Aggression, conflict resolution, popularity, and attitude to school in Russian adolescents

The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of aggression and conflict-managing skills on popularity and attitude to school in Russian adolescents. Three types of aggression (physical, verbal, and indirect), constructive conflict resolution, third-party intervention, withdrawal, and victimization were examined using the Peer-Estimated Conflict Behavior (PECOBE) inventory [Bjorkquist and Osterman, 1998]. Also, all respondents rated peer and self-popularity with same-sex classmates and personal attitude to school. The sample consisted of 212 Russian adolescents (101 boys, 111 girls) aged between 11 and 15 years. The findings attest to significant sex differences in aggression and conflict resolution patterns. Boys scored higher on physical and verbal aggression, and girls on indirect aggression. Girls were socially more skillful than boys in the use of peaceful means of conflict resolution (they scored higher on constructive conflict resolution and third-party intervention). The attributional discrepancy index (ADI) scores were negative for all three types of aggression in both sexes. Verbal aggression is apparently more condemned in boys than in girls. ADI scores were positive for constructive conflict resolution and third-party intervention in both genders, being higher in boys. In girls, verbal aggression was positively correlated with popularity. In both sexes, popularity showed a positive correlation with constructive conflict resolution and third-party intervention, and a negative correlation with withdrawal and victimization. Boys who liked school were popular with same-sex peers and scored higher on constructive conflict resolution. Girls who liked school were less aggressive according to peer rating. They also rated higher on conflict resolution and third-party intervention. Physical aggression was related to age. The results are discussed in a cross-cultural perspective.     

Steroid Hormone Modulation of Hippocampal Dependent Spatial Memory

Recent studies show that the adult CNS is capable of considerable re-structuring and re-growth, a property previously thought limited to the developmental period. Hormones play an important role in many of these plastic processes, and the hippocampus, as a target for all the major classes of steroid hormones, undergoes considerable remodeling. Since it is critical for mediating tasks requiring spatial memory, the hippocampus can serve as an important model for understanding not only the mechanisms underlying plasticity of brain circuits but also how these changes impact on a higher order function, spatial memory. In this review, the effects of steroid hormones on hippocampal remodeling are discussed, and the ability of estradiol to enhance spatial memory as well as the ability of both excessive or diminished corticosteroid levels to impair spatial memory are described. The neural mechanisms for these effects, as well as previous and current contributions of McEwen and colleagues to this expanding area of research, are discussed.