父母控制、不良同伴和感觉寻求对工读生毒品使用的影响机制

在社会学习理论和生态系统理论基础上提出一个有调节的中介模型,探讨父母心理控制、行为控制与工读生毒品使用的关系,以及结交不良同伴的中介效应和感觉寻求的调节效应。514名工读生完成了父母控制问卷、不良同伴问卷、感觉寻求量表和毒品使用问卷。结果显示:(1)父母心理控制能正向预测工读生的毒品使用,父母行为控制能负向预测工读生的毒品使用。(2)结交不良同伴在心理控制、行为控制与工读生毒品使用的关系中起中介作用。(3)结交不良同伴的中介作用受到感觉寻求的调节。     

感觉寻求对工读生毒品使用的影响：有中介的调节效应

以523名工读生为调查对象,考察工读生毒品使用特点,并在控制相关人口学变量后,探讨感觉寻求、压力性生活事件、结交不良同伴与工读生毒品使用的关系。结果显示：（1）工读生的毒品使用行为严重,34.2%的工读生曾使用过毒品,毒品使用呈现低龄化、以吸食新型毒品为主的趋势。（2）工读生的感觉寻求是毒品使用的风险因素。（3）压力性生活事件对感觉寻求与毒品使用之间的关系具有风险增强的调节效应。（4）这种调节效应以结交不良同伴为中介变量。因此,感觉寻求对工读生毒品使用的影响是有中介的调节效应。研究结果对青少年毒品使用的预防和干预有重要的理论价值和参考价值。     

Family, personality, and social risk factors impacting the retention rates of first-year Hispanic and Anglo college students

This study investigated familial and behavioral differences between Hispanic and Anglo-American first-year college students. Analyses of variance and chi-square analyses were used to test for ethnic differences in (a) risk factors associated with family dysfunction, family addictions, personality factors, and social experiences, (b) student problem behaviors, namely alcohol use, drug use, and eating disorders, (c) a one-year follow-up of student retention, and (d) specific factors related to retention at the one-year follow-up. The Hispanic freshmen appeared to demonstrate resilience despite a lack of mentoring and greater paternal addiction. However, the one-year follow-up suggested that Hispanic females were at particular risk for leaving school. To improve college retention rates, social policy should focus on Hispanic students' vulnerabilities and strengths in making important developmental transitions.     

Methodological Issues in the Assessment of Medication Effects in Children Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders in school-aged children and is usually treated with stimulant medications, including methylphenidate (MPH; Ritalin®, Ritalin-LA®, Concerta®, Metadate®, or Focalin®) and other drug compounds (e.g., Adderall®, Adderall-XR®, or Dexedrine). Assessment of school behavior and performance is a critical component in determining the safety and efficacy of these medications. This paper reviews methodological issues in assessing drug effects in school settings by considering features of the independent variable (the medication), the dependent variables (the endpoints selected for assessment), and the design (the structure of the assessment). In addition, we consider recent conceptual advances in understanding the behavioral mechanisms of action of drugs used to treat ADHD that may influence the structure and interpretation of medication assessments.     

Internet accessibility and usage among urban adolescents in Southern California: implications for web-based health research.

The World Wide Web (WWW) poses a distinct capability to offer interventions tailored to the individual's characteristics. To fine tune the tailoring process, studies are needed to explore how Internet accessibility and usage are related to demographic, psychosocial, behavioral, and other health related characteristics. This study was based on a cross-sectional survey conducted on 2373 7th grade students of various ethnic groups in Southern California. Measures of Internet use included Internet use at school or at home, Email use, chat-room use, and Internet favoring. Logistic regressions were conducted to assess the associations between Internet uses with selected demographic, psychosocial, behavioral variables and self-reported health statuses. The proportion of students who could access the Internet at school or home was 90% and 40%, separately. Nearly all (99%) of the respondents could access the Internet either at school or at home. Higher SES and Asian ethnicity were associated with higher internet use. Among those who could access the Internet and after adjusting for the selected demographic and psychosocial variables, depression was positively related with chat-room use and using the Internet longer than 1 hour per day at home, and hostility was positively related with Internet favoring (All ORs = 1.2 for +1 STD, p < 0.05). Less parental monitoring and more unsupervised time were positively related to email use, chat-room use, and at home Internet use (ORs for +1 STD ranged from 1.2 to 2.0, all p < 0.05), but not related to at school Internet use. Substance use was positively related to email use, chat-room use, and at home Internet use (OR for "used" vs. "not used" ranged from 1.2 to 4.0, p < 0.05). Self-reported health problems were associated with higher levels of Internet use at home but lower levels of Internet use at school. More physical activity was related to more email use (OR = 1.3 for +1 STD), chat room use (OR = 1.2 for +1 STD), and at school ever Internet use (OR = 1.2 for +1 STD, all p < 0.05). Body mass index was not related to any of the Internet use-related measures. In this ethnically diverse sample of Southern California 7(th) grade students, 99% could access the Internet at school and/or at home. This suggests that the Internet is already a potential venue for large scale health communication studies. Adolescents with more psychosocial risk factors or detrimental health behaviors were more likely to use the Internet. Therefore, if used properly, Internet interventions could effectively address the high risk populations. Additional research is needed to gain a more complete understanding of the positive and negative consequences of Internet use among adolescents.     

压力性生活事件对工读生毒品使用影响：有中介的调节效应

考察家庭功能对压力性生活事件与工读生毒品使用之间关系的调节效应以及领悟社会支持对此调节效应是否具有中介效应。采用压力性生活事件量表、家庭功能评定问卷、领悟社会支持问卷、毒品使用问卷对514名工读生进行研究。结果表明：（1）家庭功能对压力性生活事件与工读生毒品使用之间关系具有调节效应;（2）这种调节效应以领悟社会支持为中介变量。压力性生活事件对工读生毒品使用的影响是有中介的调节效应。     

Adolescent Substance Use: Preliminary Examinations of School and Neighborhood Context

In considering the influences of microsystems on adolescent substance use, familial and peer contexts have received the most extensive attention in the research literature. School and neighborhood settings, however, are other developmental contexts that may exert specific influences on adolescent substance use. In many instances, school settings are organized to provide educational services to students who share similar educational abilities and behavioral repertoires. The resulting segregation of students into these settings may result in different school norms for substance use. Similarly, neighborhood resources, including models for substance use and drug sales involvement, may play an important role in adolescent substance use. We briefly review literature examining contextual influences on adolescent substance use, and present results from two preliminary studies examining the contribution of school and neighborhood context to adolescent substance use. In the first investigation, we examine the impact of familial, peer, and school contexts on adolescent substance use. Respondents were 283 students (ages 13 to 18) from regular and special education classrooms in six schools. Although peer and parental contexts were important predictors of substance use, school norms for drug use accounted for variance in adolescent use beyond that explained by peer and parental norms. Data from a second study of 114 adolescents (mean age = 15) examines neighborhood contributions to adolescent substance use. In this sample, neighborhood indices did not contribute to our understanding of adolescent substance use. Implications for prevention are presented.     

On becoming involved with drugs: modeling adolescent drug use over time.

We tested a model of the process of becoming involved with drugs during junior high. The sample included 698 students who were not using alcohol, cigarettes, or marijuana during Grade 7 (T1); the follow-up data points were 12 and 15 months later (T2 and T3). The final model, which predicted 72% of the variance in drug use at T3, provides support for hypotheses drawn from both social and cognitive theories. Weak familial and school attachments fostered use by increasing the likelihood of exposure to pro-drug social influences (drug use offers); weak bonds with school also directly affected cognitive motivations (lower resistance self-efficacy [RSE] and more positive outcome expectancies). In turn, social influences at T1 played a dominant role in initial use at T2, but cognitive motivations were also significant. At T3, prior use assumed the most prominent position. Drug-specific measures of RSE and expected use directly affected later use of that substance. The results indicate that both generic and drug-specific effects are needed to explain adolescent drug use. Implications for prevention programs are discussed.     

Effects on High School Students of a Teaching Module for Reducing Homophobia

Outcomes of an antihomophobia teaching unit for 130 high school students were evaluated in a pretest-posttest follow-up design, with gender and school type as independent variables. Dependent variables were cognition (Modified Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Scale; Price, 1982); homophobic guilt, homophobic anger, and delight (Affective Reactions to Homosexuality Scale; Van de Ven, Bornholt, & Bailey, in press); behavioral intentions (Homophobic Behavior of Students Scale; Van de Ven et al., in press); and short-story responses. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed that participants' anger (p < .05) and behavioral intentions (p < .0005) were significantly less homophobic at posttest and follow-up. Analyses of the cognition variable showed that hostility toward homosexuals was significantly reduced for girls (p < .0005) and initially for boys (p < .0005); however, boys reverted to previous levels of homophobia on this variable at 3-month follow-up. Similarly, analyses of the delight variable for students in single-sex schools showed that girls became less hostile (p < .05) and maintained their reduced levels of homophobia, whereas boys became less hostile initially (p < .05) but then regressed. The intervention had no effect on students' guilt and no effect on delight for coeducational students. Analysis of all participants' short-story content using sign tests indicated that the instruction had the desired effect (p < .005). However, only the female, coeducational school cohort yielded significant results (p < .05). The findings reinforce the importance of using multiple dependent measures of homophobic response and of collecting follow-up data. They also imply that extensions of the unit are warranted, especially in the absence of longer term impact for boys.     

Mediating mechanisms in a school-based drug prevention program: first-year effects of the Midwestern Prevention Project

Describes (a) the effects of a social-influences-based drug prevention program (the Midwestern Prevention Project) on the mediating variables it was designed to change and (b) the process by which the effects on mediating variables changed use of drugs (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana). Students in 42 middle schools and junior high schools in Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas, were measured in the fall of 1984 (N = 5,065) and again 1 year later (N = 5,008) after 24 of the schools had been through the program. Compared to students in control schools, students in program schools became less likely to express belief in the positive consequences of drug use, less likely to indicate that they would use such drugs in the future, more likely to report that their friends were less tolerant of drug use, and more likely to believe that they were better able to communicate with their friends about drug or school problems. Change in perceptions of friends' tolerance of drug use was the most substantial mediator of program effects on drug use. There was evidence that intentions to use and beliefs about the positive consequences of use may also mediate program effects on drug use.     

The roles of dispositional optimism and pessimism in hiv disease progression

Relationships between dispositional optimism and pessimism and the course of HIV infection, determined by changes in viral load and CD4 counts, were studied in a longitudinal cohort of 412 patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Multiple regression analyses controlling for baseline levels of disease status, ethnicity, and depressive symptoms demonstrated that higher pessimism at baseline was associated with higher viral load at follow-up (average of 18 months later). Optimism at baseline had a curvilinear relationship with CD4 counts at follow-up. Moderate levels of optimism at baseline predicted the highest CD4 counts at follow-up. Although optimism and pessimism were associated with specific health behaviors (e.g., ART adherence, cigarette use, drug use, dietary practices), none of these behaviors mediated the optimism/pessimism effects. The biologic and behavioral mediators of associations of personality variables with the course of treated HIV infection deserve continued investigation.     

压力、感恩和基本心理需要满足对工读生毒品使用的影响机制

采用压力性生活事件量表、感恩问卷、基本心理需要量表、毒品使用问卷对585名工读生进行调查,分析了工读生毒品使用情况,以及压力性生活事件、感恩、基本心理需要满足与工读生毒品使用的关系。结果显示:(1)工读生的毒品使用行为严重,41.7%的工读生曾使用过毒品;(2)基本心理需要满足在压力性生活事件与毒品使用之间具有完全中介作用;(3)感恩调节了压力性生活事件通过基本心理需要满足对毒品使用的中介过程;(4)感恩与工读生的毒品使用显著负相关。研究结论对青少年毒品使用的预防干预有重要参考价值。     

An 8-year study of multiple influences on drug use and drug use consequences

Multiple long-term influences on young adult drug use and abuse were tested within an interactionist perspective using latent-variable causal models. Intrapersonal influences included early drug use and social conformity. Proximal interpersonal influences were captured by perceived peer drug use, perceived adult drug use, and family disruption. More distal influences included perceptions of community approval or disapproval for drug use. Outcome measures included not only use of drugs but also disruptive drug use (getting high at work or school) and self-admitted problems with drugs. Data were obtained from 654 participants at three equally spaced time points during an 8-year longitudinal study that began when the subjects were in junior high school. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the adequacy of the hypothesized measurement model. Subsequently, a structural equation, or path model, was used to examine the across-time relations among the latent and manifest variables. Stability effects were found for all repeatedly measured latent variables across the 4-year spans. Social conformity strongly influenced other latent variables across time. Early drug use and perceived adult drug use were prominent predictors of young adult drug use, whereas prior drug use predicted disruptive drug use and a lack of social conformity predicted problems with drug use. Early adult alcohol use predicted later disruptive drug use and problems with drug use. Perceived adult drug use generally influenced later alcohol use, whereas peer drug use influenced later cannabis and hard-drug use. Implications for prevention and treatment using a multicausal interactionist perspective are discussed.     

The effectiveness and generalization of a cognitive-behavioral group treatment to reduce impulsive/aggressive behavior for boys in a residential setting

Twenty of 150 boys living in a residential setting who were emitting high levels of impulsive/aggressive behavior participated in a study of the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral group treatment procedure designed to equip them with skills conducive to alternate and more socially appropriate behavior. Treatment involved 13 meetings of 55 minutes duration over a six-week period. The results indicated significant behavioral changes in school regarding: (1) the intensity of physical fighting, (2) the frequency and intensity of verbal fighting, (3) noncompliance, and (4) being in an inappropriate location. These behavioral changes did not generalize beyond the school setting. Significant increases in the number of identified logical consequences of aggressive behavior and in the number of alternative responses to aggressive behavior were observed compared to control boys. The behavioral changes observed in school largely extinguished during the five weeks between the last treatment session and the follow-up observations.     

Predicting AIDS-Induced Behavioral Change in the General Population of Young People

Sets of individual-psychological and sociodemographic variables for predicting self-reported AIDS-relevant behavioral change were examined. The self-completing questionnaire used in the study contained scales of knowledge and attitudes about AIDS, sex and drug abuse experience scales, and six behavioral change scales. It was anonymously administered to 2,655 young people of both sexes, 15–30 years of age, living in 18 cities and towns, regularly employed or attending school. The overall level of knowledge was high and the attitudes moderately liberal. Regression analyses showed that only a small fraction of variance in any of the six behavioral change criteria (sex, drugs, personal concern, chance of contracting the disease, desire for more knowledge, and nonfunctional practices) could be attributed to the four predictors presumed to influence the criteria directly (sex risk index, drugs risk index, knowledge, and attitudes). The prediction improved when another 10 variables with assumed indirect influence were included. Socioeconomic status and the drug abuse risk index were most predictive of behavior change. Knowledge and attitudes proved to be poor predictors. It is stressed that the social and cultural specifics in planning prevention activities must be observed.     

Behavior therapy for drug abuse: A controlled treatment outcome study

82 Ss were studied in a comparative evaluation of a behavioral vs supportive treatment for illegal drug use. Behavioral treatment included stimulus control, urge control, contracting/family support and competing response procedures for an average of 19 sessions. 37% of Ss in the behavioral condition were drug-free at 2 months, 54% at 6 months, and 65% at 12 months vs 20 ± 6% for the alternative treatment during all 12 months. The behavioral treatment was more effective across sex, age, educational level, marital status and type of drug (hard-drugs, cocaine, and marijuana). Greater improvement for this condition was also noted on measures of employment/school attendance, family relationships, depression, institutionalization and alcohol use.     

Instructional ecology and academic responding time for students at three levels of teacher-perceived behavioral competence

Thirty third and fourth grade students, ages 8-10 years, were observed systematically over two entire school days to examine the nature of instruction and academic responding time for students at varying levels of teacher-perceived behavioral competence. Data were recorded on six categories in 10-sec intervals. While the amount of time spent in active academic responses (about 45 min in a typical school day) did not differ significantly between groups, it was found that students perceived to be lower in behavioral competence spent more time engaged in certain inappropriate behaviors and received more teacher disapproval. Yet, students grouped on the basis of teachers' perceptions of their behavioral competence did not differ on the majority of instructional or student responding variables. Findings related to the relationship between responding times and achievement also are presented. Implications of findings for understanding the classroom ecology for students exhibiting behavior problems are discussed.     

Personality and mortality risk across the life span: the importance of conscientiousness as a biopsychosocial attribute.

OBJECTIVE: This study addressed whether personality in childhood and personality in adulthood are independent predictors of mortality risk and the extent to which behavioral and other psychosocial factors can explain observed relationships between personality and mortality risk. DESIGN: This was a prospective longitudinal cohort study of 1,253 male and female Californians over 7 decades (1930-2000). Proportional hazards regressions were the principal analyses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mortality risk (in the form of relative hazards) was the primary outcome. Additional tests of mediators and moderators ascertained whether associations between personality and mortality risk remained significant when psychosocial and behavioral variables were statistically controlled. RESULTS: The findings, including a new 14-year additional follow-up in old age, revealed that conscientiousness, measured independently in childhood and adulthood, predicted mortality risk across the full life span. The link from childhood remained robust when adult conscientiousness and certain behavioral variables were controlled. Psychosocial and behavioral variables partly explained the adult conscientiousness-longevity association. CONCLUSION: The findings demonstrate the utility and complexity of modern personality concepts in understanding health and point to conscientiousness as a key underexplored area for future biopsychosocial studies.