Community member perceptions of influences on teenage pregnancies

This exploratory qualitative study aimed to provide insight into the factors contributing to the high prevalence rate of teenage pregnancy in South African communities. Focus group were conducted with 193 community members (females = 44.6%; adults = 50.8%, teenagers/youth = 44.0%) and followed by thematic content analysis to interpret the data. Several overarching themes regarding the increasingly common occurrence of teenage pregnancy emerged from the data. These included: (1) the increased acceptability of teenage pregnancy to families and communities for economic and material gain; (2) the influence of social pressure; and (3) the lack of sexual knowledge and provision of sex education. Community members perceived teenage pregnancy as an increasingly common occurrence in their communities. Community members perceived teenage pregnancy to be driven by multiple factors and to require holistic interventions at the individual, family and community level.     

Safety Behaviors and Social Anxiety: An Examination of the Social Phobia Safety Behaviours Scale

The Social Phobia Safety Behaviours Scale (SPSBS) is a measure designed to identify and assess safety behavior use. The current study is the first to evaluate the psychometric properties of the English SPSBS. Using four samples (N?=?725), the component structure, validity, and ability of the SPSBS to function as a state measure were examined. The results of the principal component analyses suggest that the SPSBS is a two-component measure, consisting of an inhibitory behavior component and a management of physical symptoms component, and the scale has good internal consistency. The SPSBS also showed good concurrent validity in both clinical and nonclinical samples. Moreover, there was evidence to suggest that the SPSBS is an accurate measure of situational use of safety behaviors as compared to observers’ ratings. The results of this investigation show that the SPSBS is a useful tool for the identification and measurement of safety behaviors.     

Effects of a Peer-Delivered Corrective Reading Program

The effects of a peer-delivered Corrective Reading program (CRP) (Engelmann, Hanner, & Johnson, 1989) with repeated reading on the reading performance of at-risk high school students were examined. High school peer instructors and students in need of reading remediation were randomly assigned to dyads or triads. Peer instructors presented the CRP, conducted repeated reading trials, and took rate and accuracy measures. Pre to post test data were collected on vocabulary and comprehension subtests of the Gates–MacGinitie Reading Tests, oral reading fluency (words read per minute) and accuracy, number of repeated readings on initial and final lessons, and lessons completed. Results indicated that students' performance on the standardized reading assessment increased as did their oral reading fluency. In general, the number of repeated readings decreased from the initial lesson to the final lesson. Implications for further research are discussed.     

Behavioral Genetics, Health, and Aging

A recurring observation from studies of health in the elderly is the pervasiveness of individual differences. For many health-related endpoints, total variation appears to increase across age group; however, few longitudinal studies have reported whether these age differences reflect true age-related changes. There are a growing number of twin studies of aging that provide some insight, at least cross-sectionally, into the nature of individual differences in health. Increases in total variance most often reflect increases in environmental sources of variance. Covariation among traits reflects both genetic and environmental mediation, dependent on the sex of the sample and the measures of interest. Co-twin control approaches have been successful in exploring the role of environmental influences as risk factors for poor health. The most serious limitation to these studies is the lack of longitudinal information to disentangle survival and selection effects from aging.     

The Development of Hyperactive–Impulsive Behaviors During the Preschool Years: The Predictive Validity of Parental Assessments

The objectives of this study were to establish the different developmental trajectories of hyperactive-impulsive behaviors on the basis of both mother and father ratings at 19, 32, 50, and 63 months, and to examine the predictive validity of these trajectories with respect to later hyperactive-impulsive behaviors, as rated by teachers in the first 2 years of school. Hyperactive-impulsive behaviors were assessed in a population-based sample of 1,112 twins (565 boys and 547 girls) at 19, 32, 50, and 63 months of age. The results revealed a differentiated and consistent view of developmental trajectories of hyperactive-impulsive behaviors derived from these repeated assessments, with 7.1% of children seen by mothers (7% for fathers) as displaying high and stable hyperactive-impulsive behaviors. According to mother ratings, children on a high-chronic trajectory were more likely than other children to display hyperactive-impulsive behaviors at 72 and 84 months according to their teachers. Repeated measures over time and father-based trajectories significantly added to the prediction teacher later ratings of hyperactive-impulsive behaviors. These results support the predictive validity of parental assessment of hyperactive-impulsive behaviors during the preschool years and their use to identify children at risk for further evaluation and possible intervention.     

The association of parenting style and child age with parental limit setting and adolescent MySpace behavior

Parent and teen MySpace user pairs completed online surveys administered in June (N = 266) and September 2006 (N = 341) to assess relationships between parenting styles and limit setting and monitoring of online behaviors, the prevalence of Internet dangers and pre-teen and teen MySpace behaviors. Cross-comparison measures of MySpace usage, parenting style, limit setting/monitoring, MySpace problems, and media perceptions were used. Parenting styles were strongly related to adolescent MySpace experiences, behaviors, and attitudes, with some age differences. Parents with older children were more likely to have Neglectful or Indulgent parenting styles and less likely to set limits on online behavior. The extent of sexual solicitation, pornography, and cyberbullying was relatively low as compared with studies asserting a high incidence of Internet-related problems. Parents' high estimates of online dangers were not matched by their low rates of setting limits and monitoring teens. Theoretical and practical perspectives of the results are offered to enhance social networking experiences for parents and their children.