitalia. ," "patient lifted my shirt," "patient described sexual fantasies sexual fantasy Psychology Private mental imagery associated with explicitly erotic feelings, accompanied by physiologic response to sexual arousal. See Sexual desire. of me," "patient grabbed my crotch crotch n. The angle or region of the angle formed by the junction of two parts or members, such as two branches, limbs, or legs. ," "patient repeatedly asked me out for a date despite being told it was inappropriate," "patient found out where I lived and came to my house late at night," "patient followed me into parking lot and tried to make physical/sexual contact," "patient pulled me on top of him and kissed me," and "patient began masturbating during therapy session." Age and Gender of Therapist Stepwise multiple regression analysis involving factors concerning the respondents' personal and professional characteristics revealed an inverse relationship A inverse or negative relationship is a mathematical relationship in which one variable decreases as another increases. For example, there is an inverse relationship between education and unemployment — that is, as education increases, the rate of unemployment between therapist age and number of sexually related patient sexual behaviors (r= -.16, P [is less than] .01) and an inverse relationship between therapist age and likelihood of at least one incident of sexual harassment (r= -.13, P [is less than] .05). Similarly, therapist gender was found to have a relationship to likelihood of at least one incident of sexual harassment (r=.14, P [is less than] .05) and total number of incidents of sexual harassment (r=.19, P [is less than] .01), with female therapists reporting more harassment than male therapists. None of the correlations between age and gender and sexual harassment, however, account for more than 4% of the variance. Thus, these correlations are of limited importance in accounting for the sexual harassment of physical therapists. Other therapist variables such as marital status marital status, n the legal standing of a person in regard to his or her marriage state. , employment site, years of practice, and highest degree earned did not have a relationship to harassment. Discussion The results of this study, in which 86% of the therapists reported experiencing sexually related patient behaviors, are consistent with those of McComas et al[8] who reported a high incidence of what they termed "inappropriate patient sexual behaviors," most of which were not described as sexual harassment by their respondents. McComas et al found it "troubling" that therapists did not describe most of their patients' inappropriate sexual behaviors as harassment and suggested several psychological explanations for the respondents' "unwillingness" to label their experiences as sexual harassment. My results, however, contradict con·tra·dict v. con·tra·dict·ed, con·tra·dict·ing, con·tra·dicts v.tr. 1. To assert or express the opposite of (a statement). 2. To deny the statement of. See Synonyms at deny. the notion that therapists are "unwilling" to acknowledge sexual harassment. Indeed, approximately 63% of our sample reported an incident that they considered to be sexual harassment. Thus, although therapists do acknowledge sexual harassment, they do not simply equate e·quate v. e·quat·ed, e·quat·ing, e·quates v.tr. 1. To make equal or equivalent. 2. To reduce to a standard or an average; equalize. 3. all sexually related patient behaviors as harassment, but rather consider the intrusiveness in·tru·sive adj. 1. Intruding or tending to intrude. 2. Geology Of or relating to igneous rock that is forced while molten into cracks or between other layers of rock. 3. Linguistics Epenthetic. and context of the event. For example, one respondent In Equity practice, the party who answers a bill or other proceeding in equity. The party against whom an appeal or motion, an application for a court order, is instituted and who is required to answer in order to protect his or her interests. commented, "If a senile senile /se·nile/ (se´nil) pertaining to old age; manifesting senility. se·nile adj. 1. Relating to, characteristic of, or resulting from old age. 2. patient touches me inappropriately, I don't feel harassed, but if a young man does it, that's a different story." Far from being troubling, these results suggest that physical therapists have the capacity to evaluate for themselves, in a psychologically flexible manner, the extent to which different events with patients affect them, rather than labeling all sexually related patient behaviors as sexual harassment. My results provide only limited support for the hypotheses that younger therapists are more likely to experience sexual harassment than older therapists and that female therapists are more likely to experience sexual harassment than male therapists. Age and gender account for a relatively small proportion of the variance in reported harassment. Furthermore, other therapist-related variables such as marital status, years of practice, educational degree, and employment site were unrelated to harassment. These results suggest that sexual harassment is potentially an issue of relevance to all physical therapists, regardless of personal characteristics and professional experience. Clearly, harassment experiences were not limited to a particular group of therapists, such as young women. The finding that gender was not a more powerful predictor of sexual harassment is somewhat surprising, as it is contrary to the findings of several studies on sexual harassment across a variety of professions.[16-18] The particular demands of the physical therapist's role, such as frequent physical contacts with patients, may expose male therapists to a higher risk of sexual harassment than most other jobs that men occupy. The results confirm McComas and colleagues' finding that few therapists receive any training regarding sexual harassment in the workplace.[8] Given that the majority of the respondents in my survey have had to cope with sexual harassment in their work and that this survey was done several years after the publication of McComas and colleagues' important results, this continuing lack of training is rather troubling. Limitations I used a different measure of patient sexual behavior and harassment than that used by McComas et al[8]; thus, there may be some limitations in comparing the results between studies. The measure that I used was developed for this study, and the validity and reliability of the questionnaire have not been established in independent published research. The generalizability of my findings is also limited by the overall response rate of 48.6%. The results may overestimate o·ver·es·ti·mate tr.v. o·ver·es·ti·mat·ed, o·ver·es·ti·mat·ing, o·ver·es·ti·mates 1. To estimate too highly. 2. To esteem too greatly. or underestimate the incidence of harassment if there was a greater or lesser tendency for those therapists who were harassed to respond to the questionnaire. These results also do not represent a comprehensive assessment of the overall sexual harassment of physical therapists, because the survey focused exclusively on interactions with patients and did not include sexual harassment by co-workers, supervisors, and so on. This study did not assess how physical therapists distinguished events that they rated as sexually harassing from those that were not rated as sexually harassing. Future research that addresses this question might be helpful in the development of training programs to assist physical therapists to identify and cope with sexual harassment. Conclusion The results of my study confirm in a nationwide, random sample that physical therapists frequently experience sexual harassment and related behaviors from their patients. The results suggest that therapists do not equate all sexually related behaviors with sexual harassment, lending credence to findings that 63% of the sample reported at least one incident of sexual harassment. Despite widespread media attention regarding sexual harassment in the workplace, less than one third of the respondents reported receiving any formal training on how to handle this issue with patients. It is hoped that these findings will provide further support to Bruckner's[19] call for development of training programs in this area. Acknowledgment acknowledgment, in law, formal declaration or admission by a person who executed an instrument (e.g., a will or a deed) that the instrument is his. The acknowledgment is made before a court, a notary public, or any other authorized person. I thank Shannon Stewart Shannon Stewart may refer to:
(*) SPSS Inc, 444 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611. References [1] Grieco A. Scope and nature of sexual harassment in nursing. Journal of Sex Research. 1987;23:261-266. [2] Phillips SD, Schneider MS. Sexual harassment of female doctors by patients. N Engl J Med. 1993;329:936-939. [3] Charney D, Russell R. An overview of sexual harassment. Am J Psychiatry psychiatry (səkī`ətrē, sī–), branch of medicine that concerns the diagnosis and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, including major depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety. . 1994;151:10-17. [4] Komaromy M, Bindman AB, Heber RJ, Sande MA. Sexual harassment in medical training. N Engl J Med. 1993;328:322-326. [5] Lafontaine E, Trudeau L. The frequency, sources, and correlates of sexual harassment among women in traditional male occupations. Sex Roles. 1986;17:433-442. [6] MacKinnon CA. Sexual Harassment of Working Women. New Haven New Haven, city (1990 pop. 130,474), New Haven co., S Conn., a port of entry where the Quinnipiac and other small rivers enter Long Island Sound; inc. 1784. Firearms and ammunition, clocks and watches, tools, rubber and paper products, and textiles are among the many , Conn: Yale University Yale University, at New Haven, Conn.; coeducational. Chartered as a collegiate school for men in 1701 largely as a result of the efforts of James Pierpont, it opened at Killingworth (now Clinton) in 1702, moved (1707) to Saybrook (now Old Saybrook), and in 1716 was Press; 1979. [7] Richman JA, Flaherty JA, Rospenda KM, Christensen ML. Mental health consequences and correlates of reported medical student abuse.JAMA JAMA abbr. Journal of the American Medical Association . 1992;267:692-694. [8] McComas J, Herbert C, Giacomin C, et al. Experiences of student and practicing physical therapists with inappropriate patient sexual behavior. Phys Ther. 1993;73:762-769. [9] Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Guidelines guidelines, n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. on discrimination because of sex. Federal Register. 1980;45:74676-74677. [10] Guy JD, Brown CK, Polestra PL. Who gets attacked: a national survey of patient violence directed at psychologists in clinical practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 1990;21:493-495. [11] Guy JD, Polestra PL, Stark M. Personal distress and therapeutic effectiveness: national survey of psychologists practicing psychotherapy psychotherapy, treatment of mental and emotional disorders using psychological methods. Psychotherapy, thus, does not include physiological interventions, such as drug therapy or electroconvulsive therapy, although it may be used in combination with such methods. . Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 1989;20:48-50. [12] Guy JD, Brown CK, Polestra PL. Living with the aftermath: a national survey of the consequences of patient violence directed at psychotherapists. Psychotherapy in Private Practice. 1991;9:35-43. [13] Guy JD, Brown CK, Polestra PL. Safety concerns and protective measures used by psychotherapists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 1992;23:421-423. [14] deMayo RA. Patient sexual behavior and sexual harassment: a national survey of female psychologists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. In press. [15] 1993 Active Membership Profile. Alexandria, Va: American Physical Therapy Association; 1994. [16] Thorne-Finch R. Ending the Silence: The Origins and Treatment of Male Violence Against Women. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press Inc. (or UTP) is a publishing house and a division of the University of Toronto that engages in academic publishing. The press was founded in 1901 to print university examinations and calendars, and to repair library books. ; 1992. [17] US Merit Systems Protection Board The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) ensures that federal civil servants are hired and retained based on merit. In overseeing the personnel practices of the federal government, the board conducts special studies of the merit systems; hears and decides charges of wrongdoing and . Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace: Is It a Problem? Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 1981. [18] US Merit Systems Protection Board. Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace: An Update. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 1988. [19] Bruckner J. Commentary on "Experiences of student and practicing physical therapists with inappropriate patient sexual behavior." Phys Ther. 1993;73:768-769. RA deMayo, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology, Graduate School of Education and Psychology, Pepperdine University Pepperdine University is a private institution of higher learning affiliated with the Church of Christ in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States. The university's location overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is adjacent to the city limits of Malibu. , 400 Corporate Pointe pointe n. In ballet, dancing that is performed on the tips of the toes. [From French pointe (des pieds), point (of the feet), tiptoe; see point.] , Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. , CA 90230 (USA). This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards for members of the American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is a professional organization representing psychology in the US. Description and history The association has around 150,000 members and an annual budget of around $70m. . This study was supported by a grant from the University Research Council of Pepperdine University. This article was submitted June 5, 1996, and was accepted January 15, 1997. |
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