Couple Relationship Education at the Transition to Parenthood: A Window of Opportunity to Reach High‐Risk Couples

This study evaluated if the transition to parenthood is a window of opportunity to provide couple relationship education (CRE) to new parents at high risk for future relationship problems. Fifty‐three percent of eligible couples approached agreed to participate in CRE and of these 80% had not previously accessed CRE. Couples were a broad representative of Australian couples having their first child, but minority couples were underrepresented. A third of couples had three or more risk factors for future relationship distress (e.g., cohabiting, interpartner violence, elevated psychological distress, unplanned pregnancy). Low education was the only risk factor that predicted drop out. The transition to parenthood is a window of opportunity to recruit certain types of high‐risk couples to CRE.     

Effect of a résumé‐writing workshop on résumé‐writing skills

What is the best way to teach someone how to write an effective résumé? A workshop format was used to teach college students the skills needed to write a successful résumé. Archival data consisting of student résumés and rubric score sheets were used to determine the effectiveness of a résumé‐writing workshop by using a pre–post design evaluating student résumés. The authors used a rubric to produce quantitative data for comparison purposes. Participants’ postworkshop résumé rubric scores were significantly higher than their scores were before attending the workshop. The authors offer possible explanations for the results and make suggestions for future research.     

African American clergy: what are their perceptions of pastoral care and pastoral counseling?

This qualitative study explores African American clergy’s perspectives on pastoral care and pastoral counseling. Interviews were conducted with 18 African American clergy of diverse ages, locales, and educational levels who were recruited from a southern state. Two major themes emerged from the data: (a) Shepherding the Flock and (b) Distinguishable Concepts with Different Meaning and Functions. Implications for social work practice and research are addressed.     

Toward Reducing Risk for Eating Disorders and Obesity in Latina College Women

The efficacy of 2 computer‐based programs was tested with Latina college women (N= 64). Compared with participants in the control group, intervention participants improved their motivation to eat fruits and vegetables (F&V; p= .042) and to participate in physical activity (p= .023) and significantly increased their F&V intake (pre‐ to posttest, p < .001; pre‐follow‐up, p= .002). Body dissatisfaction improved at a trend level (p= .055). Some modest effects of computer‐based programs were found.     

Development and validation of the Interpersonal Emotion Management Scale

Interpersonal Emotion Management (IEM) strategies represent behaviours targeted at managing negative emotions in others. This paper describes the development and validation of the four‐dimensional IEM strategies scale. Four studies were conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the scale, including content, discriminant, and criterion validity. Results provided strong support for the four‐dimensional measure of IEM strategies, distinct from conceptually related constructs, and predictive of subordinates’ trust in their supervisor.     

Neighborhood & Family Effects on Learning Motivation among Urban African American Middle School Youth

Motivational theorists in psychology have moved away from individual-based approaches to socio-cognitive and socio-ecological models to explain student engagement and motivation for learning. Such approaches consider, for example, the influence of family and neighborhood environments as important constructs in youth behavior. In this study, links between neighborhood condition (e.g. external appearance of the blocks nearest to the respondents’ home), family dysfunction, and motivation for learning are investigated. Data were obtained from two hundred and sixteen (216) urban African American middle school children enrolled in a substance use prevention intervention. Analytic models show associations between poor neighborhood condition, and both family dysfunction and lower learning motivation, and poor neighborhood condition and lower learning motivation. Family dysfunction was also found to mediate the effect of neighborhood condition on motivated learning. Neighborhood and family characteristics are important determinants of urban schoolchildren’s motivation for learning.     

The Association between Positive Parenting and Externalizing Behavior

The present study examined the role of positive parenting on externalizing behaviors in a longitudinal, genetically informative sample. It often is assumed that positive parenting prevents behavior problems in children via an environmentally mediated process. Alternatively, the association may be due to either an evocative gene-environment correlation, in which parents react to children's genetically-influenced behavior in a positive way, or a passive gene-environment correlation, where parents passively transmit a risk environment and the genetic risk factor for the behavioral outcome to their children. The present study estimated the contribution of these processes in the association between positive parenting and children's externalizing behavior. Positive parenting was assessed via observations at ages 7, 9, 14, 24, and 36 months and externalizing behaviors were assessed through parent report at ages 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12 years. The significant association between positive parenting and externalizing behavior was negative, with children of mothers who showed significantly more positive parenting during toddlerhood having lower levels of externalizing behavior in childhood; however, there was not adequate power to distinguish whether this covariation was due to genetic, shared environmental, or nonshared environmental influences.     

When far becomes near: shared environments activate action simulation

It has been proposed that one means of understanding a person's current behaviour and predicting future actions is by simulating their actions. That is, when another person's actions are observed, similar motor processes are activated in the observer. For example, after observing a reach over an obstacle, a person's subsequent reach trajectory is more curved, reflecting motor priming. Importantly, such motor states are only activated if the observed action is in near (peripersonal) space. However, we demonstrate that when individuals share action environments, simulation of another person's obstacle avoiding reach path takes place even when the action is in far (extrapersonal) space. We propose that action simulation is influenced by factors such as ownership. When an "owned" object is a potential future obstacle, even when it is viewed beyond current action space, simulations are evoked, and these leave a more stable memory capable of influencing future behaviour.     

Examining the Validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) for Predicting Probation Outcomes Among Adjudicated Juvenile Offenders

The current study examined the ability of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk for Youth (SAVRY), a standardized risk assessment instrument, to predict probation outcomes among a sample of 158 adjudicated juvenile offenders placed on probation. Traditionally, the SAVRY has been used to measure violence risk among adolescents after release from custody. More recently, a delinquency risk measure based on SAVRY responses was developed, which could be useful for other types of outcome. This study examined the predictive validity of both summary risk ratings (SRR) for probation outcomes, including the reason for terminating probation and length of time on probation. A number of bivariate analyses and Cox regression models provided preliminary support for the ability of the nonviolent delinquency SRR, and modest support for the violence SRR, to predict probation outcomes. The implications for use of the SAVRY SRRs during juvenile justice system decision‐making and recommendations for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Selling and Sales Management in Action: The Role of Strategic Selling in the Company Turnaround Process

Despite the importance of marketing orientation to company profile and performance as presented in the literature, there has been little attention paid to the role of strategic selling in the company turnaround process in published studies. This article explores selling's contribution to company turnaround through a study of ailing and rejuvenated companies in the mature engineering industry. The development and implementation of sales strategies in successfully turned around and failed companies are compared. The role of strategic selling is broadened as new concepts are developed and explored.