Individual, Peer, and Family Factors Influencing Urban African American Adolescents’ Responses to Problem Dating Situations

A clear understanding of factors influencing adolescents’ responses to problem dating situations is needed to guide efforts to promote healthy dating relationships and address issues such as emotional distress, conflict, and violence in dating contexts. This study used qualitative methods guided by a socio-ecological model to identify factors at the individual-level and those within adolescents’ peer and family relationships that influenced their use of specific strategies (active, avoidant, support-seeking, or aggressive) in response to problem dating situations. Interviews were conducted with 38 African American middle and high school students in an urban public school system. Participants identified nine themes that would make it easier for them to engage in their best response strategies to deal with problem dating situations. These included four individual-level factors (e.g., individual characteristics and adolescents’ confidence in their ability to address dating problems), three peer factors (e.g., supportive advice from peers), and two family factors (e.g., support, advice, and messages about dating relationships from family members). Nine themes were identified that would make it harder for adolescents to engage in these responses including three individual-level factors (e.g., difficulty in regulating anger, anxiety, and sadness in dealing with dating problems), four peer factors (e.g., peer instigated conflict among dating partners), and two family factors (e.g., family involvement in adolescents’ dating relationships). The results inform prevention efforts that focus on promoting healthy dating relationships during adolescence.     

THE MOBILITY OF TWO-YEAR TECHNICIAN GRADUATES

This study is based on a total population of about 6,200 graduates of electronics and drafting design curriculums from 1955 to 1969. The mobility factors considered in this study are: (a) year of graduation, (b) number of dependents, (c) initial salary, (d) present salary, (e) distance between home-town high school and present job, (f) distance between home-town high school and first job, and (g) number of simultaneous job-resident changes. Zero-order correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to identify relationships between the mobility factors. The job characteristics of the graduates were identified by curriculum. The interrelationships between the mobility factors and the job characteristics were identified by zero-order correlation and linear multiple-regression techniques. It was found that (a) there are a number of significant interrelationships within the mobility factors, and (b) there are a number of significant relationships between job characteristics (data, things, and people related roles) and some of the mobility factors.     

Subjective ratings of Cattell's 16 Personality Factors

Summary: The Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16PF) was administered to 69 subjects. Each subject was asked to rate himself on the 16 personality factors on the 16PF. The 16PF scores and the self-ratings were compared by canonical analysis. Three significant relationships were identified. The relationships primarily involved indices of social interaction from the 16PF and indices of internal traits from the self-ratings.     

Family influences on commitment: Examining the family of origin correlates of relationship commitment attitudes

Two studies were conducted to investigate the lessons about relationship commitment that people gain from their families of origin. In the first study, participants identified a story from their families of origin that characterized a number of themes about commitment. In the second study, these themes were further refined to reveal eight factors underlying these themes: dedication to partner, constraints on relationships, relationships are impermanent, disillusionment, family and gender influences, approaching relationships with caution, relationships take work, and divorce has negative consequences. Ratings of the themes varied by the occurrence of parental divorce, perceived parental marital happiness, and gender. Commitment lessons remembered from families of origin also were associated with the participants’ reported level of commitment in their current relationships. Implications for current theory on commitment are discussed.     

Ain’t misbehavin? Monogamy maintenance strategies in heterosexual romantic relationships

Monogamy is a near universal expectation in intimate relationships in Western societies and is typically defined as sexual and romantic exclusivity to one partner. This research informs the paradox between monogamy intentions and high rates of infidelity. Monogamy maintenance (MM) strategies used in response to relationship threats posed by attraction to extradyadic others were identified and characterized. Across three samples, 741 U.S. adults in intimate relationships completed surveys addressing MM. Twenty‐four strategies emerged in three factors—Proactive Avoidance (of attractive alternatives), Relationship Enhancement, and Low Self‐Monitoring and Derogation (in the face of extradyadic attraction). All MM factors were commonly endorsed, yet were largely unsuccessful at forestalling infidelity.     

Bulimic symptomatology,body-image,and personality characteristics of university men

This study examined the relationships, using regression analysis, among bulimic symptomatology, body-image characteristics, and personality factors in a nonclinical sample of 46 undergraduate university men. They completed the Bulimia Test-Revised (a measure of bulimic symptomatology), the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (a measure of personality characteristics), and the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (a multidimensional measure of body-image parameters). Statistically significant relationships were identified among Appearance Evaluation, Neuroticism, and Psychoticism, and the BULIT-R scores.     

Consumer Masculinity Behavior Among College Students and Its Relationship to Self Esteem and Media Significance

The purpose of the study was to investigate male college students in the southeastern United States to identify factors associated with consumer masculinity behavior. The variables of self-esteem and media significance were tested as possible predictors of consumer masculinity behavior. A total of 219 surveys were used as the sample for this study. Pearson correlation analysis tested relationships among the variables, and linear regression was used to further test the nature of the relationships identified. Results indicated that media significance and appearance-related self-esteem were significant predictors of consumer masculinity behavior. Limitations and implications are discussed.     

Factors shaping vividness of memory episodes: visitors' long-term memories of the 1970 Japan World Exposition

This study investigated how visitors' psychological and behavioural factors, identified in the literature, shaped their vivid long-term memories of their experiences of the Japan World Exposition, Osaka, 1970 (Expo '70) as a context. In this study, 112 memory episodes were identified from the long-term memories of 48 participants; they were rated in terms of their memory vividness and on a set of factors including affect, agenda fulfilment, intentionality, and rehearsal. The influence of these factors on the vividness of episodic and/or autobiographic memories of experiences that occurred 34 years ago was examined in two stages. First, the relationship between memory vividness and individual factors was investigated separately. Second, the relationship between memory vividness and all factors was examined through a multiple regression analysis, and the relative importance of these factors on memory vividness identified. Stage one analysis showed that all factors except intentionality were related to memory vividness in individual analyses, and curvilinear relationships between memory vividness and the factors found. Stage two analysis, in which all factors were included in a multiple regression analysis, found that rehearsal was positively related to memory vividness and all other factors not significant in the presence of rehearsal.     

Changes in Academic Performance in the Junior High School

This study was designed to determine the relationships between changes in academic performance and intellective and non-intellective factors. Seventh grade students attending five junior high schools, who had attended selected elementary schools, were tested with the Personal Values Inventory (PVI), a test of academic motivation, shortly after the first seventh-grade marking period. School marks at that marking period and those received the previous year were procured from a self-report included in the PVI. All students had taken the California Achievement Test Battery and Mental Maturity Test as well as the Scholastic Testing Service Work-Study Skills Test in the sixth grade. Factor analysis identified four factors in both boys and girls: intelligence-achievement, academic motivation, academic plans, and youth-culture involvement. While intelligence was found to be mainly unrelated to the criterion, the non-intellective factors, especially academic motivation, bore significant relationships to the changed performance.     

Organizational Identification and Perceived Intra-School Conflict Among Secondary Special Education and General Education Teachers

The relationships between the organizational variables-teacher assignment (general education or special education) and primary organizational identification (teachers' individual schools or respective district-level departments) and perceived organizational conflict were investigated. Four-hundred and fifty-four high school teachers—382 general education and 72 special education—responded to a three-part questionnaire. Both general education and special education teachers identified with both the school and the district-level departments to a greater than neutral level; the general education teachers identified more with their local schools than their district-level departments and the special education teachers identified equally with both their local school and the district-level department. Significant correlations between teacher organizational identification and perceived conflict were found for both groups of teachers—as the identification increased, the perception of conflict decreased. No significant differences were found in comparisons of general education and special education teachers on the identification or perceived conflict variables. Conclusions, with alternative causative factors, and recommendations for enhancing relationships between general educators and special educators are provided.     

African American women's sexual satisfaction as a dimension of their sex roles

African American women's sexual satisfaction in heterosexual relationships was examined as a dimension of their sex roles. Responses to questions about sexual behaviors and interactions they preferred in primary relationships were selected from a larger study of a stratified random sample of 126 African American women. Three factors were identified: sexual responsiveness, sexual expression, and sexual interest and enthusiasm. The factors are described as profiles that may enhance or limit women's male-female sexual relationships. The implications of African American women's sexual satisfaction as an important dimension to understand in today's AIDS related sexual climate is discussed within a socio-cultural context.A modified version of this paper was presented at the American Anthropological Association, November 1987, Chicago, Illinois. The research was funded by The Center for Prevention and Control of Rape, NIMH Grant, R01 MH33603 and through a Research Scientist Career Development Award to the first author, K01 MH00269.     

Personality correlates of life values

The present study sought to determine whether significant relationships exist between life value preferences and personality traits and to describe the nature of any relationships identified. Administered to 310 undergraduate and graduate students were the 16 PF personality inventory and a 55-item Life Values Inventory which assessed values governing life styles and orientations. A factor analysis of the Life Values Inventory resulted in the identification of 14 life values dimensions. Factor scores for these 14 dimensions were then employed in a canonical analysis and a factor analysis with the 16 PF scores. The canonical analysis yielded results significant at the .001 level. The factor analysis yielded 10 factors, many of which displayed shared common-factor variance between Life Values and 16 PF variables. The interpretation of that shared variance identified several personality correlates of life values that suggested causal and developmental interactions of some value in describing and explaining human behavior.     

Cognitive,emotional, and motivational factors related to procrastination: A cluster analytic approach

Procrastination is a widespread phenomenon that has been associated with a host of cognitive, emotional, and motivational factors but about which a clear and integrated picture is still lacking. The aim of this study was to use primary established psychological procrastination-related factors in the literature to examine whether reliable subgroups of procrastinators can be identified through cluster analysis. To this end, 180 French-speaking students were asked to complete a measure of procrastination and four questionnaires assessing impulsivity, cognitive emotion regulation, self-esteem, and global motivation. Four clusters were identified: two with the lowest scores of procrastination (“High regulated” and “Regulated/low motivated”), one with higher scores of procrastination (“Emotional”), and another with even higher scores (“Unregulated”). The findings provide insights into the dynamic relationships between key procrastination-related factors and the mechanisms linked to the self-regulation difficulties that characterize trait procrastination.     

Psychoanalysis and the Family Neurosis by Martin Grotjahn

Abstract

This study examined the factor structure and validity of the Therapeutic Factors Inventory-Short Form (TFI-S), a measure originally developed to assess Yalom’s eleven conceptually derived therapeutic factors. Patients in a group-oriented day treatment program (n = 174) completed the TFI-S and other measures to assess concurrent and predictive validity. Four broad therapeutic factors were identified: Instillation of Hope, Secure Emotional Expression, Awareness of Interpersonal Impact, and Social Learning. Alpha coefficients ranged from .71 to .91. Significant correlations between the TFI-S factors and Group Climate Questionnaire subscales provided preliminary evidence for the concurrent validity of the TFI S. Significant relationships were also identified between the TFI-S factors and improvement in symptoms, quality of life, and interpersonal distress at the end of treatment, suggesting that the TFI-S may have predictive validity.     

Smoking among New Yorican adolescents: time 1 predictors of time 2 tobacco use

The authors identified longitudinal relationships between early risk and protective factors from the domains of family, personality, and peer influences and later tobacco use in Puerto Rican adolescents living in New York. Aspects of the ethnic minority experience as moderators of familial risk and protective factors were investigated. Participants were 282 female and 276 male Puerto Rican adolescents interviewed twice, 5 years apart. The authors used hierarchical regression analyses to identify a model with direct and indirect paths. Family, personality, peer, and early smoking domains were directly related to later adolescent smoking. Partial mediation occurred. The authors identified risk-protective and protective-protective interactions between variables from the ethnic minority experience and family domains. Interventions to reduce smoking among Puerto Rican adolescents should focus on multiple contexts, including aspects of the ethnic minority experience.     

Organic self-talk content categories and their relations to sport-specific contextual and personal factors

While strategic self-talk interventions are well documented, less is known regarding organically occurring self-talk. Previously, eight organic self-talk content categories were identified, however contextual and personal factors relating to these categories is unexplored. The aim of the study was to explore the relationships between stress, coping, athletic identity, demographic and sport-related factors and the eight organic self-talk categories of anxiety control, confidence, disengagement, instruction, psych-up, somatic fatigue, worry, and irrelevant. 216 NCAA student-athletes were recruited. Regression was used to determine the relationships between the contextual and personal variables and organic self-talk. Stress, coping and self-talk categories were compared in and out-of-season. Stress was associated with all self-talk frequencies except confidence. Coping was associated with psych-up, confidence and worry. Athletic identity was associated with psych-up, confidence, instruction and disengagement. Age was associated with anxiety control and instruction. Lastly, sport type and division level were associated with disengagement and instruction self-talk respectively.     

The Relationship Between the Consequences Adolescents Expect from Smoking and Their Behavior: A Factor Analysis with Panel Data1

The expected consequences of behavior are basic to many modern theories of behavior and to programs designed to influence behavior. In this research, 52 consequences expected from smoking cigarettes were measured in a panel study of 1,406 adolescents. Six factors were identified through factor analysis of these consequences. Multivariate analyses generally indicated that the negative physical/social factor predicted the initiation of smoking and the pleasure factor predicted smoking initiation and increased smoking among those who were smokers at the beginning of study. The other factors-positive peer relationships, negative peer relationships, habit, and health-were either unrelated to subsequent smoking behavior or inconsistently related across the multiple measures of behavior. The research is considered in the context of theory, methods, and programs related to adolescent cigarette smoking.     

Electroencephalographic intercentral interaction as a reflection of normal and pathological human brain activity

The authors summarized EEG findings and defined the nature of the intercentral EEG relationships in different functional states in healthy subjects and patients with organic cerebral pathology, based on a coherence analysis. Similar EEG characteristics in healthy individuals were identified: an anterior-posterior gradient of average coherence levels, the type of cortical-subcortical relationships in anterior cerebral structures. Right- and left-handed individuals showed frequent and regional differences in EEG coherence, which mainly reflected specificity of intracortical relationships. Development and regression of pathology in right-and left-handed individuals with organic brain lesions were thought to be caused by these differences. Lesions of regulatory structures (diencephalic, brain stem and limbic structures) provoked a more diffused kind of changes of intercentral relationships, in contrast to cortical pathology. These changes tended to reciprocate. The dynamic nature of intercentral relationships and their interhemispheric differences was revealed when changing functional states of the brain (increase and decrease of functional level) in healthy individuals and patients with organic cerebral pathology in the process of conscious and psychic activity restoration. Changing activity predominance of certain regulatory structures was considered one of the most important factors determining the dynamic nature of EEG coherence.     

Caring and the Graduate Student: A Phenomenological Study

Given the increasing numbers of adult learners on university campuses, both as undergraduates and graduates, an understanding of adult learning processes is relevant—indeed essential—to the university's response to this student group. While educators have attempted to understand learners in terms of developmental stages, learning styles, and contextual factors, less attention has focused on the dynamics of helping relationships that attend learning or the importance of caring in the learning process. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and explicate the experience of caring as it relates to graduate education from the perspective of the graduate student. The connection between caring relationships and learning was confirmed. Seven components of the caring were identified. Implications for the university center on attention to relationship skills and the creation of a campus community in which caring relationships are encouraged and nurtured.