The EARLY ALLIANCE Prevention Trial: An Integrated Set of Interventions to Promote Competence and Reduce Risk for Conduct Disorder, Substance Abuse, and School Failure

Describes the EARLY ALLIANCE interventions, an integrated set of four programs designed to promote competence and reduce risk for early-onset conduct disorder, substance abuse, and school failure. These interventions are evaluated as part of a prevention trial that begins at school entry and targets child functioning and socializing practices across multiple contexts (school, peer group, family) and multiple domains (affective, social, and achievement coping-competence). The paper presents the conceptual foundation of the four interventions, including a synopsis of the risk and protective factors associated with conduct disorder and related outcomes, and of the coping-competence model driving EARLY ALLIANCE. The developmental rationale, intended impact, and procedures are described for each intervention: a universally administered classroom program and indicated, peer, reading-mentoring, and family programs. Interventions are currently being tested in a prevention trial, which is briefly summarized.     

Impact of the format of user instructions on the handling of a wrist blood pressure monitor

Cognitive Processing - Few studies have focused on procedural documents in the field of home medical devices, although incorrect use and usability problems can have important consequences for the...     

Local Optima in Mixture Modeling

It is common knowledge that mixture models are prone to arrive at locally optimal solutions. Typically, researchers are directed to utilize several random initializations to ensure that the resulting solution is adequate. However, it is unknown what factors contribute to a large number of local optima and whether these coincide with the factors that reduce the accuracy of a mixture model. A real-data illustration and a series of simulations are presented that examine the effect of a variety of data structures on the propensity of local optima and the classification quality of the resulting solution. We show that there is a moderately strong relationship between a solution that has a high proportion of local optima and one that is poorly classified.     

Racial‐ethnic Identity in Context: Examining Mediation of Neighborhood Factors on Children's Academic Adjustment

Research consistently shows that neighborhood socio‐demographic characteristics and residents’ neighborhood perceptions matter for youth well‐being, including a positive sense of racial‐ethnic identity. Although elementary‐school children are likely in the earlier phases of identity formation, the authors examined whether objective and subjective neighborhood characteristics are related to their racial‐ethnic identity and, in turn, their academic adjustment. A diverse sample (30.4% African American, 35.2% White, 12.3% Latino, & 22.0% Other) of 227 children in Grades 2 through 5 were surveyed in afterschool programs. Bivariate correlations showed that youth living in disadvantaged neighborhoods reported more barriers due to their race‐ethnicity, but these barriers were not related to their sense of academic efficacy. Residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood was unrelated to youth's academic self‐efficacy. However, path analyses showed that positive neighborhood perceptions were associated with a stronger sense of race‐ethnicity (i.e., affirmation and belonging), which was in turn related to greater academic efficacy. These results suggest that neighborhood connection provides a source of affirmation and value for young children, helping them to understand who they are as part of a racial‐ethnic group and helping to foster a sense of future achievement opportunities. This study provides additional evidence that along with other important proximal contexts (e.g., family, school), young children's neighborhood context is important for development. Results are discussed to highlight environmental influences on young children's awareness of race‐ethnicity and the implications of the combined impact of neighborhood and racial‐ethnic identity on psychosocial adjustment.     

Does multitasking mediate the relationships between episodic memory,attention, executive functions and apathetic manifestations in traumatic brain injury?

Apathy is frequently described in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI); its negative consequences particularly affect functional independence. Among apathetic manifestations, lack of initiative and lack of interest have mainly been associated with cognitive impairments. However, few studies have been conducted to precisely identify the underlying cognitive processes. Our aims were (1) to determine the best predictor of apathy from among several cognitive processes, including episodic memory and attention/executive mechanisms and multitasking, and (2) to examine to what extent multitasking could mediate the relationships between specific cognitive processes and lack of initiative/interest. Seventy participants (34 patients with TBI matched with 36 control participants) were given a questionnaire to assess anxio‐depressive symptoms, four tasks to assess specific cognitive processes, and one task to assess real‐life multitasking. Participants’ relatives completed an apathy questionnaire. Multitasking, as assessed by the number of goals not achieved, was the only significant predictor of apathetic manifestations. In addition, the mediation analyses revealed that multitasking performance mediated the relationships between verbal episodic memory and lack of initiative/interest, whereas executive and attentional functions were only indirectly related to lack of initiative/interest due to their significant impacts on multitasking. These results shed new light on the aetiology of apathetic manifestations in patients with TBI, indicating how specific cognitive deficits are expressed in real‐life multitasking, and consequently, how they may lead to the development and/or maintenance of apathetic manifestations.     

Premarital Sexual Debut in Emerging Adults of South Asian Descent: The Role of Parental Sexual Socialization and Sexual Attitudes

Ethnicity is an important factor in premarital sexual debut as norms regarding appropriate sexual conduct outside of marriage vary considerably across cultures. Emerging adults of South Asian descent living in Western societies are an important demographic group, yet little is known about the factors that contribute to variations in their premarital sexual debut. The goal of this study was to investigate the contributions of parental sexual socialization and attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors to premarital sexual debut in emerging adults of South Asian descent. University students of South Asian descent (N = 87) aged 18–24 completed a questionnaire containing measures of parental attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, their own attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, and experience with oral sex and intercourse. Mediation analyses showed that perceptions of mothers’ as more permissive toward premarital sexual behaviors was associated with respondents reporting more permissive attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, which in turn was associated with a greater likelihood of having engaged in oral sex and intercourse. No significant effect was found for fathers. These findings suggest that parental sexual socialization may influence emerging adults of South Asian descent’s decision to engage in premarital sexual behaviors through the process of sexual attitudes formation.     

Complex and subtle structural changes in prefrontal cortex induced by inhibitory control training from childhood to adolescence

A number of training interventions have been designed to improve executive functions and inhibitory control (IC) across the lifespan. Surprisingly, no study has investigated the structural neuroplasticity induced by IC training from childhood to late adolescence, a developmental period characterized by IC efficiency improvement and protracted maturation of prefrontal cortex (PFC) subregions involved in IC. The aim of the present study was to investigate the behavioral and structural changes induced by a 5‐week computerized and adaptive IC training in school‐aged children (10‐year‐olds) and in adolescents (16‐year‐olds). Sixty‐four children and 59 adolescents were randomly assigned to an IC (i.e. Color‐Word Stroop and Stop‐Signal tasks) or an active control (AC) (knowledge‐ and vocabulary‐based tasks) training group. In the pre‐ and posttraining sessions, participants performed the Color‐Word Stroop and Stop‐signal tasks, and an anatomical resonance imaging (MRI) was acquired for each of them. Children's IC efficiency improved from the pre‐ to the posttraining session in boys but not in girls. In adolescents, IC efficiency did not improve after IC training. Similar to the neuroplastic mechanisms observed during brain maturation, we observed IC training‐related changes in cortical thickness and cortical surface area in several PFC subregions (e.g. the pars opercularis, triangularis, and orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyri) that were age‐ and gender‐specific. Because no correction for multiple comparisons was applied, the results of our study provide only preliminary evidence of the complex structural neuroplastic mechanisms at the root of behavioral changes in IC efficiency from pre‐ to posttraining in school‐aged children and adolescents.     

The components of love: Romantic attraction and sex role orientation

Hypotheses derived from both Erich Fromm and the feminist literature linking sex role orientation to type of love experienced were tested in a sample of 123 heterosexual dating couples Five components of love were identified through factor analysis romantic dependency, communicative intimacy, physical arousal, respect, and romantic compatibility Type of love was related to sex role orientation (p 01), with traditionals characterized by romantic dependency and romantic compatibility, while nontraditionals emphasized communicative intimacy Sex differences showed females being more emotionally expressive in then love than males and scoring higher on communicative intimacy (p's < 01)     

Home, School, and Community Partnerships: Integrating Issues of Race, Culture, and Social Class

The current review is an examination of home–school–community partnerships utilizing an ecological approach to understand the influences of race, culture, and social class. The ecological approach recognizes that families and schools are embedded in communities, and that these settings influence each other and the development of children. The roles of race, culture, and social class in the development of partnerships between the home, school, and community settings are explored. Race, culture, and social class may interact with parent and family attributes, teacher and school qualities, and community context. These factors are often misunderstood either through underinvestigation or lack of integration. The implications for future research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

Women as wives and rulers in Martin Luther's theology

This article offers a theological analysis of Martin Luther's complex view on women and their role in society, focusing on his exposition of the narratives of creation and fall in the Lectures on Genesis. Luther's understanding of women is defined by an ostensible paradox. On the one hand, Luther claims that all women are equal to men in relation to God and hold the power to rule over the earth, which they execute as leaders of the household. On the other hand, Luther passes on a traditional view of women being of a weaker nature and argues that wives have to subordinate to their husbands. I interpret this understanding of women as an outcome of Luther's theological anthropology based on his doctrine of justification. Men and women are equal as priests and kings in relation to God and authorized to manage their relationship with him, to teach and pray for others, and to disobey authority that interferes with this faith relation. As sinners, though, they must submit to authority to suppress sin. Both men and women exercise authority through their gender-specific callings in the earthly hierarchies, which constitute God's created order. However, women have to subordinate to their husbands in order to suppress sin. The article discusses whether this complex view on women promoted patriarchal social structures or whether the freedom and equality of the spiritual realm over time filtered through to the role of women in society, paving the way for their liberation.