This experiment investigated the effects of three types of structured exercise (aerobics, bodybuilding, and circuit training) on depressive symptoms of 45 clients undergoing a 4-wk., inpatient rehabilitation program for substance abuse. Pre- and posttest measures included the Center of Epidemiological Studies--Depression, resting pulse rate, blood pressure, maximum strength on incline bench press, and estimates of aerobic fitness and body fat. The bodybuilding program produced a significant decrease in depressive symptoms. Physiological and psychological explanations are discussed.

Few controlled studies describe the psychological effects of a walking program on nonclinical, premenopausal women. This experiment measured the effects of an 8-wk. walking program on female volunteers (N = 27) age 29 to 50 years (M = 37.4) randomly assigned to a supervised walking group vs a nonwalking group. A repeated-measures, multivariate design was used to analyze blood pressure, resting heart rate, timed mile walk, and scores on self-esteem, depression, and attributional style. The walking group showed significant improvement in the timed mile walk, diastolic blood pressure, and rated self-esteem.

The following factors were examined as possible influences of clients' attrition from inpatient and outpatient drug-rehabilitation programs: depression (Center of Epidemiological Studies-Depression test), attributional style (Attributional Style Questionnaire), primary drug of choice, family incidence of substance abuse, and history of childhood physical abuse. A step-wise regression analysis indicated that a history of childhood abuse was a statistically reliable predictor of program noncompletion for 92 substance abusers who entered a drug-rehabilitation program.

Psychological assessment is widely used in evaluating potential managers and other prospective or current employees in the context of internal selections or promotions. Yet, assumptions made about the interchangeability of alternative measures of the same psycho logical construct may be flawed. This article examines relationships among three widely-used measures of vocational interests: the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (Harmon, Hansen, Borgen, & Hammer, 1994), the Self-Directed Search (Holland, Fritzche, & Powell, 1997), and the Vocational Preference Inventory (Holland, 1985), each of which intends to measure (among other variables) Holland's (1997) six well-established occupational interest traits (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional). The sample consisted of 497 respondents who completed at least two measures of occupational interests. Although there was considerable overlap among the corre sponding scales across the interest scales, much variance remained unexplained; this suggests that the measures cannot be used inter changeably, and that there are limitations in cross-study comparisons of the Holland constructs when the same instrumentation is not used. Moreover, when analyzed on the individual level, the tests frequently produced non-identical to highly dissimilar Holland high-point interest codes, suggesting the need for caution when interpreting the results of single tests. The paper identifies some of the implications of these findings for personnel selection and individual career assessment applications and makes recommendations for improvements of inter est assessment.

The evolution of altruism—costly behaviour by an individual (the benefactor) that benefits another individual (the beneficiary)—has been theorized as a function of kinship, reciprocity potential, shared group membership, and costly signalling. These benefactor-beneficiary relationships have predictive value for real-life altruistic acts. J. A. Palmer designed the Costly Signals Questionnaire (CSQ) to measure participants’ level of support for altruistic acts performed under the varying conditions of (1) close kin, (2) person who can reciprocate, (3) group co-members, and (4) anonymous strangers (representing costly signalling theory). After signing consent forms, participants (n = 465) were given an opportunity to perform an altruistic act anonymously (donate valuable raffle tickets) and then completed the CSQ and measures of altruism, empathy, and religiosity. Statistical analyses support CSQ reliability and revealed that the CSQ significantly predicted altruistic action; the other measures did not (although they significantly correlated with the CSQ). Participants’ support for altruistic acts ranked significantly from strongest to weakest: kin-based > reciprocity > shared group > anonymous stranger. The CSQ appears to be a reliable, valid instrument for predicting altruistic action and measuring support of altruism based on benefactor-beneficiary relationships per evolutionary theory.