Specific and diversive curiosity in gifted elementary students.

Twenty-nine gifted students in Grades 2 to 6 from the small school districts in north central Kansas completed the Maze test and the Which-to-Discuss test. Background information such as age, sex, grade, and marital status of parents was also collected. There were no significant differences between boys and girls or for students from divorced and nondivorced parents on either the Which-to-Discuss test (specific curiosity) or the Maze test scores (diversive curiosity). The students scored significantly higher on the former test than chance guessing which suggests the students were displaying specific curiosity. Scores of these gifted students on these two tests of curiosity were significantly and positively correlated.     

Aggression, alcohol dependency, and self-consciousness among high school students of divorced and nondivorced parents.

134 high school students from a small high school in north central Kansas completed the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale, Fenigstein, et al.'s Self-consciousness Scale, and Zaks' Aggression Scale. Analyses of variance showed significant differences between boys and girls but not among grades. On the aggression and alcohol measures boys scored higher than girls, but lower on public self-consciousness. Youth of divorced parents scored significantly higher than those of nondivorced parents on aggression, private self-consciousness, and general self-consciousness. Aggression scores were significantly and positively correlated with those on the alcohol and private self-consciousness scales. When students' alcoholism scores indicate problems with alcohol, their scores on aggression indicate greater aggression and their private self-consciousness scores indicate sensitivity toward events in their environment, then having concerns about inner self can inhibit the action required for change. MacAndrew scores correlated significantly and negatively with scores on social anxiety about self-consciousness. When MacAndrew scores indicated problems with alcohol, the students' scores on social anxiety about self-consciousness suggested confidence in social settings, being at ease interacting with people. The present study involved students from a single rural district so increased understanding will require more extensive research if strategies for prevention and intervention are to be developed and utilized.     

Individualism: valued differently by parents and teachers of primary, junior high and high school students

The present study was designed to examine if individualism, a core characteristic of Western societies, is socially valued in two fundamental institutions: Family and school. Parents and teachers of fourth graders (primary school), sixth graders (junior high school) and tenth graders (high school) completed an Individualism Scale (covering the main factors of self-realization, autonomy, emotional independence and social differentiation) which was adapted for each grade. For each item, they had to choose the answer their child, or students, would need to give in order to make a good, or bad, impression. The results showed that individualism is valued differently as a function of the evaluator. Parents valued it in their children (with the exception of sixth graders) although teachers actually devalued it in their students. Additionally, individualism appeared as a multifaceted phenomenon since its different components were not judged consistently.

Depression, suicide ideation, and aggression among high school students whose parents are divorced and use alcohol at home.

106 high school students from a small rural high school completed the Children of Alcoholics Scale, Zaks and Walters' Aggression Scale, Beck Depression Scale, and a modified version of the Beck Scale of Suicide Ideation. Analyses of variance showed boys were not experiencing suicide ideation any more than girls; suicide ideation was similar across the four grades, but on aggression alcohol-dependent boys scored significantly higher than girls, and in Grade 9 boys' scores were significantly higher than those in Grade 10. The sophomores' scores on alcohol dependency were significantly lower than the freshmen's scores. Boys and children from divorced homes had higher scores on aggression than girls and children from nondivorced homes. Children from homes in which alcohol was used had higher depression scores than children from nonalcoholic homes. Freshman girls and sophomore boys had higher depression scores than senior boys and girls. A Pearson r of 0.28 between scores on alcohol dependency and suicide ideation was significant, but research is needed to understand better the associations of thoughts of suicide and drug-alcohol dependency among these high school students so strategies for prevention and intervention can be focused.     

Test anxiety in elementary school and junior high school students in japan

This study describes the sex difference, developmental trends of a modified Japanese version of the Test Anxiety Scale for Children (TASC, Sarason, Davidson, Frederick, & Waite, 1960) and presents evidence of negative effects of test anxiety on academic achievement. It was found that (a) the mean TASC scores for girls were found to be higher than boys across grades; (b) the developmental trends of anxiety scores showed the inversed V curves with the peak of 4th grades in elementary school, but in junior high school the curves were V shaped. Those results were explained in reference with selfdefensiveness, learning of anxiety, resistance to anxiety, and acquisition of self-concept; (c) the test anxiety was shown to have a negative effect on both academic achievement and intelligence test scores. Furthermore, it was to be also found in teacher-made tests that higher test anxiety students were inferior to lower in all the school subjects.     

Measurement of social-evaluative anxiety in junior high school students

This paper provides some initial normative and validity data on the Social Avoidance and Distress (SAD) and the Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) scales for junior high school students. Findings indicated: the level of social-evaluative anxiety does not significantly vary during the junior high school years or between sexes, junior high school students report similar levels of FNE to college students but less SAD, a significant positive correlation between treatment subjects' SAD scores and peer sociometric ratings of social-evaluative anxiety, and subjects treated for social anxiety reported significantly less SAD and FNE at follow-up assessment. Recommendations for future research and clinical use of the SAD and FNE are offered.     

初中生自我概念、应对方式及其关系的研究

以初中197名学生为被试,研究了初中生自我概念、应对方式的特点及关系.研究表明:(1)初中生在一般自我、自我价值感、身体自我方面存在性别差异,在一般自我、学业自我方面存在年级差异,在自我价值感与身体自我概念方面存在性别与年级的交互作用,女生的自我价值感、身体自我概念随年级升高而降低.(2)初中生在应对方式方面的幻想应对上存在性别差异,在求助应对、发泄应对方面存在年级差异.(3)自我概念各因子与问题解决、求助应对存在一定的显著正相关,自我概念越积极,越有可能以问题解决、寻求帮助来应对挫折和烦恼;自我概念部分因子对应对方式的部分因子存在着不同程度的显著回归效应.     

景颇族初中生的民族社会化觉察及其特征

民族社会化觉察是指少数民族孩子对父母向他们传递的有关民族特征信息的认知。采用问卷调查、情境实验和故事补全任务考察景颇族初中生对母亲传递的民族社会化信息的觉察及特征。结果表明：(1)景颇族初中生觉察到的民族社会化信息包含促进和睦、文化社会化、促使不信任和偏见准备; (2)景颇族初中生对不同信息的觉察存在差异, 对促进和睦的觉察显著多于文化社会化和偏见准备, 对促使不信任的觉察最少; (3)在冲突情境中, 有无偏见线索影响被试对偏见准备的觉察; (4)被试的民族社会化觉察存在性别差异, 女生更多地觉察到促进和睦, 男生更多地觉察到促使不信任。整个研究表明, 青少年的民族社会化觉察存在着文化差异, 与美国少数族裔青少年觉察到母亲偏重于传递文化社会化、偏见准备不同, 景颇族初中生觉察到母亲偏重于传递促进和睦。     

The prevalence of depression in high school students

In response to the need expressed in the literature on adolescent depression, recent studies have examined the incidence of affective disorders. However, there continues to be a paucity of research on the prevalence of depressive symptomatology in nonpatient adolescents. The Canadian literature is especially lacking in this area. The present study examined the prevalence of depression in a sample of 366 Canadian high school students. Consistent with similar research in the United Kingdom and the United States, 31.4% of the sample were midly to clinically depressed as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory. Significant sex differences were found; these are discussed in the context of age and level of depression. The need for further research on adolescent depression is emphasized.     

Conservatism of Israeli junior high school students: interethnic differences

The aims of the study were (a) to establish the factor structure characterizing Israeli junior high school students of Western and Oriental ethnic origin on the Children's Scale of Social Attitudes, (b) to compare the Israeli factor structure with those for school children from other societies, and (c) to examine whether the Israeli school children's factor structure resembled those for Israeli adults as well as for adults from other societies. Analysis indicated that Israeli junior high school children from both Western and Oriental ethnic groups were characterized by similar factors of general conservatism, namely, Religion, Antihedonism, and Punitiveness, although the Orientals were more conservative on these factors than the Westerners. In addition, the present factor structure resembled those for groups of school children as well as adults from other societies, reconfirming that factors of general conservatism have cross-cultural validity.     

A motivational environment for behaviorally deviant junior high school students

A contingency management program was established in a junior high school to better manage and educate students having histories of severe misconduct. School administrators selected 46 eighth-graders having multiple suspensions for misbehavior. Students (N=32) in two of the schools remained in traditional programs, serving as controls, whereas students (N=14) in the third school participated in a token reinforcement program. Reinforcers provided in the afternoon were contingent upon achievement and discipline during morning academic periods. Home-based reinforcers were established to support school behavior. Compared with the control group, significant reductions in negative school behavior as well as greater increases in academic achievement were obtained for the treatment group, thus supporting the efficacy of contingency management for adolescent school misbehavior.Valuable assistance in developing the reinforcement program and curriculum materials was provided by William Brown, principal of the Anne Arundel County Learning Center. Thanks are also due: Dottie Dpwling and Joe Gentile, the teachers in the program; John Jedlicka, principal of Stemmers Run Junior High; and Donnie Williams, research assistant.     

Rational-emotive therapy and the reduction of interpersonal anxiety in junior high school students

This study evaluated the effectiveness of rational-emotive therapy and rational-emotive imagery. Fifty-nine junior high school students who volunteered to participate in treatment for interpersonal anxiety were randomly assigned to rational-emotive therapy without imagery (RET), rational-emotive therapy with imagery (REI), relationship-oriented counseling (ROC), and waiting-list control (WLC) groups. Groups met for seven 50-minute treatment sessions during a three-week period. Assessments were conducted at pretreatment, posttreatment, and three-week follow-up. Both self-report and sociometric measures were used to evaluate treatment outcome. At postassessment, both the RET and REI groups were rated on sociometric measures as significantly less interpersonally anxious than the WLC group. Mean scores favored the RET and REI groups, but no significant differences between these groups and the ROC group were obtained. The self-report measure did not significantly differentiate between groups, but the REI group demonstrated significant pre- to follow-up changes. Both the RET and REI groups yielded greater reductions in irrational thinking than did the ROC and WLC groups. In addition, the pattern of the results supported the use of rational-emotive imagery as a component of rational-emotive therapy. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Adolescent depression: Its prevalence in high school students

This paper presents the evidence pertaining to prevalence of depression in high school students. In spite of increasing concern with adolescent depression, prevalence figures are not clearly established, largely because of problems rooted in differences in conceptualization and measurement of this significant affective disorder. Original data from 103 high school tenth and eleventh graders from an urban school in South Carolina on the 13-item version of the Beck Depression Inventory are provided and compared with other prevalence data. On the basis of the cutoffs for level of severity established by Albert and Beck (Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 4, 301–307, 1975), 26% scored within the moderate range, and 6% scored within the severe range of depression. The implications of the high rate of reported depressive symptoms among adolescents are discussed in relation to school psychology practice.     

Support reciprocity and depression among elementary school and high school students1

Abstract: This study examined the relationship between support reciprocity in friendships and depression among elementary school and high school students, taking specific account of the quality of parent‐child relationships. The participants were 340 first‐year high school students and 317 sixth‐year elementary school students, all of whom completed questionnaires measuring levels of depression and support receiving and support giving in the relationship with their best friend. In addition, high school students answered questions about their parents’ child‐rearing attitudes. Consistent with predictions, it was shown that support reciprocity correlated significantly with lower depression among high school students but not among elementary school students. Moreover, it was found that for high school students who perceived their parents as caring and affectionate, support reciprocity related significantly to lower depression but not for those who perceived their parents as distant and dismissive.     

Psychological support for junior high school students: sibling order and sex

This study is a re-analysis of published data on psychological support for 609 junior high school students (317 boys, 292 girls, mean age = 14.1, SD = 0.8) based on the self-report, Psychological Support Scale, to evaluate sibling order as eldest or youngest and sex. In an earlier study, the questionnaire had been modified to be applicable to junior high school students. The study re-examined the data by extracting samples for categories of eldest and youngest siblings, for re-analysis of self-reported psychological support by sibling order and sex. Eldest children reported receiving more psychological support from both mother and father than youngest. Also, eldest boys received significantly greater psychological support from both the parents than the youngest boys or girls.     

初中生函数概念发展的研究

本研究通过测验法对北京市六所中学的802名初一至初三的学生进行调查,考察了初中学生函数概念的发展水平。结果表明,初中生函数概念的发展存在着较为特殊的年龄特征;学生所接受的学校教育内容显著地影响其函数概念的发展水平。但是,初中学生进行正与反、肯定与否定之间相互转化的辩证思维能力还较差;还有很大一部分(将近一半)的学生不能用运动、变化的观点来看待问题;初二是学生函数概念发展的一个转折点。从初二以后,学生无论是进行文字信息、还是图形信息加工的能力都有明显的增强,但将文字信息与图形信息进行转换的能力水平还很低;考察同类问题间的联系时,学生还不能脱离开问题的实际内容,概括化地理解抽象的数量关系。     

A behavioral program for disruptive junior high school students: Results and follow-up

The 5-year annual and 4-year follow-up results of a collaborative community mental health center-junior high school program for disruptive students are presented. The program is a comprehensive, behavioral, in-school, regular education project characterized by a token economy, parent contracting, major subjects taught in the morning, small class enrollment, small group and individualized instruction, an early release from school contingency option and frequent parent-school communications. Annual controlled outcome results revealed that the program led to significant and consistent reductions in expulsions, suspensions, and grade failure, and variable, often significant, gains in attendance and achievement. Follow-up findings indicated that former program students in senior high school achieved a significantly higher entry rate, greater attendance, better classroom conduct, and a lower frequency of withdrawal from school.One second cohort student had been advanced a grade and was thus added to the original first cohort of 14 students.