Mothers' Parenting and Young Economically Disadvantaged Children's Relational and Overt Bullying

We examined links between mothers' parenting and children's relational bullying and overt bullying in a sample of children attending a Head Start program. Mothers completed surveys and face-to-face interviews. Head Start teachers completed assessments on children. Results indicated that a small percentage of children in the sample was rated by teachers as engaging in relational bullying “frequently to almost always,” and slightly over half of the sample was rated by teachers as engaging in relational bullying “occasionally to about half of the time.” Similar results were found for the frequency with which children engaged in overt physical bullying. Regarding mothers' parenting, maternal empathy was most strongly correlated with both children's relational bullying and overt physical bullying. In addition, mothers' inappropriate developmental expectations for children and mothers' need to exert power over children rather than grant them independence were related to children's relational bullying. A composite variable for mothering predicted 11% of the variance in children's relational bullying. No gender differences were found for children's relational bullying and children's overt bullying.     

The soft embodiment of culture: camera angles and motion through time and space

Cultural assumptions about one's relation to others and one's place in the world can be literally embodied in the way one cognitively maps out one's position and motion in time and space. In three experiments, we examined the psychological perspective that Asian American and Euro-American participants embodied as they both comprehended and produced narratives and mapped out metaphors of time and space. In social situations, Euro-American participants were more likely to embody their own perspective and a sense of their own motion (rather than those of a friend), whereas Asian American participants were more likely to embody a friend's perspective and sense of motion (rather than their own). We discuss how these psychological perspectives represent the soft embodiment of culture by implicitly instantiating cultural injunctions (a) to think about how you look to others and to harmonize with them or (b) to know yourself, trust yourself, and act with confidence.     

Gender Representation in Notable Children's Picture Books: 1995–1999

Although females comprise 51% of the population, they are represented in less than that amount in children's literature. Psychologists and leaders of liberation groups affirm that gender stereotyping in children's books has detrimental effects on children's perception of women's roles. Therefore, illustrated children's books that view women positively can be used to eliminate these stereotypes. Eighty-three Notable Books for Children from 1995 to 1999 were analyzed for gender of main character, illustrations, and title. This research updated LaDow's content analysis method and revealed that contrary to earlier studies, steps toward equity have advanced based on the increase in females represented as the main character (S. LaDow, 1979). Although female representation has greatly improved since the 70s, gender stereotypes are still prevalent in children's literature.     

The Social Contextual Approach and Rural Adolescent Substance Use: Implications for Prevention in Rural Settings

Adolescents in rural areas use substances at rates comparable to urban adolescents; understanding causes of rural adolescent substance use is critical if prevention efforts are to succeed. The present review has three primary goals: (1) to define rural, (2) to evaluate the empirical evidence regarding correlates and causes of rural adolescent substance use from a social contextual framework (L. V. Scaramella, R. D. Conger, R. Spoth, & R. L. Simons, in press), and (3) to discuss the malleability of theoretically based risk or protective factors in rural settings. The review concludes with a discussion of the difficulties and challenges of implementing prevention programs in rural areas.     

Differences that suggest female investment in,and male distance from,children

A factorial between subjects experiment was conducted with sex of respondent, level of success, sex of stimulus parent, and sex of stimulus child as the independent variables. Two hundred seventy-two undergraduates without parenting experience constituted the sample. The attributions made to explain parenting success/failure and the ratings made both of the child and the parent on the same 60 personality item were the dependent variables. Female respondents were not only especially success-oriented, but evidenced a view of parenting emphasizing deliberation and skill, whereas their male counterparts were comparatively more inclined to explain failure in terms of it being the child's fault and to overstate a child's meanness.This investigation was completed on the first author's NIMH traineeship (5 T01 MH-14473) for doctoral study. The authors are appreciative of the contributions of Professors Donn Byrne, Kay Deaux, and William Martin to the development of this study.     

Stability of older adults' preferences for life-sustaining medical treatment.

The use of instructional advance directives assumes that preferences for life-sustaining medical treatment remain stable over time and across changes in life condition. A sample of 332 older adults recorded their preferences for 4 life-sustaining treatments in 9 illness scenarios. These preferences were elicited again 1 and 2 years after the original interview. Overall, preferences for life-sustaining treatment were moderately stable over time, but stability varied significantly across judgments. Preferences were most stable for illness scenarios that were most and least serious and for decisions to refuse treatment. Age, gender, education, and prior completion of an advance directive were all related to preference stability, and evidence indicated that declines in physical or psychological functioning resulted in decreased interest in life-sustaining treatment.