College‐Level Choice of Latino High School Students: A Social‐Cognitive Approach

Latino students attend 2‐year colleges more often than 4‐year colleges. This has an impact on the rate of bachelor's degree attainment, because the transfer rate between the 2 levels is low. The author uses national data to identify predictors associated with college‐level choice and then uses social‐cognitive career theory ( Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994 ) to frame counseling implications. Los estudiantes Latinos se matriculan con más frecuencia en estudios universitarios de 2 años que en estudios de 4 años. Esto produce un impacto en el porcentaje de obtención de licenciaturas, porque la tasa de transferencia entre ambos niveles es baja. El autor emplea datos a nivel nacional para identificar predictores asociados con la elección del nivel de estudios universitarios, y después emplea la teoría social cognitiva de las carreras ( Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994 ) para formular las implicaciones para la consejería.     

从卦爻辞的内容看其性质

根据卦爻辞的形式和内容,我们把它分为三类;直接表述吉凶等断辞的;记述象占的;单纯纪事,无吉凶等断辞的。从性质上来说,《易经》是一部老皇历式的著作。卦爻画表示的是日历。直接表述吉凶的卦爻辞记述的是时日占候。记述象占的卦爻辞表述的是一些行为禁忌,其中的某些卦爻辞也应和时日有关系。单纯纪事的卦爻辞情况则较复杂,有些卦爻辞可能是祈使句,表示此卦爻所当时日内应做某事,有些则是记述的某时日内“名人”“名物”的事迹,供后人参考,有些则可能是些“半拉子工程”。     

Preventing Children��s Aggression in Immigrant Latino Families: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of the Families and Schools Together Program

The effectiveness of the evidence based program, Families and Schools Together (FAST), was examined in two inter-related studies with immigrant Latino (Mexican) families in the U.S. In Study 1, we reported findings from pre-test, 3-month post-test, and 12-month follow-up surveys of parents and children participating in the FAST program. Families were selected from communities that were randomly assigned to either intervention or control groups. A total of 282 parents (263 mothers and 19 fathers) participated in either the intervention (140 parents) or control (142 parents) condition over the course of 3 years. Each of the parents had a participating focal child; thus, 282 children (144 females and 138 males; average age = 9.5 years) participated in the study. A primary focus of the research was to determine whether participation in FAST led to reductions in children's aggression. Using linear growth models, no differences were noted on aggression between intervention and control groups, although intervention children did show significant improvements in social problem-solving skills and perceptions of collective efficacy. In Study 2, we conducted two focus groups with ten FAST participants to explore whether other unmeasured outcomes were noted and to understand better the mechanisms and impact of FAST. All of the parents in the focus groups reported that FAST had helped them better relate to and communicate with their children, and that the greatest effect was on the behavior of their older children. Results are discussed in terms of cultural fit of the FAST program for immigrant Latino families and future directions.     

Enrichment in Pre-Kindergarten Life Predicts Initiation of Cigarette Smoking in Asian American and Hispanic/Latino Adolescents

The risk of tobacco use during adolescence may be traced back to early childhood, the time when a child is most vulnerable to environmental influence. We examined daily-life enrichment during pre-kindergarten period as a predictor of initiation of cigarette smoking among Asian American and Hispanic/Latino children during adolescence. Survey data were collected from students in grades seven to nine in California. Among the 2,719 participants who completed the survey, 37% were Asian American and 44% were Hispanic/Latino. Five aspects of childhood life before kindergarten were assessed, including having lots of toys for the child, parents' read to the child often, having a plenty of good food for the child, bringing the child to travel, and parents spending adequate time with the child. Findings from our research indicate that children with more enriched early childhood are less likely to start smoking during adolescence. Consequently, enhancing daily life during early childhood may represent a new strategy for adolescent smoking prevention.     

Spirituality and the Successful Aging of Older Latinos

Using face‐to‐face interviews and a self‐report questionnaire, the authors investigated the contributions of spirituality and religiosity to the well‐being and levels of depression of 60 Latino adults ages 50 to 84 after controlling for age, health, education, and economic strain. Religiosity and spirituality predicted well‐being; however, increases in well‐being were associated with lower levels of externalizing religiosity and higher levels of spirituality. Economic strain overshadowed all other variables in predicting depression. Thus, 2 factors predicted the psychological health of Latino elders: Economic strain predicted depression, and spiritual health predicted well‐being. Several suggestions for implementing the findings are presented.     

Cardiovascular and neuroendocrine activity in preschool children: Comparison between day-care and home levels

Thirty boys and 30 girls at nine day-care centers were examined at the mean age of 3.5 and 5.5 with regard to systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate and neuroendocrine activity (urinary catecholamines and cortisol) during a day at their day-care center and in their home, respectively. Compared to home levels, day-care was associated with increased heart rate, epinephrine and norepinephrine excretion and decreased cortisol levels. Systolic blood pressure decreased at the day-care centers at the age of 3.5 and increased at the age of 5.5. No significant sex differences were found. The possible role of mental and physical arousal and the dissociation between the sympathetic-adrenal medullary and the pituitary-adrenal cortical responses are discussed.     

Semantic and episodic predictions of memory for plans1,2,3

Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate the planning process within memory for plans. Experiment 1 examined the effect of self‐involvement on memory for a 1‐day plan, in which approximately half of the 104 undergraduate participants were instructed to assume that the plans were their own while the other half were told only to memorize them. A U‐shaped curve, indicating better recall for morning and evening plans than for afternoon ones, was observed only with the first group. Experiment 2 was designed to further clarify the planning strategies of memory for plans, in which approximately half of the 77 undergraduate participants were asked to imagine executing the plans while the other half were given a more limited strategy. U‐shaped curves were observed in both conditions, with memory performance being higher for the first group. These results are interpreted as indicating that the semantic prediction of future plans conforms to a U‐shaped curve, while the episodic prediction of future plans enhances memory performance.     

Anxiety Symptoms and Fears in Hispanic and European American Children: Cross-Cultural Measurement Equivalence

The cross cultural equivalence of child (n = 217) and parent (n = 283) versions of the revised children’s manifest anxiety scale (RCMAS), multidimensional anxiety scale for children (MASC), and the fear survey schedule for children—revised (FSSC-R) was examined in Mexican youth in Mexico, and Hispanic and white European American youth in the USA. The RCMAS, MASC, and FSSC-R showed cross ethnic measurement equivalence. The Mexican and Hispanic youth reported more worries, and the Mexican youth reported more somatic symptoms than the European American youth. Per mother report, Mexican and Hispanic youth express more somatic symptoms than European American youth who also show the least number of fears of the unknown and fears of danger and death. The results support the validity of commonly used child anxiety measures with these populations and accrue evidence for greater anxiety and fear expression by Hispanic and Mexican youth in certain domains.

Adaptive Skills and Academic Achievement in Latino Students

Interventions developed to improve adaptive skills can improve academic achievement. The authors expanded this line of research by examining the relationship between performance on a state proficiency exam and adaptive skills classifications on the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Second Edition parent and teacher reports. Participants included 392 Latino students, Grades 2–6 in a large urban school district. Ordinal regression models were used to assess relationships between student academic proficiency level and adaptive skills classifications. Students classified as having higher adaptive skills by teachers were more likely to be classified as proficient or higher in reading and mathematics. These findings further support the relationship between adaptive skills and academic achievement. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

No Matter How Hard You Try,Your Feet Still Get Wet: Insider and Outsider Perspectives on Bridging Diversity

Mental health practitioners have offered relatively little in response to the pervasive community violence faced by many children living in impoverished neighborhoods. The “neighborhood club” is a school‐based, short‐term, support group designed to assist children with the psychological impact of exposure to community violence. Ten “neighborhood clubs” were conducted in two public elementary schools in Detroit, Michigan. This paper reviews the implementation of a bilingual “neighborhood club,” undertaken to better serve the Spanish‐speaking Latino students in a school community. We discuss many of the rewards and challenges of conducting a bilingual, multicultural support group for children and conclude that a bilingual support group provides all children with a model that validates ethnic and cultural diversity while also building empathic bonds based on mutually‐reinforcing, common experiences.