Football players' recall of helmet warning label information: Implications for behavioural compliance

Football helmets contain a label designed to warn players of potentially catastrophic hazards associated with using the helmet as a point of contact. We assessed the effectiveness of the label in communicating this information to high-school football players by asking them to reproduce the label's contents from memory under three conditions: pre-season recall (n ? 177), post-season recall (n - 60), and post-season recall with verbal priming (n ? 71). Only 26 per cent of the athletes assessed at pre-season recalled both the potential consequences of injury and the behavioural guidelines. Thus, most subjects were unable to recall the elements specified in protection motivation theory as necessary for inducing behavioural compliance. Exposure to the label over the course of the season did not enhance recall of these elements. In the post-season priming condition, verbal reference to a warning label produced a significant priming effect in recall of the injury consequences; it did not affect recall of the behavioural guidelines. Implications for enhancing the efficacy of helmet warning labels are discussed, and future research directions are identified.     

Ethnic group-by-generation interactions in WAIS scores in the Hawaii family study of cognition

This paper is a comparatively small-scale replication of a paper by DeFries, Corley, Johnson, Vandenberg, & Wilson (1982), using that subset of the DeFries subject group that was administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and comparing parent vs. offspring performance of Americans of European and of Japanese Ancestry. Like DeFries et al., significant ethnic group-by-generation interactions were obtained in WAIS scores, suggesting the existence of substantial cultural influences on cognitive-test performance.     

Temporal Fluctuations in Suicide Calls to a Crisis Intervention Service

Suicide-related calls received by a crisis intervention center were analyzed for temporal variations. The overall number of calls, calls concerning personal suicidal ideation, and calls concerning third-person suicide potential varied by both month and day of the week. Ideation calls and calls involving a suicide attempt varied by day of the month. Month and day of the week variation in third-person calls paralleled variations in completed suicides. Fluctuations were large enough to be useful in scheduling crisis center staff. The possibility that third-person calls represent a greater suicide threat than first-person calls is discussed.     

Telephone counseling increases cessation rates among young adult smokers.

During June 2000-May 2001, the American Cancer Society conducted a randomized trial of telephone counseling among more than 3,500 current smokers who called to seek assistance in quitting. All eligible callers were randomized to receive either self-help booklets through the mail or booklets and up to 5 sessions of telephone counseling. Approximately 12% (420/3,522) of study participants were 18-25 years of age. Using intent to treat analyses, 3- and 6-month quit rates among both younger and older smokers were significantly higher among those who received telephone counseling than among those who received self-help booklets only. Three-month rates were 20% versus 9% for 18-25 year olds and 15% versus 10% for older adults. Results indicate that younger smokers can benefit from telephone counseling.     

Self-Regulation: Reminders and Suggestions from Personality Science

La littérature sur l’autorégulation est couramment accusée de faiblesse théorique. Il est possible que les avancées dans les recherches sur la personnalité puissent ouvrir des horizons dans ce secteur. Notre objectif est double. Nous rappelons d’abord des distinctions conceptuelles qui, bien que parfois négligées, sont essentielles dans les études contemporaines sur la personnalité et incontournables pour accéder au niveau théorique dans la littérature sur l’autorégulation. Nous disons ensuite que ceux qui font des études fondamentales et appliquées sur l’autorégulation auraient intérêt à assimiler les progrès récents concernant la dynamique et la structure de la personnalité intra‐individuelle. Nous passons en revue la théorie de base et les recherches sur l’architecture des systèmes de la personnalité intra‐individuelle, ainsi que les retombées de ce travail dans trois domaines d’application: la psychologie du travail/industrielle/organisationnelle, la psychologie clinique et la santé. The self‐regulation literature commonly is said to lack theoretical order. This paper explores the possibility that advances in personality science may foster clarity in this literature. Our goals are two‐fold. We remind readers of conceptual distinctions that are central to contemporary personality science, that are necessary to the attainment of theoretical order in the self‐regulation literature, yet that sometimes are overlooked. Secondly, we suggest that basic and applied students of self‐regulation would profit by capitalising on recent advances in personality science that explore intra‐individual personality structure and dynamics. We review theory and research on the architecture of intra‐individual personality systems and applications of this work to three domains: health, clinical, and work/industrial/organisation psychology.     

School bonding in children and adolescents: conceptualization,assessment, and associated variables

School bonding refers to the connections that youth have with their schools and various aspects of their academic lives. School bonding may be an important concept in prevention because it has been linked to various developmental and adjustment outcomes. This paper reviews conceptualizations, measurements, and theories of school bonding. Also considered are empirical studies that have linked school bonding to a variety of outcomes (substance use, delinquency, antisocial behavior, self-esteem). The review includes examination of how school bonding serves as a mediator in these relations and, in turn, is moderated by other variables. Despite inconsistencies in conceptualization and measurement, it is concluded that school bonding is an important construct and an appropriate target for intervention. Recommendations are offered regarding future research on school bonding, especially with respect to positive developmental outcomes and examination of variables that might moderate school bonding.     

Theoretical Purity Versus Theoretical Layering in Marriage and Family Therapy

There seem to be two competing streams of thought about the use of theory in the marriage and family therapy literature: theoretical purity versus integrationism. We examined influence of theoretical orientation on client experience in therapy. Level of academic training (masters' versus doctoral degree) was investigated as a possible confounding variable. Results suggest that therapists in private practice are less inclined to practice pure forms of therapy.     

When fit indices and residuals are incompatible

Standard chi-square-based fit indices for factor analysis and related models have a little known property: They are more sensitive to misfit when unique variances are small than when they are large. Consequently, very small correlation residuals indicating excellent fit can be accompanied by indications of bad fit by the fit indices when unique variances are small. An empirical example of this incompatibility between residuals and fit indices is provided. For illustrative purposes, an artificial example is provided that yields exactly the same correlation residuals as the empirical example but has larger unique variances. For this example, the fit indices indicate excellent fit. A theoretical explanation for this phenomenon is provided using relationships between unique variances and eigenvalues of the fitted correlation matrix.