Predictors of Risky and Precautionary Sexual Behaviors Among Single and Married White Women1

Risky and precautionary sexual behaviors were examined in a community sample of 260 single and married/cohabitating White women. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the ability of age, socioeconomic status (SES), marital status, religiosity, and 9 health belief constructs to predict risky sexual behavior with one's partner, using a barrier method of birth control, unintended pregnancies, and number of sexual partners in the past year. The pattern of results suggests that single White women appear to feel more vulnerable to HIV and STD infection and more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior than do married White women. The discussion focuses on the importance of sociocultural factors in understanding risk behaviors within the social context of relationship status, the complexity of the concept of risk reduction, and the need for going beyond the health belief model in order to develop different HIV prevention strategies for single and married White women.     

"Living Our Faith:" The Lenten Pastoral Letter of the Bishops of Malawi and the Shift to Multiparty Democracy, 1992–1993

From 1964 to 1993, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda ruled the nation of Malawi by a singular mixture of terror and ritualized paternalism, relying on religious institutions to bolster his own moral authority. In the changing global and regional political context of the early 1990s, however, it was the Roman Catholic bishops of Malawi who challenged the prevailing culture of silence. In the lenten pastoral letter entitled "Living Our Faith," the seven bishops reproached the Banda regime for its authoritarianism. Relying on New Testament images of Christians as inherently free, the bishops ultimately contributed to the development of representative democracy. Acting not as biased proponents of specific political groups but rather as the champions of government accountability and human dignity, Malawan Catholic clerics and the external rituals and symbols of their faith have attained (at least in the short term) a greater prestige and popular appeal in a religiously heterodox nation.     

Introduction to Myths and Realities Associated with Research and Theorizing for Human Development

The five papers in this issue address myths and realities associated with human development research and theorizing. The papers represent diverse perspectives on sexual minority youth, resilience and risk for youth in high achieving schools, a reconceptualization of hostility in African American parenting styles, a critical examination of diversity and contact for students attending racial/ethnically diverse schools, and a thoughtful consideration of contextual factors associated with aggressive attitudes and prosocial behaviors in African American males. The authors of each of these papers challenge human development researchers to consider new and/or alternative ways of examining empirical studies and conceptualizing new ones.     

Self-prioritization and perceptual matching: The effects of temporal construal

Recent research has revealed that self-referential processing enhances perceptual judgments — the so-called self-prioritization effect. The extent and origin of this effect remains unknown, however. Noting the multifaceted nature of the self, here we hypothesized that temporal influences on self-construal (i.e., past/future-self continuity) may serve as an important determinant of stimulus prioritization. Specifically, as representations of the self increase in abstraction as a function of temporal distance (i.e., distance from now), self-prioritization may only emerge when stimuli are associated with the current self. The results of three experiments supported this prediction. Self-relevance only enhanced performance in a standard perceptual-matching task when stimuli (i.e., geometric shapes) were connected with the current self; representations of the self in the future (Expts. 1 & 2) and past (Expt. 3) failed to facilitate decision making. To identify the processes underlying task performance, data were interrogated using a hierarchical drift diffusion model (HDDM) approach. Results of these analyses revealed that self-prioritization was underpinned by a stimulus bias (i.e., rate of information uptake). Collectively, these findings elucidate when and how self-relevance influences decisional processing.     

Outcomes of a Therapeutic Gardening Program in a Mental Health Recovery Center

This study evaluated outcomes of a therapeutic gardening project in a community mental health center. The authors worked with 20 adults with severe mental illnesses, to plan, build, and care for raised-bed gardens. Targets for recovery-oriented outcomes related to personal responsibility, emotional and physical well-being, and socialization, were established in advance. Achievement of outcomes was measured using quantitative and qualitative methodology. Results indicated that the program supported recovery. Participants demonstrated significant improvement in mood and markedly higher levels of involvement and spontaneity, when engaged in gardening. Positive changes in diet and social interaction were also reported.