Physical Attractiveness and Access to Alcohol: What Is Beautiful Does Not Get Carded1

This research examined whether previously documented social benefits associated with physical attractiveness would influence the decision to request proof of legal age for the purchase of alcohol. Undergraduates were presented with a photograph of a highly attractive or less attractive member of the opposite gender that they diddid not expect to meet. Results indicated that the opportunity to interact with a highly attractive member of the opposite gender significantly reduced the chances that the target would be asked to provide proof of legal age. Physical attractiveness was positively related to perceptions of age in the perception of male targets, hut not for females. The implications of these findings for restricting alcohol availability among minors are considered.     

Treatment of traumagenic beliefs among sexually abused girls and their mothers: An evaluation study

The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of two short-term individual therapy interventions for sexually abused girls and their nonoffending female caretakers. Thirty-two girls, ages 8 to 13, and their caretakers from primarily low-income, African-American families were randomly assigned to a theoretically based, structured experimental treatment program or to a relatively unstructured comparison intervention. Measures of child outcome were completed before and after the treatment program by each parent and child, and by a clinician blind to treatment condition. Pre- and postmeasures of maternal outcome were completed by the caretaker and a clinician not involved in the treatment. Both treatment programs yielded decreases in children's posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and traumagenic beliefs reflecting self-blame and powerlessness, and increases in children's overall psychosocial functioning. The experimental intervention was more effective than the comparison program in increasing abuse-related caretaker support of the child and in decreasing caretaker self-blame and expectations of undue negative impact of the abuse on the child. Clinical impfications of these findings include the development of interventions targeting sexually abused children's traumagenic beliefs and nonoffending parents' support of their victimized children.This research was supported by the Emory Medical Care Foundation and the Children's Trust Fund of Georgia. Preliminary findings were presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, New Orleans, March 1993.The authors thank the clinic families, volunteer therapists, and project staff members whose work together made this research possible. Core project staff members other than the authors include Milonne Ambroise, Mary Lynn Dell, Sherry Dey, Beth Dreelin, Jenny Gould, Katherine January, Suzann Lawry, Marie Simmons, and Lisseth Rojas.     

Mere presence is not enough: Responsive support in a virtual world

When individuals are faced with novel or threatening situations, the presence of a trusted companion should reduce anxiety and promote feelings of security. Attachment theory assumes, however, that mere presence is not sufficient for establishing security; an attachment figure must also be attentive and emotionally responsive. To test this idea, participants came to the lab with their romantic partner and completed a threatening cliff-walking task in a digital immersive virtual environment. The presence and nonverbal support behavior (attentive vs. inattentive) of their partner was experimentally manipulated. Results indicated that participants in the attentive-partner condition experienced the task as less stressful than those who were alone; they also reported feeling more secure during the task and were less vigilant of their partner's behavior compared to those in the inattentive-partner condition. Those in the inattentive-partner condition felt less cared for and kept greater physical distance from their partner on a subsequent task. These findings suggest that human beings are predisposed to monitor their social environment for signs of responsiveness, and that perceived responsiveness, not mere presence, is the key modulator of emotional security.     

Implementing Changes in Institutions to Improve Young Children's Development

An estimated 8 million children, mostly birth to approximately 6-8 years of age, live in institutions worldwide. While institutional environments vary, certain characteristics are common, including relatively large groups; high children:caregiver ratios; many and frequently changing caregivers; homogeneous grouping by age and disability status; periodic graduations to new groups of peers and caregivers; and an "institutional style of caregiving" that minimizes talking, provides rather dispassionate perfunctory care, and offers little warm, sensitive, contingently-responsive caregiver-child interactions. The development of children in residence is usually delayed, sometimes extremely so, in every physical and behavioral domain. Although efforts are being made in many countries to care for children without permanent parents in family environments (e.g., domestic adoption, foster and kinship care, reunification with biological parents), it is not likely that transitions to family alternatives will be completed in all countries in the near future; thus, institutions are likely to exist for many years if not decades. But institutions need not operate in the current manner; they can be modified to be substantially more family-like in structure and in the behavior of caregivers. Research indicates that when such changes are made the development of children, both typically developing and those with special needs, is improved substantially. Based on the available literature and the authors' experience, this paper describes steps that can be taken to implement such changes in residential institutions for infants and young children.