Adolescent Ego-Development Trajectories and Young Adult Relationship Outcomes

Adolescent ego-development trajectories were related to close-relationship outcomes in young adulthood. An adolescent sample completed annual measures of ego development from ages 14 through 17. The authors theoretically determined and empirically traced five ego-development trajectories reflecting stability or change. At age 25, the sample completed a close-relationship interview and consented for two peers to rate the participants'ego resiliency and hostility. Participants who followed the profound-arrest trajectory in adolescence reported more mundane sharing of experiences, more impulsive or egocentric conflict-resolution tactics, and less mature interpersonal understanding in their young adult relationships, and their young adult peers described these participants as more hostile. Participants who attained or maintained higher levels of ego development in adolescence reported more complex sharing of experiences, more collaborative conflict-resolution strategies, and greater interpersonal understanding, and their young adult peers rated them as less hostile and as more flexible.     

EFFECTS OF LEARNING ABOUT GENDER DISCRIMINATION ON ADOLESCENT GIRLS' ATTITUDES TOWARD AND INTEREST IN SCIENCE

Gender discrimination has contributed to the gender imbalance in scientific fields. However, research on the effects of informing adolescent girls about gender discrimination in these fields is rare and controversial. To examine the consequences of learning about gender-based occupational discrimination, adolescent girls ( n = 158, ages 11 to 14) were randomly assigned to either (a) a standard intervention program aimed at increasing girls' interest in science or (b) a nearly identical program that included information about gender discrimination. Girls' interest in, and attitudes toward, science were assessed using a pre/post design. Only girls who learned about gender discrimination showed increases in science self-efficacy and belief in the value of science; interest in scientific fields was unaffected by the intervention programs. Theoretical and educational implications are discussed.     

The Impact of Adolescent Suicide on Siblings and Parents: A Longitudinal Follow-Up

The psychiatric sequelae of loss of a family member to suicide were evaluated in parents and siblings of adolescent suicide victims and controls, who were followed up to 3 years after the suicide. Siblings did not show an increased risk for the development of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or other conditions over the course of follow-up, despite showing a prolonged elevated level of grief symptomatology. Mothers showed an increased rate of recurrence of depression over follow-up, whereas fathers did not show an increased incidence of disorder compared to fathers of controls. The interrelationship of bereavement and depression for siblings, parents, and others exposed to suicide is discussed.     

Preparing Children for Court: Effects of a Model Court Education Program on Children's Anticipatory Anxiety

The current study examined whether a pretrial preparation program, consisting of legal knowledge education, stress inoculation training, and a mock trial, is associated with decreased anticipatory anxiety of child witnesses. One hundred and ninety-three 4- to 17-year-olds who were awaiting impending legal proceedings attended Kids’ Court School in Las Vegas, NV, one to two weeks before their court appearances. Participants completed a measure of anticipatory court-related anxiety before and after the intervention. As predicted, children's anticipatory anxiety decreased significantly from pretest to posttest. Results demonstrate the promise of a brief, unbiased, standardized program for reducing system-induced stress on child witnesses, while maintaining the integrity of the legal process. This study serves as a springboard to guide future research, practice, policy, and implementation on a larger scale. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“I'll Take Gender Differences for $1000!” Domain-Specific Intellectual Success on “Jeopardy”

A great deal of laboratory research has demonstrated that women underestimate their intellect and abilities, and we studied whether this tendency manifested itself outside the laboratory by examining the performance of men and women on the television game show Jeopardy. Information about the masculinity and femininity of the topic categories for 65 games was collected, and selections, answers,wagering strategies, and earnings were noted for 195 White men and women contestants on the show. Men were more likely than women to appear as contestants, made most of the selections in the game, and won more money. Until the end of the game, men selected and correctly answered a disproportional number of questions from masculine topic categories, which appeared more often during the first round of play. Women chose more feminine and neutral questions than did men, and correctly answered those questions at a proportional rate. Wagering strategies differed late in the game, as men bet a higher percent of their earnings than did women, but only when wagering on masculine topics. Several explanations for differing performance of men and women on Jeopardyare offered, including confidence in ability due to self-estimation of intelligence, differential use of evaluative feedback, and the gender role appropriateness of demonstrating intellect.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma-Related Distress: Maternal Betrayal Trauma,Parenting Attitudes,and Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to elucidate mechanisms involved in the intergenerational transmission of trauma-related distress. This study investigated whether betrayal trauma (BT; abuse by a person close to the victim) and specific parenting attitudes and behaviors among mothers with child abuse histories predicted internalizing and externalizing symptoms in their children. Mothers and children (ages 7–11) were recruited for a project on parenting and stress (N = 72). Maternal betrayal trauma predicted both internalizing (β = 0.33, p < .01) and externalizing symptoms (β = 0.25, p < .05) even when controlling for mothers’ trauma-related symptoms. Negative attitudes toward limit setting predicted externalizing symptoms (β = ?0.33, p < .05). Poorer communication (β = ?0.39, p < .05) but higher parenting satisfaction (β = 0.38, p < .01) predicted internalizing symptoms. These findings demonstrate the importance of assessing maternal trauma and parenting characteristics as part of interventions with symptomatic children.     

Effects of environmental enrichment on cognitive performance of pigs in a spatial holeboard discrimination task

This study investigated the effects of environmental enrichment on the cognitive performance of female conventional farm (growing) pigs in a spatial holeboard task. Ten pairs of littermates matched for weight were used. From each litter, one piglet was randomly assigned to a barren environment; the other was assigned to an enriched environment from 4 weeks of age. The enriched environment was double the size of the barren environment, had a floor covered with straw, a rooting area filled with peat, and one of the four different enrichment toys which were exchanged daily. Starting at 11 weeks of age, all pigs were tested in a spatial holeboard discrimination task in which 4 out of 16 holes were baited. Furthermore, basal salivary cortisol levels of all pigs were determined after the end of all testing. All pigs were able to acquire the pattern of baited holes (acquisition phase, 40 trials) and the diagonally mirrored pattern (reversal phase, 20 trials). During the acquisition phase, the reference memory performance of the enriched-housed pigs was better than that of their barren-housed littermates, i.e. they reduced visits to the unbaited set of holes. During the reversal phase, enriched-housed pigs had a better general working memory performance than the barren-housed pigs as indicated by reduced revisits to holes already visited during a trial, irrespective of whether they were of the baited or the unbaited set. The enriched-housed pigs also searched for the hidden bait faster during both phases. The environments did not affect basal salivary cortisol levels. In conclusion, environmental enrichment slightly improved the cognitive performance of pigs in a spatial learning task. We hypothesise that the long period of habituation to and testing in the holeboard acted as enrichment that partially reduced the effects of barren housing.     

Depressive Symptoms and Conversational Self-Focus in Adolescents’ Friendships

This multi-method, longitudinal study considered the interplay among depressive symptoms, aversive interpersonal behavior, and interpersonal rejection in early and middle adolescents’ friendships. In particular, the study examined a newly identified interpersonal process, conversational self-focus (i.e., the tendency to redirect conversations about problems to focus on the self). Traditional interpersonal theories of depression suggest that individuals with depressive symptoms engage in aversive behaviors (such as conversational self-focus) and are rejected by others. However, in the current study, not all adolescents with depressive symptoms engaged in conversational self-focus and were rejected by friends. Instead, conversational self-focus moderated prospective relations of depressive symptoms and later friendship problems such that only adolescents with depressive symptoms who engaged in conversational self-focus were rejected by friends. These findings are consistent with current conceptualizations of the development of psychopathology that highlight heterogeneity among youth who share similar symptoms and the possibility of multifinality of outcomes.