Coping and Disputing with Neighbors1

A model based on the disputing process is discussed in the context of annoyances with neighbors. Results of a telephone survey (n= 198) which examined the cognitive and behavioral reactions of respondents to neighbor annoyances are presented. Most respondents handled neighbor annoyances through cognitive coping mechanisms. The intensity of annoyance and the cognitions reported in response to the annoyance, were related to whether respondents actively reacted to the annoyance (complained or disputed).     

Phonology in the Lexical Processing of Chinese: Priming Tone Neighbors

Using both visual-visual and auditory-visual priming lexical decision tasks, this study investigated phonological processing in reading logographic Chinese. Compound words sharing segmental templates but differing in lexical tones were used as primes and targets while their relative frequency was manipulated. It was found that tone neighbours did not prime each other significantly and the SOA of 100 msec in visual-visual priming. When the SOA was increased to 357 msec, or when primes were presented auditorily, the processing of target words was significantly delayed by their tone neighbours. Larger inhibitory effects were observed for low frequency targets with high frequency primes. It was argued that although phonological information is automatically activated and this activation affects access to semantics in reading Chinese,phonological mediation is not the only or the main ~urce of constraints on semantic activation.     

Friends,Neighbors, and Boundaries

Michaels (2000) reviewed some basic assumptions in the ecological approach in the light of recent experimental findings. Other reviews have also recently appeared (e.g., Stoffregen, 2000; Stoffregen &; Bardy, in press). Here, it is suggested that some assumptions underlying the ecological approach are actually restrictive. The consequences of relaxing them are discussed as well as the contribution that phenomenological methods might make.     

Life Satisfaction and Economic Position Relative to Neighbors: Perceptions Versus Reality

I examine the relationship between economic position relative to local neighbors and life satisfaction in rural Bangladesh. In particular, I exploit a novel household level census of three villages that includes the geospatial coordinates of every household and a perception measure of economic position relative to neighbors. This allows for exploring the sensitivity of the aforementioned relationship to (1) different objective definitions of neighborhood, and (2) the type of positional measure used, objective or perceived. I find that a higher perceived position improves life satisfaction while objective position has no statistically significant effect. This difference stems from a very low correlation between the objective and perceived positional measures. The low correlation can be explained by individual specific heterogeneity in definitions of neighbor. However, observable socioeconomic and demographic variables cannot explain the difference.     

Social Support in Seventh-Day Adventists and Their Neighbors

Certain structural and functional aspects of social networks and support were compared among 157 middle-aged male Seventh-day Adventists and male neighbors of the same age range. The Adventist men were 11.2% more likely to be married (p<0.05), had 15% more trusted friends (p<0.10) and 31% more trusted relatives (p<0.005) than their neighbors. Of the Adventists and neighbors, 74% and 52% respectively reported feeling frequently cared for by others (p<0.001). At least weekly church attendance was practiced by 84% of the Adventists and 30% of the neighbors (p<0.001). It is speculated that some of the favorable mortality experience of Adventists may be causally related to these increased levels of social support.     

Early Parenting Intervention: Family Risk and First-time Parenting Related to Intervention Effectiveness

The effects of cumulative risk and parity on the effectiveness of a home based parenting intervention were tested in a randomized controlled trial with 237 families with 1- to 3-year-old children screened for high levels of externalizing behavior. The intervention was aimed at enhancing positive parenting and decreasing externalizing behaviors. The results showed that cumulative risk was not associated with either change in child externalizing behaviors or change in positive parenting. When intervention effectiveness was compared for primiparas (i.e., first-time mothers) versus multiparas (i.e., mothers with more than one child), we found that intervention mothers of first-born children displayed an increase in their use of positive discipline strategies as compared to first-time mothers in the control group, whereas a similar effect for multiparas was absent. Among multiparas we found an intervention effect on sensitivity, with control group mothers showing an increase in sensitivity, whereas the intervention group showed a constant level of sensitivity over time. These results suggest that parity may be a moderator of intervention effectiveness. Implications for investigating moderators of intervention effectiveness are discussed.     

Recorded Readings: A Taped Parent-Tutoring Intervention

Parent tutoring has been successfully used to increase children’s oral reading fluency. However, commonly used procedures pose a challenge for parents who are not proficient in reading or who speak English as a second language. A taped reading program that included listening passage preview, repeated reading, and performance feedback was developed for parental implementation during home tutoring sessions. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of parent tutoring on the oral reading fluency of two elementary-aged English language learners. Data were collected on oral reading fluency using high- and low-word overlap passages. Results revealed an immediate increase in generalized oral reading fluency for one child upon intervention implementation and continued growth for both children 2 months following termination. Findings suggest recorded readings was an effective and acceptable parent tutoring intervention for increasing reading performance for language minority families.     

Population-Wide Parenting Intervention Training: Initial Feasibility

A population-level approach to deliver parenting and family support is a necessary but neglected approach needed to reduce the high prevalence of emotional/behavioral problems in children, decrease inadequate and potentially abusive parenting practices, and to provide improved parenting support to all parents within a specified population. We examined the initial feasibility of a large-scale professional training regimen to prepare existing service providers to implement an evidence-based preventive intervention in the realm of parenting and family support. Data from the U.S. Triple P System Population Trial are used to illustrate how a parenting and family support intervention can be successfully disseminated to a large, multidisciplinary workforce. We discuss lessons learned from this dissemination effort as well as implications for population-based approaches to child and family well-being.     

Mediation: An Intervention Strategy for Counselors

Conflict resolution is a rapidly expanding field, one in which counselors need to be more knowledgeable. An overview of conflict resolution and mediation concepts is presented with a comparison to therapeutic counseling interventions. Applications are provided for various areas such as family mediation, community disputes, and mediation in public education. Implications for counseling and the role of the counselor are discussed.     

Adolescent Pregnancy: A Model for Intervention

This article reviews current demographic data regarding adolescent pregnancy in conjunction with current approaches to family planning and presents an interdisciplinary (counselor-physician) intervention model.     

Intervention packages: an approach to self-management

Intervention packages—planned units of instruction and practice designed to deal with specific student problems—offer a systematic, economical strategy for counseling. Not only do the packages allow the counselor more time for counseling individuals and small groups but they also give students a feeling of greater control over their behavior and environment. This article suggests guidelines for developing and administering intervention packages.     

Partnership-Based, Community-Assisted Early Intervention for Literacy: An Application of the Participatory Intervention Model

Many schools, particularly those in low-income, urban neighborhoods serving children from diverse backgrounds, have a high percentage of students with literacy deficits and limited resources for providing remedial services. Addressing these needs requires the use of empirically supported reading intervention strategies and expanding the availability of qualified persons to implement these approaches. Just as importantly, students need to be educated in a culturally meaningful context by one or more individuals who are committed to addressing their educational, emotional, and social needs. One method of expanding the instructional work force and engaging students in attachments with caring adults in a culturally relevant context is to establish a community-assisted tutoring program, that is a program implemented by residents from the community who work in the school. This article describes the process of establishing a partnership-based, community-assisted early intervention program for literacy, based upon a participatory intervention model, by presenting two case illustrations. Challenges for school consultants in establishing such a program in schools are described and directions for future research and practice are outlined.