When Two Heads Aren't Better Than One: AIDS Risk Behavior in College-Age Couples1

Individuals in intimate relationships engage in higher levels of HIV risk behavior than do individuals engaging in casual sex (e.g., Bowen & Michal-Johnson, 1989; Misovich, Fisher, & Fisher, 1996). While there are many possible reasons for this consistent pattern of effects, few studies have focused on identifying the underlying causes. Therefore, same-gender focus groups were conducted with college-age men and women in intimate relationships as participants in order to examine, qualitatively, factors particular to relationships which are associated with HIV risk. Focus-group members indicated that concerns about questioning interpersonal trust and commitment in their relationship through the introduction of condoms or HIV testing were often strong impediments to these practices. Recommendations for future HIV-prevention interventions specific to individuals in relationships are discussed.     

The Correlation Between Depression and Headache: The Role Played by Generational Changes in Female Achievement

The relationship between depression and somatic symptoms such as headache has never been explained. Both depression and headache appear to become more prevalent among women than among men only for cohorts that reach adolescence during periods of great change in opportunities for a female's academic achievement. In Studies 1a and 1b, the same pattern was found to apply to the correlation between depression and headache. In Studies 2a and 2b, self-report measures of depression and headache were found to share significant variance only among female adolescents who reported concerns regarding the limited achievements of their mothers. These females may view the roles of adult women as being limited and may experience stress and low self-esteem associated with depressive and somatic symptomatology.     

Gender differences in depressive symptomatology: The role played by “anxious somatic depression” associated with gender-related achievement concerns

In the studies reported here, females were more likely than males to report high levels of depression accompanied by anxiety and somatic symptomatology such as disordered eating and headache, but not more likely to report depression unaccompanied by these symptoms. This gender difference in depression prevalence and the symptomatology associated with depression was due to a subgroup of females who scored high on scales comprised of items measuring concerns about the limitations placed on their achievement (sample item: “More people would pay attention to my ideas if I were male”) or on their mothers (sample: “When you were growing up, how much did your mother feel limited by being female?”) due to responses to their gender.     

Retention and treatment failure in Classwide Peer Tutoring: Implications for further research

Knowledge of basic arithmetic facts aids in the acquisition and speed of performance of arithmetic operations. A peer mediated instructional procedure, Classwide Peer Tutoring (CWPT), has been shown to increase the rates and accuracy of students responses to academic tasks and to improve student performance on a variety of academic tasks. The present investigation evaluated the retention of 100 subtraction items by primary grade-age children with mild disabilities using CWPT for 10 weeks. Short- and long-term retention of items, and rate of correct responding were assessed. Results indicated that the students' average pretest score was 58.0% correct, and their average weekly posttest score was 87.12 correct, a 27% improvement in accuracy. Short- and longer-term retention measured on posttests was 88.7 % and 85.0% correct, respectively. Improvement in students rate of accurate responding to subtraction items practiced during CWPT was obtained. Student failure to learn particular items was not attributable to fewer opportunities to practice these items, less accurate practice, or item difficulty. Students reported positive evaluation of CWPT and perceived positive social and self esteem outcomes. Directions for future research focusing on retention and analysis of treatment failure are suggested.     

Psychological Distress and Help Seeking in Rural America

The implications of exposure to acute and chronic stressors, and seeking mental health care, for increased psychological distress are examined. Research on economic stress, psychological distress, and rural agrarian values each point to increasing variability within rural areas. Using data from a panel study of 1,487 adults, a model predicting changes in depressive symptoms was specified and tested. Results show effects by size of place for men but not for women. Men living in rural villages of under 2,500 or in small towns of 2,500 to 9,999 people had significantly greater increases in depressive symptoms than men living in the country or in larger towns or cities. Size of place was also related to level of stigma toward mental health care. Persons living in the most rural environments were more likely to hold stigmatized attitudes toward mental health care and these views were strongly predictive of willingness to seek care. The combination of increased risk and less willingness to seek assistance places men living in small towns and villages in particular jeopardy for continuing problems involving depressed mood.     

The Structure of Personal Commitments

ABSTRACT This article examines the structure of personal commitments across several dimensions ot commitment experience and across multiple samples In Sample 1, one hundred ninety-seven subjects rated 41 commitment items along the dimensions of importance, expectancy to achieve, effort, and distress, in Sample 2, two hundred five subjects rated the same items along the dimensions of importance, current commitment, and visibility Principal components analyses produced six component solutions within each of the rating dimensions Using a multitrait-multimethod format, comparisons of the component solutions suggested that the six components ( a ) represented independent groupings within each solution and ( b ) remained consistent across the different dimensions of commitment experience The six components of commitment were identified as Affiliation, Power/Achievement, Personal Growth, Altruism, Stress Avoidance, and Sensation-Seeking     

Developmental differences in the use of retrieval cues to describe episodic information in memory

In four experiments, this study examined some reasons why second and fourth grade children use cues relatively ineffectively to retrieve episodic information in memory. Retrieval success was conceptualized as using a cue to describe episodic information in memory. The experiments manipulated factors hypothesized to affect the discriminability and constructability of compatible encodings of context cue information at retrieval. In general, the effects were accomplished by varying the specificity of cue-target information at acquisition, and similar or different samplings of cue information alone at retrieval by means of orienting questions. Experiment 1 varied the encoding of item specific or categorical information. Experiment 2 varied the encoding of supercategorical or subcategorical information. Experiment 3 used two acquisition trials, crossing Categorical × Item Specific encoding and repeating identical encoding experiences. Experiment 4 varied Separate and Interactive Imagery encoding instructions. The results showed that problems of both discriminability and constructability contribute to developmental differences in the use of retrieval cues.