Framing Charity Advertising: Influences of Message Framing,Image Valence,and Temporal Framing on a Charitable Appeal1

This study examined when and how charitable advertisements could be effective in the context of child poverty. An experiment investigated the influences of message framing, image valence, and temporal framing on a charitable appeal. The results indicate that image valence enhances framing effects on advertising effectiveness of a charitable appeal when the image is congruent with the framed message, especially when the image and the message are presented negatively. A short‐term temporal frame facilitates effects of a negatively framed message with a negative pictorial presentation. Alternatively, a long‐term temporal frame increases advertising influences of a positively framed message with a positive pictorial image. Relevance for information processing of charity advertising is discussed.     

Off-task Behaviours and Outcomes: An Exploratory Investigation of a Neglected Domain in Organisational Behaviour

Bien que les travailleurs s'adonnent à la fois à nombre de tâches formelles et informelles, les recherches centrées sur le comportement organisationnel s'intéressent préférentiellement aux conduites formelles et à leur produit. Quand l'attention se porte sur les comportements informels, c'est généralement pour les atténuer ou les éliminer. On soutient dans cet article que les comportements informels doivent être pris en considération même si c'est la tâche à accomplir qui est l'objet de la problématique. On a, dans deux recherches exploitant des échantillons de 133 et 137 individus, relevé une série de comportements informels et étudié la relation entre leur fréquence d'apparition et la satisfaction. Les implications des comportements informels sont analysées du point de vue de la nature changeante du travail.
Although people at work engage in a number of on-task and off-task behaviours, the preponderance of behavioural research in organisations is directed towards on-task behaviours and the outcomes resulting from them. When attention is paid to off-task behaviours, it is usually directed at decreasing or eliminating such behaviours. The position taken here is that off-task behaviours must be understood even if our concern is with task behaviour. Two studies, with samples of 137 and 133 persons, identified a subset of off-task behaviours and explored the relationship of their reported occurrence to job satisfaction. Implications of off-task behaviour at work are discussed with respect to the changing nature of work.     

Between- and within-person level motivational precursors associated with career exploration

Career exploration is a critical process for child and adolescent development leading people toward suitable work and developing a vocational identity. The present study examined the role of motivational precursors, namely work valences and personal agency beliefs, in explaining in-breadth and in-depth career exploration. Given the dynamic nature of motivation, we teased apart the between-person differences and within-person variabilities in motivational precursors to examine how they are independently associated with career exploration. Two hundred one high school students comprised the sample and were surveyed three consecutive years. Results revealed that work valences and agency beliefs were associated with career exploration at both the between- and within-person level. Further, when individuals exhibited greater level of agency beliefs and positive valences, they were more likely to exhibit more in-depth exploration one year later. Implications for career guidance are discussed.     

Multidimensionality of Youth Psychopathic Traits: Validation and Future Directions

The seven articles featured in this Special Section on “Child Psychopathic Traits for Specifying Conduct Disorder” collectively prosecute an important tension in the field: despite evidence that psychopathic traits in children, adolescent, and adults are multidimensional, callous-unemotional (CU) traits have evolved to nearly eclipse the construct of youth psychopathic traits. That is, does inclusion of grandiosity and impulsivity, and related psychopathic constructs improve predictive models? Employing a rich array of methods, these studies converged to suggest that using the entire constellation of psychopathic traits significantly improved predictions of key criteria. Crucially, predictions were consistent across development, multiple external criteria, and diversely recruited samples (e.g., community, incarcerated). From a developmental psychopathology framework (Cicchetti 2008), I synthesize the theoretical and empirical implications of these studies and offer perspectives on future directions. In particular, there is an urgent need to elucidate mechanisms from psychopathic traits to important clinical, public health, and functional outcomes; identification of potential causal processes is necessary to establish the validity of psychopathic traits and to ultimately innovate intervention and prevention efforts.     

Comparing Four Methods of Integrating Parent and Teacher Symptom Ratings of Attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Although parents and teachers are valid informants in the assessment of childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), there is relatively little systematic research on how these ratings should be optimally combined. We compared four methods of ADHD assessment to determine how well they identified impaired children: (1) parent only, (2) teacher only, (3) parent or teacher (‘or rule’), and (4) parent and teacher (‘and rule’). We obtained parent and teacher ratings of ADHD from the Disruptive Behavior Disorder Rating Scale on 232 5- to 10-year-old children (69% male; 47% Caucasian) with (n = 121) and without (n = 111) ADHD. We used receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) and seemingly unrelated regression analyses (SUR) to evaluate how accurately each method identified categorically- and dimensionally-defined measures of functional impairment. Parent ratings of ADHD optimally identified globally impaired children based on categorical and dimensional measures. However, teacher ratings of ADHD most accurately identified children who were negatively regarded by peers using categorical, but not dimensional, measures. No ADHD assessment method effectively identified children with academic difficulties. Although multiple informants are valuable in the assessment of ADHD, no single method was consistently superior in identifying impaired children across domains. We consider alternative assessment strategies in ADHD as well as other potential factors that may contribute to modest agreement among informants.     

Examining mental health symptoms in male and female incarcerated juveniles

Varying risk factors for both incarceration and mental health diagnoses have been identified for female juveniles, highlighting the need for gender-specific assessments and treatment protocols. The purpose of this study is to determine how the prevalence rates of mental health symptoms differ in male and female juvenile offenders. It was hypothesized that the prevalence rates would be greater for females than males. This study found significant differences between males and females on several clinical scales. These findings are consistent with past studies that have identified differences in mental health symptoms between genders.     

Parenting Behavior and Conduct Problems in Children with and Without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Moderation by Callous-Unemotional Traits

There is evidence that negative parenting positively predicts oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) and that children’s callous-unemotional (CU) traits may moderate this association. However, it is largely unknown if CU traits show similar interactive effects with positive parenting for ODD/CD. 208 ethnically diverse (56% Caucasian) 6–9 year-old children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were ascertained using multiple methods and informants for ODD, CD, and CU traits. CU traits, corporal punishment, positive parenting, and each of their interactions with CU traits were unrelated to parent- and teacher-rated ODD. Corporal punishment and CU traits were similarly unrelated to parent- and teacher-rated CD. However, positive parenting inversely predicted parent-reported CD symptoms and it was significantly moderated by CU traits. Positive parenting was negatively associated with CD at low to moderate levels of CU traits, but it was unrelated to CD at high levels of CU traits. Children with elevated levels of CU traits exhibited significantly higher levels of CD symptoms that were largely independent of positive parenting behavior. We discuss these findings within a developmental psychopathology framework to provide further perspectives on reciprocal influences between parenting behavior and CU traits in the development of ODD and CD.     

Attention and social functioning in children with malformations of cortical development and stroke

Attention and social functioning and their interrelationships have not been routinely examined in children with early brain insult (EBI). This study aimed to describe attention and social functioning in children with two types of EBI: malformations of cortical development (MCD) and stroke. Children diagnosed with MCD (n = 14, 6 males) or stroke (n = 14, 8 males) aged 8 to 14 years (M = 12 years 11 months) completed neuropsychological assessments to examine attention processes. Primary caregivers completed a questionnaire to assess executive components of children's attention and teachers completed a questionnaire to measure children's social functioning. Brain scans (MRI or CT) were coded by a pediatric neuroradiologist. Higher rates of impairments in attention and social function were found in children with EBI compared with normative expectations. Children with MCD experienced more global and clinically significant levels of impairment than children with stroke; though impairments were present in both groups. A strong association between executive components of attention and social function was observed. In addition, complex attention processes were associated with social function. The findings emphasize the reciprocity between attention, behavior and social outcomes, and the vulnerability of social function following EBI.