A determination of the health-protective behaviors of female adolescents: a pilot study

In this study, the unique needs and developmental stage of adolescent females were considered in the determination of health-protective behaviors and needs. Through the use of a questionnaire, 211 female freshman dormitory residents (17-22 years of age) attending a small, private, midwestern university, were surveyed to assess their knowledge, utilization, and perceived teaching needs regarding selected health-protective behaviors. Findings indicated that almost all of them identified basic forms of health-protective behaviors. However, a majority exhibited inadequate knowledge and use of basic health care practices. The health-teaching needs identified most frequently were in the areas of: stress control; rape/suicide prevention; safety; and prevention/care of minor illnesses. Suggestions for program design and implications for health promotion are presented.     

Daily well-being of older adults with friends and family

Family members are the major source of physical and emotional support for older adults, yet researchers suggest that friendships have a stronger bearing on subjective well-being. In this research we sought an explanation for this inconsistency in older adults' immediate experiences with friends. Retired adults provided self-reports on their subjective states at random moments during a typical week. Analyses of these reports confirmed the prediction that older adults have more favorable experiences with their friends than with family members. The difference is partly attributable to the greater frequency of active leisure activities with friends, but is also due to unique qualities of interactions with friends that facilitate transcendence of mundane daily realities. We propose that friends provide an immediate situation of openness, reciprocity, and positive feedback that engenders enjoyment and subjectively meaningful exchanges.     

Asymmetry of visual interference

This research studies lateral interference among items in the visual field under conditions in which central cognitive factors such as attention and memory limitations are eliminated or controlled for. Under these conditions lateral masking is still found, and it is still asymmetrical (peripheral items interfere with recognition of central items more than central with peripheral). These experiments therefore add to the evidence that both lateral interference and the asymmetry of interference have a component that does not result from cognitive strategies. The experiments also add to the evidence that the asymmetry effect at the sensory level can be attributed to the falloff in acuity from the center to the periphery of the retina, since the mean eccentricity of the target-mask cluster is more peripheral with a peripheral mask than with a central mask. The hypothesis is advanced that the asymmetry effect, as well as lateral interference itself, at the sensory level results from the grouping of target and mask into a single Gestalt-like configuration. The final experiment in the series supports this hypothesis     

The applicability of a helicopter patrol procedure to diverse areas: A cost-benefit evaluation

The residential burglary deterrent effects of a helicopter patrol procedure were investigated in four separate areas with a multiple baseline technology. The helicopter was flown during an 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. period in two high density population areas of approximately 9.82 and 14.71 square miles and two low density population areas of 117.49 and 89.97 square miles. The helicopter patrol reduced residential burglaries without crime displacement in the two high density areas but had no deterrent effects in the low density areas. The costs of the helicopter patrol were justified by the benefits that resulted from the reduced home burglaries in the two high density areas. Because the helicopter patrol program is funded by general tax revenues, there is a disparity between those people paying for the procedure (all residents of Nashville) and those citizens that receive the burglary deterrent benefits (only residents of high-density areas). This distribution of benefit limitation suggests two courses of action: (1) The helicopter should be flown only in high population density areas even though the low population density areas are also victimized by high burglary rates. (2) A more comprehensive burglary reduction program must be developed so that effective deterrence can be realized in low density areas. These latter techniques would supplement helicopter patrol strategies and thus form a comprehensive burglary deterrent package that has an equitable benefit distribution.     

Evaluating parent-implemented behavioral skills training for teaching firearm safety skills

Research shows that behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) are effective interventions for teaching safety skills to children. In addition, the efficiency of these interventions can be increased when parents, teachers, or peers are taught to implement them. The purpose of this study was to replicate Novotny et al. (2020) and evaluate a web-based program for teaching parents to conduct BST to teach safety skills to prevent gunplay. We randomly assigned 18 children to the parent-conducted BST group or a control group and evaluated the intervention in a posttest only control group design. Children in the control group or treatment group who did not score a three in the in situ assessment (do not touch, get away, and tell an adult) received IST from their parents and were assessed again. Results showed that safety skill scores were statistically significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant increase in safety skills scores following IST for children who received it.     

Do aggression and rule‐breaking have different interpersonal correlates? A study of antisocial behavior subtypes,negative affect,and hostile perceptions of others

There is mounting evidence that physical aggression and nonaggressive, rule‐breaking delinquency constitute two separable though correlated subtypes of antisocial behavior. Even so, it remains unclear whether these behavioral subtypes have meaningfully different interpersonal correlates, particularly as they are subsumed within the same broad domain of antisocial behavior. To evaluate this, we examined whether hostile perceptions of others (assessed via exposure to a series of neutral unknown faces) were linked to level and type of antisocial behavior aggression vs. rule‐breaking, and moreover, whether this association persisted even when also considering the common association with negative affect (as manipulated via written recollection of one's best and worst life experiences). Analyses revealed that aggression, but not rule‐breaking, was uniquely tied to hostile perceptions of others. Furthermore, this association persisted over and above the common association of both hostile perceptions and aggression with negative affect (at both trait and state levels). Such results provide additional support for clinically meaningful differences between the behavioral subtypes of aggression and nonaggressive rule‐breaking and for the independent role of hostile perceptions in aggressive behavior. Aggr. Behav. 35:453–461, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.