Prosocial development in early adulthood: a longitudinal study

Consistency of measures of a prosocial personality and prosocial moral judgment over time, and the interrelations among them, were examined. Participants and friends' reports of prosocial characteristics were obtained at ages 21-22, 23-24, and 25-26 years. In addition, participants' prosocial judgment was assessed with interviews and with an objective measure of prosocial moral reasoning at several ages. Reports of prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding in childhood and observations of prosocial behavior in preschool also were obtained. There was interindividual consistency in prosocial dispositions, and prosocial dispositions in adulthood related to empathy/sympathy and prosocial behavior at much younger ages. Interview and objective measures of moral reasoning were substantially interrelated in late adolescence/early adulthood and correlated with participants' and friends' reports of a prosocial disposition.     

Dispositional emotionality and regulation: their role in predicting quality of social functioning

Individual differences in emotionality and regulation are central to conceptions of temperament and personality. In this article, conceptions of emotionality and regulation and ways in which they predict social functioning are examined. Linear (including additive) and nonlinear effects are reviewed. In addition, data on mediational and moderational relations from a longitudinal study are presented. The effects of attention regulation on social functioning were mediated by resiliency, and this relation was moderated by negative emotionality at the first, but not second, assessment. Negative emotionality moderated the relation of behavior regulation to socially appropriate/prosocial behavior. These results highlight the importance of examining different types of regulation and the ways in which dispositional characteristics interact in predicting social outcomes.     

The relations of effortful control and reactive control to children's externalizing problems: a longitudinal assessment

In this study, we examined the role of negative emotionality as a moderator of the relations of effortful control and overcontrol (versus undercontrol) with children's externalizing problem behaviors; we also examined the longitudinal relations among these variables. Teachers' and parents' reports of children's negative emotionality, effortful control, overcontrol and externalizing problem behaviors were obtained at T1 (N=199; M age=89.51 months) and again 2 (T2) and 4 years (T3) later. In addition, children's effortful control was assessed with an observed measure of persistence. In a T3 concurrent structural equation model, effortful control, but not overcontrol, was negatively related to children's T3 externalizing problem behaviors. In regression analyses, the negative relation between T3 effortful control and externalizing problem behaviors was strongest at high levels of T3 negative emotionality. In the best-fitting longitudinal structural equation model, both T1 effortful control and T1 overcontrol negatively predicted externalizing problems at T1, whereas T3 effortful control (but not T3 overcontrol) was significantly negatively related to T3 externalizing problem behaviors when controlling for T1 externalizing problem behaviors.     

Factors Affecting HIV Contraceptive Decision-Making Among Women

We examined contraceptive decision-making among African American, Latina, and European American women ages 18–50 years. Logistic regressions examined relationships between demographic and religious factors, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), reasons for sex, and contraceptive decision-making. Women who were older, single, African American, used pregnancy prevention, and had histories of STDs and unintended pregnancies made contraceptive decisions alone. Older and African American women were more likely to choose no contraception. Among contraceptive users, African Americans used effective methods of pregnancy, but not disease, prevention. Women with STD histories, and younger, more educated women were more likely to use methods that prevent against both pregnancy and disease. Theoretical implications about contraceptive choices among ethnically diverse women are discussed.     

Patterns of Association Among Multiple Motivations and Aspects of Achievement in Reading

The present study investigated the multivariate relationships between several aspects of motivation and achievement in reading. Canonical correlation analysis was used to examine patterns of associations for reading information texts in Phase I and for reading literary texts in Phase II. The samples were 923 and 225 seventh graders, respectively. Results revealed three multivariate patterns for information text, whereas one pattern was observed for literary text. An explanation for the difference between reading motivation for information text and literary text is provided based on distinctions between these genres. Additionally, findings showed that undermining motivations predicted students’ reading achievement more strongly than affirming motivations. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.     

Daily Hassles and African American Adolescent Females�� Psychological Functioning: Direct and Interactive Associations with Gender Role Orientation

Given that stressors may accumulate across the life span, the extent to which daily hassles are associated with African American females?? psychological functioning during the adolescent years remains an important question. Understanding the potential impact of daily hassles is important due to indications that African American women report greater daily hassles and have higher incidence rates of stress-related disorders. The current study examines the relationship between daily hassles and psychological functioning (e.g., depression and anxiety symptoms) among 103 U.S. African American adolescent females (M?=?15.50; SD?=?1.70) residing in a moderately-sized Midwestern city. Additionally, this investigation explores gender role orientation as a moderator of this relationship. Results indicated that increased daily hassles were associated with greater depressive and anxiety symptoms. Also, this investigation provides some support for the direct and moderating role of gender role orientation. A greater feminine or androgynous role orientation was associated with fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms. In addition, although not directly associated, this investigation indicated that a masculine role orientation moderated the association between daily hassles and girls?? psychological outcomes. Specifically, among African American adolescent females with a greater masculine role orientation, increased daily hassles were associated with reduced psychological functioning (e.g., greater depressive and anxiety symptoms). Neither feminine nor androgynous role orientation, however, moderated the relationship between daily hassles and psychological functioning (e.g., depressive and anxiety symptoms). Implications of findings are discussed.     

Maladaptive appraisals as a risk factor for posttraumatic stress: a study of trainee firefighters

This study tested the proposal that catastrophic appraisals are a risk factor for developing stress reactions after trauma. Trainee firefighters (N = 82) were assessed during training (and before trauma exposure), and 68 firefighters were subsequently reassessed 6 months after commencing firefighter duty (after trauma exposure). Initial assessment included the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, the Traumatic Events Questionnaire, and the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory. The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale was again administered approximately 20 months after initial assessment and after trauma exposure. Posttraumatic stress at follow-up was predicted by pre*trauma catastrophic thinking (24% of variance). These findings accord with cognitive models predicting that a tendency to catastrophize about negative events is a risk factor for developing posttraumatic stress symptoms.     

Relation of emotion-related regulation to children's social competence: a longitudinal study

The differential relations of children's emotion-related regulation (i.e., effortful control and impulsivity) to their personality resiliency, adult-rated popularity, and social competence were examined in children who were 4.5-7.9 years old and who were remeasured 2 years later. Parents and teachers reported on all constructs, and children's attentional persistence was observed. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediating role of resiliency on the relations between regulation/control and popularity using two-wave longitudinal data. The results provide some evidence of the mediating role of resiliency in the relations between effortful control and popularity, provide some evidence of bidirectional effects, and also buttress the view that emotional regulation should be differentiated into effortful and reactive forms of control.     

The discrimination of facial expressions by typically developing infants and toddlers and those experiencing early institutional care

Early experience likely plays an important role in the development of the ability to discriminate facial expressions of emotion. We posited that compared to children reared with their biological families (n=72), abandoned children being reared in institutions (n=39) should demonstrate impairments in this ability. The visual paired comparison procedure was utilized to assess the abilities of 13- to 30-month-old children to discriminate among multiple pairs of photographs of facial expressions. Both groups exhibited a normative profile of discrimination, with no group differences evident. Such findings suggest that early institutionalization does not affect the ability of 1- to 3-year-olds to discriminate facial expressions of emotion, at least as inferred by the Visual Paired Comparison Procedure.