‘Coming out’ and sexual debut: understanding the social context of HIV risk-related behaviour

This paper explores HIV risk-related behaviour in the context of men's entry into the gay community. It is an exploratory study which employed a qualitative approach to describe men's accounts of the process of acculturation. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with working-class gay men from Barnsley, UK. These were translated and analysed, using interpretative phenomenological analysis, for recurrent themes which reflect the way gay men thought about HIV risk-related behaviour, ‘coming out’ and their sexual debut. As men began to socialize with other gay men in their local community they had much to learn with regard to local gay culture, e.g. a distinct new vocabulary and local sexual mores. By virtue of their lack of experience and the personal impact of first sexual experiences, some men reported feelings of disempowerment with their initial sexual partners. Theoretical accounts relating to gay men's sexual health would benefit from a consideration of the way gay men report the process of acculturation. Sexual debut and the particular vulnerabilities of entry into the gay community highlight a temporal context in which affective experiences are privileged above considerations of sexual health. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The relationship between cognitive abilities and maternal ratings of externalizing behaviors in preschool children

The association between child cognitive abilities and maternal ratings of child externalizing behaviors was investigated in a randomly selected sample of 290 preschool children. Child cognitive abilities were assessed by the WPPSI-R, whereas mothers completed the Yale Children's Inventory for the assessment of child externalizing behaviors. Maternal education, and maternal child-rearing style, as defined by scores on the Child Rearing Practices Report, was significantly related to perceived externalizing child behavior. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that for girls, low child IQ remained a significant predictor of perceived externalizing behavior when effects of maternal education and child-rearing style were controlled for (p < 0.01). Maternal child-rearing style made independent contributions to explaining variance in girls' and boys' behavior score. The results are discussed in terms of differential gender socialization practices and gender stereotypes.     

On the conceptual link between mass customisation and experiential consumption: an explosion of subjectivity

Marketing managers currently face an explosion of subjectivity. A glance at the business world reveals new solutions developed to offer customised products. Mass customisation is stressed by academicians in different ways. For example, relationship marketing emphasises the role of the relationship between a vendor and its customer, with particular reference to the importance of personal involvement and trust. Reading such phenomena as manifesting an explosion of subjectivity in consumption suggests an enhanced opportunity for applying the experiential view of consumer behaviour. This paper invites marketing managers, as well as marketing and consumer researchers, to recognise the changing environment more proactively and to embrace the increasingly well‐established conceptions of the consumption experience more enthusiastically. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Early tactile experience of low birth weight children: links to later mental health and social adaptation

The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine (1) the degree to which specific qualities of maternal touch may contribute to the low birth weight infant's emotional and behavioural problems as well as social adaptation, and (2) the relationship between maternal touch and a mother's other caregiving behaviour. The sample included 114 socioculturally diverse infants and their mothers who were videotaped during an infant feeding when the baby was 3 months old. This videotape was analysed to assess dimensions of mother–infant interaction, including maternal touch. Data on perinatal risk and the mother's acceptance versus rejection of the infant were also acquired. Social adaptation and emotional/behavioural problems were measured when the child was 2 years of age. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that maternal touch accounted for 15% of the variance in the likelihood of a child having emotional/behavioural problems at age 2. Children who received more nurturing touch had significantly fewer internalizing problems (such as depression) while children receiving both more frequent touch and harsh touch had more externalizing problems (such as aggressive behaviour). Infants who were less responsive to their caregivers were especially at risk of developing aggressive/destructive behaviour as a result of frequent touch. But less responsive infants also appeared to benefit most from greater use of diverse types of maternal touch, accounting for 6% of the variance in superior adaptive behaviour at age 2. Nurturing touch was the only quality that showed even a modest relationship to other caregiving behaviour, suggesting that touch may play a distinct role in the infant's psychosocial development. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dominance and age-related changes in the play fighting of intact and post-weaning castrated male rats (Rattus norvegicus)

The play fighting behaviour of male rats (Rattus norvegicus) castrated at weaning was compared to that of intact controls during the juvenile and post-pubertal phases of development. Following puberty, both the castrated and intact animals exhibited an age-related change in their play fighting; the frequency of initiating play fighting decreased and juvenile patterns of playful defense were replaced by more adult-like patterns. As these changes occurred even in the absence of the pubertal surge of gonadal hormones, they were more likely to result from the organizational effects of gonadal hormones in the perinatal period than the activational effects of these hormones at puberty. Although the castrated animals exhibited the age-related changes in behaviour, they did not exhibit the asymmetries in play associated with dominance relationships. As demonstrated in previous studies, in pairs of intact rats, the animal that attacks the most and uses more juvenile defenses during play fighting and weighs the least is typically the subordinate. In the castrates, asymmetries in weight and playful defense are not related to play frequency, indicating the absence of a dominance relationship. Although the characteristic changes in male play fighting at puberty are independent of the activational effects of gonadal hormones, dominance relationships and their associated changes in play fighting are dependent on these hormones. Therefore, in the perinatal period gonadal hormones most likely organize the age-related changes in play behaviour, whereas post-pubertally gonadal hormones activate dominance relationships and thus, indirectly modify play fighting by affecting dominance-associated assymetries in behaviour. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Communication and crying in newborns

Few studies have analysed newborns’ crying behaviour in relation to the communicative context. In the present study, duration, latency and dysphony of newborns’ cry were analysed in three different communicative conditions: absent, continuous and discontinuous tactile communication. Thirty newborns were randomly assigned to three tactile communicative procedures. Subsequently they were presented with two visual stimuli, face (social-stimulus) and square (non-social-stimulus). The study showed that newborns cried only during visual stimuli presentation both in absent and continuous communication conditions. Newborns with absent communication cried more, with shorter latency and more dysphony than newborns with continuous communication. No significant differences were found in duration, latency and dysphony of newborns’ cry between the two stimuli. Newborns in the discontinuous communicative condition did not cry either during tactile communication or during visual stimuli presentation. Different communicative contexts affected the newborns’ crying behaviour during stimuli presentation. Different interpretations are discussed here in order to explain the results.     

Person-centred approach in schools: Is it the answer to disruptive behaviour in our classrooms?

The person-centred approach based on the work of Carl Rogers (1902–1987) was designed to promote openness, growth and change in understanding the counseling processes. It is an approach which is practical and helpful in education, because it can solve some of the problems outside the curriculum faced by students. For example it provides a way of understanding and solving issues of relationships, emotional development and ethical behaviour that seem to be at the root of most of the problems in school and society at large. However, it is essential to incorporate some accelerating ingredients to inform conditions which facilitate growth. These include acceptance, empathy and positive regard from others. For example it has been realized that if an individual is denied acceptance and positive regard they fail to relate the meaning of their experience to themselves and positive growth in such a relevant way is inhibited. However, the approach is faced with some drawbacks which will be explored. Teaching today in British schools is a very challenging job. It is becoming increasingly difficult to establish a classroom environment that is free from disruptive behaviour. The person-centred approach, where the student as the client is made responsible of his or her own behaviour, could be part of the solution. This could be the focus of an educational yet assertive discipline program. This paper will discuss the person-centred approach in counseling touching on the process of the helping relationship, empathy, congruence, unconditional positive regard as important concepts of the approach and some suggestions on classroom management.     

轻度智障学生心理健康教育干预的形式与方法

轻度智障学生具有学习焦虑、孤独感、好责备自己、缺乏主动性和积极性等心理健康方面的问题。产生这些问题的原因有个体因素、父母教养因素和学校教育因素等。针对这些问题,教育者使用多种辅导形式和方法进行干预,使轻度智障学生的心理健康水平得以提高与改善。本文最后提出了在进行教育干预时需注意的一些问题,为学校开展该方面工作提供参考。     

空难发生地高中生焦虑性心理应激的影响因素

采用《艾森克人格问卷》、自编的《空难发生地高中生心理应激问卷Ⅰ、Ⅱ》和《职业期望问卷》,分别在空难发生后一周内、一年后对空难发生地和非空难发生地重点中学高中生进行问卷调查,探究空难发生地不同人格特征和不同职业期望高中生在空难发生后心理应激的差异。结果表明：高职业期望和高神经质是空难发生地高中生焦虑性心理应激水平的影响因素;突发事件预案中应考虑中学生这一特殊群体的心理干预工作。     

当代大学生非理性学习心理实证分析

本文在大量学生学习心理调查资料的基础上,发现当代大学生中普遍存在着“非理性学习心理”状态,通过对典型心理资料的实证分析,探讨造成他们“非理性学习心理”的各种因素,对改变目前学生不良的学习心理状态具有一定的现实意义。