Social and Behavioral Researchers' Experiences With Their IRBs

This article examines the responsibilities of researchers who conduct exploratory research to provide a service to vulnerable respondents. The term “service” is used to denote the provision of a tangible benefit in relation to the research question that is apart from the altruistic research benefits. This article explores what this “service” could look like, who might be responsible for providing it, and the challenges associated with such a service. The article argues that not providing a tangible benefit to vulnerable research participants is inconsistent with the principle of social justice that undergirds much of the rationale for conducting health disparities research.     

The Effects of Artist Adoration and Perceived Risk of Getting Caught on Attitude and Intention to Pirate Music in the United States and Taiwan

Piracy is the greatest threat facing the global music industry today. This study explores the effects of artist adoration and the perceived risk of being caught on the attitude and intention to engage in pirating a digital song among college students. The moderating effect of cultural environment factor is also examined. Experiments using between-group factorial designs were conducted in the United States and Taiwan. The results show that perceived risk of getting caught and cultural environment are important factors that can significantly affect the attitude and intention toward downloading unauthorized music. In addition, a two-way (Perceived Risk × Culture) and a three-way interaction in the model are also observed.     

Barriers and Supports to Substance Abuse Service Use Among Homeless Adults

Although there is a great need for substance abuse services among the homeless, many homeless individuals do not use those services. This study examined barriers and supports related to service use. Participants recognized a need for treatment and significant barriers to accessing care.     

Assessing At‐Risk Youth Using the Reynolds Adolescent Adjustment Screening Inventory With a Latino Population

Factor analyses were conducted on scores from the Reynolds Adolescent Adjustment Screening Inventory (RAASI; Reynolds, 2001 ) representing at‐risk Latino youth. The 4‐factor model of the RAASI did not exhibit a good fit. However, evidence of generalizability for Latino youth was noted.     

Simulating Personal Wealth in the Laboratory

During laboratory gambling tasks participants are not typically allowed to wager their personal wealth. Instead, wealth is simulated by telling participants they have been endowed with game tokens that will be later exchanged for money. Past research indicates that participants undervalue game tokens following this procedure, which leads to elevated risk taking compared to procedures that add saliency or realism to the monetary payoff. A between-subjects experiment tested whether showing a picture of money during the endowment instructions and repeating token-money exchange information during the session influenced participants' preference for risky and riskless options. The results showed no effect of the money picture. However, repeated token-money exchange information significantly decreased risk taking. Together with past studies, this finding suggests that endowment procedures might establish greater value in game tokens, and therefore better simulate personal wealth, when the eventual exchange between game tokens and money is made more salient to participants.     

Maternal Depressed Mood and Perceptions of Child Temperament

Research has suggested that women who experience postpartum depression are subsequently more likely to perceive their preschool-aged children as temperamentally difficult and maladjusted. However, previous studies have not controlled for the effects of concurrent depression levels on maternal ratings of child temperament or evaluated the accuracy of maternal reports. In the present study we assessed maternal and paternal ratings of child temperament 2 years after subjects had participated in a study of postpartum depression. The findings indicate that correlations between postpartum depression and subsequent child temperament ratings were accounted for statistically by concurrent levels of depression. Although fathers' ratings corroborated some aspects of maternal perceptions, levels of parental agreement were only moderately high. Moreover, discrepancies between the parents' reports were significantly associated with maternal depression, indicating that parental disagreement is more likely when the wife is dysphoric.     

Communal Versus Individual Learning of a Math-Estimation Task: African American Children and the Culture of Learning Contexts

The authors compared the performance of 78 African American 5th-grade students who studied a math-estimation task in one of two learning contexts. Learning contexts differed in the degree to which they afforded the expression of communalism. ANCOVA confirmed that posttest performance was best for students who studied in the high communal-learning context. The findings support A. W. Boykin's (1994) contention that the cultural context of learning can be a critical mediator of children's performance.     

The Rise and Decline of the American Asylum Movement in the 19th Century

This paper traces the history of the American public asylum from the 1840s through the late 19th century. The focus is on social factors that contributed to the establishment of public institutions at the urging of reformers, the attempts to model them on the architecture and “moral treatment” offered by the best private institutions, the crowding of the asylums, the growing criticism aimed at the asylums and their superintendents, and the effects of calls for other approaches and for scientific management. Knowledge of the asylum's history may be useful today, as we stand at the crossroads in the treatment of the mentally ill.     

False Memories in Individuals at Risk for Developing an Eating Disorder

In the present study, the authors used the Roediger and McDermott paradigm (H. L. Roediger & K. B. McDermott, 1995) to examine the creation of false memories in individuals at risk for developing an eating disorder. Thirty-three controls and 34 individuals at risk for eating disorders studied 6 word lists taken from the paradigm. Three lists were food related (bread, fruit, sweet), and 3 were not food related (king, doctor, black). Both groups produced false memories (i.e., recalled or recollected words that were not presented in the lists), and controls actually produced more false memories than the at-risk individuals produced in the recall of the food-related items. Groups did not differ in their recall of items not related to food.     

Community Living Skills

Persons with chronic mental health problems are frequently found living in the community at varying quality of life levels. Though rehabilitation programs are suitable for patients with acute exacerbations of mental health pathology, these programs are necessary but not sufficient to meet the needs of the chronic person. Long-term reliance on biomedically-based rehabilitation can produce dependence on the system and maintain reliance on the "sick role" which is counterproductive for current trends related to deinstitutionalization and "least restrictive environment." The intent of this article is to focus on an one alternative service delivery model- psychoeducation. The potentials for this mode to normalize or maximize independence is discussed and two community living skills programs for the chronically mentally ill are described to exemplify the application of psychoeducation.