Propensity scoring and the relationship between sexual media and adolescent sexual behavior: comment on Steinberg and Monahan (2011)

Longitudinal research has demonstrated a link between exposure to sexual content in media and subsequent changes in adolescent sexual behavior, including initiation of intercourse and various noncoital sexual activities. Based on a reanalysis of one of the data sets involved, Steinberg and Monahan (2011) have challenged these findings. However, propensity score approaches-especially the version of this method used by Steinberg and Monahan, which lacks covariates-do not necessarily result in more accurate estimates of treatment effects than does the regression with covariates approach employed by prior research. There are also a number of problems with the specific set of analyses presented by Steinberg and Monahan and the conclusion they draw from them. In contrast to Steinberg and Monahan's claim, there is substantial evidence of an association between sexual media exposure and adolescent sexual initiation.     

Psychometric properties of the mobility inventory for agoraphobia: convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity

Aims of this study were (a) to summarize the psychometric literature on the Mobility Inventory for Agoraphobia (MIA), (b) to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the MIA's Avoidance Alone and Avoidance Accompanied rating scales relative to clinical severity ratings of anxiety disorders from the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule (ADIS), and (c) to establish a cutoff score indicative of interviewers’ diagnosis of agoraphobia for the Avoidance Alone scale. A meta-analytic synthesis of 10 published studies yielded positive evidence for internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity of the scales. Participants in the present study were 129 people with a diagnosis of panic disorder. Internal consistency was excellent for this sample, α = .95 for AAC and .96 for AAL. When the MIA scales were correlated with interviewer ratings, evidence for convergent and discriminant validity for AAL was strong (convergent r with agoraphobia severity ratings = .63 vs. discriminant rs of .10–.29 for other anxiety disorders) and more modest but still positive for AAC (.54 vs. .01–.37). Receiver operating curve analysis indicated that the optimal operating point for AAL as an indicator of ADIS agoraphobia diagnosis was 1.61, which yielded sensitivity of .87 and specificity of .73.     

A Typology of Youth Participation and Empowerment for Child and Adolescent Health Promotion

Research suggests that increasing egalitarian relations between young people and adults is optimal for healthy development; however, the empirical assessment of shared control in youth–adult partnerships is emerging, and the field still requires careful observation, identification, categorization and labeling. Thus, our objective is to offer a conceptual typology that identifies degrees of youth–adult participation while considering the development potential within each type. We use an empowerment framework, rooted in evidence-based findings, to identify five types of youth participation: (1) Vessel, (2) Symbolic, (3) Pluralistic, (4) Independent and (5) Autonomous. The typology is constructed as a heuristic device to provide researchers, practitioners and policy-makers with a common language for articulating degrees of youth participation for optimal child and adolescent health promotion.     

Assessing Gender-Related Portrayals in Top-Grossing G-Rated Films

The purpose of this content analysis was to examine gender-related portrayals in popular G-rated films. Our research questions addressed the prevalence and nature of males and females in general-audience fare. To answer our research queries, 101 of the top-grossing box office films released theatrically in the United States and Canada from 1990 to early 2005 were assessed. The results showed that males outnumber females by a ratio of 2.57 to 1, which has not changed in fifteen years. Females were more likely than males to be young and depicted traditionally. In terms of personality traits, females were more likely to be smart, good, and beautiful than were males.     

Electrophysiological correlates of the composite face illusion: Disentangling perceptual and decisional components of holistic face processing in the human brain

When the bottom halves of two faces differ, people’s behavioral judgment of the identical top halves of those faces is impaired: they report that the top halves are different, and/or take more time than usual to provide a response. This behavioral measure is known as the composite face effect (CFE) and has traditionally been taken as evidence that faces are perceived holistically. Recently, however, it has been claimed that this effect is driven almost entirely by decisional, rather than perceptual, factors ( Richler, Gauthier, Wenger, & Palmeri, 2008). To disentangle the contribution of perceptual and decisional brain processes, we aimed to obtain an event-related potential (ERP) measure of the CFE at a stage of face encoding ( Jacques & Rossion, 2009) in the absence of a behavioral CFE effect. Sixteen participants performed a go/no-go task in an oddball paradigm, lifting a finger of their right or left hand when the top half of a face changed identity. This change of identity of the top of the face was associated with an increased ERP signal on occipito-temporal electrode sites at the N170 face-sensitive component (∼160 ms), the later decisional P3b component, and the lateralized readiness potential (LRP) starting at ∼350 ms. The N170 effect was observed equally early when only the unattended bottom part of the face changed, indicating that an identity change was perceived across the whole face in this condition. Importantly, there was no behavioral response bias for the bottom change trials, and no evidence of decisional biases from electrophysiological data (no P3b and LRP deflection in no-go trials). These data show that an early CFE can be measured in ERPs in the absence of any decisional response bias, indicating that the CFE reflects primarily the visual perception of the whole face.     

Immediate and subsequent effects of differential reinforcement of other behavior and noncontingent matched stimulation on stereotypy

A three‐component multiple‐schedule and brief reversals were used to examine the effects of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) and noncontingent matched stimulation (NMS) on the automatically reinforced mouthing of a child with autism. Both DRO and NMS decreased immediate engagement in mouthing, but NMS produced larger reductions in the behavior. Furthermore, NMS produced subsequent effects (i.e., when the treatment was withdrawn) similar to those of prior access, whereas DRO marginally increased subsequent engagement in mouthing. The results suggest that NMS was a functionally matched intervention for mouthing. Implications for the assessment and treatment of stereotypy and applications for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

La pratique physique,un moyen de circonscrire les effets délétères du confinement en milieu carcéral : impact d’un programme d’activités physiques sur la santé perçue et le bien-être psychologique de détenus

To be in prison consists in enduring the enticements of multiple stressors and constraints leading to an unpredictable and often uncontrollable situation. This generates serious health troubles and distress in the population living in prison. Physical Exercise (PE) is well acquainted for its benefits in terms of health and as such it seems reasonable to suggest its contribution in ameliorating life conditions among detainees, although the literature on the subject is quite scanty. The present report shows that moderate PE may contribute actively in ameliorating the health status. Notably perceived stress and other psychological factors are significantly improved in a small and particular population of detainees, sex offenders.