Parental Hostility and Depression as Predictors of Young Children's Aggression and Conduct Problems

Parental hostility and parental depression are associated with childhood behavior problems, but these have been studied independently in the literature. This study examined the relationships between parental hostility and depression and childhood aggression and conduct problems. Parental hostility was hypothesized to predict children's current and future (two months later) aggression and conduct problems. Participants were primary caregivers of children 0 to 10 years of age. Results indicate that hostility is a better predictor of present and future childhood aggression and conduct problems than depression. Implications of this finding for preventing and treating childhood aggression and conduct problems are discussed.     

A Profile of Double Victims: Sexual Coercion by a Dating Partner and a Stranger

Victim profiles of sexual coercion might differ based on the type of perpetrator that initiates the coercion—namely, a stranger versus a dating partner. Some victims experience coercion from both types of perpetrators—referred to here as “double victims.” Survey data from 2,322 undergraduates at two relatively large U.S. universities in the Midwest and Southeast revealed in a multinomial logistic regression analysis that victims of distinct types of perpetrators had unique predictors as part of their overall profiles. Background characteristics associated with each type were identified. In comparison to nonvictims, a profile of double victims emerged—a White female who had been abused as a child, who had cohabited with a partner, used alcohol or drugs, had been emotionally abused by a partner, had lied to a partner, used the Internet to find a partner, had dated interracially, and had engaged in sex in a noncommitted relationship. Implications and limitations of these findings are included in the discussion.     

Prologue: Introduction and Overview to Special Volume

Abstract

The editors provide an overview of the obstacles that prevent us from ending child abuse in the United States and briefly summarize the various articles in this volume that address these obstacles from multiple points of view.     

“Not in My Back Yard”: The Situational and Personality Determinants of Oppositional Behavior1

The present study considered situational and dispositional factors underlying behavioral opposition characteristic of a “not‐in‐my‐back‐yard” (NIMBY) response to a change having adverse personal consequences. Students considered the proposition of comprehensive exams required for graduation taking effect in the near or distant future (high and low vested interest, respectively). Although both groups had similarly negative attitudes toward the idea, the high vested interest group perceived greater personal consequence and expressed greater intention to oppose the plan. From a situational‐dispositional interactionist perspective, it was the impact of the situation (perceived stake), rather than personality traits presumed to underlie a NIMBY response, that proved to be the primary determinant of oppositional behavior.     

Assessing volunteer motives: a comparison of an open‐ended probe and Likert rating scales

The purpose of the present study was to compare the motives of volunteers (career, esteem, protective, social, understanding, and value) as assessed by an open‐ended probe and the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) which employs a Likert rating scale. One‐hundred‐and‐twenty‐nine individuals, who volunteered for an organization that focuses on episodic volunteering in the community, completed both measures of volunteer motives and reported their frequency of volunteering for the organization. The Spearman rank correlation between the rankings of the six volunteer motives in the two distributions was 0.71. The maximum variance shared between the same motive as assessed by the two methods was 0.14. Frequency of volunteering for the organization was predicted by the value (positive predictor) and social (negative predictor) VFI scale scores. A post hoc analysis of the data from the open‐ended probe revealed three additional motives for volunteering—enjoyment, religiosity, and team building. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Children’s orientation judgments: Retinally or environmentally determined?

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - Children between the ages of 3 and 9 years judged the uprightness of pictures of realistic figures under three conditions: tilt of the visual surround,...     

Sudden Death of the Therapist: The Effects on the Patient

While the termination phase of psychoanalytic psychotherapy has been discussed in the literature, the effects on the patient of a forced termination following the therapist's death have seldom been investigated. In this paper, two groups of patients (N = 35) were compared: those who experienced a planned termination and those who experienced a sudden termination as a result of their therapist's death. Data were gathered by means of detailed questionnaire and formal psychological assessment (i.e., the Grief Experience Inventory). Responses were also solicited from therapists who treated patients subsequent to the original therapist's death. Results indicate that patients forced to terminate due to the therapist's unexpected demise experienced significantly more intense grief reactions with regard to feelings of anger, despair, depersonalization, and somatization. The nature of the transference relationship with the original therapist at the time of the latter's death appeared to influence the subsequent therapeutic relationship as well. The authors present recommendations and practical guidelines concerning therapists' responsibility to their analytic patients to make reasonable accommodations in the event of their unexpected death.