A new decontaminated hassles measure for adults, the Survey of Recent Life Experiences, was developed and validated. An initial pool of 92 items was administered to 100 subjects along with the Perceived Stress Scale. Fifty-one items were selected, based on significant correlations with the latter scale. The alpha reliability of the resultant final form of the Survey of Recent Life Experiences and its correlation with perceived stress were both high. In a separate cross-replication sample of 136 adults, the alpha reliability of the Survey and its correlation against the Perceived Stress Scale remained acceptably high. Moreover, separate-sex analyses supported the reliability and validity of the Survey of Recent Life Experiences across gender. Factor analysis of the Survey yielded six interpretable factors. Intercorrelations among subscales based on these factors were generally modest, suggesting that the scale is relatively free from contamination by psychological distress.

Eosinophilic colitis is a rare form of primary eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease that is poorly understood. Neonates and young adults are more frequently affected. Clinical presentation is highly variable depending on the depth of inflammatory response (mucosal, transmural, or serosal). The pathophysiology of eosinophilic colitis is unclear but is suspected to be related to a hypersensitivity reaction given its correlation with other atopic disorders and clinical response to corticosteroid therapy. Diagnosis is that of exclusion and differential diagnoses are many because colonic tissue eosinophilia may occur with other colitides (parasitic, drug-induced, inflammatory bowel disease, and various connective tissue disorders). Similar to other eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders, steroid-based therapy and diet modification achieve very good and durable responses. In this paper, we present our experience with this rare pathology. Five patients (3 pediatric and 2 adults) presented with diarrhea and hematochezia. Mean age at presentation was 26 years. Mean duration of symptoms before pathologic diagnosis was 8 months. Mean eosinophil count per patient was 31 per high-power field. The pediatric patients responded very well to dietary modifications, with no recurrences. The adult patients were treated with steroids and did not respond. Overall mean followup was 22 (range, 2–48) months.

It has been suggested that jurors in criminal trials are less likely to convict when the penalty is more severe or the charge is more serious. This was explained by Kerr (1975) in terms of a perceived increase in the cost of a Type I error (convicting an innocent person) that resulted in a criterion shift in the amount of evidence jurors required to vote guilty. The previous research found only weak support for the prediction regarding severity but consistent support for the predicted effect of seriousness. However, in the case materials used in these studies, more evidence was legally required to prove guilt on the more serious charges. This article presents studies in which the amount of evidence needed to prove guilt was equated for all charges. Under these circumstances, there was no effect on verdicts of seriousness of charge or severity of penalty and no evidence of a criterion shift due to either variable. There may still be reason to believe that these factors affect real juries, but this belief is not supported by the systematic evidence from mock jury studies. * The authors are grateful to the Ontario Science Centre for its cooperation and to the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, which provided much of the support for the research through a grant to the first author. We also would like to thank Chris Koegl for his help with some of the analyses.

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