Incorporating good programs into the larger laboratory context

The Scheduled Measurement System (SMS) is a collection of related programs for administering performance and rating tasks to human subjects. It was designed to provide a common task scheduling and data management environment for a diversity of measures. SMS has greatly reduced the effort required to analyze and archive data after experiments, but it has been less successful in reducing some of the effort required to implement experiments. While programming is not difficult, documentation and user training remain the most primitive parts of the system.     

Containment theory and juvenile delinquency: a reevaluation through factor analysis

All seven variables of containment theory were operationalized for questionnaires. Data were collected from 677 adolescents in a variety of high schools and correctional institutions, and divided into categories by race and sex. Factor analysis indicated that the structure of the relationships among the seven containment variables and delinquency was substantially different among black females.     

Projective-cognitive assessment of thoughts and feelings and their relationship to adaptive behavior in a dental situation

The purpose of this study is to examine the interrelationships among coping statements, a self-report measure of anxiety and maladaptive overt behavior in a real-life stressful situation. Measures of these variables (interviews using TAT-like cards, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, Behavior Profile Rating Scale) were taken from 23 adolescents prior to and during their dental visit. Results indicated that as disruptive "in-chair" overt behavior increased, so did the percentage of coping statements. In addition, as self-report levels of anxiety increased, the percentage of coping statements significantly decreased. Interestingly, there was no significant relationship between self-report levels of anxiety and disruptive in-chair behavior. It was also noted that the subjects' self-report levels of anxiety significantly decreased following their opportunity to verbalize their coping/noncoping statements via the TAT-like procedure. The implications of these interrelationships to cognitive-behavioral theory are discussed.     

Shyness, group dependence and self-concept: attributes of the imaginary audience

The imaginary audience of 328 early and late adolescents was studied from the viewpoint of providing educators and clinicians with insight into its attributes--those which both facilitate and hinder youths' development. Early adolescents (about 14 or 15 years of age) displayed a greater awareness of an imaginary audience which probably contributed to their observed, elevated group dependence. Unexpectedly, the shyness of adolescents highly sensitive to an imaginary audience increased with age, possibly because they are unwilling to provide themselves with the social experiences necessary for decentering. Likewise, those highly sensitive to an imaginary audience projected low self-concepts and thus imply that their audience is relatively critical; thus, they probably validate a self-fulfilling prophecy, oblivious to a possible contradictory external reality. The anticipated fact that females appeared to be less socially bold and more group dependent than males might account, in part, for females' greater responsiveness to an imaginary audience. It is suggested that educators and clinicians encourage youth to validate social hypotheses in order to promote the dissolution of the imaginary audience, especially of those who are shy and display self-deprecatory tendencies.     

Prevalence of DSM-III conduct and adjustment disorders for adolescent psychiatric inpatients

The prevalence of DSM-III conduct and adjustment disorders in two adolescent psychiatric facilities, both located near large U.S. cities, was investigated. Overall, 31.6% of the adolescent inpatients were conduct disordered while 12.5% were adjustment disordered. The conduct disorders were primarily "aggressive" subtypes suggesting that this characteristic may influence hospitalization and diagnostic decisions. Such data on prevalence assists future treatment planning, allowing anticipation of case loads.     

Predictors of scientific majors for black and white college students

The differences in the personality and social backgrounds of science and non-science majors were assessed for 91 black and 109 white natural, social, and nonscience college majors. Subjects were administered the 16PF, Bem Sex-Role Inventory, and the Attitude Toward Women Scale, and data were collected on birth order, number of siblings, and social class level. Natural science majors were of a higher social class, had higher intelligence test scores, were more reserved, sober, practical, and male sex-role oriented than the social and non-science majors. Blacks and females resembled their white or male counterparts when categorized by college major.     

The effects of service activities on adolescent alienation

This research evaluated the effects of involvement of adolescents in community service activities on levels of alienation. It was proposed that alienation could be reduced through the implementation of a model which utilized community service activities to facilitate adolescent access to adult society, development of responsibility, collaborative and cooperative work, and control over planning and outcomes. It is suggested that adolescent involvement in service activities can produce positive benefits, among which are reduced levels of alienation, improved school behavior, improved grade point average, and acceptance by the adult community. These findings also suggest that females respond more positively to school when allowed to problem-solve collectively and collaboratively.     

Health needs and concerns of male adolescents

Lifestyle factors established within the family help determine health-care functioning. Adolescents first may be challenged to meet their own health needs as freshmen in college. A 153-item questionnaire was utilized to examine concerns in the areas of alcohol and other drug use, auto safety, weight and dieting, smoking, sexuality, coping and stress, and selection and utilization of health-care services. One hundred fifty-nine male college students responded. Major problems with alcohol use, auto safety, weight control, stress and sexuality were identified. Positive lifestyle factors that were strongly supported included regular exercise, nonsmoking, regular medical and dental checkups, and the development of some support systems to cope with stress. Health-care services designated by respondents to meet their own needs were significantly different from those services they pointed out as needed for their peers.     

Variables which differentiate placement of adolescents into juvenile justice or mental health systems

Studies of the variables that determine whether an adolescent is placed in the mental health or juvenile justice system for treatment have led to conflicting conclusions based on impressionistic data. The primary hypothesis of this study--that demographic variables would and personality/psychopathology variables would not differentiate into which system a youth will be placed--was supported. Adolescents were studied at intake into both the juvenile justice system and the mental health system. Data were collected on demographics (structured interviews), personality/psychopathology (MMPI), social adjustment (CAAP), and academic achievement (PIAT). A discriminant function analysis identified eight statistically significant variables which differentiated the two groups. In order of decreasing importance they are: ethnicity, gender, MMPI-depression, previous mental health history, CAAP-productivity, drug use, parental marital history, and parental religious preference.