School-year employment among high school students: effects on academic, social, and physical functioning

This study describes the effects of different weekly work intensity levels on adolescent functioning in a sample of 3,083 high school students in rural South Texas, where economically disadvantaged and Hispanic youth are heavily represented. Anonymous surveys were conducted in 10th- and 12th-grade students' classrooms in 1995. The following effects were associated with long hours of weekly employment during the school year: (1) decreased performance/engagement in school and satisfaction with amount of leisure time, and (2) increased health risk behaviors and psychological stress. The effects of school-year work on academic factors and health behaviors differed by grade, but not by race/ethnicity, parent education, or race/ethnicity and parent education considered together. It was concluded that parents and professionals should continue to monitor the number of weekly hours that students work during the school year.     

Longitudinal effects of lean production on employee outcomes and the mediating role of work characteristics

The author discusses results from a 3 year quasi-experimental field study (N = 368), which suggest negative effects on employee outcomes after the implementation of 3 lean production practices: lean teams, assembly lines, and workflow formalization. Employees in all lean production groups were negatively affected, but those in assembly lines fared the worst, with reduced organizational commitment and role breadth self-efficacy and increased job depression. A nonequivalent control group had no negative changes in outcomes. Mediational analyses showed that the negative effects of lean production were at least partly attributable to declines in perceived work characteristics (job autonomy, skill utilization, and participation in decision making). The study also shows the longitudinal effects of these work characteristics on psychological outcomes. Implications for lean production, work design, and employee well-being are discussed.     

Dorsal stream activation during retrieval of object size and shape

We investigated dorsal visual stream involvement in the retrieval of a variety of visual attributes of common objects, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Seven subjects made binary decisions about the shape, color, and size of named objects during scanning. Bilateral parietal activity was significantly greater during retrieval of shape and size information than during retrieval of color information. Consistent with a domain-specific distributed model of semantic organization, the finding that dorsal stream activity is associated with size and shape retrieval, as compared with color retrieval, may indicate that both size and shape information are learned partly through dorsally mediated processes, such as visually guided grasping. These results demonstrate that both visual-processing streams (i.e., the ventral “what” pathway and the dorsal “where” pathway) are involved in the storage and/or retrieval of knowledge of object appearance but that, just as in vision, these two pathways may play different roles in conceptual processing.     

Measures of visuospatial short-term memory: the Knox Cube Imitation Test and the Corsi Blocks Test compared

The present investigation analyzes the characteristics of two tasks that have been considered as a measure of visuospatial abilities: The Knox Cube Imitation Test and the Corsi Blocks Test. The former was originally devised by Knox (1913) to diagnose mental retardation in potential immigrants to the United States, while the latter has been specifically designed to be used in neuropsychological practice by Corsi (1972). Although both tasks have been widely used in the past, there is little empirical research investigating the characteristics of these tasks from a theoretical point of view. In order to do so, we carried out two parallel experiments in which both tasks were presented in a baseline condition as well as in association with three different concurrent tasks (i.e., articulatory suppression, spatial tapping, and random generation) supposed to tap the various components of working memory. Results showed that neither of the tasks can be considered as a pure measure of visuospatial processing and that, at the same time, it is necessary to reconsider the architecture of working memory in order to suggest a more integrated functioning of the system.     

Parental divorce during adolescence and adjustment in early adulthood

The present study examined the impact of parental divorce during adolescence, interparental conflict, and intimacy with parents on young adult adjustment. One hundred sixty-seven undergraduate students (146 females, 21 males) completed a questionnaire regarding their psychosocial adjustment, their present relationships with their parents, the level of interparental conflict experienced during adolescence, and the marital status of their parents during adolescence. High levels of interparental conflict were found to be negatively associated with adjustment and current intimacy with parents. A poor relationship with both parents was negatively associated with several domains of psychosocial adjustment, while high intimacy with at least one parent was positively associated with adjustment. Intimacy with mother and with father were found to be the most important predictors of psychosocial adjustment. This investigation highlights the importance of maintaining a good parent-young adult relationship, particularly in divorced families. The findings indicate that future research should examine multiple family variables when assessing the impact of parental divorce or conflict on young adult adjustment.     

The contextual change paradox is still unresolved: comment on Bouton, Nelson, and Rosas (1999)

According to the contextual change theory of memory loss, spontaneous forgetting reflects a retrieval impairment due to subtle and unprogrammed shifts in environmental cues over a retention interval. However, Riccio, Richardson, and Ebner (1984) noted an apparent paradox in this model; specifically, laboratory studies inducing explicit shifts in contextual cues found less disruption of performance as retention intervals increased. Bouton, Nelson, and Rosas (1999) critiqued several of the claims made by Riccio et al. and concluded that the contextual cue theory is still a valid account of spontaneous forgetting. In this comment, the authors address the 3 major criticisms offered by Bouton et al., point out an inconsistency in their argument, and conclude that the original paradox still poses problems for the contextual change theory of forgetting.     

Psychological Distress and Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Jewish Adolescents Following a Brief Exposure to Concentration Camps

We investigated the psychological impact of an organized visit to Polish concentration camps on Jewish-American adolescents. Eighty-seven adolescents who participated in a B'nai B'rith memorial visit to concentration camps in Poland completed measures of general psychological adjustment and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at four time-points: pretest, posttest, 6-month follow-up and 12-month follow-up. Measures included the SCL-90-R, the Mississippi Scale for PTSD, and the Impact of Events Scale (IES) for PTSD. On the SCL-90-R, changes in somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, depression, anxiety, and phobic anxiety were observed over time, with peak symptom scores at posttest and 6-month follow-up. Scores on the Mississippi Scale for PTSD and the IES Intrusion subscale also increased at 6-months. Predictors of PTSD symptoms on the Mississippi Scale included previous psychiatric treatment and SCL-90-R symptoms of paranoia, depression, and psychosis. Elevated psychotic symptoms on the SCL-90-R predicted PTSD symptoms on the IES. Jewish adolescents with preexisting symptoms of generalized distress or psychoticism appeared at increased risk for PTSD symptoms following exposure to Holocaust stimuli. This study contributes a prospective, multi-measure assessment of trauma reactions in adolescents.     

Body Size Beliefs and Weight Concerns Among Mothers and Their Adolescent Children

African American and White mother/adolescent pairs were examined for familial associations in body size and weight concerns. Mothers' and adolescents' estimates of adolescents' body mass index (BMI) were significantly correlated. Compared to boys, girls had greater body dissatisfaction, higher weight concerns, and perceived higher family/friend weight concerns. By race, White adolescents had more body dissatisfaction and greater concern about weight than African American adolescents. Four items explained 70.4% of the variance in adolescents' weight concern scores: adolescents' weight management practices, mothers' reports of adolescents' saying they were too fat, adolescents' perceptions of family/friends' weight concerns, and adolescents' body dissatisfaction. Our study suggests White girls are more concerned about their weight and perceive greater weight and dieting concerns among family/friends than African American girls.     

Implementation of Expressive Physical Touch in Depressed Older Adults

Depression is a serious problem among older adults and there is limited research on the most effective way to implement and evaluate the effects of expressive touch, either alone or in combination with verbalization, on levels of depression. A convenience sample of 24 institutionalized depressed older adult subjects (15 females and 9 males), ages 67 to 91 years was used for this study. An interrupted time series with multiple replications design was employed with four measurements: Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Life-Satisfaction-A-Scale, Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale, and Locus of Control Scale. Four interventions were implemented: expressive touch only, verbalization only, a combination of expressive touch and verbalization, and a control (presence). Significant differences were found between pretest and posttest scores on the GDS for the expressive touch/verbal intervention. The most comfortable locations to implement the expressive touch and combination interventions were in the dining room or at the subject's bedside. The most comfortable areas of the subjects' bodies touched were the arms, hands, shoulders, and back. Results of this study support an important link between depression, self-esteem, locus of control, and life satisfaction and expressive touch either alone or when combined with talk. Touch as a mode of effective social support may have a therapeutic effect for depressed older adults.     

Economic practices of Jesus movement groups

This paper examines in detail the multitude of ways used by Jesus Movement organizations to raise money to fund their many activities. The research was provoked by sharp differences between fund‐raising methods used by the two largest and well known JM organizations—the Children of God (now called The Family) and Christ Communal Organization (a pseudonym for a group called Shiloh). The COG mainly relied on various forms of public solicitation, while Shiloh depended on working for others and themselves in an effort to become self‐supporting. Seven other JM groups were examined to find out what patterns of support were most prevalent, and to examine possible relationships between sustenance activities and theological developments within the groups. A large number of experimental approaches were taken by JM groups trying to sustain themselves during their sometimes tumultuous histories, leading to a number of general conclusions.