Perspectives from Highly Religious Families on Boundaries and Rules About Sex

Journal of Religion and Health - We investigated the intersection of religion and boundaries placed around sex using qualitative data from 198 highly religious Muslim, Christian, and Jewish...     

The roles of dispositional optimism and pessimism in hiv disease progression

Relationships between dispositional optimism and pessimism and the course of HIV infection, determined by changes in viral load and CD4 counts, were studied in a longitudinal cohort of 412 patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Multiple regression analyses controlling for baseline levels of disease status, ethnicity, and depressive symptoms demonstrated that higher pessimism at baseline was associated with higher viral load at follow-up (average of 18 months later). Optimism at baseline had a curvilinear relationship with CD4 counts at follow-up. Moderate levels of optimism at baseline predicted the highest CD4 counts at follow-up. Although optimism and pessimism were associated with specific health behaviors (e.g., ART adherence, cigarette use, drug use, dietary practices), none of these behaviors mediated the optimism/pessimism effects. The biologic and behavioral mediators of associations of personality variables with the course of treated HIV infection deserve continued investigation.     

The Innate Bases of Fear

This study addressed the effects of children's understanding of social learning principles on divergent areas of behavior: two indices of self-control, grade scores, personality and conduct problems, immaturity, and subcultural delinquency. Using an orthogonal 2 × 2 (Understanding of Social Learning Principles × Age) multivariate analysis of variance on 44 children, we found no significant interaction or a knowledge of social learning principles main effect.     

Epitaxial decagonal thin films on crystalline substrates

Al-Cu-Fe-Cr quasicrystalline thin films were grown on atomically flat Al 2 O 3 sapphire (0001) substrates by single-target magnetron sputtering followed by annealing. A decagonal phase with the tenfold axis A 10 parallel to the substrate surface normal was observed. The epitaxial decagonal film had two different unique orientations: a twofold P axis A 2P and a twofold D axis A 2D parallel to of the substrate. These two configurations were explained using a coincidence reciprocal lattice planes model for the interface energy. We show that this classic approach for crystal-crystal epitaxy can be applied to quasicrystal-crystal systems.     

Creativity inside out from theory to practice

Abstract:

A theoretical rationale is presented for a creativity program. This program targets the creativity of teachers, capitalizes on the intrinsic motivation of both teachers and students, includes elements of playfulness and fun, and utilizes multiple intelligences. It consists of a three volume spiral curriculum for kindergarten through the 8th Grade. This curriculum elevates creativity studies to a central position for organizing and demonstrating knowledge across the curriculum. Creativity is defined as self‐expression inherent in all children, predicated upon their ability to access and express a unique personal and cultural vantage point. Pilot work conducted in Lawndale, California, is also detailed. This included an intensive teacher in‐service training, with questionnaires about the program administered at the middle and end of the training. Results support the integration of creativity studies into the basic elementary school curriculum.     

Families created through surrogacy: mother-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment at age 7

Each year, an increasing number of children are born through surrogacy and thus lack a genetic and/or gestational link with their mother. This study examined the impact of surrogacy on mother-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment. Assessments of maternal positivity, maternal negativity, mother-child interaction, and child adjustment were administered to 32 surrogacy, 32 egg donation, and 54 natural conception families with a 7-year-old child. No differences were found for maternal negativity, maternal positivity, or child adjustment, although the surrogacy and egg donation families showed less positive mother-child interaction than the natural conception families. The findings suggest that both surrogacy and egg donation families function well in the early school years.     

Being bicultural: a mixed-methods study of adolescents' implicitly and explicitly measured multiethnic identities

Understanding how ethnic identities develop in adolescence is currently limited by a reliance on self-report paper-and-pencil measures. This mixed-methods study presents a novel response time measure, the Multiethnic Identities Processing Task (MIPT), to quantify bicultural adolescents' implicit identifications with ethnic and racial identity labels. Eighty-four adolescents (age 14-21 years) of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds self-identified as bicultural or not bicultural and described their ethnic identities, pride, and ethnic centrality during a brief interview. Participants were assigned to complete either the interview (self-prime) or the MIPT (no prime) first. Results indicate that bicultural adolescents readily endorsed a variety of ethnic and racial labels in the MIPT, reflecting their multifaceted identities. Younger bicultural adolescents showed a large inhibited response to the label "White," indicating some hesitation in deciding whether the label was "like me" or "not like me." Heart rate monitoring and qualitative analyses of interviews provide some insight into this pattern of results. Findings are discussed with respect to developmental theory, and the strengths of using both implicit and explicit measures to understand multiethnic identity development in adolescence.