Development of behavioural problems in children adopted from Romania to the Netherlands,after a period of deprivation

A longitudinal study was conducted among 72 Romanian adoptive children (41 boys, 31 girls) in the Netherlands, who, according to the parents and medical records, had all experienced a period of some degree of deprivation before their adoption. The children were on average 2 years and 9 months old at adoption. Parents filled out the Child Behavioural Checklist twice. On average there was little change in scores between the two measurements, and correlations were high. Some children displayed a marked improvement, or worsening of problems. The change in CBCL scores was not related to age or health on arrival into the adoptive family. Children who received special education at the first measurement (31%) improved significantly more on Total Problems than children who didn't. The same applied to professional help, the 46 children (64%) for whom professional help was engaged improved significantly more than the other 26 children. It appears to be effective to engage educational and psychological help for these (severely) deprived children at an early stage.     

Using the Youth Self-Report internalizing syndrome scales among immigrant adolescents: Testing measurement invariance across groups and over time

Although the Youth Self-Report (YSR) has been used in many studies throughout the world, little is known about the equivalence of the factor structure of this instrument for immigrant adolescents. Measurement invariance of the three internalizing syndrome scales of the YSR was tested across four ethnic groups (native Dutch, Surinamese, Turkish, Moroccan) and over time. Results of the present study showed that the scales were invariant across all ethnic groups and over time. Together, the results indicated that the YSR can be used for developmental studies in these immigrant populations.     

Globalization and ecofeminism in the South: keeping the ‘Third World’ alive

The aim of the article is to discern, highlight and thus, give due cognizance to a pattern of women's environmental activism in the South that is getting increasingly pronounced with the exacerbation of injustice and inequality due to globalization. It provides a theoretical critique and highlights a practical resistance offered by a materialist ecofeminism in combating the devastating impact of multi-national corporations in the South in the fields of food and nutritional security, deforestation and the protection of biodiversity. Furthermore, it develops a philosophical and moral critique of globalization by elucidating an ecofeminist ethic which highlights an alternate model of development, based on care and responsibility. The research combines a literature survey of the most recent and classic ecofeminist theoretical literature and practical case-study based on the author's own field research on ecofeminist activism prevalent in the Garhwal Himalayan region of India.     

Inverse reference in subtraction performance: An analysis from arithmetic word problems

Studies of elementary calculation have shown that adults solve basic subtraction problems faster with problems presented in addition format (e.g., 6?+?_?=?13) than in standard subtraction format (e.g., 13 – 6?=?_). Therefore, it is considered that adults solve subtraction problems by reference to the inverse operation (e.g., for 13 – 6?=?7, “I know that 13 is 6?+?7”) because presenting the subtraction problem in addition format does not require the mental rearrangement of the problem elements into the addition format. In two experiments, we examine whether adults' use of addition to solve subtractions is modulated by the arrangement of minuend and subtrahend, regardless of format. To this end, we used arithmetic word problems since single-digit problems in subtraction format would not allow the subtrahend to appear before the minuend. In Experiment 1, subtractions were presented by arranging minuend and subtrahend according to previous research. In Experiment 2, operands were reversed. The overall results showed that participants benefited from word problems where the subtrahend appears before the minuend, including subtractions in standard subtraction format. These findings add to a growing body of literature that emphasizes the role of inverse reference in adults' performance on subtractions.     

Contemporary Environmental Ethics From Metaethics to Public Philosophy

In the past thirty years environmental ethics has emerged as one of the most vibrant and exciting areas of applied philosophy. Several journals and hundreds of books testify to its growing importance inside and outside philosophical circles. But with all of this scholarly output, it is arguably the case that environmental ethics is not living up to its promise of providing a philosophical contribution to the resolution of environmental problems. This article surveys the current state of the field and offers an alternative path for the future development of environmental ethics toward a more publicly engaged model of applied philosophy.     

Young Children's Responding to Interparental Conflict: Associations with Marital Aggression and Child Adjustment

We designed this study to examine children's self-reported and observed emotional and behavioral responding to marital conflict as a potential mechanism linking marital physical aggression (as reported by the parents) and children's behavioral adjustment (as reported by their preschool teachers). In a sample of 48 preschoolers, parental marital physical aggression was positively associated with children's observed dysregulated responding to interparental conflict and negatively associated with children's self-reported behavioral disruption. Marital aggression and children's self-reported responding to marital conflict predicted teacher-reported behavior problems, with both variables adding unique variance. Our findings suggested a potential pathway linking exposure to marital conflict, children's regulatory strategies, and children's behavioral adjustment outside the home.     

Why Not Interfere With Nature?

Advocates of an environmental ethic frequently claim that what makes an ethical theory truly and uniquely environmental is its commitment to the principle that environmental wholes such as species, ecosystems, and biotic communities are morally considerable. The prevailing view is that our primary duty towards these wholes is to respect their integrity, stability, and beauty, and that the best way to do this is to leave them alone, not interfere with them, and let nature follow its own course. But is that correct? Why should be refrain from interfering with nature? There are two ways an environmentalist might try to justify an exceptionaless, prima facie principle of noninterference. First, she might claim that there is a contingent but universal connection between human interference and ecosystemic harm. There is also an epistemic variant of this view. When faced with a decision concerning whether to interfere with an ecosystem, there will always be overwhelming reasons for thinking that interference will be harmful, regardless of the specific circumstances. Send, there might be some conceptual connection between interference and harm to ecosystems. For example, if the well-being of an ecosystem is identified with its wildness, and wildness is understood as the absence of human intervention or manipulation, then any human interference necessarily detracts from an ecosystem's wildness and thereby has a detrimental effect on its well-being. In this paper I examine these justifications in detail and argue that none can support an exceptionaless principle of noninterference.     

青少年学生疏离感及其发展的研究

本研究采用<青少年学生疏离感量表》对重庆市和兰州市的1502名青少年学生进行调查,结果表明:青少年学生在生活环境疏离感和压迫拘束感上的平均分相对较高;各学生群体在社会疏离感、人际疏离感和总体疏离感之间的差异,主要体现在年级和地区的交互作用上,而环境疏离感的差异主要体现在性别和片区的交互作用上。各群体疏离感的差异主要表现在年级和片区之间;青少年学生的疏离感大体呈现出三个阶段的发展趋势,即是:初中阶段发展比较平稳,没有大的起伏变化;高中和大学阶段都是从低到高,再从高到低的倒“V”字型发展变化趋势。     

谈发现心理学问题的辩证思维

科学研究最重要的一步是能否提出有价值的课题。本文根据辩证法的对立统一规律、二分法、事物是普遍联系的、具体问题具体分析,从量变到质变原理,提出了发现心理学问题的五种思路。     

婚姻关系、亲子关系对3～6岁幼儿心理行为问题的影响

采用CBCL量表、自编的婚姻关系和亲子关系问卷调查了6所城市幼儿园的457名3～6岁幼儿,结果发现：(1)本研究中3～6岁幼儿心理行为问题的检出率为15．10％;(2)3-6岁幼儿的心理行为问题主要表现为交往不良、攻击性等外部行为问题;(3)没有心理行为问题的幼儿家庭其婚姻关系在性格相容、问题解决和性生活方面显著优于有心理行为问题的幼儿家庭,但在经济条件方面则相反;(4)婚姻关系和亲子关系则呈显著的正相关,并共同影响幼儿的心理行为问题。