Predictors of needle-sharing behavior among IDUs entering treatment

Abstract

Public funded treatment intake data from 3905 injection drug users were analyzed to identify correlates of reported needle sharing. Respondents included all first admissions to treatment from July 1, 1988 to June 30, 1989 in the city and county of San Francisco. More previous experience in drug treatment predicted lower rates of needle sharing (OR = 0.85, 95% C.I.= 0.79 - 0.92). Young age, cocaine use and white or Hispanic ethnicity predicted higher rates of needle sharing. The finding that drug treatment reduces the frequency of needle sharing in this population has important policy implications; these data support the role of treatment availability in reducing the spread of HIV among injection drug users.     

The Effect of Parental Orientation on the Development of the Child's Orientation

Abstract

(Burt, Sir Cyril. Intelligence and Fertility: The Effect of the Differential Birth Rate on Inborn Mental Characteristics. London: Hamilton, 1946.) Reviewed by Raymond B. Cattell

(Wolff, W. The Personality of the Preschool Child. New York: Grune &; Stratton, 1946. Pp. 341.) Reviewed by Dorothy Tilden Spoerl     

Is the Motor or the Garage More Important to the Car? The Difference Between Semantic Associations in Single Word and Sentence Production

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of part-whole (e.g., car-motor) and functional associations (e.g., car-garage) on single word (Experiment 1) and sentence production (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, a classical picture-word task was used. In Experiment 2, the same stimuli and distractors were embedded into a sentence. The relation between target and distractor was either part-whole, functional or unrelated. At single word level, part-whole and functional relations facilitate naming. Additionally, the facilitation effect was stronger for part-whole in comparison to functional associations. During sentence production, facilitation shifted to interference. The difference between both relations disappeared. The findings of the different effects between functional and part-whole associations depend on the length of utterances and highlight the divergent impact of associations. The differences between part-whole and functional associations in single word production might reflect a differential organization of associative links at the conceptual level. In contrast, during sentence production the syntactic processing at the lexical level seem to be more important than types of semantic associations at the conceptual level.     

Associations between assertiveness,psychological well‐being,and self‐esteem in adolescents

This study explored the associations between adolescents’ assertive behavior, psychological well‐being, and self‐esteem. The sample consisted of 1,023 students (14.9 ± .51; 47.6% boys). Two dimensions of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (distress and performance), 2 factors of the General Health Questionnaire‐12 (depression/anxiety and social dysfunction), and 2 factors of the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale (positive self‐esteem and negative self‐esteem) were used; data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression. It was found that (a) the more anxious respondents felt in assertive situations, the less frequently they engaged in these situations; and that (b) both dimensions of assertiveness were associated with psychological well‐being and self‐esteem.     

Marital Problems and Marital Satisfaction Among Brazilian Couples

As the practice of marriage and family therapy is spreading across the world, it is important for knowledge regarding marital processes and patterns to expand to countries outside of North America and Europe. This study examined common marital problems faced by Brazilian couples. The sample consisted of 80 married couples living in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Results showed that money, children, jealousy, and sex were common problems faced by Brazilian couples. There were few gender differences found. Sex and alcohol had a significant impact on marital satisfaction of wives, and sex had a significant impact on marital satisfaction of husbands.     

A Person-Environment Fit Approach to Volunteerism: Volunteer Personality Fit and Culture Fit as Predictors of Affective Outcomes

This study employed a person-environment (P-E) fit approach to explaining volunteer satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intentions. It was hypothesized that personality fit would explain additional variance in volunteer affective outcomes above and beyond motives to volunteer. This hypothesis was supported. Personality fit but not culture fit was related to satisfaction and affective commitment. Volunteer turnover intentions were predicted by gender and by social and values motives. The implications of the results are discussed with respect to the two literature domains that were combined in this study: the functional approach to volunteerism and P-E fit theory. Functional approaches to volunteerism and paid work should be more strongly linked to each other in future research. Moreover, P-E fit theory should be extended by including conditional determinants that moderate P-E fit effects.     

Gender Differences and Cognitive Correlates of Mathematical Skills in School-Aged Children

Published information concerning the influence of gender on mathematical ability tests has been controversial. The present study examines the performance of school-aged boys and girls from two age groups on several mathematical tasks and analyzes the predictive value of a verbal fluency test and a spatial test on those mathematical tasks. More specifically, our research attempts to answer the following two questions: (1) Are gender differences in mathematical test performance among children interrelated with age and (2) do verbal and spatial nonmathematical tests mediate gender effects on mathematical test performance? Two hundred and seventy-eight 7- to 10-year-old children and 248 13- to 16-year-olds were selected from schools in Colombia and Mexico (231 boys and 295 girls). The age effect was found to be significant for all measures, with scores improving with age. Results showed that boys and girls in both age groups scored similarly in most subtests, but that differences emerged in the performance of mental mathematical operations and in resolving arithmetical problems. In the latter – but not in mental math – older boys outperformed older girls, whereas no gender differences were observed in the younger groups. After controlling for age, it was found that the spatial test was, indeed, a significant mediator of gender effects, while the verbal task was not.     

Brief Report: Non-suicidal Self-injury in the Context of Self and Identity Development

This brief report describes an exploratory qualitative study that examined online narratives of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in the context of critical developmental tasks of early adulthood: the development of self and identity. Thematic analyses of online autobiographical accounts of NSSI suggest that self and identity processes that are particularly relevant in early adulthood may contribute to vulnerability to NSSI. Specifically, NSSI may provide a source of self-identification in the service of developing self-identity and a community of others with whom to identify, a means for managing negative emotions specifically related to negative self-concept, and it may provide a basic sense of a coherent self who persists across time. Implications are discussed with respect to research, clinical practice, and prevention, with a particular emphasis on the Internet as a context for early adult development.     

The effect of semantics on problem solving is to reduce relational complexity

This article reports a study carried out in order to measure how semantic factors affect reductions in the difficulty of the Chinese Ring Puzzle (CRP) that involves removing five objects according to a recursive rule. We hypothesised that semantics would guide inferences about action decision making. The study involved a comparison of problem solving for two semantic isomorphic variants of the CRP ( fish and fleas ) with problem solving for the puzzle's classic variant (the Balls and Boxes problem; Kotovsky & Simon, 1990 Kotovsky, K. and Simon, H. A. 1990. What makes some problems really hard: Exploration in the problem space difficulty. Cognitive Psychology, 22: 143–183. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Our results showed that the number of moves was reduced by 47% in the fish version and by 51% in the flea version. We discuss these results in terms of semantic inferences and reductions in relational complexity. During the exploratory stage of problem solving participants discover the dependent relations between elements in the puzzle. Initially these relations are processed separately; learning involves generalising the relations within a coherent, interconnected whole that makes up the puzzle's rules. It seems that semantics make it easier for the puzzle's elements to be grouped together within coherent, meaningful wholes, which reduces relational complexity and facilitates problem solving.     

Behaving badly: A perspective on mechanisms of dysfunction in psychopathy

Psychopathy is a personality construct defined by lack of empathy, impulsivity, grandiosity, callous and manipulative interpersonal interactions, and the tendency to engage in socially deviant behavior. Psychopathy has been associated with aggression, recidivism, and other behaviors harmful to others. Individuals high in psychopathy have been thought to be notoriously difficult to treat. Many scholars have suggested that considering mechanisms of dysfunction in psychological difficulties will lead to the development of more effective and efficacious treatments. Fearlessness, lack of empathy, and response modulation difficulties have commonly been discussed as mechanisms of dysfunction in psychopathy. The current review provides a brief overview of examinations of these mechanisms of dysfunction in psychopathy, comments on research methodology, and provides suggestions for remedying potential pitfalls.