Early family context and development of adolescent ruminative style: Moderation by temperament

We know very little about the development of rumination, the tendency to passively brood about negative feelings. Because rumination is a risk factor for many forms of psychopathology, especially depression, such knowledge could prove important for preventing negative mental health outcomes in youth. This study examined developmental origins of rumination in a longitudinal sample (N=337; 51% girls) studied in preschool (ages 3½ and 4½ years) and early adolescence (ages 13 and 15 years). Results indicated that family context and child temperament, assessed during the preschool period, were risk factors for a ruminative style in adolescence. Specifically, early family contexts characterised by over-controlling parenting and a family style of negative-submissive expressivity predicted higher levels of later rumination. These associations were moderated by children's temperamental characteristics of negative affect and effortful control. Further, the interaction of these temperament factors exerted an additional influence on later rumination. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.     

The Performance of Environmental Science in Research Teams

Scientists' practices rely not only on the discursive production of science but also on routine interactions whereby scientists manage their teams and their publics. The metaphor of the theatre helps explain how researchers perform impressions to different audiences. This metaphor can also help analyse how scientists and researchers cooperate in performance teams in order to manage credibility impressions. How are research teams constructed and maintained? How do team members respond to the challenges of coordinating the team and elaborating a common vision given their differences in aims and understandings? From 2005 to 2007 a scientific team worked together in the city of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to develop land remediation measures for coal waste disposal sites. The team was organised around a common front developed through ongoing negotiation and bargaining. Scientists employed different strategies to maintain the team through the development of the project, such as reciprocity, unanimity and bargaining. To accommodate individual views, the common front emphasised the presentation of results and the process of research over its specific content and impact.     

The political pluralisation of American evangelicals: how old media built a movement,and why the Internet is poised to change it

Although religious movements are a powerful force in politics, there has been relatively little work that adequately analyses the relationship between communication technologies and Christian political mobilisation in the United States. In addressing this deficit, this article has three interrelated objectives. First, it traces the impact of media technology on the evangelical project, paying specific attention to radio and television, and argues that these two media have had a largely unifying influence. Second, it seeks a better understanding of the impact of the Internet upon evangelical organisations by reviewing relevant academic literature in the context of on-the-ground developments. In doing so, the authors argue that instead of working to facilitate greater unity among evangelicals, as radio and television did in the past, the Internet is instead fragmenting and polarising them. Third, and more speculatively, they discuss implications for a fragmented evangelical community, and call upon scholars to conduct more research into recent developments in communications technology as it relates to Christian political mobilisation in the United States. Combined, these goals work to illustrate the complex relationship between media, religious organisations, and mass political mobilisation.     

Attention Deficit Disorder,Anxiety Disorder,and Learning Disabilities

Abstract

This article details an individualized psychoeducational model designed to treat a child with interrelated psychological and developmental issues whose psychic functioning was deteriorating within the traditional educational system. The team had leeway to function outside of the educational system to create an individualized, remedial, psychoeducational program. At the time we began the program, her diagnostic picture included: Anxiety Disorder, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Learning Disabilities. The treatment team consisted of an education specialist, two additional part-time teachers, a clinical social worker, an occupational therapist, a consulting senior child psychoanalyst, and the child's mother. The results at the close of the first school year are examined. Perspectives informing the psychoanalytic aspects of this case include Winnicottian and Fairbairnian Object Relations Theory and therapeutic milieu model.     

Re-Examination of Classroom Rules

Abstract

This article provides a contemplative, research-based discussion of classroom management by examining classroom rules. The introduction contains a discussion establishing the importance of effective classroom management strategies. The article also provides a consideration of the literature to gain a better understanding of ineffective and effective rules.     

Therapeutic Use of Space

ABSTRACT

The project described in this article addresses the therapeutic use of physical space in an outpatient counseling facility. It was theorized that an improved facility environment could be used as a practice tool when working with a vulnerable population. The authors undertook the project with limited time and finances. The process of the change project is discussed in detail in an attempt to encourage other counseling facilities and social service agencies to consider such an effort. Related literature from varied fields is reviewed. The article also relays client and staff feedback regarding the redecorated space and addresses design considerations such as the relative strengths and drawbacks to involving clients and staff in the process.     

浅谈《管子》中环境哲学思想

面对着日益严重的环境危机,今天的人们已经逐渐意识到问题的重要性和迫切性。然而,人们对环境问题的认识仍然存在着严重的局限考虑——自然环境。这种片面的认识是不利于环境问题的根本解决。面对今天复杂、多向的环境问题,《管子》可以提供我们一些有益的启示：以＂道＂为核心的有机整体主义自然观和具体的一些自然资源保护措施;包含着经济正义、法律正义等的社会环境思想;心灵和谐的人文环境思想;自然、社会、人文整体主义的＂一体之治＂思想等。     

Physical punishment and childhood aggression: the role of gender and gene-environment interplay

A large body of research has linked spanking with a range of adverse outcomes in children, including aggression, psychopathology, and criminal involvement. Despite evidence concerning the association of spanking with antisocial behavior, not all children who are spanked develop antisocial traits. Given the heterogeneous effects of spanking on behavior, it is possible that a third variable may condition the influence of corporal punishment on child development. We test this possibility using data drawn from a nationally representative dataset of twin siblings. Our findings suggest that genetic risk factors condition the effects of spanking on antisocial behavior. Moreover, our results provide evidence that the interaction between genetic risk factors and corporal punishment may be particularly salient for males.     

Teaching practices and elementary classroom peer ecologies

Teachers and students in 39 1st, 3rd and 5th grade classrooms participated in a study of teaching practices and classroom peer networks. Teachers reported on their attitudes towards aggression and withdrawal, provided rationales for their seating arrangements, and were observed on patterns of emotional and instructional support and classroom organization. Students were surveyed or interviewed for peer nominations of friendship, popularity, being cool, and aggressive and prosocial behavior, and from these nominations classroom-level indices were derived concerning the richness of positive and negative social ties among children, the egalitarian or hierarchical nature of social status hierarchies, and classroom norms for aggressive and prosocial behavior. Preliminary results suggest that teachers' attitudes towards social behavior are associated with the degree of liking and disliking their students express; teachers' grouping patterns are associated with numerous features of classroom social networks; and teachers' observed emotional support was associated with higher rates of friendship reciprocation.     

Environmental attitudes, knowledge, intentions and behaviors among college students

College students (N = 90) reported their pro-environment behaviors as well as their pro-environment intentions, their explicit and implicit attitudes about the environment, and their knowledge about environmental issues. Intentions and knowledge significantly and independently predicted behavior. Environmental knowledge was not significantly related to attitudes. Implicit and explicit attitudes were significantly but only moderately related. Only explicit attitudes, however, were strongly related to intentions, and intentions completely mediated the influence of explicit attitudes on behavior. Men were found to be more knowledgeable than women about environmental issues; older students had more favorable implicit and explicit environmental attitudes. This research suggests that knowledge about the environment and explicit attitudes influence behavior through different pathways, which may have implications for interventions seeking to increase environmentally friendly behavior.