An evaluation of a brief functional analysis format within a vocational setting

We conducted and compared both brief and extended functional analyses of disruptive behaviors for 3 individuals with developmental disabilities who attended a vocational training program. Results demonstrated that the brief assessment identified the function of 2 of the 3 participants' disruptive behavior compared to the extended assessment.     

What good are positive emotions in crises? A prospective study of resilience and emotions following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001

Extrapolating from B. L. Fredrickson's (1998, 2001) broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, the authors hypothesized that positive emotions are active ingredients within trait resilience. U.S. college students (18 men and 28 women) were tested in early 2001 and again in the weeks following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Mediational analyses showed that positive emotions experienced in the wake of the attacks--gratitude, interest, love, and so forth--fully accounted for the relations between (a) precrisis resilience and later development of depressive symptoms and (b) precrisis resilience and postcrisis growth in psychological resources. Findings suggest that positive emotions in the aftermath of crises buffer resilient people against depression and fuel thriving, consistent with the broaden-and-build theory. Discussion touches on implications for coping.     

When more is less: a counterintuitive effect of distractor frequency in the picture-word interference paradigm

Pictures were shown with superimposed word distractors of high and low frequency. Low-frequency distractors produced greater interference on picture naming than did high-frequency distractors. This distractor frequency effect was not affected by manipulations that facilitated or hindered distractor recognition. Interference was reduced for distractors that were read aloud several times prior to being shown in the picture-naming task. Together these findings suggest that the distractor frequency effect has its locus at some stage of lexical access for production. Other findings further constrain hypotheses about which level of speech production is involved in the effect. The distractor frequency effect has implications for models of lexical processing in speaking as well as for accounts of picture-word interference and the frequency effect.     

Factors related to reductions in alcohol consumption among college students: The role of religious involvement

College students most at risk for engaging in binge drinking are members of Greek organizations and athletic teams (Grenier, Borskey, & Folse, 1998; Wechsler, Dowdall, Davenport, & Castillo, 1995). Membership in religious organizations may moderate binge drinking (O'Hare, 1990). One hundred thirty-nine college students completed the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey (Presley, Meilman, & Lyerla, 1994), the Group Identification Scale (Hinkle, Taylor, Fox-Cardamone, & Crook, 1989), and the ‘Age-Universal’ I-E - 12 (Maltby, 1999). The results indicate that gender is related to average number of drinks per week. Membership in low alcohol consumption organizations was related to decreases in the frequency of alcohol usage within the previous year, which indicates that decreasing alcohol consumption may be more effective by promoting low alcohol consumption organizations.     

Implications of adolescents' acculturation strategies for personal and collective self-esteem

Berry, Trimble, and Olmedo's (1986) acculturation model was used to investigate the relationship among adolescents' acculturation strategies, personal self-esteem, and collective self-esteem. Using data from 427 high school students, factor analysis results distinguished Collective Self-esteem Scale constructs (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992) from both ethnic identity and outgroup orientation subscales of the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney, 1992). Subsequent results showed that: 1) both acculturation dimensions were correlated with personal and collective self-esteems, 2) integrationists shared similar levels of personal and collective self-esteems with assimilationists and/or separationists, and 3) marginalizationists generally had the lowest levels of personal and collective self-esteems. Implications are drawn for understanding acculturation among adolescents and for the utility of group-level measures of self-esteem.     

Isatin: role in stress and anxiety

(Indoledione 2,3) isatin is an endogenous indole found both in mammalian brain and peripheral tissues. Isatin concentration in blood can exceed 1 microM and tissue concentrations vary from < 0.1 to 10 microM. Its level in the brain and periphery is increased by stress. Isatin has a wide spectrum of behavioural and metabolic effects. It is anxiogenic at lower doses and sedative at higher doses. Its most potent known in vitro actions are as an antagonist of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) function and NO signaling. In this review, we discuss isatin and stress in animal models, the few human studies, and also what it is known to date about the molecular mechanisms of its action. We suggest the possibility that isatin and its analogues may be interesting new pharmacological agents; Isatin antagonists may be anxiolytic, and isatin agonists may activate the HPA axis.     

The role of athlete as contributor to peer status in school-age and adolescent females in the United States: From pre-title IX to 2000 and beyond

Despite its importance for males, athleticism has been considered inconsequential as a predictor of peer status for females. In the United States, however, female sports have seen dramatic increases in participation, sport type variety, and role models since the passage of Title IX. An extensive literature review was conducted to determine if athletic variables have become more significant predictors of peer status for school-age (ages 7–13) and adolescent (ages 14–18) females in the United States over the past 30 years. An integration of findings suggested that the relation between athletic variables and peer status remained relatively stable across age groups. Review of literature addressing the internal perceptions of female athletes allowed for speculation regarding the increases in participation despite the lack of peer status benefits.     

Couple relationship education in Australia

In Australia, the strengthening of marriage through relationship education has received strong governmental policy support and some modest financial support. Couple relationship education services are offered by a variety of community-based, church-affiliated, and church-based providers. There is a strong emphasis on providing programs that are developed locally in response to perceived couple needs and government policies. Available evaluations show that most couples who attend education value the service, but relationship education providers need to do a better job reaching out to couples at high risk for future relationship problems, and more research is needed on the effects of education on long-term marital outcomes. There is significant scope for building on current initiatives to incorporate evidence-based approaches and to expand the program reach to more couples.     

Disentangling empowerment: Considering the role of employee perceptions in adaptive selling

As more jobs require employees to continually learn and adapt, empowering employees to adopt learning goals becomes a competitive advantage. Although research has identified key leadership behaviors that empower employees, the relationship between managers and empowered employees is ongoing and dynamic. Therefore, it is important to understand how key leadership behaviors interact with employees in their current state of empowerment to influence learning and performance. In this paper, we draw from self-determination theory to argue that the way employees perceive a given leadership behavior will differ by dimension of empowerment, and these perceptions impact their intrinsic motivation to learn. Specifically, employees who are high in competence and impact will perceive the leadership behavior of goal clarity as controlling, and be less likely to set learning goals, while those who are high in autonomy and meaning will perceive the same behavior as supportive, and be more likely to set learning goals. In a time-lagged study of 349 salespeople, we find that goal clarity acts as a boundary condition by weakening the relationship between empowerment and learning goal orientation (LGO) for those high on the competence and impact dimensions. As hypothesized, we find that the same behavior of goal clarity actually strengthens the relationship for those high on the autonomy and meaning dimensions. Further, we provide theoretical and empirical evidence that LGO mediates the relationship between empowerment and adaptive selling.     

Personal values and political activism: A cross‐national study

Using data from 28 countries in four continents, the present research addresses the question of how basic values may account for political activism. Study (N = 35,116) analyses data from representative samples in 20 countries that responded to the 21‐item version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ‐21) in the European Social Survey. Study (N = 7,773) analyses data from adult samples in six of the same countries (Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Poland, and United Kingdom) and eight other countries (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, and United States) that completed the full 40‐item PVQ. Across both studies, political activism relates positively to self‐transcendence and openness to change values, especially to universalism and autonomy of thought, a subtype of self‐direction. Political activism relates negatively to conservation values, especially to conformity and personal security. National differences in the strength of the associations between individual values and political activism are linked to level of democratization.