Performed secondary analysis of data from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, involving 12,686 subjects, to examine patterns of alcohol and cocaine abuse. Found joint alcohol and cocaine abusers demonstrated highest levels of previous 30-day and lifetime drug use, high levels of delinquent activity, and highest rates of unemployment and marital…

Conducted 325 survey interviews and 22 guided in-depth interviews with injection drug users to document drug usage and injection patterns, sexual practices, perceived risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection, sources of health information, and knowledge and attitudes about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. (Author/ABL)

Investigates the relationship between principal leadership style and organizational process in secondary schools and identifies effective leadership styles, based on a survey involving 64 secondary schools and 672 teachers in Hong Kong. Results indicate a strong relationship of leadership to organizational process. (37 references) (MLH)

Conducted post hoc analysis of 60 Hispanics and 60 Caucasians who had filed under workers' compensation to examine cross-cultural differences of somatization and malingering as assessed by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Significant differences were found for somatization; Hispanics were more likely to somatize. Minimal differences…

Whether the measurement of intelligence by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children III (WISC-III) differs for children who exhibit inappropriate test-taking behavior was studied empirically with 247 inappropriate behavior and 515 appropriate behavior children. Results suggest that the factor index and full-scale IQ may have different meanings…

Examined the reliability of the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Scale (MEIM) (J. Phinney, 1992) in measuring feelings of ethnic affirmation and belongings, ethnic behaviors, and ethnic knowledge with 118 inner-city African American children aged 8 to 12 years. Results of reliability analyses are mixed and indicate that constructs of ethnic behavior and…

Perceptions of women, how those perceptions were formed, and ideas about how to improve the existing sexuality curriculum were studied with 17 young male college students. Findings indicate that continuing to teach sexuality in the context of male as predator and female as gatekeeper will only perpetuate the unhealthy egocentric behaviors many…

Examined the link between delinquency and school behaviors separately for 267 African-American and 269 White males at risk for delinquency. Class absenteeism was related to higher incidence of minor and serious delinquency, and for African Americans, poor grades and dropping out were predictive of both types of delinquency. (SLD)

Retrospective analysis of videotape recordings taken at 9 to 12 months of 11 children with autism, 10 with developmental disabilities, and 11 typically developing children found that nine behavioral items, in combination, discriminated the three groups 94 percent of the time. Results support early identification of autism and that infant…

A survey of eight motor habits, including body-rocking, was administered to two large samples (N=861, N=766) of college students. A surprisingly high proportion of respondents (over 40% of males and over 50% of females) reported they engaged in body rocking when either bored or overstimulated The similar incidence in people with mental retardation…

Studied the relationship between gender differences in physical aggression and selected personality and social contextual factors through self-report measures completed by 89 adolescents. Findings suggest the strength and importance of sympathy as a mitigator of physically aggressive behaviors. Contains 58 references. (SLD)

Identity theory is used to organize data gathered from semistructured interviews with parole violators at large (N=25). A typology of absconders bridging clinical and actuarial prediction strategies is proposed. Situational constraints are explored; typical behavior patterns and experiences of parolees are described. Policy implications are…

Questions whether parental reports of post treatment substance use and other treatment outcomes-related behaviors reliably reflect self-reports of adolescents; and if initially reliable, if the parental reports continue to reliably reflect adolescents' self-reports over time. Indicates that parents can give reliable proxy information regarding…

This study compared 23 children with high-functioning autism with 12 children with Asperger syndrome using DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Findings indicated few group differences in current functioning but many early history differences. The Asperger syndrome group generally demonstrated less severe early symptoms, a milder developmental course, and…

A study of the sleep patterns of 28 people with severe or profound mental retardation and epilepsy found atypical sleep stages with significant depletion of REM sleep and a predominance of indiscriminate non-REM sleep. Sleep diaries completed by caregivers reveal lengthy sleep periods, especially among those with profound mental retardation.…