bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Issues in Measuring Reliability
Authors: HAYES JOHN R. , HATCH JILL A.
Published: March 2007

In many literacy studies, it is important to establish the reliability of independent observers' judgments. Reliability most commonly is measured either by the percentage of agreement or the correlation between the observers' judgments. This article argues that the percentage of agreement measure is more difficult to interpret than are correlation measures because of the following: (a) the effects of chance agreement are not accounted for automatically by the percentage of agreement measure; and (b) rates of chance agreement are strongly influenced by the variability of the data, by “ceiling” and “floor” effects, and by the scoring of near agreement as perfect agreement. For these reasons, the authors recommend that the field of literacy research adopt correlation as the standard method for estimating the reliability of observers' judgments.
West Virginia Plans a Conference
Authors: Harrington B.C.
Published: March 2007

This article is a case study of one state's efforts to call a first statewide conference of adult educators. The group in West Virginia, whose planning efforts are reviewed here, was notably successful in taking enough time to clarify its objectives thoroughly and to involve a wider, representative group in its planning operations. The result is a clear- cut program design sensitive to the needs of many groups in the state and with a promise of continuing effects on adult education in West Virginia after the first conference is over.
A Summary Report: Adult Education Participation in Brevard County, Florida
Authors: Long Huey B.
Published: March 2007

A study of adult education participation in Brevard County, Flori da, was conducted to test the assumption that, since the population of that county contains a large number of college graduates em ployed in white collar occupations with an annual salary in excess of $7,000, the rate of adult participation in educational activities would be higher than the rate revealed in Johnstone's study. A survey of forty-nine purveyors of adult education services in the county revealed that approximately 30 of each 100 adults in the county participated in some adult education activity during 1966, i.e., approximately 41,896 adults from a total estimated adult population of 135,000 participated in these activities.
Social and Psychological Predictors of Adult Information Seeking and Media Use
Authors: Rees Matilda B. , Paisley William J.
Published: March 2007

This report of a survey (conducted in Fresno, California, in 1965) deals with channels chosen by adults for information about current events, their occupations, family activities, etc. The sixteen in formation channels belong to three broad classes: formal adult education, mass media, and other people. Multiple regression analyses show social and psychological predictors of channel pref erence. Percentages of use or participation are also presented within subgroups of respondents contrasted on strong predictors. It is found that each channel-especially the high-cost, high-yield channels like books and adult education-has a clearly profiled audience. Knowledge of these audience profiles will be useful to administrators of education and communication programs.
Andragogy Revisited
Authors: Elias John L.
Published: March 2007

In the exchange that follows, John Elias resumes the andragogy-pedagogy debate by entering the lists against Malcolm Knowles and Leon McKenzie. McKenzie defends his position and Russell Knudson takes a new tack. Knowles has promised a rebuttal in an upcoming issue and Robert Carlson has also agreed to respond to Elias.
Adult Cognition: Piagetian Based Research Findings
Authors: Long Huey B. , McCrary Kay , Ackerman Spencer
Published: March 2007

The work of Jean Piaget, widely recognized as pertinent to childhood cognition, has in recent years generated significant research based on adult samples. Because traditional Piagetian em phasis has been on young children the potential application of Piaget's theory to help in understanding and in explaining adult cognition has not been widely appreciated. Increasing in terest in adult development, however, has stimulated additional speculation and investigation in to the questions of adult cognition, including efforts to conceptualize adult cognitive develop ment in Piagetian terms.

Application of Piagetian concepts to the study of adult cognition has occurred across a wide range and heretofore only limited efforts have been made to organize a review of the Piagetian literature on adult cognition around selected central issues. This extensive review, based on adult samples, reports the research findings concerning three specific topical issues that are of interest to the adult educator. The topics reviewed include the necessity, universality and persistence of the formal operations stage. Based on the literature reviewed, it is concluded that each of the topics requires further study, analysis and conceptualization.
Citation Patterns of Articles Published in Adult Education 1968-1977
Authors: Boshier Roger , Pickard Lynette
Published: March 2007

In an effort to establish the extent to which adult education researchers are creating their own body of knowledge citation behaviors in Adult Education articles were studied. Nine judges classified the 2247 references that appeared in Adult Education from 1968-1977 as primary or secondary adult education literature. Only 20 percent of citations appearing in Volume 19 (1968) but nearly 60 percent of citations in Volume 27 (1977) were to primary literature. The most fre quently cited writers were Boshier, Houle, Knowles and Verner; the most frequently cited publication was Johnstone & Rivera's Volunteers for Learning. The self-citation behavior of authors publishing in Adult Education was studied. It was argued that adult education is an emerging discipline creating a unique body of knowledge. The prevalence of single-study publishing and the concomitant lack of sustained inquiry suggests a need to develop cumulative research projects.
Adult Education and the Phenomena of Social Change
Authors: London Jack , Ewing Jeanne Bunderson
Published: March 2007

This paper has two purposes. The first is to underscore the relevance of historical events and social forces which influence the life experience of various cohorts of adults. To carry out this purpose, the study focuses on one particular cohort—a "cohort case study" as an example of how history and social forces shape the experiences as well as the educational needs of the adult population. The second purpose is to discuss some of the possible implications for adult education given these effects. The underlying assumption is that the more educators know about educational clientele—their social, historical, economic, and cultural pasts—the more successful will be the educational experiences.
Contemporary Paradigms of Learning
Authors: Mezirow Jack
Published: March 2007

The Western rational tradition, a set of assumptions upon which our major concepts of reality, learning, and education is based, constitutes an objectivist paradigm of learning. These assumptions are currently challenged by an interpretive paradigm of learning. The Transformation Theory of adult learning is based upon an emancipatory paradigm, and constitutes a dialectical synthesis of objectivist and interpretive paradigms. Transformational Theory grounds its claims pertaining to learning in the distinction between instrumental and communicative learning, particularly the roles of critical reflection and discourse in human communication, and in the transformative potential of our interpretive frames of reference. The assumptions and rationale upon which Transformation Theory seeks to develop a universal, abstract, idealized model of adult learning are presented.
Classroom Age Composition and Academic Achievement in College
Authors: Darkenwald Gordon G. , Novak Richard J.
Published: March 2007

The continuing influx of adult students in colleges and universities raises many questions for research, including how their presence affects classroom learning. We postulated that, controlling for student age, the greater the proportion of adults in a classroom the higher the aggregate average performance of the class as measured by class grades. The hypothesis was tested in two very different settings: a suburban community college and a nearby large, public research university. Data for 2,794 subjects were obtained from official records. The findings from the community college sample strongly supported the predicted relationship. At the university, a modified hypothesis that excluded performance in math classes was also supported.
Poststructural Feminist Pedagogies: The Possibilities and Limitations of Feminist Emancipatory Adult Learning Theory and Practice
Authors: Tisdell Elizabeth J.
Published: March 2007

This paper compares, contrasts, and examines the theoretical underpinnings of three strands of feminist pedagogy—the psychological models; the structural models; and poststructural feminist pedagogies-as they relate to critical pedagogy and the wider adult learning literature around four major themes: (1) the construction of knowledge; (2) voice; (3) authority; and (4) positionality. It is argued that poststructural feminist pedagogies which foreground the importance of the positionality of the instructor offer continued direction to the development of feminist emancipatory adult education theory and practice.
Profile of the Adult Education and Human Resource Development Professoriate: Characteristics and Professional Fulfillment
Authors: Peterson Shari L. , Provo Joanne
Published: March 2007

The objectives of this descriptive and comparative study were to profile the Adult Education and Human Resource Development professoriate, identify similarities and differences between them, describe the nature of job and career choices, and identify factors that contribute to professional fulfillment. Responses from 163 members of the Commission of Professors of Adult Education and the Academy of Human Resource Development provided data describing the nature of the professoriate. The results of this study support the need for initiatives that contribute to providing opportunities for faculty interactions with students and improving administrative duties and relationships. Speculations and implications for future directions in the field also are explored, and opportunities for research are identified.
A Model of College Outcomes for Adults
Authors: Donaldson Joe F. , Graham Steve
Published: March 2007

This article presents a model of college outcomes for adult undergraduate students to address the key elements that affect their learning and to stimulate research and theory building about adults' experience in college. It provides a review of the literature and a comprehensive model that considers the relationships between six major elements related to adults' undergraduate collegiate experiences: (a) prior experiences; (b) orienting frameworks such as motivation, self-confidence, and value system; (c) adult's cognition or the declarative, procedural, and self regulating knowledge structures and processes; (d) the "connecting classroom" as the central avenue for social engagement and for negotiating meaning for learning; (e) the life-world environment and the concurrent work, family, and community settings; and (I) the different types and levels of learning outcomes experienced by adults.
An Evaluation of Adolescent Patterns of Sexual Self-Disclosure to Parents and Friends
Authors: Papini Dennis R. , Farmer Frank L. , Clark Steven M. , Snell William E.
Published: March 2007

A study was conducted to examine adolescent's sexual self-disclosure to their parents and friends. The sample consisted of 169 senior high school students. The results revealed that adolescents engage in more sexual disclosure with their friends than with their parents. In addition, significantly greater sexual disclosure was reported between adolescents and same-sex, rather than opposite-sex, parent and friend. The only exception to this finding was that no significant differences were reported in male and female sexual self-disclosure to a best female friend. Additional regression analyses revealed that adolescent sexual disclosure to parents was strongly associated with adolescent perceptions of the openess and adaptiveness of the family context. By contrast, sexual disclosure to friends was strongly related to the adolescent's emotional individuation from the family. The discussion focuses on sexual socialization during adolescence.
Methodological Issues in Assessing AIDS Prevention Programs
Authors: Sandberg David E. , Rotheram-Borus Mary J. , Bradley Jon , Martin Jacqueline
Published: March 2007

The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic has chal lenged the ingenuity of behavioral researchers to develop effective AIDS prevention programs that extend beyond the transmission of factual knowledge alone. Four potential methodological barriers to program de velopment and evaluation were identified during the pilot stages of pro ducing a comprehensive AIDS prevention program for adolescents. These include: (a) the development of questions about AIDS that are not ambiguous and potentially misleading, within the context of rapidly changing medical information; (b) the inconsistency of adolescents' per ceived threat of AIDS, perception of efficacy in implementing safe acts, and internal health locus of control (personalized knowledge of AIDS) across questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews; (c) potential under reporting of substance abuse in institutional settings; and (d) the feasi bility of gathering personally-sensitive information concerning sex and drug-use histories by interviews. Strategies for overcoming potential methodological problems are discussed.
The Self-Concepts of Bereaved Adolescents
Authors: Balk David E.
Published: March 2007

The focus of this study was to investigate adolescent self-concept and the reactions of 42 adolescents whose siblings had died. After completing the OfferSelf-Image Questionnaire for Adolescents (OSIQ), participants were interviewed about bereavement reactions, perceptions of their personal maturity, effects on school work; and relationships with peers. The adolescents' OSIQ scores fit the results for what Offer has termed "niormal adolescents." However, cluster analysis identified three distinct groups of adolescents clustered according to high, average, and low OSIQ scores. Discriminant analhsis was used to analyze the bereavement reactions of adolescents in these clusters. Perceptions of personal maturi ty, effects on school work and relationships with peers were also examined. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of developmental tasks facing adolescents and potential interventions to assist adolescents in coping successfully with grief.
The Effects of Gender and of Family Cohesion and Adaptability on Identity Status
Authors: Jackson Ellen P. , Dunham Richard M. , Kidwell Jeannie S.
Published: March 2007

Data on the relationship of identity and perceptions offamily processes are reported. The FACES III Inventory provided measures of perceived cohesion and adaptability of families, while identity statuses were derived from the Ego Identity Interview. Subjects were male and female college students (N = 61). Gender proved to be a major variable, with females perceivingmore cohesion in theirfamilies. Cohesion and adaptability levels were related to identity exploration for males. High-exploring males were more likely to describe their families as both moderately cohesive and moderately adaptive. A breakdown of identity by domains revealed little evidence of exploration by the subjects in pursuit of religious or political identity.
Merging Basic with Practical Research to Enhance the Adolescent Experience
Authors: Jones Randall M.
Published: March 2007

The biennial conferences on adolescent research were initiated to provide aforum where researchers and practitioners could exchange ideas, identify problems, and discuss viable solutions to those problems. This author's experience at the Fifth Biennial Conforwnce, held in March 1989 in Tucson, Arizona, culminated in a realization that the researcher-practitioner distinction has not been resolved. Researchers continue to research, practitioners continue to practice, and both groups function in relatively isolated environments. The inability and/or unwillingness to reduce the researchpractice gap, no doubt, has diluted the effectiveness ofpreventionlintervention programs which target adolescent problems, including suicide, homicide, violence and crime, substance use and abuse, pregnancy, and school dropout. This article summarizes much of the information shared at the Fifth Biennial Conference, and proposes that researchers and practitioners will need to join forces in order to protect adolescents from making choices that compromise their future.
Adolescent Bereavement
Authors: Martinson Ida M. , Campos Rosemary Gates
Published: March 2007

The long-term effects of bereavement were assessed 7 to 9 years after death by interviews with 31 adolescent siblings from 21 families who participated in a longitudinal study of home carefor children with cancer. Categorical analysis of the semistructured interviews revealed that the majority of the adolescents viewed the experience as having fostered their personal or family growth. However, about I in 6 regarded the effects of a sibling death as continuing to have a negative impact on their lives. Factors associated with a more positive outlook were good communication in the family, ability to share the death experience with others, expression of pleasure in sibling's company, and reliance on the family for emotional support. Factors associated with a more negative outlook were withdrawal from family interaction, inability to use the family as a source of support, and difficulty in discussing one's experience with death.
Peer Survivors of Adolescent Suicide
Authors: Mauk Gary W. , Weber Claudia
Published: March 2007

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents. The peer survivors of an adolescent suicide experience a normal but individually variant grieving process. It is important that the survivors be understood and that they receive appropriate ameliorative affective attention through postvention efforts by significant adults in their environment. An important setting for this postvention is the school, where adolescents spend many of their waking hours. Components of a grief time frame for adolescent suicide survivors, referral guidelines, and factors to consider when implementing a school postvention program are discussed.
Attitudes and Adolescent Nonmarital Childbearing
Authors: Plotnick Robert D. , Butler Sandra S.
Published: March 2007

This study used logit models to provide new evidence on the relationship between adolescent nonmarital childbearing and self-esteem, locus of control, and attitudes towards women's family roles, school, and work The sample was drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a nationally representative data base containing information on attitudes obtained before nonmarital childbearing occurred. The evidence shows that higher self-esteem and more positive attitudes toward school have been associated with a lower probability of nonmarital childbearing. These are the effects predicted by theory. Locus of control was not systematically related to nonmarital childbearing. Attitudes towards work and towards family and gender roles were also unrelated to nonmarital childbearing. Educational expectations appeared to mediate a small part of the attitudinal effects. Controlling for those effects, higher educational expectations tended to reduce the probability of nonmarital childbearing, but their impact was not statistically significant.
Adolescent Female Prostitutes on the Streets of Brazil
Authors: Firme Thereza Penna , Grinder Robert E. , Barreto Marcia Simao Linhares
Published: March 2007

This study developed a prototypical description of a sample of young female prostitutes in BraziL Twenty-one young, female prostitutes were interviewed while they were actively soliciting clients on the streets of PortoAlegre, BraziL Whereas the literature indicates that young women in first world countries enter into prostitution as a consequence generally of abusive socialization, the findings reported here suggest that a proportion of young prostitutes in a Third World country-Brazil-is drawn voluntarily onto the streets by prospect of financial reward. To the extent that the data are representative, they support the view that in Third World countries, like Brazil, economic considerations may be of greater significance than those of social stress in explaining the ontology of adolescent female prostitutes.
Stages on Life's Way
Authors: Greene A. L. , Wheatley Susan M. , Aldava John F.
Published: March 2007

In this study, 160 high school and college students were asked to describe their beliefs about the life course, in general, and the adulthood transition, inparticular. The majority (93%) described the life course in terms of an age period approach, with infancy, childhood, adulthood, and old age commonly described as stages. Life span status differences emerged in the ages at which adolescents believed adulthood transition events would occur overall and for the average woman versus the average man: College students described older ages of occurrence for leaving home, beginning full-time employment, marriage, andparenthood than did high school students. For both groups, however, marriage and parenthood were thought to occur at significantly younger ages for the average woman than for the average man. Findings are discussed in terms of the implicit life course theories that adolescents bring to the adulthood transition.
Internalized and Externalized Anger in Adolescent Suicide Attempters
Authors: Lehnert Kim L. , Overholser James C. , Spirito Anthony
Published: March 2007

Anger can play an important role in adolescent suicidal behavior However, there is disagreement over the relative importance of internalized versus externalized anger The present study evaluated mode of anger expression in 104 adolescent suicide attempters and 323 high school students. The suicide attempters also completed measures of depression and hopelessness. Results indicated that suicidal adolescents displayed an increased likelihood of experiencing anger, reported significantly higher levels of both internalized and externalized anger, and displayed reduced tendencies for impulse control. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses found that the general inclination to experience anger was most closely related to externalized anger and poor impulse control. Among the adolescent suicide attempters, depression and hopelessness were related to internalized but not externalized anger Thus, it may be useful to assess the mode of anger expression when evaluating adolescents for suicide risk.
Age, Gender, and Parenting Style Variations in Mother-Adolescent Dialogues and Adolescent Reasoning about Political Issues
Authors: Santolupo Silvana , Pratt Michael W.
Published: March 2007

This study investigated parental socialization of adolescent political reasoning from a Vygotskian cognitive socialization perspective. Discussions between mothers and their adolescent sons or daughters were examined using a transactive dialogue system and were related to the adolescent's age and gender and to family parenting style. These discussions were predicted to influence the complexity of adolescents' subsequent reasoning about political issues. As hypothesized, older adolescents showed more complexity of political reasoning on a pretest than did younger adolescents. Mothers used more sophisticated transacts with sons than with daughters in the discussions. As well, older female adolescents used more higher level operational transacts than did younger females. This predicted developmental trend did not occur for males. Also as predicted, authoritative family styles were linked to greater complexity of adolescent political reasoning on the pretest, but there was no evidence that the brief discussions enhanced the complexity of adolescent political thinking on a posttest 1 week later Nevertheless, variations in family processes may be linked to differential socialization ofpolitical reasoning over the long tenn, consistent with a cognitive socialization model.
Adolescents' Attitudes toward Marriage and Marital Prospects after Parental Divorce: A Review
Authors: Tasker Fiona L. , Richards Martin P. M.
Published: March 2007

Studies of the long-term influence of parental divorce on adolescents' attitudes toward marriage and actual marriage patterns are reviewed. It is suggested that certain circumstances of parental divorce are associated with more negative views of marriage (particularly if divorce is associated withparental conflictand deterioratingparent-child relationships). However, it is likely that parental divorce has the opposite indirect effect of increasing the likelihood of early marriage for some children of divorce via lowered educational prospects and subsequently reduced socioeconomic status, early homeleaving, and earlier involvement in heterosexual relationships. Possible alternative reasons for these divergent trends in attitudes toward marriage and marital prospects of children of divorce are discussed. First, whether some adolescents hold negative attitudes toward marriage and remain single, whereas others marry early; second, whether initially negative attitudes toward marriage change as a result of the adolescent's experience of heterosexual relationships and entry into adulthood.
A Cultural Analysis of Adolescent Psychopathology
Authors: Fabrega Horacio , Miller Barbara D.
Published: March 2007

Behavior problems of adolescents have increasingly come to be examined as psychopathology. A medical/psychological view conflicts with a cultural interpretive approach. Material in the literature that bears on this topic is reviewed and analyzed critically. The goal is to illustrate how the concept of culture has been used to enhance understanding of adolescent psychopathology. Pertinent studies rely on differing methods, procedures, and conceptualizations of culture and psychopathology itself Epidemiologists handle culture abstractly and in a static way as a type of independent variable, and psychopathology is operationalized in terms of discreet disorders. Other researchers handle culture more broadly as systems of meaning and tend to examine descriptive aspects of behavior that reflect problems of adjustment. Advantages and disadvantages of the differing approaches are discussed. The needforstudies that balance methodologic rigor with interpretive sensitivity is emphasized. Suggestionsfor enhancing cultural sensitivity are presented.
Community-University Collaborations for Youth Development
Authors: Zeldin Shepherd
Published: March 2007

This commentary addresses the article titled, "Building the Capacity of Youth and Families Through University-Community Collaborations: The Development-In-Context Evaluation (DICE) Model. " The article provides scholars with guidance in conducting community outreach and evaluation. The DICE model offers community stakeholders a means for integrating needs assessment, program planning and evaluation. There are some key community realities, however, that will have to be addressed by DICE staff to move the modelfrom theory to effective practice. Three recommendations are offered. First, DICE staff will need to offerfurther clarity to community stakeholders regarding goals, purposes, and representation before it can be replicated successfully. Second, it might be usefulfor staff to more strongly orient the DICE model toward youth development and career preparation rather than toward the prevention of youth problems. Finally, it will be usefulfor staff to engage community stakeholders in discussions and consensus-building on developmental issues before implementing the DICE model.
Promoting Positive Youth and Community Development through Outreach Scholarship
Authors: Lerner Richard M. , Ostrom Charles W. , Freel Melissa A.
Published: March 2007

The Development-in-Context Evaluation (DICE) model is an instance of outreach scholarship, that is, of the generation, transmission, preservation, and application of knowledge to address community-defined issues or problems. Engaging in outreach scholarship allows universities and communities to contribute effectively to key, contemporary societal concerns and the DICE model, as an instance of such work, provides one means to address issues of social and academic policy, and of program design, delivery, and sustainability, pertinent to promoting the positive development of youth and their communities. The commentaries of Zeldin and Peterson are discussed in regard to how their views provide a basis for clarifying features of the DICE model and of its import for the advancement of outreach scholarship pertinent to enhancing the life chances of America's youth.
Adolescent Temperament Moderates the Relation of Parenting to Antisocial Behavior and Substance Use
Authors: Stice Eric , Gonzales Nancy
Published: March 2007

Although some studies have found that parental support and control are related negatively to adolescent problem behaviors, little research has examined factors that may qualify the magnitude of those relations. The present study tests whether adolescent temperament moderates the relations of parenting to antisocial behavior and substance use within a community sample (N = 631). The joint and unique contributions of parenting and temperament in the prediction of those problem behaviors were also examined in this study. Results indicate that parenting and temperament evidenced significant joint and unique relations with adolescent antisocial behavior and substance use. Furthermore, temperament moderated the relations between parenting and adolescent problem behaviors, wherein parenting showed stronger relations with antisocial behavior and substance use at higher levels of temperamental risk. The findings supported the contention that individual differences moderate the relations between parenting and problem behaviors and indicate several directions forfuture research.
Emotional Reactivity and Psychological Distress
Authors: Bartle-Haring Suzanne , Rosen Karen H. , Stith Sandra M.
Published: March 2007

A primary purpose of this article was to test part of Bowen’s intergenerational family systems theory. A secondary purpose was to provide further evidence for the construct validity of a newly developed instrument that assesses differentiation of self. Using Bowen’s family system theory, a model was developed that hypothesized both direct and indirect relationships between emotional reactivity toward parents, one aspect of Bowen’s differentiation-of-self construct, and psychological distress. The college-age respondents’ perceptions of their emotional reactivity toward their mothers but not toward their fathers was related to both stress and psychological distress. Stressful life events were also related to psychological distress; thus, there was an indirect relationship between emotional reactivity toward mother and psychological distress through stressful life events. These results are discussed in light of the results of previous workin this area.
Attitude versus Aptitude
Authors: Côté James E. , Levine Charles G.
Published: March 2007

This longitudinal study explores the relationships among a set of student input and environmental throughput variables in predicting output human capital skills acquisition and academic achievement at a large Canadian university. The framework for exploring these relationships is referred to as the integrated paradigm of student development. To our surprise, it was found that the input intelligence quotient was negatively related to output human capital skills and to various measures of adjustment to this university setting. In contrast, a measure of input motivation for personal and intellectual development best predicted output skills acquisition and academic achievement, independent of intelligence quotient. Although these counterintuitive findings may be sample- and university-specific, the instrument package representing the integrated paradigm of student development appears to provide a useful diagnostic battery for evaluating how well different types of students make the transition to different types of university settings.
On the Limits of Coping
Authors: Gonzales Nancy A. , Tein Jenn-Yun , Sandler Irwin N. , Friedman Ruth J.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the effects of four coping dimensions—active coping, avoidance, distraction, and support—on conduct problems, depression, and achievement in a multiethnic, inner-city sample of early adolescents. The main effects of coping were examined, along with stress X coping interactions. For girls, active coping interacted with family and community stress to predict conduct problems and grades, respectively, and with community stress to predict depression. These interactions revealed a classic stress-buffering effect for active coping. For boys, although active coping interacted with community and peer stress to predict depression and with community and family stress to predict grades, these findings did not support the stress-buffering effect. Although avoidant coping was positively associated with depression and poor grades at low levels of stress, it was associated with more adaptive functioning on these outcomes at higher levels of stress.
Promoting Identity Development in Marginalized Youth
Authors: Ferrer-Wreder Laura , Lorente Carolyn Cass , Kurtines William , Briones Ervin , Bussell Janene , Berman Steven , Arrufat Ondina
Published: March 2007

This studytested a school-based intervention developed for use with urban minority youth vulnerable to multiple negative developmental outcomes. A quasi-experimental design (pre-and post-follow-up with matched comparison condition) was used to evaluate the impact of the intervention on promoting positive change in four developmental domains (skills/knowledge, attitudes, orientations, exploration/commitment) related to identitydevelopment. The final set of participants comprised a matched sample of 92 youngsters, 46 in the intervention and 46 in the comparison condition. Quantitative results indicated that the intervention condition showed positive and significant gains from pre-to posttest on multiple indices, with a tendencytoward the “leveling off” of intervention gains at follow-up. A qualitative assessment of the impact of the intervention illustrated positive effects of the intervention as well as the possible obstacles to intervention efficacy.
The Impact of Parental Separation Anxiety on Identity Development in Late Adolescence and Early Adulthood
Authors: Bartle-Haring Suzanne , Brucker Penny , Hock Ellen
Published: March 2007

A longitudinal study of first-year college students and seniors was conducted in order to investigate the relationships between parental separation anxiety and adolescent identity development. Data was collected from mothers, fathers, and adolescents in the autumn and again in the spring. Mothers and fathers completed the parental separation anxiety questionnaire with two subscales, Comfort with Secure Base Role, and Anxiety about Adolescent Distancing. Their adolescent children completed the Revised Extended Version of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS). From hierarchical multiple regressions controlling for Time 1 identity, it appears that mothers’ sense of providing a secure base for their adolescents in college influences their adolescents’identity achievement, whereas fathers’anxiety about distancing has both negative and positive consequences for their adolescents’foreclosure depending on the gender of the adolescent.
Psychosocial Stress, Internalized Symptoms, and the Academic Achievement of Hispanic Adolescents
Authors: Alva Sylvia Alatorre , de los Reyes Rydda
Published: March 2007

This study examined the relationship between stressful life events, internalized symptoms of stress, and academic achievement among a sample of Hispanic students in a large urban high school. Using a paper-and-pencil questionnaire, students were administered the Hispanic Children’s Stress Inventory and two measures of internalized symptoms (Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale and the Children’s Depression Inventory). Perceived competence was measured using the Harter Perceived Competence Scale. A series of hierarchical multiple regressions revealed main effects for stressful life events and perceived competence on grades, anxiety, and depressive symptomatology. In addition, interaction terms were entered into the regression equations to determine if perceived competence was a moderator of stressful life events. Direct effects of stressful life events and perceived competence on school grades and internalized symptoms were found. Multiplicative interactions for perceived competence were not significant moderators of psychosocial stress on grades or internalized symptoms.
Dynamics of Discrete Entrainment of the Circadian Rhythm in the Rat Pineal N-Acetyltransferase Activity during Transient Cycles
Authors: Illnerová Helena , Vaneček Jiří
Published: March 2007

To elucidate entrainment of a pacemaker controlling the N-acetyltransferase (NAT) rhythm in the rat pineal gland, we studied the phase response curves (PRCs) of this rhythm. We exposed 50- to 60-day-old male Wistar rats maintained in a light-dark cycle (LD 12:12) to a 1-min light pulse at different times before midnight or at various times throughout the whole night. We then released them into constant darkness and studied the morning NAT decline during the night when rats were pulsed before midnight, as well as the evening NAT rise and the morning decline after 4 days following the pulses. The PRC for the first NAT decline and the PRCs for the NAT rise and decline after 4 days were compared with published transient PRCs (Illnerová and Vanēček, 1982b), in order to obtain a complete picture of the dynamics of the NAT rhythm entrainment during the transient cycles.

Phase delays in the NAT rise due to a pulse before midnight were complete (i.e., identical to those of day 4) on day 1. Phase delays in the NAT decline were almost complete on day 1, while incomplete phase delays were observed on day 0. Phase advances in the NAT rise and decline due to a pulse past midnight had different dynamics: Advances in the decline were complete on day 1, while advances in the rise were absent on day 1 and much smaller than in the decline on day 4.

The results are discussed in terms of a two-component (E-M) pacemaker controlling the NAT rhythm. The NAT rise may reflect the phase of the E-component, while the decline reflects the M-component. Phase delays of the E-component are accomplished within one cycle, and so are phase advances of the M-component. However, although delays of E already result in delays of M one cycle after the pulse, it takes several transient cycles before advances of M begin to induce advances of E.
Comparative Anatomy of the Mammalian Hypothalamic Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
Authors: Cassone Vincent M. , Speh Joan C. , Card J. Patrick , Moore Robert Y.
Published: March 2007

A detailed analysis of the cytoarchitecture, retinohypothalamic tract (RHT) pro jections, and immunohistochemical localization of major cell and fiber types within the hy pothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) was conducted in five mammalian species: two species of opossum, the domestic cat, the guinea pig, and the house mouse. Cytoarchitectural and immunohistochemical studies were conducted in three additional species of marsupial mammals and in the domestic pig.

The SCN in this diverse transect of mammalian taxonomy bear striking similarities. First, the SCN are similar in location, lying close to the third ventricle (3V) dorsal to the optic chiasm (OC), with a cytoarchitecture characterized by small, tightly packed neurons. Second, in all groups studied, the SCN receive bilateral retinal input. Third, the SCN contain immu nohistochemically similar elements. These similarities suggest that the SCN developed char acteristic features early in mammalian phylogeny.

Some details of SCN organization vary among the species studied. In marsupials, vaso pressin-like immunoreactive (VP-LI) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-like immunoreac tive (VIP-LI) cells codistribute primarily in the dorsomedial aspects of the SCN, while in eutherians, VP-LI and VIP-LI cells are separated into SCN subnuclei. Furthermore, the marsupial RHT projects to the periventricular dorsomedial region, whereas the eutherian RHT projects more ventrally in the SCN into the zone that typically contains VIP-LI perikarya.
Age-Related Changes in Hamster Circadian Period, Entrainment, and Rhythm Splitting
Authors: Morin Lawrence P.
Published: March 2007

Age has not been sufficiently explored as a variable that can influence circadian periodicity. The present experiments (1) re-evaluated changes in hamster circadian period with age while controlling for access to wheels; (2) studied whether the limits of entrainment differ between young and old animals; and (3) examined whether age influences the probability of rhythm splitting under prolonged constant light conditions. The circadian wheel-running period shortened with age, generally regardless of prior wheel access. Access to wheels was associated with increased weight gain, and animals with prolonged access to wheels died younger than animals without wheel access. These two measures may have been related to the housing conditions associated with wheel access. Although equal proportions of young and old hamsters entrained equally to all T-cycles used, loss of entrainment to long T-cycles was more rapid for old than for young animals. About 60% of young animals showed rhythm splitting, compared to 7% of old animals. The data are consistent with the observation that the circadian rhythm period of the male hamster shortens with age.
The Parallactic View, Statistical Testing, and Circular Reasoning
Authors: Enright J.T.
Published: March 2007

A "parallactic view" (i.e., subjectivity in interpreting data) is an important and perhaps essential tool for formulating hypotheses, but it also represents a hazardous contam inant to be avoided in testing hypotheses. Computer simulations demonstrate that statistical testing of data that are contaminated by even a modest level of such parallax can be very misleading; probability levels are greatly distorted. An even more insidious influence of the parallactic view arises when the fundamental assumptions for a statistical test are not ade quately respected. Single-cosinor analysis, which has been used to "demonstrate" circasep tan rhythms (τ = about 7 days), lends itself to such abuse: The statistical test of the zero- amplitude hypothesis assumes that if any serial correlation is present in the data, it is due to a sinusoidal oscillation with period that is known a priori. One cannot, therefore, legitimately use this method to demonstrate the existence of such a rhythm.
Photoperiodic Regulation of Gonadal Growth and Pulsatile Luteinizing Hormone Secretion in Male Ferrets
Authors: Sisk Cheryl L.
Published: March 2007

Testicular growth was monitored in male ferrets subjected to one of the following photoperiodic treatments begun at weaning (8 weeks of age): 8 hr light/day (short days), 18 hr light/day (long days), or short days followed by transition to long days at either 10, 12, or 14 weeks of age. Mean ages to achieve adult testis width of ≥12 mm were 27.5 ± 1.3, 25.0 ± 1.5, 23.6 ± 2.9, 20.0 ± 0.8, and 21.2 ± 1.0 weeks in ferrets raised from weaning in long days, raised from weaning in short days, and transferred from short to long days at 10, 12, or 14 weeks, respectively. This criterion was met significantly earlier by ferrets experiencing the photoperiod transition at 12 or 14 weeks of age than by ferrets housed in long days from weaning. At the end of the experiment (30 weeks of age), mean testis width was significantly smaller in ferrets raised in long days from weaning or transferred to long days at 10 weeks of age, compared to that of the other three groups (p < 0.05).

In a second experiment, photoperiod experience with long or short days was begun at birth, and testicular size was monitored for a longer period of time. The time courses for testicular maturation were similar to that obtained when these treatments began at weaning. By 40 weeks of age, mean testis width of ferrets raised in long days was comparable to that of ferrets raised in short days.

A third study determined that the retarded testicular growth observed in ferrets exposed to long days from weaning was correlated with diminished pulsatile luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion. At 28 weeks of age, mean LH pulse frequency was 0.86 ± 0.09 pulses/hr in ferrets undergoing spontaneous puberty in short days or photoinduced puberty after a short-to-long-day transition; pulse frequency was significantly lower (0.46 ± 0.26 pulses/hr; p < 0.05) in ferrets raised in long days.

These results indicate that gonadal growth can be precociously induced in male ferrets by exposure to a sequence of short days followed by long days, and that the absence of sufficient prepubertal exposure to short days compromises pulsatile LH secretion and rate of gonadal growth. Experience with short days during development may be necessary for manifestation of stimulatory responses to long days.
Circadian Rhythms of Locomotor Activity in Cockroach Nymphs: Free Running and Entrainment
Authors: Page Terry L.
Published: March 2007

The temporal organization of locomotor activity was investigated in nymphs of the cockroach Leucophaea maderae. Approximately 40% of the animals examined between 1 and 50 days of age exhibited a circadian activity rhythm in constant darkness (n = 172) with an average free-running period of 23.7 ± 0.68 hr. Twelve of 17 animals in which activity was recorded for most or all of the final instar also exhibited periods of rhythmic activity. The rhythms of the nymphs could be entrained by light-dark (LD) cycles with periods of 22, 24, or 26 hr. In contrast, neither maternal influences during embryogenesis nor hatching from the egg was effective in synchronizing the rhythms. Although adult cockroaches can be readily entrained by temperature cycles, in nymphs temperature appeared at best to be a weak zeitgeber. Embryonic exposure to an LD cycle until 6 days prior to egg hatch was effective in synchronizing the activity rhythms of the nymphs, indicating that differentiation of an entrainable pacemaking system occurs prior to hatching.
Melatonin Administration to Blind People: Phase Advances and Entrainment
Authors: Sack Robert L. , Lewy Alfred J. , Blood Mary L. , Stevenson James , Keith L. Donald
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to test the phase-shifting and entraining effects of melatonin in human subjects. Five totally blind men were found in a previous study to have free-running endogenous melatonin rhythms. Their rhythms were remarkably stable, so that any deviation from the predicted phase was readily detectable. After determination of their free-running period and phase, they were given exogenous melatonin (5 mg) at bedtime (2200 hr) for 3 weeks, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The effects on the endogenous melatonin rhythm were assessed at intervals ranging from several days to 2 weeks. Exogenous administration of melatonin phase-advanced their endogenous melatonin rhythms. In three of the subjects, cortisol was shown to be phase-shifted in tandem with the melatonin rhythm. A sixth subject [one of the coauthors (JS)] was previously found to have free-running cortisol and temperature rhythms and was plagued by recurrent insomnia and daytime sleepiness. He had tried unsuccessfully to entrain his rhythms for over 10 years. After he took melatonin (7 mg at 2100 hr), his insomnia and sleepiness resolved. Determination of his endogenous melatonin rhythm after about a year of treatment demonstrated endogenous rhythms that appeared normally entrained. The treatment of blind people with free-running rhythms has many advantages for demonstrating chronobiological effects of hormones or drugs.