Child sexual abuse is recognized as a national problem that has reached epidemic proportions. However, empirical investigations of offender behaviors associated with the sexual-offending process (i.e., modus operandi [MO]) are lacking in the literature yet critically needed to inform prevention and intervention initiatives. This investigation contrasted the MO of 114 adults and 114 adolescents who sexually offended against intrafamilial or extrafamilial victims. Study findings indentified adolescent offenders' more frequent use of a variety of MO strategies to gain victim compliance in sexual activity and to maintain victim silence following the onset of abuse, including approaches designed to coerce or manipulate victims. Results also indicated significant differences in offenders' MO based on their relatedness (i.e., intrafamilial or extrafamilial) to victims. Implications for prevention as well as offender and victim treatment are discussed.

Respiratory infections are the leading cause of morbidity in community populations. We developed a structured interview based on the Health Review (Rose et al., Psychosom. Med. 40: 142-165, 1978) to provide a simple method for periodic assessment of infectious illness, particularly upper respiratory infections. Congruence between interview data and physician diagnoses demonstrated excellent agreement regarding the presence or absence of an infection. Subjects who showed a clinically significant increase in antibody titers to an influenza virus vaccine reported fewer than half as many respiratory infections in the subsequent year as subjects who did not show a significant response. Interrater and test-retest reliabilities were satisfactory. These data support the reliability and validity of this method of assessing infectious illnesses.