Parental Contributions to the Delay of Gratification in Preschool-aged Children

Delay of gratification in young children has been linked to long-term behavioral and academic outcomes. This study explored parent behavior during a laboratory paradigm as possible associates of delay ability. The sample consisted of 50 two- and three-year-old children and their primary caregivers. A newly created laboratory task, the gift delay task, was conducted to assess delay of gratification. Additionally, parents completed a child temperament (EASI-III) questionnaire. Based on the award-oriented behavior in the gift delay task, children were classified into three groups: delay (20 %), touch and go (i.e., approached the gift, but demonstrated some delay ability; 46 %), and non delay (34 %). Likewise, parents were classified into three groups: non-directive (parents did not initiate any interactions, but may have participated in child-led activity), active (parents initiated interaction with the child no more than 3 times), and very active (parents initiated 4 or more interactions with the child). Significant differences in emotionality and impulsivity were found between the 3 groups of children; additionally, significant differences in delay ability were found based on parent classifications suggesting that there is an optimal level of involvement on part of the parent that helps the child to wait, but beyond this point, involvement may be detrimental to a successful delay outcome. Implications for behavioral interventions focused on parental support and scaffolding are discussed.     

Dynamic models of well-being: implications of affective events theory for expanding current views on personality and climate

Research investigations into employee well-being (EWB) have tended to take a between-individual approach, which highlights differences among people. This traditional paradigm has been complemented by examinations of intraindividual EWB, which explores within-person variation over periods of time. Drawing on affective events theory (AET), we further elaborate the implications of intraindividual EWB for two reasonably stable sets of constructs—personality traits and affective climates. We argue that the intraindividual paradigm challenges scholars to rethink what they mean by stability, concluding that stability can be conceptualized in two ways—as reasonably consistent levels of affect and predictable patterns of affective change.     

Religiosity and treatment response to antidepressant medication: a prospective multi-site clinical trial

The present study examined the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and treatment response to antidepressant medication (citalopram). One-hundred and forty-eight Caucasian and African-American adults with uncomplicated major depression were treated with citalopram (20–60?mg/day) over an eight-week period in a prospective multi-site clinical trial. Treatment response was assessed weekly with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Religiosity (i.e., religious behaviours) and spirituality (i.e., spiritual well-being) were assessed at week 3. No significant associations between spirituality and treatment response were found; however, there was a strong curvilinear relationship between religiosity and treatment response. Compared to lower or higher levels of religiosity, a moderate level of religiosity was significantly associated with a higher likelihood of remission and greater reduction in severity of depression. This association was independent of social support, ethnicity, gender, education, and baseline depression severity. A moderate amount of religiosity appears to be independently associated with an enhanced treatment response to citalopram.     

Disinhibition of stereotyping: context,prejudice, and target characteristics

The present research examined the moderating influences of individual differences in sexism on the application of gender stereotypes to stereotypic versus nonstereotypic targets as a function of contexts that induced sex stereotypic or counterstereotypic responses. Specifically, participants first received an attribution task in which they were induced to explain a variety of gender relevant situations in gender stereotypic or nonstereotypic ways. Participants were then presented with an ostensibly unrelated person judgment task in which they were asked to judge two women who acted either ambiguously stereotypically or nonstereotypically. The initial opportunity to express stereotypes without censure accentuated stereotype application, but only for highly prejudiced participants rating a woman who acted in an ambiguously stereotypical (i.e. unassertive) manner. We consider the implications of these findings for processes of stereotype disinhibition, and the moderating influences of individual differences in prejudice, target characteristics, and local norms. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Major depression,chronic minor depression,and the five‐factor model of personality

Fifty‐eight outpatients with major depression completed the NEO Personality Inventory at intake (time 1) and after up to three months of anti‐depressant treatment (time 2). Within this group, 26 patients met additional Research Diagnostic Criteria for chronic minor depression. Repeated‐measures analyses revealed significant decreases in Neuroticism scores, and significant increases in Extraversion and Conscientiousness scores, from time 1 to time 2 for both patient groups. In addition, despite similar symptom severity at time 2, the patients with major depression+chronic minor depression scored significantly higher on the Angry Hostility facet of Neuroticism and significantly lower on Agreeableness than those with major depression alone. We suggest from these findings that Angry Hostility and low Agreeableness may represent a trait vulnerability in individuals with chronic minor depression that persists even following remission of the major depressive state, and that this may help to explain their high rates of relapse and recurrence. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Culturally Competent Assessment: More Than Nonbiased Tests

The persistent and unresolved issue of minority disproportionality in special education provides a strong rationale for ensuring that assessment is culturally appropriate and sensitive. An extensive literature on test bias has failed to find evidence of bias sufficient to fully explain disproportional representation of minorities in special education. Yet minorities in this nation, most especially African Americans, have been exposed to a long history of unequal opportunity and oppression, and these inequities continue to be played out in educational settings. In the face of inadequate cultural and educational opportunity, unbiased tests provide an accurate estimate not only of individual capability, but also of the inhospitable conditions that depress that capability. A failure to take differential educational opportunity into account when considering minority test performance may lead to serious errors of test score interpretation. In the face of unequal educational opportunity, culturally competent assessment thus means more than manipulating the content of tests. Rather, it represents a comprehensive process that uses the results of assessment to identify and remedy educational conditions that systematically disadvantage students of color.     

Assessment Instruments Used by Addictions Counselors

The Association for Assessment in Counseling's Committee on Assessment and Training in Addictions Counseling conducted a survey of Master Addictions Counselors (MACs) certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors. The intent of the survey was to identify which standardized assessment instruments were most frequently used by MACs and perceived to be most important in their substance abuse practices. This article describes survey results and provides training and practice recommendations.