Federal family and disability policy: special relevance for developmental disabilities

The article reviews the federal statutes and relevant decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court that constitute the core concepts of disability policy and their application to persons with disabilities (especially developmental disabilities) and their families.     

The accuracy of footballers' frequency estimates of their own football heading

A number of studies have suggested that football heading is associated with neuropsychological impairment. However, analyses indicating such a relationship have employed footballers' subjective estimations rather than objective measures of their heading frequency. This is despite frequency estimation research suggesting that such subjective estimations would be inaccurate. In two studies examining the relationship between footballers' heading frequency estimates and their observed heading frequency, footballers' estimates were found to be inaccurate, but positively related to their actual heading frequency. However, there were differences in estimate accuracy between studies. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed and recommendations are made for studies examining the relationship between heading frequency and neuropsychological impairment. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neuroticism: how does one slice the PI(e)?

Costa and McCrae's operationalization of the Five-Factor Model, the Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness Personality Inventory—Revised (NEO-PI-R; Costa and McCrae, 1992a), measures five broad dimensions of personality: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. According to Costa and McCrae, the Neuroticism (N) domain scale subsumes six facets. Although derived rationally and tested factor analytically, the factorial structure of the facet scales has yet to be unequivocally confirmed with analytic methods imposed at the item level. Using confirmatory and exploratory factor-analytic techniques, this study examines and tests the structure of the N domain scale of the NEO-PI-R. Confirmatory factor analysis indicates poor replication of the structure of the N scale. Results of the exploratory factor analysis indicate that while three of the facets replicated quite well, the other three factors did not correspond to Costa and McCrae's formulation. Future research should elaborate on the factorial structure and construct validity of the N facet scales, especially if they are to be used and interpreted in personality and clinical assessment. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Substance use and mothers’ neural responses to infant cues

Substance use may influence mothers’ responsiveness to their infants and negatively impact the parent–infant relationship. Maternal substance use may co-opt neural circuitry involved in caregiving, thus reducing the salience of infant cues and diminishing the sense of reward experienced by caring for infants. Gaps in understanding exist with regard to the mechanisms by which substance use operates to influence mothers’ processing of infant cues and how this translates to caregiving. Therefore, we examined how substance use might relate to maternal neural responses to infant cues using event-related potentials (ERPs). Substance-using (n = 29) and nonsubstance-using (n = 29) mothers viewed photographs of infant faces and heard recordings of infant vocalizations while electroencephalography was recorded simultaneously. Three specific ERP components were used to examine initial processing of infant faces (N170) and cries (N100), and attentional allocation to infant faces and cries (P300). Substance-using mothers did not discriminate facial affect at early encoding stages (N170), were generally slower to orient to infant cries (N100), showed heightened responses to neutral faces (P300), and failed to adaptively differentiate between high-distress versus low-distress cries (P300). These differences may be important to caregiving behaviors associated with the formation of mother–child attachment. Implications are discussed, as are limitations and future directions.     

Hemispheric interaction,task complexity,and emotional valence: Evidence from naturalistic images

Two experiments extend the ecological validity of tests of hemispheric interaction in three novel ways. First, we present a broad class of naturalistic stimuli that have not yet been used in tests of hemispheric interaction. Second, we test whether probable differences in complexity within the class of stimuli are supported by outcomes from measures of hemispheric interaction. Third, we use a procedure that presents target stimuli at fixation rather than at a lateralized location in order to more closely approximate normal viewing behavior.     

Linking Childhood Sexual Abuse and Early Adolescent Risk Behavior: The Intervening Role of Internalizing and Externalizing Problems

A robust literature links childhood sexual abuse (CSA) to later substance use and sexual risk behavior; yet, relatively little empirical attention has been devoted to identifying the mechanisms linking CSA to risky behavior among youth, with even less work examining such processes in boys. With the aim of addressing this gap in the literature, the current study examined the indirect effect of childhood sexual abuse (CSA; from age 2 to 12) trajectory group on risky behavior at age 14 (alcohol use & sexual intercourse) via the intervening role of caregiver-reported internalizing and externalizing problems at age 12. Analyses were conducted with a subsample of youth (n?=?657 sexual intercourse; n?=?667 alcohol use) from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN), a multisite prospective study of youth at risk for maltreatment. For boys and girls, there was an indirect effect from CSA to sexual intercourse through externalizing problems. The same pattern emerged for alcohol use, but only for girls. Findings did not support an indirect path through internalizing problems for either boys or girls for either outcome. Findings suggest more focal targets for prevention efforts aimed at maintaining the health and safety of maltreated boys and girls during the adolescent transition.     

Religious Involvement and Dynamics of Marijuana Use: Initiation,Persistence, and Desistence

Studies that examine the effects of adolescent religiosity on the initiation of, persistence in, and desistence from delinquency are rare. Yet, religion may differentially affect dimensions of delinquency in the early life course. Therefore, using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we examine the relationship between measures of adolescent religion, as well as changes in religious involvement, and later patterns of marijuana use. We also examine the extent to which religious effects, if any, are mediated by key predictors of delinquency drawn from prominent criminological theories. The results suggest that the primary effect of religion on marijuana use is to prevent its initiation in the first place. Only part of religion's preventative effect on initiation is mediated by social bonds, delinquent peers, or self control. Although religious youth are less likely to ever use marijuana, adolescent religious involvement does not significantly predict desistence from marijuana use.     

Self-Control,Opportunity, and Substance Use

We examine the effect of self-control and opportunity on adolescent substance use. When theorizing about the role of opportunity, we believe the “sanction potential” of a given situation should be considered. Our results suggest the effect of self-control on substance use does not depend on the availability of substances in the home (high sanction potential), but friends’ substance use (low sanction potential) conditions the effect of self-control on adolescents’ smoking, drinking, and marijuana use. Therefore, adolescents with low self-control are more likely to use substances only when they are presented with attractive opportunities that are unlikely to lead to sanctions.     

Religion,Self Control,and Substance Use

Previous research has examined a number of mechanisms through which religion might have an indirect influence on substance use. One potential intervening mechanism that has received little empirical attention is self control. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) we (1) examine the association between religion and self control, (2) determine if self control mediates the effect of religiosity on substance use, and (3) determine if the effect of self control on substance use varies depending on adolescents’ religiosity. The results suggest that religious youth exhibit higher levels of self control. Also, self control partially mediates the effect of adolescents’ religiosity on marijuana use and drinking. The only evidence we find for an interaction between self control and religiosity suggests self control has a moderately greater effect on alcohol use among those of low, rather than medium or high, religiosity.