Psychology as a profession has an opportunity and obligation to advocate for and develop healthy work environments. This will require the design and conduct of doctoral-level training in occupational health psychology. A model for training might well be based on the assumptions that there is a viable role for occupational health psychologists trained at the doctoral level for both academic and applied work settings, and that doctoral training would be based on the integration of health psychology and public health. Issues remaining to be addressed in the development of doctoral training programs include appropriate predoctoral training, academic standards, the interdisciplinary nature of faculties, and appropriate settings for training. Future directions in establishing doctoral training in occupational health psychology will best be taken in dialogue with several other professions and institutions that share a common interest in reducing leading work-related diseases and injuries and promoting public health in the workplace.

In a household survey, Chicanos attributed significantly more importance to family relationships than did other ethnic groups. For Chicanos, both family satisfaction and social (other than family) satisfaction correlated highly with psychological well-being. Using multiple regression analysis to control for age and income, it was found that for Chicanos family satisfaction was more predictive of overall well-being and positive affect than was social satisfaction. However, social satisfaction was more predictive of level of negative affect than was family satisfaction. The results suggest that the Chicano family may function primarily to provide a positive environment for its members rather than mitigating the stressful effects of a negative environment.

No abstract

This study has examined the relationships of health-related behaviours to sociodemographic factors with special emphasis on ethnicity in Hawaii. Behavioural variables investigated were non-use of car seat belts, overweight, physical inactivity, smoking, heavier alcohol use, and driving while intoxicated. Sociodemographic factors considered were ethnicity, island, sex, age, education, employment status, marital status, and household income. Major ethnic groups studied were Caucasians, Hawaiians including part-Hawaiians, Chinese, Filipinos, and Japanese. The relationships of ethnic factors with the behavioural characteristics were studied by logistic regression after fitting significant non-ethnic sociodemographic variables. Multiple risk behaviour was investigated by canonical correlation analysis. Different behavioural factors were found to be associated with different sets of non-ethnic socioeconomic variables. There were significant ethnic differences in individual at-risk behaviours except for driving while intoxicated. Overweight was most prevalent among Hawaiians followed by Caucasians. Caucasians and Hawaiians were at higher risk for non-use of seat belts, cigarette smoking, and heavier alcohol use compared to Chinese, Filipinos, and Japanese. Orientals were physically less active than Caucasians and Hawaiians. Implications of the observed ethnic differences are discussed.