bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Risk Factors for Substance Use among Mexican American School-Age Youth
Authors: Yin Zenong , Zapata Jesse T. , Katims David S.
Published: March 2007

This article is a report of an investigation of riskfactors that may play an important role in understanding the use of various minor and major substances in a school-age population. Mexican American fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students with low socioeconomic status (N = 2,216; 52% males and 48% females) were surveyed to ascertain information pertaining to their substance use and its relationship to specific environmental and psychological risk factors. Results capture prevalence and distribution of substance use among this population by gender, as well as the relationship between the magnitude of risk and substance use by gender Results indicate a positive relationship between the number of riskfactors experienced by students and substance use.
Resilient Hispanic Youths' Self-Concept and Motivational Patterns
Authors: Gordon Kimberly A.
Published: March 2007

This is a study of 36 Hispanic youths taken from a pool of 123 Hispanic youths. It examines the role of self-concept, motivation, and environmentalfacilitation in ameliorating risk and promoting resiliency. For the purposes of this study, high school sophomore youths from impoverished, stressful backgrounds with grade point averages of 2.75 or above were considered academically resilient. This study differs from traditional and contemporary studies of resilience in that itfocuses on academic competence rather than on social competence. Self-concept and motivation are measured by the High School Assessment of Academic Self-Concept and the Assessment of Personal Agency Beliefs. The findings of this study indicate that resilient youths'self-concepts differfrom the nonresilient youths'self-concepts in the cognitive and belongingness areas. Findings also show that the school environment is supportive of theyouths'personal and social needs. However, it does not support their cognitive, belongingness, and extracurricular needs.
Latino Participation in America: Associational and Political Roles
Authors: Diaz William A.
Published: March 2007

Using data from the Latino National Political Survey, this article examines the relationship between organizational membership and political participationfor Cuban Americans, Mexican Americans, and Puerto Ricans. Although a strong relationship between these two variables had been found for Americans in general by Sidney Verba and Norman Nie in their classic 1972 study Participation in America, the Latino National Political Survey allowsfor an examination of this relationshipforLatinosfor thefirst time. Based on this analysis, the article concludes that, as Verba and Niefoundfor otherAmericans, organizational membership has a strong impact on Latino political participation, especially among Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans, who generally exhibit very low rates of political participation. The article calls for strengthening Latino membership organizations and encourages non-Latino membership organizations to reach out to Latinos as one way of increasing Latino political participation rates.
The Validation of the Cultural Congruity Scale and the University Environment Scale with Chicano/a Students
Authors: Gloria Alberta M. , Kurpius Sharon E. Robinson
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to develop, pilot, and validate two measures theoretically relevant to the persistence of Chicano/a students in institutions of higher education. Two scales, the Cultural Congruity Scale (CCS) and the University Environment Scale (UES), were developed and tested. The scales were piloted and then administered to 454 Chicano/a undergraduates at two large southwestern universities. Strong internal consistencies were found for both scales. When used in regression equations, both scales were significant predictors of academic persistence decisions. Implications for counseling psychologists, university faculty and staff and others within the university setting are discussed.
Adjustment across Task in Maternal Scaffolding in Low-Income Latino Immigrant Families
Authors: Kermani Hengameh , Janes Helena A.
Published: March 2007

This study contrasts maternal adjustments in scaffolding in a school-like learning task and in a home-like learning task within one low-income Latino population. The authors observed 12 immigrant Latino mother-child dyads performing both school-like and home-like tasks. Quantitative and qualitative analyses showed that in the home-like task, mothers purposefully scaffolded their children’s learning, consistently and effectively adjusted their scaffolding to variation in task, demonstrated a greater range and variety of scaffolding strategies, and accomplished various scaffolding goals based on their social class and cultural blueprints. Implications for the integration of effective taskspecific maternal scaffolding into the design of intervention programs to support learning for immigrant Latino children are discussed.
The Effectiveness of Substance Abuse Prevention Videotapes with Mexican American Adolescents
Authors: Polansky Joan M. , Buki Lydia P. , Horan John J. , Ceperich Sherry Dyche , Burows Deborah Dyer
Published: March 2007

The effectiveness of three substance abuse prevention videotapes derived from contrasting theoretical frameworks was experimentally evaluated on common prevention outcomes and measures of theoretical relevance. Seventh and eighth graders were stratified on gender and classroom before being randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions. In a modified replication, ninth graders were assessed and treated in a concentrated time span. Participants were 312 students. A series of 2 2 4 (Replication Gender Treatment) ANCOVAs permitted an inspection of the construct validity of emerging effects. Although the assertion-training video produced significantly higher levels of assertiveness among ninth graders, the other two videos (derived from information-programming and help-seeking rationales) did not register effects on specific measures of high theoretical relevance. A lack of posttest differences on the common outcomes may be due to low intended consumption levels displayed by participants and/or floor and ceiling effects encountered on outcome measures.
Factors that Predict Sexual Behaviors among Young Mexican American Adolescents: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Liebowitz Stephen W. , Castellano Dolores Calderon , Cuellar Israel
Published: March 2007

This research used multiple regression to predict the absence of sexual activity among young Mexican American adolescents. The regression model included six predictor variables: child’s religiosity, child’s educational goals, child’s educational grades, child’s perception of parent-child communication, child’s self-esteem, and child’s perception of the congruency of parent-child sexual values. The sample consisted of 413 Mexican American students who were 11 to 14 years old; attended either the sixth, seventh, or eighth grades; and resided in south Texas (Hidalgo County). The best predictors of absence of sexual activity were child’s religiosity, child’s educational goals, and child’s perception of the congruency of parent-child sexual values. Child’s perception of the congruency of parent-child sexual values accounted for more of the variance than any of the other statistically significant predictor variables. This suggests that increasing congruity between parent-child sexual ideas and values is the best preventive measure to delay sexual activity among Mexican American teenagers.
The Unattended Anaphoric “This”
Authors: GEISLER CHERYL , KAUFER DAVID S. , STEINBERG ERWIN R.
Published: March 2007

Experts on style agree that writers frequently have trouble using the unattended anaphoric this clearly. Few, however, have proposed explicit guidelines for sorting appropriate from inappropriate uses. This article examines the limitations of a recent classification proposed by Moskovit (1983), and then suggests an alternate classification relying on concepts from functional grammar. In particular, Moskovit's distinction between demarcational, syntactic, and semantic reference is found not to predict actual readers' judgments. In its place, the authors suggest a classification based on the functional notions of topic and focus. The unattended this is shown to be English's economical routine for moving the focus of a discourse from nominal topics to clausal predications relating those topics. Before deciding to employ this routine, however, writers are warned to evaluate its consequences on clarity and rhetoric.
Sentence Topics, Syntactic Subjects, and Domains in Texts
Authors: VANDE KOPPLE WILLIAM J.
Published: March 2007

In sentences with validity markers in the syntactic subject and adjacent positions, the frequent correspondence between syntactic subject and sentence topic in English sentences is broken. Because this correspondence has been shown to have substantial and positive effects upon readers' processing of and perceptions about texts, breaking the correspondence might have significant negative effects on readers. This study begins to explore how such syntactic subjects affect readers. It shows that readers recall such subjects very poorly, but it also suggests that in order to discover more precisely how readers represent such subjects in memory, new and rich models of language and of possible domains in texts will be needed.
Characters are Coauthors
Authors: TOMLINSON BARBARA
Published: March 2007

Professional writers frequently use socially shared “metaphorical stories” to describe their composing. In one prominent metaphorical story, writers of fiction cast their characters as collaborators in the process of writing, in consequence providing a complicated and integrated description of their composing. For writers of fiction to ascribe independence to their characters has implications that go far beyond the “performance” concerns of authors engaged in literary discussions: Metaphorical stories are an important means by which people understand as well as communicate their composing experiences.
Technical Manual Production
Authors: DUFFY THOMAS M. , POST THEODORE , SMITH GREGORY
Published: March 2007

The development of technical manuals requires coordination of the expertise in the subject area and in writing and design skills as well as detailed knowledge of the audience and job context. In this research we examined the production process of five publication houses in an attempt to determine how or if these requirements for expertise are being met. A further goal was to determine what strategies in the production process may facilitate or detract from the production of effective documentation. Writers, managers, and illustrators were interviewed at each site. The work flow in developing a manual is described. Data on the use of specifications and guidelines, the revision process including quality control, validation and verification, are presented. The skills and duties of writers, illustrators, and government representatives are presented. Finally, the production process for technical manuals is interpreted in terms of a process model of writing and strategies for improving the quality of documentation is discussed.
Error and Change in College Student Writing
Authors: HASWELL RICHARD H.
Published: March 2007

Theoretically, the persistence of surface error in student writing may be understood, at least in part, as a normal side effect of development in writing skill. Language tactics newly attempted by a writer increase the likelihood that new mistakes will be made, or old mistakes made anew. This theory, that the context of writing improvement helps explain writing error, is tested by comparing the impromptu essay performance of college freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, and of postcollege employees. Eight surface errors were measured: misinformation of possessives, faulty predication, faulty pronoun reference, faulty syntactic parallelism, mispunctuation of final free modifiers, sentence fragments, comma splices, and misspellings. For each, four error rates were constructed in order to compare different ways of visualizing the relation of error to other aspects of writing. Generally, the findings support the theory: The college students here do measurably improve their writing and do continue making mistakes at about the same rate, but mistakes allied to the improvement. An implication is that undue efforts by teachers to prevent the mistakes may hinder the improvement.
Linguistic Politeness in Professional Prose
Authors: HAGGE JOHN , KOSTELNICK CHARLES
Published: March 2007

Consonant with a trend toward investigating professional writing in naturalistic settings, this discourse-analytical study of a corpus of “suggestion letters” written in a Big Eight accounting firm demonstrates how auditors use negative politeness strategies to meet the complex demands of potentially threatening interactional situations. The study substantiates Brown and Levinson's claim that politeness is a linguistic universal by showing that the same politeness strategies found in speech also occur in written communication. Analysis of negative message strategies in ten leading textbooks shows that business communication pedagogy needs to modify strictures on the use of passives, nominalizations, expletive constructions, and hedging particles in light of research on the exigencies of real-world linguistic interaction.
Establishing a Phenomenon
Authors: REEVES CAROL
Published: March 2007

In the first three medical reports on AIDS which were published in 1981 in the New England Journal of Medicine, the writers' primary rhetorical agenda was to argue that a new medical discovery had been made. A secondary agenda was to offer etiological explanations for the new problem. To establish the new disease entity as deserving serious attention, the writers built a sense of mystery by confronting established medical knowledge about immunodeficiency and emphasizing the inability of modern medicine to diagnose and treat the problem. When they explained the phenomenon in etiological terms, rather than confronting the disciplinary matrix, the writers relied on established medical knowledge of infection rates in homosexual males as well as prevailing social views about the dangerous nature of male homosexual activity; consequently, they were able to imply that nothing was mysterious or surprising about immunodeficiency in homosexual males.
“I Want to Be Good; I Just Don't Get It”
Authors: SCHULTZ KATHERINE
Published: March 2007

Based on a year-long ethnographic study, this article presents a case study of a fourth-grade student, Kenya, who learned to participate in the literacy community of her classroom—in her terms “to be good”—by writing letters. It was through these letters, which began as daily written interactions about (mis)behavior, that Kenya gained confidence and skill as a writer. The genre of letters allowed Kenya to construct her identity as a writer in the classroom community, at the same time that she retained her identity as a member of a group of four, frequently defiant African American girls. In this classroom, teachers used writing to forge collaborative relationships with students—relationships that often were built around struggle and conflict—to encourage students' growth as writers. This study has implications for a new pedagogy of writing, one that provides a rich and challenging curriculum for all students, even those who might in other circumstances be considered “remedial,” and one which alters our conceptions of the roles of and relationships between teachers and students in a writing classroom.
Personal Growth in Social Context
Authors: SMAGORINSKY PETER
Published: March 2007

The different emphases that theorists and teachers place on the product and process of writing in their accounts of how writers construct meaning have been influenced by different traditions of Western thought that have historically been at odds: Whereas the designative tradition focuses on the ways in which artifacts of speech mediate people's thinking, the expressive tradition focuses on the transformation of inner speech to public speech, thus emphasizing the ways in which the activities of speaking and writing promote changes in consciousness. In this article, through the analysis of the writing of a high school senior, it is argued that these two positions are not mutually exclusive, but rather are complementary aspects of a semiotic view on writing. The primary data set is a “situated protocol”—that is, a think-aloud protocol, including both concurrent and retrospective accounts of writing process, conducted over a 4-month period. Through the protocol analysis and analysis of related data, I examine the ways in which this student's writing experiences reveal the interrelated roles of both designative and expressive functions of writing. The analysis also reveals that the writer found the situated protocol itself to be an enduring means of development and reflection and a tool for meditation.
Naturalizing the Future in Factual Discourse
Authors: DUNMIRE PATRICIA L.
Published: March 2007

This article examines the linguistic processes through which a projected event (that is, an event that a group of spokespersons alleges will occur in the future) is constructed within factual discourse. Critical linguistic analysis is used to examine the New York Times and Washington Post coverage of the 1990 Persian Gulf conflict. This study makes two contributions. First, it expands on work in critical linguistics by explicating how a projected event is constructed as a discrete and autonomous event unfolding in the social world. Second, this study demonstrates how the political interests underlying the newspaper accounts were “naturalized” through linguistic transformations that constructed politically situated assertions as unmediated and presupposed information. This study is important for understanding the constructive nature of language practices because it demonstrates how seemingly arhetorical linguistic constructions can be examined for their rhetorical features, features that play an important role in actively constructing representations of the social world.
Text Organization by Bilingual Writers
Authors: SCHLEPPEGRELL MARY J. , COLOMBI M. CECILIA
Published: March 2007

This article compares essays written in Spanish and English by bilingual writers whose prior formal academic writing instruction has been only in English. The authors describe both writers' discourse-organizational and clause-combining strategies, showing that one writer's organizational structure reflects explicit planning, whereas the other employs a more emergent organizational structure for her essays. In each case, these choices are the same for Spanish and English. Analyzing these writers' clause-combining strategies demonstrates that organizational structure at the discourse level is reflected in the types of clause combinations chosen by the writers at the sentence level, with one writer using more simple sentences and embedded clauses and the other using more hypotactic and paratactic clause combinations. The article demonstrates how clauses constitute and reflect the structure of texts and suggests that development of a repertoire of styles and discourse strategies depends on control of a variety of syntactic options.
Relative Clauses in Spectroscopic Articles in the Physical Review, Beginnings and 1980
Authors: VANDE KOPPLE WILLIAM J.
Published: March 2007

This study examines the numbers of relative clauses and the percentages of subordinate clauses they comprise in two sets of research reports from the Physical Review, one from the earliest years (1893-1901) and one from 1980. It finds only a slight decrease in percentages of relative clauses from the first set of articles to the second, but it also finds some striking differences in patterns of what the relative clauses modify, particularly in references to experimental instruments and materials, experimental results or products, and equations. This study also shows evidence of a stylistic shift between the two sets of articles, from what Halliday (1987a) calls the dynamic style (that reflects processes, happenings, and actions) to the synoptic style (that reflects structures, categories, and hierarchies). It speculates that this shift would have been motivated by later physicists' wish to use tenseless expressions and to communicate effectively in an increasingly built-up web of information.
What's in a Label?
Authors: HULL GLYNDA A.
Published: March 2007

This article reports qualitative research on a perceived literacy problem in an electronics factory in the Silicon Valley of Northern California. Guided by a sociocultural framework, Hull investigates an instance of frontline workers' apparent failure to read, understand, and/or follow important manufacturing process instructions. Interviewing all parties involved, from engineers and managers to workers, Hull explores the significance of the mistake and a range of explanations for why it occurred. In so doing, she moves beyond explanations that center on deficiency in individuals and groups, and toward broader based accounts that consider institutional, social, and cultural arrangements and the relationships and practices they foster. She offers an expansive definition of what it means to be a literate, skills-rich worker, and she urges vigilance against the tendency in both schools and workplaces to label and mislabel, and thereby to miss human potential.
Adult Intelligence and Learning Ability
Authors: Knox Alan B. , Grotelueschen Arden , Sjogren Douglas D.
Published: March 2007

This study analyzed relationships between WAIS and achievement scores of 207 adult learners who studied nine topics using pro gramed materials. Zero- and first-order correlations were com puted between each of 10 learning topic scores and each of 17 WAIS scores. All but one of the correlations were statistically significant. The correlation between a composite learning topic score and the WAIS full-scaled score was .78. Correlations be tween the WAIS and topic scores ranged from .53 to .70 indicat ing that intelligence is highly correlated with certain learning abilities. Adult intelligence tests can be used to diagnose learner ability, to facilitate program design, as a control variable for program evaluation studies, for validation of achievement tests, and as control variables for learning research.
Professionalization in Higher Adult Education Administration
Authors: Farmer James A.
Published: March 2007

Ninety-three higher adult education chief administrators served as subjects in this study which was designed to test whether or not there was evidence of increased professionalization between 1957 and 1967. Utilizing Hall's Professionalization Scales and some background scales to measure attitudinal and structural attributes of professionalization, an analysis of variance technique and a chi square analysis were used to determine the difference between the extent of professionalization of three cohorts of Ss. Findings revealed no significant change over time between the three cohorts at the .05 significance level. The average scores in this study were higher than those reported in previous studies using the Professionalization Scales with other occupations. These unexpected findings were viewed as attributable, at least in part, to characteristics of the field of higher adult education during the past decade which mitigated against further professionalization of the occupation. Using a supplementary questionnaire, addi tional comparsions were made between 93 respondents and a sample of the 143 non-respondents to the initial questionnaire. The differences were not significant.
A Conceptual Analysis of the Mentor Relationship in the Career Development of Women
Authors: Bolton Elizabeth B.
Published: March 2007

This article presents a conceptual analysis of the mentor relationship as an aspect of social lear ning and the career development of women. The discussion consists of three sections, the first of which deals with the socializing process of modeling with emphasis on role models and their im pact on women's career development. Part two discusses the mentor relationship as an aspect of social learning. This section defines and analyses the term mentor in regard to related concepts. The significance of mentor relationships as shown in the literature is presented separately as studies relative to each sex. A model is presented that depicts the career stages and functional relationships within each stage. The last section discusses some of the reasons for the present lack of mentor relationships for women in regard to the analysis presented in the first two sections.
Adult Learners and Non-Learners: Demographic Characteristics as an Indicator of Psychographic Characteristics
Authors: Shipp Travis , McKenzie Leon R.
Published: March 2007

The problem to be studied was stated in terms of the following questions: What are the dif ferences and similarities in the demographic characteristics of adult learners and non-learners? Is there a related set of characteristics that will help the adult education program planner develop comprehensive adult education programs? Interviews were conducted with 232 subjects and the results subjected to discriminate analysis. It was found that income, education, age and occupa tional status were discriminating variables with less affluent, less educated, older individuals in low status occupations at the non-learner end of the continuum. The more affluent, better educated, younger individuals in higher status occupations grouped at the active learner end of the continuum. Several psychographic variables were found to be associated with the demographic profiles: orientation to future or past, time perspective, rational vs. emotional orientation, sense of freedom and choice, risk taking, concreteness of thought, reference group, and action orientation.
A Framework for Describing Developmental Change Among Older Adults
Authors: Fisher James C.
Published: March 2007

Interviews were conducted with 74 persons over age 60 for the purpose of gathering information describing their experiences across the older adult lifespan. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to generate a theoretical framework of categories consisting of sequential clusters of experience. Although most theorists treat older adulthood as a single lifestage, results of this study indicate that developmental change may be described in five age-independent periods in older adulthood: (a) continuity with middle age, (b) an early transition, (c) a revised lifestyle, (d) a later transition, and (e) a final period. This framework provides a basis for identifying the needs of older adults in relation to particular periods of development and may assist in targeting educational and other programs more precisely for discrete subpopulations of older adults.
The Relationship between Andragogical and Pedagogical Orientations and the Implications for Adult Learning
Authors: Delahaye Brian L. , Limerick David C. , Hearn Greg
Published: March 2007

Current literature suggests that the relationship between andragogy and pedagogy is based on a continuum. This study found that the relationship of andragogical and pedagogical orientations, measured by the Student's Orientation Questionnaire, is more correctly represented as being oithogonalorat right angles to each other. Such an orthogonal relationship reflects the complexities involved in adult learning. The paper discusses implications for both the learning process and for future research.
Participation and Learning in Head Start: A Sociopolitical Analysis
Authors: Sissel Peggy A.
Published: March 2007

An ethnographic methodology was used to investigate Head Start as a setting for adult education. Using grounded theory to analyze the data, the following interpretation emerged. Teaching and learning were affected by the sociopolitical context of the program, as depicted by three interrelated concepts: "Capacity," "Power," and "Connection." Capacity describes the way staff and parent interactions were shaped by resources and expectations. A lack of resources affected both staff and parents' expectations about parent involvement. Similarly, expectations affected the level of resources that were applied to the teaching and learning effort. Power relations were expressed in the withholding or allocation of programmatic resources, and functioned to either impede or promote participation. Only when staff and parents shared a mutual understanding about roles and power in the program did personal connections develop between them. This personal connection was essential to both participation and learning.
Courtship Violence and the Interactive Status of the Relationship
Authors: Billingham Robert E. , Sack Alan R.
Published: March 2007

Five hundred twenty-six students completed questionnaires designed to measure the use of reasoning, verbal aggression and violence as conflict resolution strategies. Significant differences in the reasoning and verbal aggression scores were found based on gender and on the interactive status of the violence within the relationship. No significant difference was found for the violence score based on sex but a significant difference was found based on the interactive status of the relationship. When the sex of the respondent was controlled an almost identical proportion of males and females reported that violence in their relationship was reciprocal in nature. The results of this study present a strong argument that violence within courtship should be viewed as the breakdown in attempts at conflict resolution and not as a phenomeon in and of itself.
Theories of Adolescent Heterosexual Behavior
Authors: Miller Brent C. , Fox Greer Litton
Published: March 2007

Although some of the research on adolescent heterosexual behavior links empirical results to existing theories, many studies appear to be the-oretically barren and uninformed. Two of the major paradigms on sexuality-that it is both inner driven and socially shaped-are used to organize theoretical strands in previous work. This paper reviews research and theoretical perspectives that seem to be most useful in understanding adolescent sexual behavior, and then takes modest steps toward integrating and extending theoretical explanations of this phenomenon.
Differentiation and Individuation as Mediators of Identity and Intimacy in Adolescence
Authors: Allison Michael D. , Sabatelli Ronald M.
Published: March 2007

The primary objective of this paper is to examine the interdependence of individual and family development as these relate to the coemergence of a mature sense of identity and the capacity for intimacy during adolescence. In focusing on these issues, the paper expands on the concepts of individuation and system differentiation thus placing adolescent development in the context of a life-long dialectic involving issues of family and individual separateness and connectedness. It is contended that by conceptualizing adolescence as a significant developmental transition for the family as well as the child, the significance of system differentiation and intimate parent-child interactions emerge as important mediators of the individuation process. The individuation construct is thereby utilized to elaborate the complex relationships between identity formation, the capacity for intimacy, and the systems level of differentiation.
Research on Black Adolescents
Authors: McKenry Patrick C. , Everett Joyce E. , Ramseur Howard P. , Carter Carol J.
Published: March 2007

Understanding of Black adolescence is limited due to the cultural bias inherent in much of the research literature. This bias is reflected in the philosophical approaches, theoretical frameworks, sampling, instrumentation, and data analysis used in the study of Black youth. Only recently have scholars moved toward studying Black adolescents in appropriate cultural context. This essay discusses the legacy of cultural bias and recommends strategies for building a new scholarship on Black adolescence.
Coping Behaviors of Adolescent Mothers
Authors: Codega Susan A. , Pasley B. Kay , Kreutzer Jill
Published: March 2007

Coping behaviors were examined in a sample of pregnantt and parenting adolescent females (N = 133), currenthl enirolled in school-based programs for adolescent parents in Colorado, and comparisons were made between Mexican-American and Anglo partic ipants. Two themes emerged regarding the most frequently used coping behaviors: a tetndency for these adolescentts to use avoidant or passive types of behaviors, and the importance of close friends as slupport. Significant differences were found on only 7 of the 49 coping behaviors, su4ggesting more similarity than differences between the two groups. The differences reflected a greater religiolus orientation of Mexican-American adolescents. Some cultural and family characteristics influencing adolescent coping behav-ior are discussed, and implications for adolescent parent programs and future research are suggested.
Age and Gender Differences in Adolescents' Preferences for Parental Advice
Authors: Greene A. L. , Grimsley Michelle Denise
Published: March 2007

This study examined which parent an adolescent would approach for advice about age-appropriale concerns, using 72 male and female middle and high school students as participants. MANOVA analyses of parental (mothters vs. fathers) advice preference indicated that adolescents overwhelmingly preferred maternal advice on self social, family, school-related, and philosophical issues. Further, logistical (probit) regression analyses indicated that only adolescent gender and paternal relationship quality emerged as consistent predictors of parental advice preference. Girls were more likely than boys to seek and follow mothers'advice on self, social, andfamily issues. However, the more negative the relationship with the fathers, the more likely both male and female adolescents were to seek mothers 'advice about social, family, and school-related issues.
Adolescent Sibling Bereavement Symptomatology in a Large Community Sample
Authors: Hogan Nancy S. , Greenfield Daryl B.
Published: March 2007

This study presents data on a recently developed instrument assessing symptomatology in a 13-to 18-year-old community sample of bereaved adolescents. Adolescents assessed within 18 months of their sibling's death showed consistently high levels of grief symptomatology. A second sample assessed more than 18 months after their sibling's death reported lower levels of grief symptomatology. However, a significant group of adolescents in this second sample continued to have high levels of grief reactions. Groups high and low on reported grief symptoms, when the death had occurred more than 18 months earlier, were compared on the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire. The data revealed dysfunctionalpatterns of self-concept in adolescents with high grief symptom levels. This pattern was not evident in the adolescents who were able to normalize their lives despite the traumatic experience of having a brother or sister die.
Adolescent Invulnerability and Perceptions of AIDS Risk
Authors: Moore Susan , Rosenthal Doreen
Published: March 2007

The Elkind notion of the perceived invulnerability of adolescents and the Weinstein view about unrealistic optimism concerning undesirable events taken together predict that adolescents who engage in "at risk" sexual behaviors will underestinate their vulnerability to the AIDS virus. This study examined the AIDS risk perceptions and sexual practices of 1,008 nonvirginal, heterosexualAustralian adolescents, age 17 to 20 years. Those who perceived tlhemselves to be least at risk ofAIDS were those who had a strong stereotype of an AIDS victim, believed they had control over the possibility of their contracting the AIDS virus, were more likely to be females, and engaged in fewer unsafe sexual practices. However, the relationship between risky sexual behavior andperceived risk, although statistically significant, was only limited. A large group of respondents engaging in risky behavior saw themselves as at very low risk The perceived invulnerable group of adolescents was compared with a "risk and be damned" group who saw themselves as more vulnerable to the threat of AIDS but continued to engage in unsafe sexual practices. Educational implications for the two groups are discussed.
The Many Faces of Adolescent Egocentrism
Authors: Goossens Luc , Seiffge-Krenke Inge , Marcoen Alfons
Published: March 2007

Measures of adolescent egocentrism were administered to 228 Belgian and 241 German adolescents in order to explore (a) the intercorrelations between different aspects of the construct and (b) their developmental functions. Correlational results argue in favor of the multidimensional nature of the construct. The Imaginary Audience Scale (IAS) exhibited low to moderate associations with the Adolescent Egocentrism Scale (AES) and the Low Probability Events (LPE) questionnaire, so that these measures may not be used interchangeably. However, both the imaginary audience (LAS) and the personal fable (PF) measures evidenced construct validity in that they were significantly related to self-image in the German sample. Some egocentric phenomena decreased from early or middle adolescence onwards, but other manifestations were still on the increase by the end of adolescence in both samples. The need for further cross-cultural research in the domain of adolescent egocentrism is stressed.
Findings from Super Stars
Authors: Emshoff James , Avery Eden , Raduka Gregg , Anderson Delores J. , Calvert Chena
Published: March 2007

SUPER STARS, a preventive intervention for children and their parents, was developed using aprotectivefactorapproach. Children without participating parents were matched with other important adults in their lives. The intermediate goals of the program were to strengthen family bonding and functioning, as well as to enhance a sense of racial pride and cultural bonding. Those factors have been shown to reduce the probability of substance use. The families involved in the program were identified and recruited through a variety of community agencies serving low-income urban families. The intervention used a variety of artistic modalities to convey messages and provide experiences related to culture andfamily, as well as individual behavioral skills. Youth had more positive feelings about themselves and their heritage (both immediate family and Africa) after the program. Parents reported improved family functioning, increased ability to deal with stress and conflict, and more positive feelings about themselves and their family. Implications for replication in the context of service demonstrations are discussed.
Can I Take the Car?
Authors: Hartos Jessica L. , Eitel Patricia , Haynie Denise L. , Simons-Morton Bruce G.
Published: March 2007

The goal of this study was to examine relations among problem-driving practices and parenting practices. Three hundred adolescents licensed 2 years or less were interviewed about driving behaviors, parenting practices, and orientations toward deviance. Factors significantly related to risky driving behaviors, traffic violations, and motor vehicle crashes included lower levels of parental monitoring and control, and lenient parental restrictions on driving (i.e., friends as passengers and driving curfews). Parental monitoring was among the subset of variables most useful in predicting risky driving behaviors. Violations were 4 times more likely with lenient restrictions related to frequency of friends as passengers and 2 times more likely with low parental control. Crashes were 7 times more likely with lenient restrictions related to frequency of friends as passengers. Overall, the findings suggest that adolescent problem driving is related to parenting practices.
Diversity in Romantic Relations of Adolescents with Varying Health Status
Authors: Seiffge-Krenke Inge
Published: March 2007

In a longitudinal study on adolescents varying in health status, the similarities and differences between adolescents’ close friendships and romantic relationships were analyzed. From a total of 91 diabetic and 107 healthy adolescents, a subsample of 95 adolescents who consistently had experiences with both relationships over 4 years was drawn. Information was obtained from semistructured interviews and the Network of Relationship Inventory. The results demonstrated important time-dependent links between intimacy in both relationship types in healthy adolescents. Despite considerable gains in intimacy toward close friends and romantic partners across time, diabetic adolescents did not focus as much on intimacy in their romantic relations as their healthy peers did but looked for romantic partners who could offer them security, support, and assistance in a stable relationship. Results emphasize that although intimacy with close friends is a normative precursor of later romantic relationships, there is still not a single path for romantic development.
Middle Childhood Antecedents to Progressions in Male Adolescent Substance Use
Authors: Dishion Thomas J. , Capaldi Deborah M. , Yoerger Karen
Published: March 2007

Initiation of substance use before the age of 15 to 16 is a distinct risk factor for a variety of mental health problems and eventual drug abuse. Using multimethod, multi-agent measures of child, family, and peer antecedents at age 9 to 10, we studied the longitudinal effects in an at-risk sample of 206 boys. Event history analysis was used to examine the antecedents to patterned alcohol and tobacco use as well as experimentation with marijuana between ages 11 and 16. Univariate models revealed that at Grade 4, most constructs were prognostic of boys’ early substance use. Multivariate event history models clarified the risk and protective structure associated with tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. The level of intercorrelation among the predictor variables, however, suggested that family, peer, and child characteristics were inextricably connected within an ecology of development. A structural equation prediction model suggested a higher order construct, “childhood risk structure. ”
Cellular Analysis of Ocular Circadian Pacemaker Coupling in Bulla: Role of Efferent Impulses in Phase Shifting
Authors: Block Gene D. , Roberts Michael H. , Lusska Amy E.
Published: March 2007

The eyes of Bulla gouldiana, a marine snail, contain circadian oscillators that are coupled to each other. Obvious candidates for the coupling signals are the optic nerve compound action potentials (CAPs) that express the circadian rhythm and lead to efferent impulses in the contralateral optic nerve. In the present experiments, the role of the CAPs as coupling signals was evaluated. We found that, following desynchronization of the two ocular oscillators by phase-delaying one eye with manganese, subsequent phase shifts in the initially unshifted ocular rhythm only occurred during the time that efferent optic nerve signals were present. In addition, in the absence of ocular desynchrony, phase shifts of the ocular rhythm could still be effected by activation of the efferent pathway.

The influence of efferent impulses on identified retinal cells was also evaluated. No effect of efferent signals on receptor layer cells was detected, while it was found that efferent impulses generated depolarizations in basal retinal neurons (BRNs), the putative circadian oscillator cells. Depolarization of the BRNs has been shown previously to be involved in the light entrainment pathway. Depolarization appears to be similarly involved in the coupling pathway, since membrane depolarizations that mimicked the efferent-induced postsynaptic potentials likewise generated phase shifts of the ocular rhythm.
Acquisition of Circadian Bioluminescence Data in Gonyaulax and an Effect of the Measurement Procedure on the Period of the Rhythm
Authors: Broda Hellmuth , Gooch Van D. , Taylor Walter , Aiuto Nick , Hastings J. Woodland
Published: March 2007

During measurements of the circadian (approximately 24-hr) rhythms of spontaneous bioluminescence in the marine dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polyedra, the individual cultures in vials were shielded from otherwise constant dim light for 1-3 min every 20-60 min by a photomultiplier housing that was moved from vial to vial. The high-frequency dark pulses caused a small but consistent shortening of the free-running circadian period, but there was no indication that the dark pulses caused entrainment. Hardware and software components of the microcomputer-controlled data collection system are described. A microcomputer controlled the movement of the photomultiplier and acquired the data via an analog-to-digital converter. The algorithms distinguished and separately recorded background glow, intermittent flashes, and total light from populations ranging in number from 103 to 105 cells in volumes from 1 to 10 ml. Fast video display techniques allowed continuous on-line viewing of incoming data, together with a display of the data recorded over the preceding day or two. Detection of mechanical and software errors coupled with recovery systems maintained high reliability of data collection.
Circadian Determinants of Subjective Alertness
Authors: Monk Timothy H. , Moline Margaret L. , Fookson Jeffrey E. , Peetz Suzanne M.
Published: March 2007

Four healthy male subjects each experienced a temporal isolation experiment last ing several months. During part of each experiment (2-5 weeks), the subject's entire imposed daily routine (including light-dark, rest-activity, and meal routines) was either stretched (two subjects: T = 25.8 hr, 26.0 hr) or reduced (two subjects: T = 22.8 hr, 23.1 hr) to beyond the range of entrainment of the endogenous circadian pacemaker (ECP), which then ran at a different period (τ). Subjective alertness was measured approximately three times per hour (during wakefulness), using a computerized visual analogue scale technique. Circadian rhythms in subjective alertness were then plotted both at τ, the period length of the ECP, and at T, the period length of the imposed sleep-wake cycle (SWC) and light-dark cycle. At τ, the alertness rhythm was closely in phase with the temperature rhythm. At T, the alertness rhythm showed an "inverted-U" function with a peak toward the middle of the subjective day, upon which was superimposed a "postlunch dip" for one subject. Thus, subjective alertness would appear to be under the control of both ECP and SWC mechanisms, which combine to produce the composite time-of-day function normally observed in a diurnal set ting.