A Latent Class Analysis of Childhood Maltreatment: Identifying Abuse Typologies

Multiple forms of abuse may co-occur, resulting in specific abuse typologies. A stratified random probability survey was conducted in Denmark with 4,718 participants, aged 24, from the 1984 birth cohort. A total of 2,980 interviews were successfully conducted. Latent class analysis was implemented using 20 categorical abuse experience items across four domains of childhood maltreatment. Logistic regression was conducted to ascertain whether abuse typologies could be differentiated by child protection status and gender. Four distinct abuse typologies were revealed: a non-abused group, a psychologically maltreated group, a sexually abused group, and a group experiencing multiple abuse types. Child protection status and female gender were predictive of group membership in certain abused groups compared to a non-abused group.     

Young children's performance on the balance scale: the influence of relational complexity

Three experiments investigated the effect of complexity on children's understanding of a beam balance. In nonconflict problems, weights or distances varied, while the other was held constant. In conflict items, both weight and distance varied, and items were of three kinds: weight dominant, distance dominant, or balance (in which neither was dominant). In Experiment 1, 2-year-old children succeeded on nonconflict-weight and nonconflict-distance problems. This result was replicated in Experiment 2, but performance on conflict items did not exceed chance. In Experiment 3, 3- and 4-year-olds succeeded on all except conflict balance problems, while 5- and 6-year-olds succeeded on all problem types. The results were interpreted in terms of relational complexity theory. Children aged 2 to 4 years succeeded on problems that entailed binary relations, but 5- and 6-year-olds also succeeded on problems that entailed ternary relations. Ternary relations tasks from other domains--transitivity and class inclusion--accounted for 93% of the age-related variance in balance scale scores.     

Differences in Imagery Content and Imagery Ability Between High and Low Confident Track and Field Athletes

The purpose of this research was to examine how high and low trait sport confident track and field athletes differed in their imagery content and imagery ability. NCAA Division I track and field athletes ( M age = 20.5 +/- 1.61 years; M = 7.15 +/- 3.3 years experience; N = 111, 44 males and 67 females) completed the following measures: Trait Sport Confidence Inventory (TSCI), Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ), and Movement Imagery Questionnaire - Revised (MIQ-R). Profile analyses revealed that high trait sport confident athletes utilized each category of imagery (Motivational General - Mastery, Motivational General - Arousal, Motivational Specific, Cognitive General, and Cognitive Specific) significantly more than low trait sport confident athletes. No significant differences emerged between the groups on the two imagery ability scales. The results suggest that the high confident athletes used more imagery, but they did not have higher imagery skills than low confident athletes.     

Adult age and gender differences in perceptions of facial attractiveness: beauty is in the eye of the older beholder

The authors examined ratings of facial attractiveness, rankings of faces and reasons given by young, middle-aged, and older men and women for young, middle-aged, and older male and female face attractiveness. No support for predictions derived from similarity, interest, and cohort hypotheses was obtained. In support of the expertise hypothesis, young and middle-aged adults rated younger faces as more attractive than old faces, whereas older adults rated all aged faces equally. In support of the crone hypothesis, older female faces were rated the lowest of all faces. Theoretical implications and real-world applications are discussed.