Improving adolescent contraceptive use: evaluation of a theory-driven classroom-based intervention

The aim of the research was to evaluate the impact of intervention materials, designed to enhance self-efficacy and anticipated regret, on contraceptive behaviour and antecedents of contraceptive use in a sample of adolescents. It was hypothesised that materials designed to enhance self-efficacy and anticipated regret would lead to improvements in outcome measures compared with controls. A 4(intervention condition) × 3(time) mixed design was used to assess the impact of intervention materials. Participants (N = 414) were recruited from five secondary schools in the north of England. They were assigned to an active control group, an anticipated regret (AR) manipulation, a self-efficacy (SE) manipulation or both AR and SE manipulations. Outcome measures included psychological antecedents of contraceptive behaviour change, intentions and behaviour. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed increases across several outcome measures over time (F[14,287] = 8.99, P < 0.001, η(p)(2) = 0.305) including intentions, but these did not differ by condition (F[42,852] = 1.35, P = 0.07, η(p)(2) = 0.062). There was evidence that the questionnaires may have caused reactivity in participants. Amongst sexually active participants with relatively low levels of intention to use contraception at the outset, increases in several outcome measures including intention and behaviour were observed (F[3,35] = 10.359, P < 0.001, η(p)(2) = 0.47). Findings support the potential for effective delivery of behaviour change theory-driven interventions in classroom settings. The possibility that the questionnaires may have acted as a form of intervention contributes to recent discussion of this issue in the literature, and the findings also strengthen the case for post-decisional and behavioural skills interventions to enhance behaviour amongst those already motivated to use contraception.     

Adaptation to novel accents by toddlers

Word recognition is a balancing act: listeners must be sensitive to phonetic detail to avoid confusing similar words, yet, at the same time, be flexible enough to adapt to phonetically variable pronunciations, such as those produced by speakers of different dialects or by non‐native speakers. Recent work has demonstrated that young toddlers are sensitive to phonetic detail during word recognition; pronunciations that deviate from the typical phonological form lead to a disruption of processing. However, it is not known whether young word learners show the flexibility that is characteristic of adult word recognition. The present study explores whether toddlers can adapt to artificial accents in which there is a vowel category shift with respect to the native language. Nineteen‐month‐olds heard mispronunciations of familiar words (e.g. vowels were shifted from [a] to [æ]: ‘dog’ pronounced as ‘dag’). In test, toddlers were tolerant of mispronunciations if they had recently been exposed to the same vowel shift, but not if they had been exposed to standard pronunciations or other vowel shifts. The effects extended beyond particular items heard in exposure to words sharing the same vowels. These results indicate that, like adults, toddlers show flexibility in their interpretation of phonological detail. Moreover, they suggest that effects of top‐down knowledge on the reinterpretation of phonological detail generalize across the phono‐lexical system.     

In‐group and role identity influences on the initiation and maintenance of students' voluntary attendance at peer study sessions for statistics

Background. Although class attendance is linked to academic performance, questions remain about what determines students' decisions to attend or miss class. Aims. In addition to the constructs of a common decision‐making model, the theory of planned behaviour, the present study examined the influence of student role identity and university student (in‐group) identification for predicting both the initiation and maintenance of students' attendance at voluntary peer‐assisted study sessions in a statistics subject. Sample. University students enrolled in a statistics subject were invited to complete a questionnaire at two time points across the academic semester. A total of 79 university students completed questionnaires at the first data collection point, with 46 students completing the questionnaire at the second data collection point. Method. Twice during the semester, students' attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, student role identity, in‐group identification, and intention to attend study sessions were assessed via on‐line questionnaires. Objective measures of class attendance records for each half‐semester (or ‘term’) were obtained. Results. Across both terms, students' attitudes predicted their attendance intentions, with intentions predicting class attendance. Earlier in the semester, in addition to perceived behavioural control, both student role identity and in‐group identification predicted students' attendance intentions, with only role identity influencing intentions later in the semester. Conclusions. These findings highlight the possible chronology that different identity influences have in determining students' initial and maintained attendance at voluntary sessions designed to facilitate their learning.     

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.     

From blooming,buzzing confusion to media literacy: The early development of television viewing

Television comprehension is a surprisingly demanding task for very young children. Based on a task analysis of television viewing and review of research, we suggest that by 6 months of age, infants can identify objects and people on screen. By 24 months they can comprehend and imitate simple actions contained in single shots and begin to integrate information across shots. Toddlers nevertheless suffer from the video deficit whereby their comprehension is less than from equivalent real life displays. During the preschool years they learn much of the grammar of filmic montage and can comprehend straightforward narrative productions. Essentially adult comprehension appears to be in place by 13 years of age.     

A Pilot Study of Psychotherapist Trainees' Alpha-Amylase and Cortisol Levels During Treatment of Recently Suicidal Clients With Borderline Traits

Psychotherapists often experience stress while providing psychotherapy, in particular when working with difficult presentations such as suicidality. As part of a larger study on the treatment of recently suicidal college students with borderline traits, 6 therapists in training collected their own salivary samples for alpha-amylase (AA) and cortisol (C) analyses immediately before and after sessions with 2 selected clients. On average, samples were collected for the same therapist-patient dyad throughout the year-long study to ensure that data reflected therapist responses across stages of treatment. Therapists also completed a working alliance questionnaire and rated perceived session difficulty immediately after each selected session. Contrary to expectations, therapists demonstrated elevated levels of stress as measured by AA and C at presession relative to postsession levels. Greater session difficulty was related to more pronounced declines in AA, whereas a stronger working alliance was linked to more pronounced reductions in C. Results suggest that physiological stress responses while working with recently suicidal clients with borderline traits occur primarily in terms of session anticipatory anxiety, whereas AA and C changes may be affected differently by factors such as session difficulty and working alliance. This is a pilot study, limited by its sample size, but the design, findings, and inclusion of physiological measures present an initial step in an essential line of research.     

Individual differences in language development: relationship with motor skill at 21 months

Language development has long been associated with motor development, particularly manual gesture. We examined a variety of motor abilities – manual gesture including symbolic, meaningless and sequential memory, oral motor control, gross and fine motor control – in 129 children aged 21 months. Language abilities were assessed and cognitive and socio‐economic measures controlled for. Oral motor control was strongly associated with language production (vocabulary and sentence complexity), with some contribution from symbolic abilities. Language comprehension, however, was associated with cognitive and socio‐economic measures. We conclude that symbolic, working memory, and mirror neuron accounts of language–motor control links are limited, but that a common neural and motor substrate for nonverbal and verbal oral movements may drive the motor–language association.     

Sleep deprivation in adolescents and adults: changes in affect

The present study investigated the impact of sleep deprivation on several aspects of affective functioning in healthy participants selected from three different developmental periods: early adolescence (ages 10-13), midadolescence (ages 13-16), and adulthood (ages 30-60). Participants completed an affective functioning battery under conditions of sleep deprivation (a maximum of 6.5 hours total sleep time on the first night followed by a maximum of 2 hours total sleep time on the second night) and rest (approximately 7-8 hours total sleep time each night for two consecutive nights). Less positive affect was observed in the sleep-deprived, compared to rested, condition. This effect held for 9 of the 12 positive affect items on the PANAS-C. Participants also reported a greater increase in anxiety during a catastrophizing task and rated the likelihood of potential catastrophes as higher when sleep deprived, relative to when rested. Early adolescents appraised their main worry as more threatening when sleep deprived, relative to when rested. These results support and extend previous research underscoring the adverse affective consequences of sleep deprivation.