The distinctiveness of hardiness, positive emotionality, and negative emotionality in National Guard soldiers

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to investigate the distinctiveness of hardiness (using the Short Hardiness Scale; Bartone, 1995) from the broader personality traits of negative emotionality and positive emotionality (NEM and PEM; assessed with items from the MMPI-2 PSY-5 scales); in a sample of 981 Army National Guard soldiers. Exploratory factor analyses demonstrated that hardiness items loaded on a separate factor from PEM and NEM items, and confirmatory factor analysis suggested that hardiness is not simply a sub-facet of either PEM or NEM. However, subsequent regression analyses found that hardiness did not predict symptoms of PTSD or depression beyond the effects of PEM and NEM among combat exposed soldiers.     

Participant Retention in the Parents Matter! Program: Strategies and Outcome

We present a discussion of the literature addressing retention of ethnic minority samples in longitudinal studies. In addition, we describe the retention procedures implemented in the Parents Matter! Program (PMP), a community-based sexual risk reduction intervention for African American families. Finally, the results of PMP's retention strategies are presented.     

An Examination of the Impact of Minority Status Stress and Impostor Feelings on the Mental Health of Diverse Ethnic Minority College Students

This study examined differences in minority status stress, impostor feelings, and mental health in a sample of 240 ethnic minority college students. African Americans reported higher minority status stress than Asian Americans and Latino/a Americans, whereas Asian Americans reported higher impostor feelings. Minority status stress and impostor feelings were examined as predictors of mental health. Impostor feelings were stronger predictors of mental health than minority status stress. Counseling implications for ethnic minority students are discussed. Este estudio examinó las diferencias en estrés por estatus de minoría, sentimientos de impostor, y salud mental en una muestra de 240 estudiantes universitarios pertenecientes a minorías étnicas. Los afroamericanos comunicaroun un estrés por estatus de minoría más alto que los asiático‐americanos y los latinoamericanos, mientras que los asiático‐americanos comunicaron sentimientos de impostor más elevados. Se examinaron el estrés por estatus de minoría y los sentimientos de impostor como predictores de salud mental. Los sentimientos de impostor fueron predictores más fuertes de salud mental que el estrés por estatus de minoría. Se discuten las implicaciones en consejería para estudiantes de minorías étnicas.     

Global dot integration in typically developing children and in Williams Syndrome

Williams Syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that results in deficits in visuospatial perception and cognition. The dorsal stream vulnerability hypothesis in WS predicts that visual motion processes are more susceptible to damage than visual form processes. We asked WS participants and typically developing children to detect the global structure Glass patterns, under “static” and “dynamic” conditions in order to evaluate this hypothesis. Sequentially presented Glass patterns are coined as dynamic because they induce illusory motion, which is modeled after the interaction between orientation (form) and direction (motion) mechanisms. If the dorsal stream vulnerability holds in WS participants, then they should process real and illusory motion atypically. However, results are consistent with the idea that form and motion integration mechanisms are functionally delayed or attenuated in WS. Form coherence thresholds for both static and dynamic Glass patterns in WS were similar to those of 4–5 year old children, younger than what is predicted by mental age. Dynamic presentation of Glass patterns improved thresholds to the same degree as typical participants. Motion coherence thresholds in WS were similar to those of mental age matches. These data pose constraints on the dorsal vulnerability hypothesis, and refine our understanding of the relationship between form and motion processing in development.     

Experimental and Self-Reported Indices of Childhood Abuse Using the Binghamton Childhood Abuse Screen

This study describes the validation of the Binghamton Childhood Abuse Screen (BCAS) using response latencies on an emotional Stroop task as a criterion measure. Sixty-four male undergraduate participants were selected based on their responses to the BCAS and a brief screen of their abuse history. Participants completed an emotional Stroop task in which they named the colors of neutral, positive, and abuse words. Participants scoring high on the BCAS exhibited greater response latencies to abuse words than participants scoring low on the BCAS. No group differences were found for positive words. The results provide support for the validity of the BCAS.     

An Ecological View of School Satisfaction in Adolescence: Linkages Between Social Support and Behavior Problems

This study investigated the relationships among school satisfaction, social support, and problem behaviors in adolescents. Modest associations were found between school satisfaction and the demographic variables of gender, race, age, and grade level. Support from teachers, parents, and classmates contributed unique variance to ratings of school satisfaction; with teacher support contributing the most unique variance. School satisfaction mediated the relationship between social support and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. School satisfaction did not moderate the relationship between social support and problem behavior; however, it did serve as a protective factor across all levels of social support. Implications are discussed, including suggestions for developing interventions that focus on increasing support for adolescents in efforts to improve school satisfaction and reduce problem behaviors.     

Brief report: The development of superstitious beliefs in the effectiveness of treatment of anger: Evidence for the importance of experimental program evaluation in applied settings

Many youth placed in out of home care have serious anger and aggression problems. These youth create much administrative and staff frustration. This frustration can cause program administrators to look to new treatment modalities whether inside or outside of their specific milieu for the therapeutic solutions to these problems. This randomized control group study provides an example of the importance of experimental program evaluation when an applied setting begins a drift towards the use of new treatment modalities. The results showed that both treatment and control groups improved over time but that there was no differences between groups in the daily number of angry incidents, the number of youth negatively terminated from the program, or self-report of state-trait anger expression. The results also suggest that without this research the noneffective intervention would have continued to be funded and given causative status for the observed improvements in referred youth behavior into the foreseeable future. Moreover, the development of these types of superstitious beliefs may lead child care organizations to spend scarce dollars on expensive treatments that do not increase the efficacy of the treatment as usual. Thus, this study shows that there are potential economic and treatment efficacy reasons for the use of experimental program evaluation when new treatments are implemented.