The impact of sex,achievement domain,and conceptual orientation on causal attributions

Sex differences in achievement domain and achievement orientation were examined to better understand women's achievement. College students (84 women, 59 men) were asked to write brief accounts of a past success and a past failure and to provide causal attributions for each. More women recalled affiliative-process events, and proportionally more men recalled mastery-impact events. The relationship of topic domain and conceptual orientation to causal attributions was apparent only for accounts of failure. Topic domain and conceptual orientation interacted with sex to further influence stability attributions. When women conceptualized failure as a process, they emphasized attributions to effort and luck, while men accounted for the process failure by ability and task. When the failure was conceptualized in terms of final impact, the sex pattern of attributions was reversed.     

Effects of parent training on parent instruction and child learning of intellectual skills

The present investigation examined the effects of a brief parent training package on parental application of behavioral procedures during child instruction. In addition, it investigated the effects of parent training on child learning of two intellectual skills. Forty-nine parents and their $\text{2}\text{1}\text{2}$ to 5-year-old children participated. A discriminant analysis revealed that the parent training package produced variations in parental use of modeling, physical prompting, verbal instructional prompting, and aversive control. However, the pattern of variations differed across instructional tasks. Regression analysis showed that parent training produced differences in child learning in one of the two skills targeted for instruction.     

Problem-Solving Appraisal and the Prediction of Depression During Pregnancy and in the Postpartum Period

Based on the presumed mood-regulatory properties of the problem orientation component delineated in the social problem-solving model, a positive problem orientation was predicted to influence ongoing levels of positive and negative affect during pregnancy. Higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect would then in turn predict depression during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. This hypothesis was tested in 100 women. Path analyses supported the predicted relation of the problem orientation components to trait affectivity, and indirectly to peripartum and postpartum depression. Trait negative and positive affectivity was also associated with peripartum depression, and indirectly with postpartum depression, as expected. Implications for the integrated social problem-solving model are discussed. Recommendations for assessment and counseling interventions with expectant women are offered.     

ACPE: A computerized system for running small-group decision-making experiments

Small groups are called upon to make important policy decisions under a wide variety of procedural constraints. ACPE is a flexible, computerized system for conducting small-group voting experiments. It permits researchers to examine the impact of electronic communication on group deliberation and choice. The system runs under a variety of different personal computer networks and is designed to permit the specification of voting rules, communication, and group sizes. The system also facilitates the study of group process by tracking all messages sent and votes taken. An experiment in which the system was used is briefly described.     

Psychiatric and Psychological Morbidity as a Function of Adaptive Disability in Preschool Children with Aggressive and Hyperactive-Impulsive-Inattentive Behavior

Children with high levels of aggressive-hyperactive-impulsive-inattentive behavior (AHII; n = 154) were subdivided into those with (n = 38) and without (n = 116) adaptive disability (+AD/–AD) defined as a discrepancy between expected versus actual adaptive functioning. They were compared to each other and a control group of 47 normal children. Both AHII groups were more likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder than control children; more symptoms of general psychopathology; greater social skills deficits; more parental problems; and lower levels of academic achievement skills. Compared to AHII – AD children, AHII + AD children had (1) more conduct disorder; (2) greater inattention and aggression symptoms; (3) more social problems, less academic competence, and poorer self-control at school; (4) more severe and pervasive behavior problems across multiple home and school settings; and (5) parents with poorer child management practices. Thus, adaptive disability has utility as a marker for more severe and pervasive impairments in AHII children.     

Mental Health and Incarcerated Youth. II: Service Utilization

The incarceration of mentally ill youth is a serious problem not receiving the same attention as in adults. In this study, we examine the level of prior service utilization in incarcerated youth versus youth receiving community mental health services. We randomly recruited youth from middle South Carolina served by a local community mental health center (CMHC; n = 60), hospitalized in the state adolescent inpatient program (n = 50), and incarcerated in the S.C. Dept. of Juvenile Justice facilities (n = 75). We used a Services History to evaluate episodes of prior utilization of mental health, social service, educational, residential, and volunteer services, as well as the DISC-PC 2.3 to evaluate DSM-III-R diagnoses and symptoms and the CBCL and YSR to evaluate behavioral symptomatology. Incarcerated, hospitalized, and CMHC youth utilized similar levels of educational services and social services. Incarcerated youth had a significantly lower lifetime utilization of outpatient and acute mental health services and significantly higher utilization of out-of-home residential services than the other groups. These services utilization variables, along with gender and age, significantly distinguish incarcerated youth from the clinical groups, with clinical variables not serving to significantly distinguish them. Our results indicate the need to develop programs to prevent the entry of mentally ill/emotionally disturbed youth into the juvenile justice system. Youth who are at risk for incarcenation may benefit from intensive mental health services to prevent out-of-home placement and later incarceration.