Youth civic development: historical context and emerging issues

The civic domain has taken its place in the scholarship and practice of youth development. From the beginning, the field has focused on youth as assets who contribute to the common good of their communities. Work at the cutting edge of this field integrates research and practice and focuses on the civic incorporation of groups who often have been marginalized from mainstream society. The body of work also extends topics of relevance to human development by considering themes of justice, social responsibility, critical consciousness, and collective action.     

Severe and nonsevere events in first onsets versus recurrences of depression: evidence for stress sensitization

Overall, research has evidenced support for Post's (1992) model, which asserts that the 1st episode of depression is more likely to be associated with severe life events than are subsequent episodes. In spite of this, there are significant gaps in the understanding of the stress-depression association. This study aimed to address three gaps by (a) identifying the explanatory model underlying the association (stress sensitization vs. stress autonomy), (b) elucidating how the role of stress changes with successive episodes, and (c) examining the role of nonsevere events. The impact and occurrence of severe and nonsevere events in a 5-year longitudinal study of late-adolescent women were examined using Cox regression models. Overall, we found support for the stress sensitization model over the stress autonomy model. Specifically, the impact of nonsevere (but not severe) events was greater in individuals with a history of depression compared with those with no history of depression. In addition, the occurrence of severe (but not nonsevere) events was greater for 1st onsets than recurrences. These effects were modified by event independence. The results were discussed in terms of the underlying mechanisms of the stress-depression association and future directions for research were elaborated.     

Evaluation of the evidence for the trauma and fantasy models of dissociation

The relationship between a reported history of trauma and dissociative symptoms has been explained in 2 conflicting ways. Pathological dissociation has been conceptualized as a response to antecedent traumatic stress and/or severe psychological adversity. Others have proposed that dissociation makes individuals prone to fantasy, thereby engendering confabulated memories of trauma. We examine data related to a series of 8 contrasting predictions based on the trauma model and the fantasy model of dissociation. In keeping with the trauma model, the relationship between trauma and dissociation was consistent and moderate in strength, and remained significant when objective measures of trauma were used. Dissociation was temporally related to trauma and trauma treatment, and was predictive of trauma history when fantasy proneness was controlled. Dissociation was not reliably associated with suggestibility, nor was there evidence for the fantasy model prediction of greater inaccuracy of recovered memory. Instead, dissociation was positively related to a history of trauma memory recovery and negatively related to the more general measures of narrative cohesion. Research also supports the trauma theory of dissociation as a regulatory response to fear or other extreme emotion with measurable biological correlates. We conclude, on the basis of evidence related to these 8 predictions, that there is strong empirical support for the hypothesis that trauma causes dissociation, and that dissociation remains related to trauma history when fantasy proneness is controlled. We find little support for the hypothesis that the dissociation-trauma relationship is due to fantasy proneness or confabulated memories of trauma.     

Bingo!: Hints of Deviance in the Accounts of Sociability and Profit of Bingo Players

This study investigates the social construction of bingo players and bingo playing. Although gambling has largely maintained its deviant reputation, bingo, as a form of gambling, remains untainted by labels of deviance. We undertook a small ethnographic study of bingo playing in a Southwestern town. Because we had very little knowledge of bingo and bingo playing when we entered the field, our original research questions reflected the central concerns of how to play bingo, who plays bingo, and why people begin and continue playing bingo. We found that the bingo world contains a complex web of assumptions and practices surrounding who should win and how to win. Information from our informal interviews suggests that players begin playing and continue playing for the hope of winning and profit and to maintain friendship networks built through playing bingo. Four preliminary domains of analysis emerged from our data: the protocol of bingo playing; and winning; the culture and superstitions of bingo; fun, profit and bingo playing; and hints of deviance among bingo players. Each domain is critical in answering our question: What is bingo?     

Selection of variables in exploratory factor analysis: An empirical comparison of a stepwise and traditional approach

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the performance of a stepwise variable selection algorithm to traditional exploratory factor analysis. The Monte Carlo study included six factors in the design; the number of common factors; the number of variables explained by the common factors; the magnitude of factor loadings; the number of variables not explained by the common factors; the type of anomaly evidenced by the poorly explained variables; and sample size. The performance of the methods was evaluated in terms of selection and pattern accuracy, and bias and root mean squared error of the structure coefficients. Results indicate that the stepwise algorithm was generally ineffective at excluding anomalous variables from the factor model. The poor selection accuracy of the stepwise approach suggests that it should be avoided.     

Understanding the Sex Difference in Vulnerability to Adolescent Depression: An Examination of Child and Parent Characteristics

This study examined sex differences in risk factors associated with adolescent depression in a large sample of boys and girls. Moderation and mediation explanatory models of the sex difference in likelihood of depression were examined. Findings indicate that the factors associated with depression in adolescent boys and girls are quite similar. All of the variables considered were associated with depression, but sex did not moderate the impact of vulnerability factors on likelihood of depression diagnosis. However, negative self-perceptions in the domains of achievement, global self-worth, and physical appearance partially mediated the relationship between sex and depression. Further, girls had higher levels of positive self-perceptions in interpersonal domains that acted as suppressors and reduced the likelihood of depression in girls. These findings suggest that girls' higher incidence of depression is due in part to their higher levels of negative self-perceptions, whereas positive interpersonal factors serve to protect them from depressive episodes.     

A Compassionate Autonomy Alternative to Speciesism

Many people in the animal welfare communityhave argued that the use of nonhuman animals inmedical research is necessarily based onspeciesism, an unjustified prejudice based onspecies membership. As such it is morally akinto racism and sexism. This is misguided. Thecombined capacities for autonomy and sentiencewith the obligations derived from relationssupport a morally justifiable rationale forusing some nonhuman animals in order to limitthe risk of harm to humans. There may be a fewcases where it is morally better to use a neversentient human than a sentient animal, butthese cases are few and would not fulfill thecurrent need for research subjects. The use ofnonautonomous animals instead of humans inrisky research can be based on solid moralground. It is not necessarily speciesism.