Social cognitive predictors of Mexican American college students' academic and life satisfaction

In this study, we used Lent's (2004) social cognitive model of well being to examine the academic and life satisfaction of 457 Mexican American college students attending a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Using structural equation modeling, results indicated that the model provided a good fit to the data. Specifically, we found positive relations from positive affect to enculturation, acculturation, college self-efficacy, academic satisfaction, and life satisfaction; from enculturation to college self-efficacy; from acculturation to college self-efficacy and college outcome expectations; from college self-efficacy to college outcome expectations, academic goal progress, academic satisfaction, and life satisfaction; from college outcome expectations to academic satisfaction; from academic goal progress to academic and life satisfaction; and from academic satisfaction to life satisfaction. Findings indicated the model was invariant across gender groups, and overall, 38% and 14% of the variance in academic satisfaction and life satisfaction, respectively, were explained by the predictor variables. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Data-based decision making: the impact of data variability, training, and context

The current study examines agreement among individuals with varying expertise in behavior analysis about the length of baseline when data were presented point by point. Participants were asked to respond to baseline data and to indicate when to terminate the baseline phase. When only minimal information was provided about the data set, experts and Board Certified Behavior Analyst participants generated baselines of similar lengths, whereas novices did not. Agreement was similar across participants when variability was low but deteriorated as variability in the data set increased. Participants generated shorter baselines when provided with information regarding the independent or dependent variable. Implications for training and the use of visual inspection are discussed.     

Development of sensitivity to spacing versus feature changes in pictures of houses: Evidence for slow development of a general spacing detection mechanism?

Adults are expert at recognizing faces, in part because of exquisite sensitivity to the spacing of facial features. Children are poorer than adults at recognizing facial identity and less sensitive to spacing differences. Here we examined the specificity of the immaturity by comparing the ability of 8-year-olds, 14-year-olds, and adults to discriminate houses differing in the spacing between features versus those differing in the shape of the features themselves. By 8 years of age, children were more accurate for discriminations involving the feature set compared with the spacing set, and the difference in accuracy compared with adults was greater for the spacing set than for the feature set. Importantly, when sets were matched in difficulty for adults, this greater immaturity on the spacing set than on the feature set remained. The results suggest that, at least by age 8, immaturities in sensitivity to the spacing of features may be related to immaturities in general perceptual mechanisms rather than face-specific mechanisms.     

The specificity of age-related decline in interpretation of emotion cues from prosody

Older adults are not as good as younger adults at decoding prosodic emotions. We sought to determine the specificity of this finding. Performance of older and younger adults was compared on a prosodic emotion task, a "pure" prosodic emotion task, a linguistic prosody task, and a "pure" linguistic prosody task. Older adults were less accurate at interpreting prosodic emotion cues and nonemotional contours, concurrent semantic processing worsened interpretation, and performance was further degraded when identifying negative emotions and questions. Older adults display a pervasive problem interpreting prosodic cues, but further study is required to clarify the stage at which performance declines.     

Confirmatory Analyses of the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised: Replication and Extension to a Truancy Sample

School absenteeism and school refusal behavior are prevalent and serious issues for youth, but few measures have been developed specifically for this population. The School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (child and parent versions) provides clinicians with a profile of the relative strength of four functions or maintaining variables regarding school refusal behavior. The scales have been previously tested largely on clinical samples in outpatient treatment settings, however. This study examined 216 youth with primary school refusal behavior and their parent/guardian referred to a community-based truancy court or truancy diversion setting for problematic absenteeism. The four-factor structure of the scales (Kearney Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 24:235–245, 2002a; Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 28:139–144, 2006) was supported via confirmatory factor analysis and specific functions were associated with specific symptom sets as predicted. The results help extend the generalizability of the scales to youths and their families who are more ethnically diverse and referred to a legal process.     

Women's experiential journey toward voluntary childlessness: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Voluntary childlessness is a relatively novel yet growing phenomenon. This idiographic study explored three women's experiential journeys toward voluntary childlessness. Semi‐structured interviews were carried out and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Themes identified were: Owning the choice to be childless, social expectations, and models of mothering. Despite defining ‘voluntary childlessness’ as an unequivocal decision, the women's experiential accounts revealed an intrinsic fluidity in their journeys toward childlessness. Factors including beliefs in equality, independence and career aspirations competed with constructs of mothering/motherhood, partnership and choice to create a complex tapestry of contributory factors in these women's childlessness. The findings question the notion of choice and particularly women's ownership of that choice. The journeys toward childlessness these women shared reveal a synthesis of agentic decision‐making, personal histories and challenging lifestyle choices bound up within an existential need to be a woman. More research is needed to determine the place of voluntary childlessness within society. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Accuracy of Reported Family History and Effectiveness of Medical Record Requests in Genetic Counseling for Alzheimer Disease

The University of British Columbia Hospital Clinic for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders (UBCH-CARD) invests significant effort to obtain medical records for the confirmation of patient–reported family histories of dementia. The effectiveness of requesting these records was assessed through a review of the 275 requests made by UBCH-CARD genetic counselors during the 24-month period of January 1, 2005–December 31, 2006. The results were categorized according to outcome. Useful medical records were obtained from 92 (33.5%) requests: 77 (28%) records supported, and 15 (5.5%) records did not support, the patient–reported information. An additional 20 (7.5%) requests yielded only vague information. When verification was possible, patient–reported family histories of Alzheimer disease, dementia, or memory loss were accurate in 84% of cases. During the study period, almost 500 h of genetic counselor work time was spent obtaining, reviewing, and following-up on records received. Changes made to UBCH-CARD procedure in response to these findings are discussed.     

Undisclosed Paternal Identity in Narratives of Distress Among Young People in Eastern Cape,South Africa

Life trajectories of children with no connections to support from their fathers have received research attention. Within this group is a sub-group who do not know their fathers and no research has attempted to understand their experiences. We present accounts of how young South Africans deal with and seek to uncover undisclosed paternity. Forty young men and women aged 16 to 22 volunteered to participate in a qualitative study on distress that was conducted in the Eastern Cape Province. All interviews were conducted in isiXhosa, following a semi-structured guide. Our findings show that interest in father identity was motivated by harsh circumstances in the maternal home, notably when financial difficulties, exclusion from critical decision making and bullying by non-biological siblings were felt. The search for father identity was pursued in solitude by some participants: their fear of elders’ response restrained them from asking. Some thought that it would be interpreted as being disrespectful and ungrateful to ask ‘such a question’, whilst others worried that they might be victimized or, worse, thrown out by their mothers or maternal guardians. We present accounts of accidental disclosures by strangers and also inadvertent involvement in an incestuous relationship. Open and honest communication with children about their paternal identity should be promoted to prevent the currents of silence, secrecy and anxiety, and avoid unpleasant surprises for the children.