A 10-day developmental voyage: converging evidence from three studies showing that self-esteem may be elevated and maintained without negative outcomes

Empirical evidence shows that educational experiences in the context of the outdoors lead to elevated self-esteem. Although elevated self-esteem is widely assumed to promote beneficial outcomes, recent evidence suggests that elevated self-esteem may also facilitate a variety of negative outcomes (i.e., increased prejudice, aggression, drug and alcohol abuse). The current research was conducted in order to examine whether one type of outdoor educational experience—a 10-day developmental voyage—could elevate adolescents’ self-esteem without also elevating negative outcomes. The data from three separate studies are reported. Study one revealed that adolescents who undertook the voyage manifested elevated self-esteem and decreased gender prejudice (i.e., less negative ratings of opposite sex outgroup members). Study two replicated these findings and further demonstrated that these effects were maintained 4–5 months following the voyage. In study three, in addition to self-esteem, risky attitudes (i.e., towards drug and alcohol use), physical aggression, verbal aggression, racial and gender bias were also examined. Adolescents again showed elevated self-esteem that was maintained 4–5 months following the voyage. There were no changes in risky attitudes, aggression, or racial and gender bias. Taken together these results indicate that taking part in a 10-day developmental voyage—can lead to an elevation in self-esteem, that is maintained over time and which does not facilitate a variety of negative outcomes.     

Parental Illness Encouragement Behavior Among Children with Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: A Factor Analysis with Implications for Research and Clinical Practice

The objective of the current study was to assess the factor structure of the Illness Behavior Encouragement Scale (IBES) by Walker and Zeman (1992) among children with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs). Two hundred seventy nine children (63 % female), and 135 primary caregivers (90.8 % mothers), recruited from a large Midwestern children’s hospital completed the IBES, a 12-item measure of parental behavior in response to abdominal pain episodes. Findings suggested the IBES possesses two conceptually distinct scales that are invariant across parent self- and child-report, and are consistent with previous factor analysis in a Dutch sample of children with headaches. Different types of parental behaviors exist that naturally cluster and diverge in reliable ways. Future research is warranted to determine if these different types of parental behavior may differentially influence illness outcomes among children with FGIDs.     

Responses of Comparable White and Negro Adults to the Rorschach Test

Five groups of 20 Ss each, ranging from seven years to college age, were asked to solve a series of problems involving change-making and coin equivalences. Results indicated that the number of Ss able to make change without the use of written calculations increased as a consequence of chronological age, with the greatest increase occurring between 11 and 13 years of age. In addition, it was found that although children at all levels knew the various coin equivalences, younger children used primarily dimes and pennies in making change, whereas older children used all of the coins available. This was interpreted to mean that coin equivalences are probably learned as specific stimulus-response pairs, and that in making change younger children use untransformed base 10 units, such as pennies and dimes, largely because the computational demands placed by change-making operations force them to minimize the number of noncomputational transformations used.     

Survey article: Christianity in the People's Republic of China

Jeppe Sinding Jensen and Luther H. Martin (eds), Rationality and the Study of Religion. Acta Jutlandica LXXII: 1, Theology Series 19. Aarhus, Aarhus University Press, 1997, 221 pp., n.p., ISBN 87 7288 692 7).

Phillip Blond (ed.), Post-Secular Philosophy. London, Routledge, 1998, xiii+376 pp., £50, $85 (hardback) ISBN 0 415 09777 0, £15.99, $24.99 (paperback) ISBN 0 415 09778 9.

Peter and Linda Murray, The Oxford Companion to Christian Art and Architecture, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998, xii+596 pp., £15.99 (paperback) ISBN 0 19 860216 2.

Andrew Rawlinson, The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions. La Salle, IL, Open Court, 1997, xix+650 pp., $34.95, £31.50 (paperback) ISBN 0 812 69310 8.

C. G. Jung, Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal, edited and selected by Roderick Main. New York and London, Routledge, vi+177 pp., $69.95, £45 (hardback) ISBN 0 415 15509 6, (paperback) $18.95, £14.99 ISBN 0 415 15508 8.

Rosalind Hackett, Art and Religion in Africa. Religion and the Arts Series. London, Cassell, 1996, 240 pp., 113 drawings and black-and-white photographs, four colour plates, n.p. ISBN 0 304 33752 8.

Schubert M. Ogden, Is There Only One True Religion or Are There Many? Dallas, Southern Methodist University Press, 1992, iii+114 pp., $12.95 (paperback) ISBN 0 87074 329 5.

N. Ross Reat and Edmund F. Perry, A World Theology: The Central Spiritual Reality of Humankind. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991, iii+314 pp., $65.00, £45.00 ISBN 0 521 33159 5.     

Basic Phenomena in Learning

Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., &; Martin, C. E. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1948. Pp. 804. Reviewed by Albert Ellis     

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,Sensory Integration,and Aquatic Therapy: A Scoping Review

The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) continues to increase. Symptomology of PTSD include sensory deficits much like those displayed in children with sensory integration (SI) disorder. The aim of this scoping review is to review symptoms of PTSD and SI, and make a case of how aquatic therapy may be an effective modality in treating clients with PTSD. Eighteen articles were selected for review. From this review, it is suggested that aquatic therapy can be an effective modality in reducing symptoms of PTSD; however, future research is essential in determining its effectiveness.     

Divided attention interferes with fulfilling activity-based intentions

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of divided attention on activity-based prospective memory. After establishing a goal to fulfill an intention upon completion of an ongoing activity, successful completion of the intention generally suffered when attention was being devoted to an additional task (Experiment 1). Forming an implementation intention at encoding ameliorated the negative effects of divided attention (Experiment 2). The results from the present experiments demonstrate that activity-based prospective memory is susceptible to distraction and that implementing encoding strategies that enhance prospective memory performance can reduce this interference. The current work raises interesting questions about the similarities and differences between event- and activity-based prospective memories.