Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

E A Klonoff

Publications and source records attributed to E A Klonoff.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Do blacks believe that HIV/AIDS is a government conspiracy against them?

BACKGROUND: We present the first study to explore the possibility that blacks believe that the human immunodeficiency virus was developed by the federal government in order to exterminate the black population. METHODS: Five hundred twenty black adults sampled door to door in 10 randomly selected census tracts completed a written survey in exchange for $10. They indicated their degree of agreement with the statement, "HIV/AIDS is a man-made virus that the federal government made to kill and wipe out black people." RESULTS: Twenty-seven percent of blacks held AIDS-conspiracy views and an additional 23% were undecided. Endorsing AIDS-conspiracy beliefs was not related to blacks' age or income but was related to higher levels of education. Blacks who agreed that AIDS is a conspiracy against them tended to be culturally traditional, college-educated men who had experienced considerable racial discrimination. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence and health-related implications of blacks' AIDS-conspiracy beliefs must be fully investigated, and such beliefs must be addressed in culturally tailored, gender-specific AIDS prevention programs for blacks.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1999

Acculturation and cigarette smoking among African Americans: replication and implications for prevention and cessation programs.

We report a replication of a 1996 study on the role of acculturation in smoking among African American adults. Results with the current sample were nearly identical to the prior ones: smokers tended to be traditional and nonsmokers acculturated, with nearly 70% of Black smokers in both studies being highly traditional in their cultural orientation. Given that coming from a highly traditional Black family was a strong predictor of smoking in both studies, we suggest that new smoking prevention and cessation programs might be culturally tailored for Blacks by focusing on smoking as a familywide issue.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1997

An experimental analysis of sociocultural variables in sales of cigarettes to minors.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the role of age, racial/ethnic group, and gender, as well as that of other sociocultural variables, in minors' access to tobacco. METHODS: Thirty-six minors attempted to purchase cigarettes once in each of 72 stores (2592 purchase attempts). The minors represented equal numbers of girls and boys; 10-year-olds, 14-year-olds, and 16-year-olds; and Whites, Blacks, and Latinos. Equal numbers of stores were in Black, White, and Latino neighborhoods. RESULTS: Older children were more likely than younger ones to be sold cigarettes, and Latino children were more likely than Whites to be sold cigarettes. Older Black children (irrespective of gender) were the single most likely group to be sold cigarettes. Cigarettes were significantly more likely to be sold to children by male than female clerks and in specific sociocultural contexts. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions with retailers must address sociocultural variables to improve effectiveness in reducing minors' access to tobacco.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Acculturation and cigarette smoking among African American adults.

The relationship between acculturation and cigarette smoking among African Americans was examined with 444 adults. Results revealed that African American smokers were more traditional (less acculturated) than their nonsmoking counterparts, irrespective of gender, and that acculturation was a better predictor of smoking than status variables such as income and education. The prevalence of smoking among traditional African Americans was 33.6% and similar to the national data (33.2%), whereas the prevalence of smoking among acculturated African Americans was 15.3%; 68.49% of African American smokers were highly traditional. These findings suggest that acculturation is a factor in smoking among African Americans and highlight the need for further exploration of the role of acculturation in African American health and health-related behavior.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1994

The problem and sociocultural context of single-cigarette sales.

OBJECTIVE: To provide data on the sale of single cigarettes to adults and minors and to examine the sociocultural context in which these sales occur. DESIGN: A naturalistic observation study using repeated measures. Two hundred six stores in a convenience sample were visited by one minor and one adult who each attempted to purchase a single cigarette. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Single-cigarette sales to an adult and/or minor. Data were obtained on type of store and, if a sale occurred, on the price, brand, and packaging of the cigarette. The ethnic composition of the neighborhood surrounding each store was determined. RESULTS: One hundred one (49.1%) of the stores sold single cigarettes. Singles were sold significantly more often to minors than to adults, and when both could make a purchase, minors paid more for these singles than did adults. Singles were least likely to be sold in white neighborhoods, more likely to be sold in integrated neighborhoods, and most likely to be sold in minority neighborhoods. Minors were able to purchase single cigarettes during 34.4% of the visits to white neighborhoods but could do so during 71.2% of the visits to minority neighborhoods; adults were able to make similar purchases during 24% of the visits to white neighborhoods and 37.3% of the visits to minority neighborhoods. CONCLUSIONS: The illegal sale of single cigarettes involves complex sociocultural factors heretofore unexamined. An understanding of such factors may be useful in planning merchant education programs and drafting policy to control illegal sales.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Predicting exercise adherence in women: the role of psychological and physiological factors.

BACKGROUND: A large percentage of the normal population does not adhere to a regular exercise program. Little is known about the factors that predict exercise initiation or adherence. This study provides data on the role of psychological, physical, and biological factors in exercise adherence among women. METHODS: Twenty-three women participated in a free aerobics program in which they could attend as many exercise sessions as they chose. Psychological and physical measures as well as serum beta-endorphin levels pre- and post-exercise were taken and used to predict total number of exercise sessions attended. RESULTS: Endorphin levels did not change as a function of exercise and did not predict the number of sessions attended. Rather, women who were overweight, shorter, had several physical complaints, and felt somewhat anxious were most likely to attend the exercise sessions, and these variables accounted for 73% of the variance in sessions attended. CONCLUSIONS: Because psychological and physical discomfort predicted exercise adherence, these results suggest that emphasizing the immediate symptom-relief benefits of exercise might increase initiation and adherence in the general population.

Affect↗
PubMed1994

Preventing cigarette sales to minors: the need for contextual, sociocultural analysis.

BACKGROUND. Interventions designed to stop retailers from selling cigarettes to minors have been based on the untested and implicit hypothesis that the sole purpose of these sales is to maximize profits. Interventions have proceeded in the absence of clear empirical evidence that this profit motive alone actually predicts sales; there is no theoretical model regarding when, where, how, and why some retailers decide to sell cigarettes to minors while others do not. We present the first theoretical model of the retailer's decision to sell cigarettes to minors and argue that a variety of contextual and sociocultural variables enter into that decision. We discuss the manner in which this model might be used to improve the effectiveness of future preventive interventions with retailers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Cultural diversity in the predictors of adolescent cigarette smoking: the relative influence of peers.

A culturally diverse sample of 4375 adolescents completed a self-report inventory assessing their current amount of smoking, and several psychosocial predictors of smoking (e.g., depression, anger, stress, smoking among peers, etc). Results revealed that Whites smoke more than Blacks, Asians, and less acculturated Latinos but not more than highly acculturated Latinos. Stepwise regression analyses of the predictors of smoking found significant ethnic and acculturation differences in the relative predictive power of 18 well-known risk factors. Smoking among peers was the best predictor of smoking for White adolescents (accounting for 23.5% of the variance) but accounted for only 15% of the variance for Latino youth, 9.6% of the variance for Asian youth, and none of the variance for Black youth. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for smoking prevention programs that focus on resisting peer influences.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1994

Culture and gender diversity in commonsense beliefs about the causes of six illnesses.

One hundred seventy-eight subjects attributed a variety of causes to six illnesses/diseases: AIDS, the common cold, diabetes, hypertension, lung cancer, and headaches. Factor analysis of these causal attributions yielded four factors which were more complex than those in the existing literature. Each of the six illnesses was seen as caused by different factors. Ethnic and gender differences in causal attributions also were assessed. Although there were no differences between minorities and whites in the perceived causes of the six illnesses, a number of gender differences did emerge. Women were more likely than men to view illness as caused by Sin and Sex and as a form of punishment. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for ethnic and gender differences in health behavior, health service utilization, and somatic symptoms, and suggestions for future research are offered.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Cultural diversity in causal attributions for illness: the role of the supernatural.

We investigated cultural diversity in beliefs about the causes of illness and assessed the possibility that popular free-form methodologies (asking subjects to generate causes) inhibit minorities from expressing their belief in supernatural causes. As predicted, when asked to generate causes of illness and rate these in terms of their importance, whites and minorities did not differ in the number or type (natural vs supernatural) of causes they generated or in the importance rating they assigned to these. However, when these same subjects were provided with natural and supernatural causes to rate in terms of importance, minorities rated supernatural causes significantly more important than did whites, and more minorities than whites endorsed such causes. Cultural differences in causal attributions for illness are examined, and the role of methodology in determining such attributions is highlighted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Cognitive representations of bodily parts and products: implications for health behavior.

This study investigated the unexplored hypothesis that people may have cognitive representations of the body's parts and products (body schema) and that these may be relevant to illness behavior. Factor and MANOVA analyses revealed that body parts are viewed as differing in the Stigma attached to them and in the extent to which they are seen as Important, Vulnerable, Sexual, and Private, with these five dimensions found to be independent of age and health history. Seeking help for dysfunction varied across body parts, with subjects reluctant to seek help for highly stigmatized and private parts but likely to seek help for parts viewed as important and vulnerable. Significant gender and ethnic differences in representations of body parts also emerged.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Appraisal and response to pain may be a function of its bodily location.

This study explored the hypothesis that appraisals of and responses to pain may in part be a function of where the pain is located. Results revealed that appraising pain as life-threatening, seeking help, disclosing pain to others and emotional distress in response to pain were contingent on the pain's bodily location. Significant ethnic differences in appraisal of pain, and significant gender differences in disclosure of and emotional response to pain also were found.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Psychological factors in sarcoidosis: the relationship between life stress and pulmonary function.

Seventeen patients with diagnosed sarcoidosis were administered a number of psychological instruments to assess anxiety, depression, life stress, and symptoms of agoraphobia and/or panic. These patients were then followed medically for a period of nine months. Scores on the various psychological tests were then compared with results obtained from repeated pulmonary function tests. Results showed a consistent relationship between increased life stress at time one and impairment in lung function throughout the study period. In addition, no consistent set of psychiatric symptoms were associated with the disease. Sarcoid patients did, however, report many symptoms similar to patients with agoraphobia. These results are discussed in terms of the potential benefits of stress reduction treatment as an adjunctive therapy for patients with sarcoidosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Sex roles, occupational roles, and symptom-reporting: a test of competing hypotheses on sex differences.

The sick-role, fixed-role obligations, symptom-reporting, and nurturant-role hypotheses of sex differences in utilization of health services and symptom-reporting were tested against each other. Fifty-one nontraditional college students completed the Cornell Medical Index (CMI), the Bem Sex Role Inventory, and questions regarding their employment status. Employment status and feminine characteristics emerged as the best predictors of symptom-reporting on the CMI and suggested that the sick-role hypothesis may be empirically superior to the others.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Culture and health-related schemas: a review and proposal for interdisciplinary integration.

We present a comprehensive review of anthropological, sociological, and psychological theory and data on the structure, content, and function of health-related schemas. Health psychology's need to integrate specific variables and principles from the other disciplines is highlighted. Suggestions for future research are offered, and the importance of cultural factors in health beliefs is emphasized.

Anthropology↗
PubMed1990

Care of AIDS patients as a source of stress to nursing staff.

A questionnaire was administered to the nursing staff of a large teaching hospital to determine: 1) sources of stress in caring for AIDS patients; 2) perceived sources of stress in being an AIDS patient; and 3) attitudes towards "deserving" various illnesses. Principal components analyses revealed a number of factors related to increased stress, including: general concerns about the care of these patients; specific concerns in crises situations; and concerns regarding the personal/social implications of caring for these individuals. These factors were not related to either prior experience taking care of AIDS patients, or nursing specialty. In addition, persons with AIDS were viewed as "deserving" their illness in much the same way as noncompliant diabetic or renal patients. Potential implications of these findings and suggestions for future research directed towards mitigating these occupational stressors are given.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1986

"Conversion reactions" in adolescents: a biofeedback-based operant approach.

This paper describes the brief in-patient treatment of two adolescents with hysterical conversion disorder. It is unique in that treatment was conducted on a general medical/surgical service. Although operantly based, the treatment utilized biofeedback and measurable psychophysiological changes as criteria to obtain reinforcement. The advantages of this approach to both patient and hospital staff are discussed.

Adolescent↗