Impact of neighborhood disadvantage on overt behavior problems during early childhood

Researchers have yet to examine the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on early child behavior problems (BPs) longitudinally. We examined the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on overt BPs in a low-income, urban sample of 281 African American and European American boys followed longitudinally from toddlerhood to school entry. Measures included census data and maternal report of BPs, sociocultural factors, parental criminality, and maternal depressive symptomatology. After controlling for age 2 overt BPs, family selection variables, and residential instability, neighborhood effects on boys' behavior emerged, but only at age 6 and only at the extreme of neighborhood disadvantage (i.e., underclass). Findings suggest boys in underclass neighborhoods are at risk for overt BPs as they make the transition to elementary school.     

澳门人的风险知觉与赌博行为

采用匿名问卷法,调查澳门人的风险知觉与赌博行为。结果显示：（1）赌场的劝世文既无劝勉也无劝阻人们赌博的作用;（2）社会关系网的钱财支援不影响实际赌博次数;（3）多次性博弈与一次性博弈所采用的是不同的机制,一次性博弈不是由期望值所决定的;（4）相互监视和制裁系统会影响赌博：受法律制裁约束的职业者比不受法律制裁约束的职业者更不好赌;自估在赌场遇见认识人的机会与赌博次数呈负相关;（5）性别及母语等“本质趋向”差异表明,所谓澳门人不好赌有其渊源并可能是在长期的文化沉淀中形成的;（6）受教育程度是影响赌博的有效预测变量。这些发现的理论含义一并进行了讨论。     

艾滋病恐惧症的研究初探

“艾滋病恐惧症”是一种混合性神经症,核心症状可表现为焦虑、疑病、恐惧、强迫、抑郁症状中的一种或几种的组合,可伴有与艾滋病的临床症状相似的躯体症状,患者感到痛苦,反复求医。该文综合了国外文献和部分案例,对“艾滋病恐惧症”的定义、临床症状、心理病理机制、诊断与治疗等进行了初步的总结与探讨。     

我国民众对SARS信息的风险认知及心理行为

采用分层抽样的调查方法,对全国17个城市的4231名市民进行了SARS疫情中风险认知特征和心理行为的研究。结果发现：（1）负性信息,包括患病信息和与自身关系密切的信息,更易引起民众的高风险认知; 正性信息,包括治愈信息和政府防范措施的信息,能降低个体风险认知水平。（2）我国民众5月中旬风险认知因素空间位置分析结果表明, SARS病因处于不熟悉和难以控制一端,“愈后对身体的影响和有无传染性”处于不熟悉一端,这是引起民众风险意识的主要因素。（3）结构方程分析结果表明,SARS疫情信息是通过风险认知对个体的应对行为、心理健康产生影响的, 并初步验证了风险评估、心理紧张度、应对行为和心理健康等指标对于危机事件中民众心理行为的预测作用     

品牌形象的消费行为学研究

品牌形象是消费者头脑中与某一品牌相关联的属性集合和相关联想,是消费者对品牌的主观反映。作者在介绍有关国内外从消费行为学的角度进行品牌形象研究的基础上,就品牌形象的消费行为学研究提出了一些新的思路。     

Community-Based Interventions to Reduce Low Income, African American Women's Risk of Sexually Transmitted Diseases: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Three Theoretical Models

A community-based sample of disadvantaged African American women (n = 445) was recruited to participate in 1 of 3 theoretically driven experimental interventions based on either the theory of gender and power, social learning theory, or cognitive behavioral theory. Intervention outcomes were compared with a waiting list control condition. From baseline to postintervention, women in the experimental interventions showed differential change on cognitive indices (knowledge and attitudes) and skill acquisition (partner negotiation skills, correct condom application, lubricant selection, and information-provision to social networks) whereas control participants were unchanged. Women in the 3 experimental interventions also completed follow-up assessments for 1 year following the interventions. In all 3 experimental conditions, condom use increased relative to the control group and there were no differences between the experimental interventions. Women who participated in one of the theoretically grounded interventions continued to increase condom use over the following year. Women entering new relationships reported significantly more condom use than did women who remained in ongoing relationships. The findings suggest that intervention models that have proven effective for women who engage in high-risk behavior may be less effective for women in established relationships for whom risk is primarily derived from the extrarelationship behavior of their partners.     

小学儿童谦虚行为的发展研究

谦虚行为是一种中国特有的亲社会行为,在有关儿童道德判断的跨文化研究领域具有比较特殊的意义.本研究通过实验室实验对311名7、9、11岁小学儿童的谦虚行为进行了有益的探索.结果发现,儿童的谦虚行为不仅与年龄因素有关,而且还会受到社会情境因素的影响.     

Maltreated Children's Emotional and Behavioral Problems: Do Teachers and Parents See the Same Things?

We examined whether parent/caregivers and teacher/therapists differ in their perceptions of the behavior problems of young maltreated children. The sample consisted of 33 maltreated preschoolers (58% neglected, 24% sexually abused, 18% physically abused, 59% African American, 41% Caucasian) enrolled in a metropolitan-area treatment center providing an educational/intervention program for maltreated children and their families. Most (82%) of the participant families had an annual income of $10,000 or less. Parent/caregivers and teacher/ therapists provided data about the children, employing the Colorado Child Temperament Inventory, Child Behavior Checklist, and Preschool Behavior Questionnaire. The results indicate that the teacher/therapists and the parent/caregivers perceived the same child as behaving differently. Implications concerning how teachers and parents might communicate are discussed, as well as possible reasons for the two different perceptions of the same child. Three potential reasons for the differences are that they are due to the different perspectives of parents and teachers in assessing child behaviors, to situational variation in child behavior (e.g., home versus school), or to some combination of both effects.     

Reducing Parent Distress and Increasing Parent Coping-Promoting Behavior During Children's Medical Procedure

The study investigated whether involving parents in their child's cognitive-behavioral intervention would effectively reduce parent distress during their child's medical procedure. Parents participating with their 3- to 7-year-old children prior to a voiding cystourethrogram were randomly assigned to an intervention (N = 20) or a standard care (N = 20) condition. The intervention included provision of information, coping skills training, and parent coaching. Parents participating in the intervention had a significant reduction in anxiety following the intervention relative to parents in standard care. Trained parents displayed fewer distress-promoting and more coping-promoting behaviors during the procedure, even though parents in both conditions reported similar levels of anxiety during the procedure. Involving parents in children's interventions is crucial to reduce parent distress and prepare parents to assist their child during the medical procedure.     

Functional analysis and treatment of self-injury associated with transitions.

We applied functional analysis methodology to the assessment and treatment of 2 individuals' self‐injurious behavior (SIB), which was reported to be occasioned by transitions from one activity or location to another. A structural (task) analysis of activity transitions identified at least three separate components that might influence behavior either alone or in combination: (a) termination of a prechange activity, (b) initiation of a postchange activity, and (c) movement from one location to another. Results of preference and avoidance assessments were used to identify activities to which participants were exposed in varying arrangements during transitions in a functional analysis. Results of 1 participant's functional analysis indicated that his SIB was maintained by avoidance of having to change locations, regardless of the activity terminated prior to the change or the activity initiated following it. The 2nd participant's analysis revealed the same function but also an additional one: avoidance of certain task initiations. This information was used to identify transition contexts during intervention and to design treatment procedures appropriate for a given context and behavioral function. A procedure involving advance notice of an upcoming transition had no effect on SIB, and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) had limited effects in the absence of extinction. Sustained decreases in SIB were observed when DRA was combined with extinction and response blocking. Further extensions of functional analysis methodology to the assessment of problem behavior in situations characterized by multiple or protracted stimulus changes are discussed.