Pediatric Parenting Stress and Its Relation to Depressive Symptoms and Fear of Hypoglycemia in Parents of Young Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Parents of young children with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) maintain full responsibility for their child’s daily diabetes self-care and thus may be vulnerable to experiencing parenting stress. This study examined several psychological correlates of pediatric parenting stress in parents of young children with T1DM. Parents of 39 young children with T1DM (ages 2–7 years) completed measures of pediatric parenting stress, mealtime behavior problems, depressive symptoms, and fear of hypoglycemia. For parents of young children, higher stress frequency and difficulty were associated with higher parental depressive symptoms and fear. Regression analyses identified that 58% of the variance in stress frequency was associated with parental depressive symptoms. For stress difficulty, 68% of the variance was associated with parental depressive symptoms and fear. Pediatric parenting stress is common in parents of young children with T1DM. Stress and the psychological correlates measured in this study are amenable to intervention and should be regularly assessed in parents of young children with T1DM.     

Attention training to reduce attention bias and social stressor reactivity: an attempt to replicate and extend previous findings

Cognitive theories suggest that social anxiety is maintained, in part, by an attentional bias toward threat. Recent research shows that a single-session of attention modification training (AMP) reduces attention bias and vulnerability to a social stressor (Amir, Weber, Beard, Bomyea, &; Taylor, 2008). In addition, exercise may augment the effects of attention training by its direct effects on attentional control and inhibition, thereby allowing participants receiving the AMP to more effectively disengage attention from the threatening cues and shift attention to the neutral cues. We attempted to replicate and extend previous findings by randomizing participants (N = 112) to a single-session of: a) Exercise + attention training (EX + AMP); b) Rest + attention training (REST + AMP); c) Exercise + attention control condition (EX + ACC); or d) Rest + attention control condition (REST + ACC) prior to completing a public speaking challenge. We used identical assessment and training procedures to those employed by Amir et al. (2008). Results showed there was no effect of attention training on attention bias or anxiety reactivity to the speech challenge and no interactive effects of attention training and exercise on attention bias or anxiety reactivity to the speech challenge. The failure to replicate previous findings is discussed.     

An assessment of needed sales management skills

The skills required of sales managers are vitally important to the success of the firm's selling effort; however, there has not been a recent review that identifies these needed skills. Based on a survey of sales executives from 145 companies, this research develops a taxonomy of key sales management skills. The perceived importance of these skills is reported based on the level of management, gender and the performance level of the firm. In addition to identifying the relative importance of the various sales management skills, they were found to group into three conceptual dimensions relating to interpersonal, technical and strategic skills. The results also indicate that significant differences in the perceived level of skill importance exist based on level of management, years managing salespeople, gender and on three dimensions of the respondent's firm performance.     

The Psychology and Practice of Youth-Adult Partnership: Bridging Generations for Youth Development and Community Change

Youth-adult partnership (Y-AP) has become a phenomenon of interest to scholars and practitioners. Despite the potential of Y-AP to promote positive youth development, increase civic engagement, and support community change, the practice remains unfamiliar to many. Although research has increased over the past decade, the construct remains vague with an insufficient grounding in developmental theory and community practice. This article seeks to address these gaps by synthesizing data and insights from the historical foundations of Y-AP, community based research, and case study. We propose Y-AP as a unifying concept, distinct from other forms of youth-adult relationships, with four core elements: authentic decision making, natural mentors, reciprocity, and community connectedness. We conclude that Y-AP functions as an active ingredient and fundamental practice for positive youth development and civic engagement. Directions for future research are offered.     

Utilization of Sales Management Knowledge and Identification of Contributors: An Analysis of JPSSM 1980–1990

The utilization of the JPSSM in enhancing sales management knowledge was analyzed by a cross citation of JPSSM articles in other journals and sales management textbooks which found that the JPSSM has made a basic contribution to the sales and sales management literature. An examination of authorships and institutional contributors to the sales and sales management literature in the JPSSM was also conducted. A large number of both individuals and institutions have contributed articles to the JPSSM, indicating a breadth of research on sales. However, a relatively few contributors accounted for a significant proportion of JPSSM articles, suggesting a concentration of research efforts by both individuals and institutions.     

Factorial Validity of the Cooperative Preschool Inventory for English- and Spanish-Speaking Hispanic Children

The Cooperative Preschool Inventory (CPI) in both English and Spanish was administered to preschool Hispanic children who were monolingual in either English or Spanish. Subscales were factor-analyzed separately. When the factors were compared using coefficients of congruence, we concluded that both measures appeared to assess the same underlying construct.     

Validity of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) general test scores for admissions to colleges of veterinary medicine

From the standpoint of test validation, veterinary medicine provides both a unique context in which to study the validity of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) test scores and a singular opportunity to address the shortcomings typical of many GRE validity studies. This article documents a study of the validity of the GRE General Test for predicting 1st-year grade averages in a comprehensive sample of veterinary medical colleges. For each of 16 veterinary medical colleges, statistical corrections were applied to correct for the effects of range restriction in the predictors and unreliability of the criterion. When fully corrected for both range restriction and unreliability, the resulting validity coefficients were, on average,.53 for the combination of all 3 GRE General Test scores,.59 for undergraduate grade point average, and.71 for GRE scores and undergraduate grade point average together.     

Dating couples' attachment styles and patterns of cortisol reactivity and recovery in response to a relationship conflict

This study investigated theoretically predicted links between attachment style and a physiological indicator of stress, salivary cortisol levels, in 124 heterosexual dating couples. Cortisol was assessed at 7 points before and after an experimental conflict negotiation task, creating a trajectory of stress reactivity and recovery for each participant. Growth modeling of cortisol data tested hypotheses that (a) insecurely attached individuals show patterns of greater physiological stress reactions to interpersonal conflict than do securely attached individuals and (b) people with insecurely attached partners show patterns of greater stress in reaction to relationship conflict than those with securely attached partners. Hypothesis 1 was supported, but men and women differed in the type of insecure attachment that predicted stress trajectories. Hypothesis 2 was supported for men, but not for women. The discussion emphasizes the role of gender role norms and partner characteristics in understanding connections between adult attachment and patterns of cortisol responses to interpersonal stress.