Genetic and environmental bases of childhood antisocial behavior: a multi-informant twin study

Genetic and environmental influences on childhood antisocial and aggressive behavior (ASB) during childhood were examined in 9- to 10-year-old twins, using a multi-informant approach. The sample (605 families of twins or triplets) was socioeconomically and ethnically diverse, representative of the culturally diverse urban population in Southern California. Measures of ASB included symptom counts for conduct disorder, ratings of aggression, delinquency, and psychopathic traits obtained through child self-reports, teacher, and caregiver ratings. Multivariate analysis revealed a common ASB factor across informants that was strongly heritable (heritability was .96), highlighting the importance of a broad, general measure obtained from multiple sources as a plausible construct for future investigations of specific genetic mechanisms in ASB. The best fitting multivariate model required informant-specific genetic, environmental, and rater effects for variation in observed ASB measures. The results suggest that parents, children, and teachers have only a partly "shared view" and that the additional factors that influence the "rater-specific" view of the child's antisocial behavior vary for different informants. This is the first study to demonstrate strong heritable effects on ASB in ethnically and economically diverse samples.     

The validity of using prior ratings of perceive exertion to regulate resistance exercise intensity

This investigation examined the validity of using ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) to regulate intensity during resistance exercise. 19 male (M age = 22.2 yr., SD = 2.7) and 19 female (M age = 21.4 yr., SD = 2.3) participants estimated exertion when performing the knee extension at 40% to 90% of one-repetition maximum. One week later, participants were asked to produce weights for the knee extension that elicited the feelings of exertion associated with 9, 13, and 17 on the Borg RPE scale. The weight produced at 9, 13, and 17 during the production session was compared to the weight lifted at each RPE during the estimation session. The effect sizes associated with the differences in weight lifted across sessions at each RPE were generally small in magnitude, especially at the higher intensities (ES = .40, -.09, .15, respectively). The results of this investigation support the use of RPE as a method of prescribing the intensity of resistance exercise.     

Brief experimental analysis of early reading interventions

The purpose of this study was to investigate how brief experimental analyses (BEAs) could be used to identify effective interventions for Kindergartners (2 girls and 2 boys, 5 years and 7-10 months old) with low performance and/or growth slope in letter sound fluency (LSF). Interventions were tested within a multielement design with brief mini-reversals until an intervention yielding at least 20% improvement on a specific subskill measure or a curriculum-based measure of LSF was identified. BEA-identified interventions were implemented one-on-one for 5 to 9 weeks. A multiple-baseline design across participants showed large intervention effects (average adjusted d = 2.4) on general outcome measures, supporting treatment validity of BEAs. Findings extend the BEA literature to younger participants, early reading interventions, and early reading measures.     

Resolving Nationalist Conflicts: Promoting Overlapping Identities and Pooling Sovereignty—The 1998 Northern Irish Peace Agreement

Nationalist and ethnic conflicts are a continuing source of tension in the post–Cold War period. The underlying factors affecting such conflicts are threat perception, ethnic security dilemmas, and lack of trust between nationalist/ethnic groups. The challenge is to find solutions to these conflicts. International institutions can establish trust and reduce the ethnic security dilemma by providing multiple forums of representation, promoting overlapping identities, and pooling sovereignty. Pooling sovereignty across a number of international representative bodies leads to increased access to governmental policymaking, with each party having a stake in government, and leads to a reduction in political tension and conflict. Thus, international parliamentary institutions may provide a solution to these conflicts. The British-Irish Peace Agreement (Good Friday Agreement) of 1998 is examined as an illustration of this argument.     

Bringing the script to life: The case of Flannery O'Connor

Journal of Medical Humanities -     

NO QUICK FIXES: ADDING CONTENT ABOUT WOMEN TO ECOLOGY COURSE MATERIALS

This study reports on a three-semester model project designed to assess the impact of enriched content related to Women's and Gender Studies on students enrolled in an undergraduate ecology course. The two constructs of interest were (a) students' attitudes toward women in science and society and (b) students' assessment of the classroom climate for women. The data included 398 matched pretest and posttest survey responses from a control group, a minimal enrichment group, and an increased enrichment group. Findings indicated that, although small course revisions did not influence students' attitudes toward women in science and society, such revisions had a positive influence on students' assessments of the classroom climate.     

PERCEPTIONS OF RELATIONAL AND PHYSICAL AGGRESSION AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS: EFFECTS OF GENDER OF PERPETRATOR, TARGET, AND PERCEIVER

This study examined gendered perceptions of relational and physical aggressive behaviors and personal experiences with both types of aggression. Prior research suggested that physical aggression by males and relational aggression by females would be perceived most negatively. College students (186 female, 128 male) rated the acceptability and harmfulness of aggression in scenarios in which type of aggression and perpetrator and target gender were varied. As predicted, relational aggression by female characters and physical aggression by male characters were rated as less acceptable and more aggressive/harmful than the same behavior by the other gender. Thus, expectations regarding the gender-appropriateness of aggression appear to affect perceptions of such acts. Despite popular conceptions that females use and are harmed by relational aggression more than males, there was no gender difference in experience with relational aggression, nor were female targets viewed as more harmed by such aggression than their male counterparts.     

Vulnerable self-esteem and depressive symptoms: prospective findings comparing three alternative conceptualizations.

Across diverse theoretical orientations, vulnerable self-esteem (SE) is thought to act as a diathesis for depression after life stress. In the present study, the roles of trait-level SE, low SE primed by depressed mood, and labile SE in prospectively predicting changes in depressive symptoms in a nonclinical sample (n = 192) were examined. Results indicated that labile SE predicted increases in symptoms. Furthermore, a 3-way interaction (Labile SE x Academic Stress x Initial Depression) suggested that in Ss who were initially asymptomatic, lability made Ss differentially vulnerable to increases in depressive symptoms after stress. In contrast to labile SE, trait-level SE and priming of low SE were relatively weak predictors of changes in depressive symptoms and did not interact with stress.