The Development of Early Externalizing Problems Among Children from Low-Income Families: A Transformational Perspective

The present study examined pathways leading to early externalizing problems from age 1 to 31/2 in a design that took advantage of our knowledge of normative progression and normative socialization as well as findings from research on risk. A sample of 130 low-income participants was followed longitudinally from 12 to 42 months using observational measures of developmentally salient parenting and child disruptive behavior to predict early externalizing problems. Results are best accommodated by concepts such as transformation and transaction from developmental psychology. For boys, both child and parent variables predicted later externalizing. For girls and boys, the interaction between child noncompliance and maternal rejection was significant.     

Word-to-word variation in ERP component latencies: spoken words

Data were collected shedding light on the brain electrical activity underlying word recognition. Subjects listened to a list of 48 spoken words in six random orders under two instructional sets: first to "think about the meanings of the words," and second, to learn the list. The scalp EEG associated with hearing and identifying the words was recorded at F3, F4, Cz, P3, P4, Pz, and Oz. Standard within-subjects time-locked averaging across words showed a late negative-positive complex with N2-P3 topography, the negative component peaking around 480 msec, the positive component peaking around 830 msec. Averaging within words across subjects uncovered considerable latency variability in both components. Within-word N2 and P3 component latencies covaried with word durations and with the "recognition points" predicted for the words by the "cohort theory" of word recognition. N2 latencies corresponded closely to the "N400" effect elicited with semantically incongruous sentence-final spoken words. Implications for ERP investigations of language processing are discussed.     

High School Girls’ Experience of Victimization by Boys: Where Sexual Harassment Meets Aggression

School-based research into sexual harassment, on the one hand, and aggression (including bullying) on the other, originate from different disciplinary traditions, but are beginning to connect. We examined whether the sexual harassment of high school girls by boys can be regarded as a form of aggression. Year 8 to 10 girls from 5 coeducational high schools (N = 679) responded to a 24-item version of the Direct and Indirect Aggression Scale, including 6 new sexually toned items; participants indicated how often they experienced each behavior. Principal components analysis identified 4 components: direct aggression, psychological aggression, cyberbullying, and sexual harassment. The latter included the more intrusive sexually toned behaviors, whereas verbal sexualized insults were a component of psychological aggression—the component that most strongly undermined girls’ sense of safety at school. Research and policies on school peer victimization need to explicitly include sexual aspects, in recognition of the harmfulness of such “everyday” psychological aggression.     

Childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Predicts Intimate Partner Victimization in Young Women

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with interpersonal dysfunction during childhood and adolescence, yet little is known about the romantic relationships of young women with childhood ADHD. In the present study, we draw from a longitudinal sample of girls followed prospectively into young adulthood, comparing those with (n?=?114) and without (n?=?79; comparisons) childhood ADHD in terms of their risk for physical victimization by an intimate partner (physical IPV; e.g., slapping, punching) by 17–24 years of age. We examined ADHD both diagnostically and dimensionally, at the same time establishing reliable indicators of young adult physical IPV. Externalizing and internalizing problems, and academic achievement during adolescence, were tested as potential mediators. Overall, participants with a childhood diagnosis of ADHD experienced more physical IPV than did comparisons (30.7 % vs. 6.3 %). In parallel, IPV was associated with higher levels of childhood ADHD symptomatology (d?=?0.73). Young women with persistent ADHD stood the highest risk of experiencing IPV (37.3 %), followed by those with transient ADHD (19.0 %) and those never-diagnosed (5.9 %). Academic achievement measured during adolescence was a significant partial mediator of the childhood ADHD symptomatology-young adult IPV relationship, even with control of sociodemographic, psychiatric, and cognitive factors, including childhood reading and math disorders. Findings indicate that in young women, childhood ADHD is a specific and important predictor of physically violent victimization in their intimate relationships. This vulnerable population requires IPV prevention and intervention, with academic empowerment as a key target.     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF A PROGRAM FOR TRAINING HIGH AND LOW PREFERENCE PEERS TO MODIFY DISRUPTIVE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR1

Although considerable evidence has accumulated regarding the effectivenes of peers as behavior managers, little attention has been directed toward the analysis of components of training programs. Also, it is not known whether high and low preference peers have different reinforcing effects. In this study, a two-phase peer training program was introduced to five high preference and five low preference peer managers. The Managers were assigned one to each of 10 grade-four elementary pupils with high rates of disruptive behavior. Peer Training I was composed of instructions to monitor and reinforce target subject behavior on a time-sample schedule, to record this reinforcement, and to ignore inappropriate behavior in target subjects. Peer Training II introduced, in addition, backup reinforcement for the monitoring behavior of managers. Measures were taken of target subject behavior, antecedent and consequent attention from managers and other peers, monitoring behavior of managers, teacher behavior, and preference ratings of peer managers by target subjects. Significant improvements in target subject behavior occurred following Peer Training I and further improvements occurred following Peer Training II. These changes were paralleled by decreases in the frequency of antecedent and consequent manager attention to problem behaviors, and improvements in the number and accuracy of monitoring checks. Recorded reductions in teacher attention to individual children and to target subjects were not statistically significant. Posttest preference scores improved significantly over pretest scores for low preference managers, while remaining high for high preference managers.     

Life history and vocational interests

To obtain some information concerning the antecedents of various forms of vocational interests, scores on the 22 basic interest scales of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) were correlated with 389 life history or autobiographical data items. Items yielding significant correlations were clustered on the basis of item content. The clusters obtained for the business management, science, and adventure scales are presented and discussed. Subsequently, certain general conclusions are drawn concerning the life history correlates of inventoried vocational interests.     

The temporal course of the relationship between retinal disparity and the equidistance tendency in the determination of perceived depth

Changes in perceived depth as a function of exposure duration were compared for two stimulus conditions. In one. a depth interval between two points of light was produced by the retinal disparity cue, and in the other condition, otherwise identical to the first, the light points were connected by a thin luminous line. The principle finding was that the perceived depth interval between the light points increased as a function of exposure durations greater than 1 sec, while no change in the perceived depth interval between the end points of the line occurred. The results were interpreted in terms of a greater equidistance tendency (ET) operating for the line than for the point condition. It was concluded that both the ET and the retinal disparity cue increase in strength as a function of exposure duration.     

Natural rates of teacher approval and disapproval in grade-7 classrooms

The natural rates of teacher verbal approval and disapproval in ten grade-seven classrooms were determined and compared with those described by White (1975). Although there were differences in the observation techniques used and the behavioral, cultural, and ethnic groups sampled, the results were similar. The majority of the teachers displayed individual rates of disapproval that were higher than their individual approval rates. The correlations between levels of on-task behavior and approval and disapproval rates were low. The issues raised by these findings are discussed in terms of directions for further research.