A study examined contributions of sexual abuse, physical abuse, family cohesion, and conflict in predicting psychological functioning of 131 adolescents receiving residential vocational training services. In addition to child sexual abuse and physical abuse, family conflict and cohesion predicted development of psychological distress and…

Examined the contribution of biological and environmental variables to 11-year-olds' phonological development. Found that temporal lobe (planar) asymmetry, hand preference, family history of reading disability, and SES explained over half the variance in phonological and verbal performance, demonstrating a linear association between cerebral…

This study examined factors associated with the medical severity of suicide attempts focusing on demographic characteristics, and circumstances of the suicide attempt. Results show that young age was significantly associated with a nearly lethal suicide attempt. Prior attempts, hopelessness, depression, and help-seeking were significantly and…

A study contrasted the childhood environment of Norwegian adult psychiatric outpatients reporting to have been bullied at school (n=74) with those who were not (n=85). Men who were bullied tended to grow up without biological fathers. Women who were bullied reported higher parental abuse and neglect in childhood. (Contains references.) (CR)

Examined the relationship of race, traditional academic measures (high school GPA and rank, ACT scores), and nonacademic variables (measured by the Bryson Instrument for Noncognitive Assessment, or BINA) to the first-year grades of specially-admitted college students. Found that predictors of college success functioned differently for blacks and…

Examined impact of peer experience on seventh graders' strategies for coping with peer hassles. Found that more aggressive adolescents perceived more control over hassles. More aggressive, unpopular adolescents used more negative strategies; more popular aggressive females used more problem-focused strategies. Withdrawn adolescents perceived less…

Used panel data in event history analysis examining association between family structure and departure from parental home, specifically possible mediators (parent-child relationship quality, household work efforts, psychological efficacy, family/personal income, peer involvement, childbearing). Single-parent family structure (and for girls,…

Examined relations between nonmaternal child care and maternal sensitivity and child positive engagement ratings during mother-child interaction; infants were between 6 and 36 months old. Found that more child care hours predicted less maternal sensitivity and less positive child engagement. Child care effect sizes were similar to those for…

A self-administered questionnaire was filled out by 349 Jordanian men to examine the correlation between their patriarchal ideology and their beliefs about wife abuse. The results revealed that high percentages of Jordanian men tended to justify wife abuse, to blame women for violence against them, and to believe that women benefit from beating.…

Social workers in the United States were queried on their attitudes toward transracial adoption (TRA), defined here as African American children being adopted by White parents. An analysis of 363 questionnaires found that optimism about the future of race relations was the most powerful predictor of TRA attitudes. For both African American and…

The current study presents a growth curve analysis of self-esteem among Black, Latino, and Asian American high school students. A series of hierarchical linear models were used to examine patterns and predictors of change in self-esteem over time. Results revealed an average increase in self-esteem with age. Although boys and girls experienced…

In the wake of the civil rights movement, new organizations formed which were based on the collective interests and identities of their constituencies. Some of these organizations brought together national origin groups who often differed by ethnicity, language, culture, religion and immigration history. In this paper, I focus on the conditions…

Growth curve modelling was used to examine developmental trajectories of sociometric and perceived popularity across eight years in adolescence, and the effects of gender, overt aggression, and relational aggression on these trajectories. Participants were 303 initially popular students (167 girls, 136 boys) for whom sociometric data were…

Multiple factors contribute to individual differences in reading ability. The two most thoroughly examined are socioeconomic status (SES) and phonological awareness (PA). Although these factors are often investigated individually, they are rarely considered together. Here we propose that SES systematically influences the relationship between PA…

Reading comprehension scores from the Wechsler Individual Achievement Tests, the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, and the Gray Oral Reading Test were examined in relation to measures of reading, language, and other cognitive skills that have been hypothesized to contribute to comprehension and account for comprehension differences. In a sample of 97…