Revising Test Items to Increase Validity

Eight female interviewers varied their interview styles in interviewing 207 adults who had been involved in automobile accidents during a four-year period. A “professional” and a rapport or “interpersonal” style was used. Dependent variables consisted of reporting of events related to an automobile accident in which the respondent was the driver, and for which independent criterion data were available. In addition, the amount of health information reported was also analyzed. In spite of the respondents' more favorable attitudes towards the interpersonal interviews, accuracy was not significantly greater in these rapport interviews. In fact, significant interaction effects between interviewer style and recency of the accident were obtained. Respondents, however, reported more completely under rapport conditions. The results are interpreted within a cognitive, role-learning framework.     

The Inescapability of Ethics and the Impossibility of “Anything Goes”: A Constructivist Model of Ethical Meaning Making

A constructivist model of ethical meaning making is developed. The effort begins by distinguishing three versions of constructivist theory—personal construct psychology, radical constructivism, and social constructionism. Then, the following four premises of an integrated constructivist perspective are presented: (a) People are informationally closed systems, (b) people are active meaning makers, (c) people are social beings, and (d) people construe epistemologically and ontologically. These premises are used to examine and counter criticisms that portray constructivism as endorsing an “anything goes” relativism. This clears a space for the development of a constructivist model of ethical meaning making, outlined in the final section of the article. This model is rooted in personal construct psychology, but is also influenced by radical constructivism and social constructionism.     

Inattention as a key predictor of tobacco use in adolescence

The authors examined the prediction from inattention to tobacco use among 2 cohorts (ages 7 and 13) of a community sample followed to young adulthood. Changes in self-reported tobacco use were tested with marginal transitional regression models, using parent and teacher ratings of inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity, and other psychopathology, along with other factors, as predictors. Inattention, but not hyperactivity-impulsivity, significantly predicted adolescent tobacco use and young adult daily tobacco use. Peer substance use, parental substance use, and conduct disorder also predicted increases in tobacco use. African American ethnicity was strongly protective against later tobacco use.     

Perceptions of and Preferences for Skin Color,Black Racial Identity,and Self‐Esteem Among African Americans1

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of skin color (i.e., lightness–darkness), as it pertains to racial identity development theory and self‐esteem among 113 African American college students of various skin colors. Findings revealed that the sample preferred skin color of a medium tone, rather than exhibiting self‐preference for either lighter or darker skin tones. There was also a significant relationship between one's perceptions of and preferences for his or her skin color and the skin tones idealized by others (e.g., opposite gender, family). Lighter skin color was positively related to higher levels of racial identity attitudes (immersion/emersion); the more satisfied darker skinned individuals were with their skin color, the lower their self‐esteem, and gender differences existed in perceptions of others’ preferences for skin color. Implications of this study for providing therapeutic clinical services and fostering the healthy psychological development of African American men, women, and children are discussed.     

Anxiety as a Predictor of Age at First Use of Substances and Progression to Substance Use Problems Among Boys

This study examined associations of generalized and social anxiety with (1) age at first use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana and (2) interval from first use to first problem use of each substance. Participants were 503 males who comprised the youngest cohort (first assessed in the first grade) of the Pittsburgh Youth Study, a longitudinal community-based study of boys. Annual assessments of generalized and social anxiety, delinquency, and substance use from first grade through high school were included. Both types of anxiety predicted earlier first use of alcohol and tobacco, and generalized anxiety predicted earlier first use of marijuana. Both types of anxiety predicted the progression from first use to problems related to marijuana. The effect of generalized anxiety tended to be significant above and beyond the effect of delinquency, while the effect of social anxiety on risk for first use of substances was not. Overall, the associations between anxiety and substance use and related problems depend on the class of substance and the type of anxiety.