ACQUISITION OF BLENDING SKILLS: COMPARISONS AMONG BODY-CODA,ONSET-RIME,AND PHONEME BLENDING TASKS

Following research on phonological awareness development, this study explores children's acquisition of blending skills using three types of stimuli: body-coda, onset-rime, and phonemes. The results demonstrated that kindergarten children consistently gained proficiency for blending body-coda stimuli prior to onset-rime stimuli and phonemes. The results are interpreted to support an instructional process where blending is treated as a generalizable skill, and children work with the simplest material first. Thus, our proposition is that children be trained to blend body-codas first, then progress to more phonologically difficult blending tasks such as onset-rimes and phonemes.     

An Empirically Derived Typology of Families: II. Relationships with Adolescent Health

In this report from the California Family Health Project, we describe the relationship between an empirically derived family typology based on parent data, and the self-reported health and well-being of 151 adolescent offspring. The typology is comprised of four family types: Balanced, Traditional, Disconnected, and Emotionally Strained. Three adolescent health indices were constructed from 13 self-reported health variables using principal components and multidimensional scaling analyses: Physical Health, Emotional Health, and Alcohol Abstinence. ANOVA indicated that Physical Health was significantly different among adolescents in the four family types. The findings varied, however, depending upon whether the typology was based on mothers’ or fathers’ appraisals of the family. In the father-based typology, adolescents from Traditional families scored highest while those from Emotionally Strained and Balanced families scored lowest. In the mother-based typology, adolescents from Balanced, Traditional, and Emotionally Strained families scored equally high, while those from Disconnected families scored significantly lower than those from the other three family types. Differences on Abstinence were significant only in the father-based typology. Adolescents from Traditional and Emotionally Strained families drank less than adolescents from Disconnected families. No significant differences among adolescents were found for Emotional Health, and adolescent gender did not interact significantly with family type to affect any of the three health indices. Traditional and Disconnected family types had offspring who clearly stood apart with higher and lower health scores, respectively. The results are discussed in terms of the current literature on social environment and health.     

Who killed George Washington?

The issue of standards for professional practice ranks high among the ethical, moral, and legal concerns of guidance and counseling. We are troubled not only about what these standards shall be but also about the problem of deciding by whom and in what manner they are to be developed and enforced. This article presents one perspective on the dilemma, and suggests steps that might lead to its partial resolution.     

Transactional Theories but Individual Assessment: A Frequent Discrepancy in Family Research

Spiegel's ( 20 ) distinction between studies of relations and studies of transactions are reviewed and applied to the tendency of current research to assess transactional theory using methods that are focused on individual elements. Several of the complexities of transactional research are reviewed with a call for the utilization of methods that are more commensurate with the level of theory under test.     

Stages in the Family Therapy of Adolescents

Family therapy is considered from the systems point of view as a process with a series of stages including definitive beginning and end points. The stages are identified as crisis points in family therapy - i.e., moments in the therapy process when the equilibrium of the family is upset and when stress reactions among family members are most likely to be intense. Since times of crisis also provide special opportunities for growth and change, they can be utilized therapeutically provided the therapist is knowledgeable about the kinds of upheavals that a family may experience and the time sequence in which they may occur. Eight such crisis points and their relation to therapeutic intervention are presented. The purpose of this paper is to outline the role of the crisis as therapeutic opportunity in the course of family therapy.     

Assessing the health of a dyadic relationship in heterosexual and same‐sex partners

The purpose of this study was to assess characteristics of a measure of monitoring the health of a dyadic relationship based on data from self‐report surveys completed by both partners from dating heterosexual, married heterosexual, cohabiting gay male, and cohabiting lesbian couples from the United States (Ns = 127, 46, 81, and 224, respectively). Covariation among the measure’s 7 items conformed to 1 latent factor. Intraclass correlations between partners from the same couple were positive. Gender effects occurred only for married couples, with wives having higher scores than husbands. One’s own and one’s partner’s monitoring accounted for unique variance in one’s own commitment, even with controls for other variables. Monitoring buffered the negative effects of neuroticism on commitment.     

Avoidance motivation and relationship commitment in heterosexual,gay male,and lesbian partners

This study examined whether avoidance motivation is distinct from the satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size components of C. E. Rusbult, J. M. Martz, and C. R. Agnew’s (1998) investment model. Data from 3 samples (392 heterosexual dating partners, 225 heterosexual dating partners, and 351 gay male or lesbian cohabiting partners, respectively) indicated that items tapping satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, investment size, and avoidance motivation defined separate factors and that avoidance motivation accounted for unique variance in commitment. Satisfaction level moderated the link between investment size and commitment for dating partners and moderated the link between quality of alternatives and commitment, investment size and commitment, and avoidance motivation and commitment for gay male or lesbian partners.     

Examining the Relationship Between Exercise Goals,Self‐Efficacy,and Overt Behavior With Beginning Exercisers1

Despite the overwhelming evidence that associates regular physical activity with physical and mental health benefits, millions of North Americans remain sedentary. Previous research by Poag‐DuCharme and Brawley (1993, 1994) and suggestions by Bandura (1989, 1997) led to the hypothesis that goals would influence exercise behavior through the mediating variable of self‐efficacy. Changes to the social cognitions and behavioral patterns of adherers during the exercise program were also assessed. Results demonstrate that at midprogram, self‐efficacy beliefs mediated the relationship between goal influence and exercise frequency. Significant increases were observed in self‐efficacy and perceived exertion from onset to midprogram. Onset goal influence and self‐efficacy significantly discriminated adherers from dropouts. Results are discussed with respect to the need to continue investigating the changing influence of social cognitions on motivating behavior.