Temperament and behavior of infants prenatally exposed to drugs: Clinical implications for the mother-infant dyad

In trying to prevent developmental delays, we are continually searching for specific events or factors that are responsible for less than optimal development. Recept attention has focused on the effects of cocaine exposure in utero, with the most common effects appearing to be subtle neurobehavioral differences. The purpose of this study was to determine if, at the age of 6 months, infants exposed to cocaine exhibit significant differences in behavior and cognitive abilities. Results of this study revealed differences between exposed and nonexposed infants in both temperament and behavioral characteristics. Temperamentally, children prenatally exposed to cocaine were reported to be less cooperative, more difficult to manage, and more arrhythmic. The drug-exposed group was also rated lower on behavioral characteristics of responsiveness, communication, and participation. The two groups were similar in terms of cognitive development. The impact of these behavioral effects on the mother-infant relationship is discussed in terms of clinical and research implications of this study.     

Judgments Regarding Sexual Aggression as a Function of Sex of Aggressor and Victim

The effects of sex of aggressor and victim (male/female, female/male, male/male, female/female) on judgments regarding sexual aggression on a date were studied. Participants were 415 female and 279 male community college students (M age = 23.0 years; 47.3% European American, 18.6% Latin American, 7.5% African American, 7.8% South East Asian American, 3.7% Asian American, and 15.1% other) who read one of four vignettes describing a date in which forced intercourse occurred. Participants rated degree of disapproval of the aggressor's behavior from their own viewpoint (Participant Rating), the victim's viewpoint (Victim Rating), and the aggressor's viewpoint (Aggressor Rating). Results of 4 × 2 (Vignette × Participant Gender) ANOVAs of Participant Rating and Victim Rating indicated similar disapproval of the aggressor for all couple types except for female aggressor/male victim, for whom disapproval was significantly lower. The aggressor's overall behavior was rated as date/acquaintance rape by 46.6–55.4% of participants for all vignettes except the female aggressor/male victim vignette (18.7%).     

Higher Cost,Lower Validity and Higher Utility: Comparing the Utilities of Two Tests that Differ in Validity,Costs and Selectivity

Traditional approaches to comparing the utility of two tests have not systematically considered the effects of different levels of selectivity that are feasible and appropriate in various selection situations. For example, employers who hope to avoid adverse impact often find they can be more selective with some tests than with others. We conducted two studies to compare the utilities of two tests that differ in costs, validity, and feasible levels of selectivity which can be employed. First, an analytical solution was conducted starting with a standard formula for utility. This analysis showed that for both fixed and variable hiring costs, a higher-cost, lower-validity procedure can have higher utility than a lower-cost, higher-validity procedure when the selection ratios permissible using the two procedures are sufficiently (yet realistically) different. Second, using a computer simulation method, several combinations of the critical variables were varied systematically to detect the limits of this effect in a finite set of specific selection situations. The results showed that the existence of more severe levels of adverse impact greatly reduced the utility of a written test with relatively high validity and low cost in comparison with an assessment center with lower validity and higher cost. Both studies showed that the consideration of selectivity can yield surprising conclusions about the comparative utility of two tests. Even if one test has lower validity and higher cost than a second test, the first may yield higher utility if it allows the organization to exercise stricter levels of selectivity.     

The Duty to Take Rescue Precautions

There is much philosophical literature on the duty to rescue. Individuals who encounter and could save, at relatively little cost to themselves, a person at risk of losing life or limb are morally obligated to do so. Yet little has been said about the other side of the issue. There are cases in which the need for rescue could have been reasonably avoided by the rescuee. We argue for a duty to take rescue precautions, providing an account of the circumstances in which it arises. This novel duty has important implications for public policy. We apply it to the situation of some of the uninsured in the United States. Given the US clinician's duty to provide emergency care to all people regardless of ability to pay, some of the uninsured have a moral duty to purchase health insurance. We defend the duty against objections, including the possibility that a right to rescue can be waived, thus undermining a duty to take rescue precautions, that the duty of many professionals is voluntarily incurred, and that a distinction between actively assumed and passively assumed risks matters morally.     

How Polysemy Affects Concreteness Ratings: The Case of Metaphor

Concreteness ratings are frequently used in a variety of disciplines to operationalize differences between concrete and abstract words and concepts. However, most ratings studies present items in isolation, thereby overlooking the potential polysemy of words. Consequently, ratings for polysemous words may be conflated, causing a threat to the validity of concreteness‐ratings studies. This is particularly relevant to metaphorical words, which typically describe something abstract in terms of something more concrete. To investigate whether perceived concreteness ratings differ for metaphorical versus non‐metaphorical word meanings, we obtained concreteness ratings for 96 English nouns from 230 participants. Results show that nouns are perceived as less concrete when a metaphorical (versus non‐metaphorical) meaning is triggered. We thus recommend taking metaphoricity into account in future concreteness‐ratings studies to further improve the quality and reliability of such studies, as well as the consistency of the empirical studies that rely on these ratings.     

Angststörungen und Phobien im Kindes- und Jugendalter

Anxiety disorders belong to the most frequent mental disorders in childhood and adolescence. They cause severe impairment, show poor long-term outcome and they are often not recognized as a mental disorder. For a reliable and valid diagnosis and treatment outcome evaluation a multi-informant approach is essential including information from the child and the parents. Methods of choice are structured clinical interviews and questionnaires filled out by the child and the parents. Meta-analyses showed that only cognitive-behavioral treatment can be considered as a sufficiently evidence-based treatment. No differences in outcome were found between individual and group treatments or child and family focused treatments. Medication treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) showed short-term efficacy. Major evidence-based interventions are psycho-education, exposure techniques and cognitive restructuring strategies.     

Mentoring Asian and Euro‐American College Women

This study examines differences in the mentoring relationships of Asian American and Euro‐American college women. Findings showed that the groups view mentoring as equally important but that fewer Asians report having a mentor. However, those who have mentors find them to be just as valuable as do their Euro‐American counterparts. Este estudio examina las diferencias en las relaciones de mentoring de mujeres Asiáticas Americanas y Euro‐Americanas colegiales. Las conclusiones mostraron que los grupos ven mentoring como igualmente importante pero que menos Asiáticos informan teniendo un mentor. Sin embargo, los que tienen mentores los encuentran que ser apenas tan valioso como lo hacen sus contrapartes de Euro‐Americanos.     

Convergent,discriminant, and predictive validity of aggressive driving inventories: they drive as they live

The authors hypothesized that aggressive driving is indicative of a more general trait that leads individuals to behave aggressively in different situations. This hypothesis was tested by having 85 male and 237 female undergraduates complete the Aggression Questionnaire, three measures of aggressive driving (the Driver Anger Scale, Driver Vengeance Questionnaire, and Driving Behavior Inventory), and questions about violating traffic laws. High correlations among the aggressive driving inventories provided evidence for the convergent validity, but a confirmatory factor analyses raised questions about the discriminant validity of aggressive driving inventories. The inventories did not attain significance in hierarchical analyses of traffic violations that controlled for gender, driving experience, and measures of trait aggression. It is concluded that there is little unique about aggressive driving and that individuals drive as they live. Aggr. Behav. 32:89–98, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.