Children's relationships with nonparental adults: Sex-specific connections to early school success

This report asks, Do the social networks of six-year-old girls and boys differ? It then extends previously reported findings by asking, Do different groups of nonparental adults affect the early school success of boys vs girls? Data were collected from the mothers of 162 six-year-olds, using a standard procedure. The networks of boys and girls in one-parent and two-parent households are contrasted throughout the presentation of results. The composition of networks was quite similar for boys and girls, except that each group had more same-sex than opposite-sex peers. In analyses predicting early school success, the number of adult male relatives who took the child on outings away from home was positively related to the child's report card score. This effect, however, was restricted to the subgroup of one-parent (mother-only) boys. This had been predicted, based on knowledge that single-parent boys are the most at-risk subgroup in the sample, the effect of social network resources are known to be accentuated by environmental press, and male adults represent the most salient models for young boys.     

Autobiographical memories prompted by automatic thoughts in panic disorder and social phobia

This study examined the retrieval of autobiographical memories when prompted by automatic thoughts that were representative of maladaptive schema content specific to 2 anxiety disorders. Participants with panic disorder (n = 20), those with social phobia (n = 22) and non-anxious participants (n = 20) indicated the first specific memory that came to mind when cued with panic-related, social phobia-related and control automatic thoughts. Panic participants retrieved memories cued with panic disorder-related automatic thoughts more quickly than social phobic and non-anxious participants, and social phobic participants retrieved memories cued with social phobia-related automatic thoughts more quickly than non-anxious participants. Relative to non-anxious participants, participants in both patient groups retrieved more anxious/worried memories when cued with automatic thoughts related to their diagnosis and more fearful memories when cued with either type of diagnosis-related automatic thought. Results indicate that panic and social phobic participants were characterized by general threat-relevant autobiographical memory biases.     

Does Neighborhood Social Capital Buffer the Effects of Maternal Depression on Adolescent Behavior Problems?

Neighborhood characteristics have been shown to impact child well-being. However, it remains unclear how these factors combine with family characteristics to influence child development. The current study helps develop that understanding by investigating how neighborhoods directly impact child and adolescent behavior problems as well as moderate the influence of family characteristics on behavior. Using multilevel linear models, we examined the relationship among neighborhood conditions (poverty and social capital) and maternal depression on child and adolescent behavior problems. The sample included 741 children, age 5–11, and 564 adolescents, age 12–17. Outcomes were internalizing (e.g. anxious/depressed) and externalizing (e.g. aggressive/hyperactive) behavior problems. Neighborhood poverty and maternal depression were both positively associated with behavior problems for children and adolescents. However, while neighborhood social capital was not directly associated with behavior problems, the interaction of social capital and maternal depression was significantly related to behavior problems for adolescents. This interaction showed that living in neighborhoods with higher levels of social capital attenuated the relationship between maternal depression and adolescent behavior problems and confirmed the expectation that raising healthy well-adjusted children depends not only on the family, but also the context in which the family lives.     

Impact of Sex Role Differences Upon The Frame of Reference: of Male and Female Residential Real Estate Salespeople in Their Evaluation of Career Opportunities

Abstract

The influence of sex-role stereotyping upon employee performances for job rewards has been researched in great depth. Little work has been done with men and women in a commissioned sales field. This study examines the influence of sex-role stereotyping upon the communication frame of reference and upon the evaluation of a career opportunity through two new hypotheses. Evidence was found that a sex-role identity and stereotyping can influence the frame of reference and the quality of information about a career.     

Can virtue be learned? An exploration of student learning experiences in ethics courses and their implications for influencing moral character

What does it mean to teach virtue, or to learn it? We consider this question through an institutional review board (IRB) supported research study attending to student learning experiences in undergraduate ethics courses at a Catholic university with an explicit commitment to social justice. This essay draws on and interprets qualitative data concerning the outcomes of select pedagogical approaches that involve exposing students to the experiences of others: the use of narratives; participation in structured experiential learning activities; and community engagement through deep listening and facilitated dialogue. We focus our interpretation around the implications of these pedagogies in relation to student understanding of and attitudes regarding three character traits identified as “other‐regarding” virtues in theological and philosophical scholarship – altruism, compassion, and solidarity. This paper considers the implications of these pedagogies and the practical effects of different sorts of teaching strategies on students' self‐understanding as moral agents.     

Prospective memory and aging: forgetting intentions over short delays

Retrieved intentions often cannot be performed immediately and must be maintained until there is an opportunity to perform them. In 3 experiments, on seeing a target event, younger and older participants were to withhold an action until they encountered the appropriate phase of the experiment. When initial retrieval was made facile by the use of a salient retrieval cue, the age-related decrements were often dramatic, even over unfilled delay intervals as brief as 10 s (Experiments 1 and 2). When initial retrieval was difficult, older adults showed no forgetting over the retention interval (Experiment 3). Several theoretical perspectives were offered as explanations for the age differences observed with salient retrieval cues, including those that focus on age differences in metamemory, the degree to which plans are reformulated, and the ability to nonstrategically maintain current concerns in working memory.     

Does Criminal Propensity Moderate the Effects of Social Learning Theory Variables on Intimate Partner Violence?

Akers’ Social Learning Theory (SLT) is one of the predominant general theories of criminal behavior; it has been widely tested and is typically supported. Despite being a validated general theory, it is possible there are other factors such as criminal propensity that influence the effects of social learning constructs. This study examines the extent, if any, to which crime-specific operationalizations of SLT exert equivalent effects on a specific type of offense—intimate partner violence (IPV) (both perpetration and victimization)—across level of criminal propensity. Using self-report data on intimate partner violence among university students and specifically designed to test SLT, the results indicate that (1) the effects of differential associations and differential reinforcements exerted consistent effects across the various measures of IPV, (2) the effects of definitions and imitation are much less consistent, and, most importantly (3) the effects of SLT constructs on IPV were moderated by criminal propensity. These results suggest that SLT may be less general than claimed; that is, the effects of SLT vary both across measures of IPV and across levels of criminal propensity.