Personality profiles of industrial scientists, musicians and artists, and general undergraduates (total n=99) showed no difference between scientific and artistic groups on the Creativity composite index. Self-reports of involvement in creative behavior, collected from 590 individuals, revealed that creative people tend to cross-train and to…

Literature review on relationship between adolescent chemical dependency and family factors yielded two broad categories: family drug usage patterns and family atmosphere. Found strong relationship between adolescent substance abuse and family drug usage, family composition, family interaction patterns, and discrepancies in family perceptions.…

This statement, signed by 20 experts on child welfare and abuse, summarizes agreement regarding the current status of knowledge in investigation of child sexual abuse and identifies those areas in which further research remains necessary. The statement addresses behavioral indicators of abuse, interviewing child victims, the use of dolls and other…

Effects of social support on health self-assessments were studied in a national sample of 1,131 adolescents in Iceland. Parental support has the largest total effect on health self-assessment, followed by friend support, and other adult support. Implications of these results are discussed. (SLD)

Recent research on sex differences in aggressive styles is reviewed. The concept of indirect aggression in particular is presented and discussed, and it is argued that it is nonsensical to claim that males are more aggressive than females. A theory about development of aggressive behavior styles is presented. (SLD)

Defines absenteeism and characteristic patterns, discusses two competing views of employee absence behavior, applies Steers and Rhodes' process model of employee attendance to teaching, and examines two unsuccessful attendance incentive plans. Districts are advised to avoid quick fixes and develop clear guidelines, computerize teacher attendance…

Associations between mother's models of attachment and mother and child behaviors related to separation were explored in a study of 45 mothers and their 2- to 4-year-old children. Results showed that mother behaviors before and after separation and child reunion behaviors varied according to attachment classification. (SH)

Subjective life expectancy, death anxiety, and health behavior were assessed in college students (n=36) with at least one parent who died prematurely of illness (PD group) and students (n=36) with both parents alive (PA group). PD group estimated their life expectancy to be shorter than the PA; subgroup of PD reported poorer diet. (Author/ABL)

Two experiments evaluated the social interactions of 15 Asperger-type autistic subjects with either normal or schizoid control subjects. Asperger subjects tended to avoid gazing at the interviewer when the interviewer was talking. Results suggest that a lifelong absence of gaze response to social clues including speech may explain some features of…

Parents of 834 children (ages 3-7) rated 16 voice usage items (such as talking loudly, talking on the telephone, and singing) for frequency of occurrence. Results indicated that, as the child's age increased, voice usage became more conservative. Frequency tables for vocal behaviors across age were developed. (Author/JDD)

This study of 63 children who reported sexual and ritualistic abuse in preschool settings found that recantation occurred in 17 cases, and 15 children who recanted redisclosed abuse after the initial recantation. Subjects made vague disclosures before revealing more specific acts and revealed less intrusive sexual abuse before more intrusive…

Assessed viewpoints of 63 university students, 58 law enforcement officers, 48 bartenders, 26 beer distributor employees, and 46 health educators regarding level of irresponsibility perceived to be associated with specific alcohol-related behaviors. Subjects agreed that drinking behavior resulting in physical injury, legal trouble, or failure to…

This article examines effects of separation and divorce on children in the context of possible psychological maltreatment. Common behavior patterns of children in this situation are discussed in terms of those that are acceptable and those that must be considered harmful. (Author/DB)

Studied the attraction responses of child athletes to coaches who differed in their behavior patterns during the season. Children with low self-esteem responded positively to coaches with high self-esteem and negatively to coaches with low self-esteem on the instructiveness and supportiveness dimensions. Moderate- and high-self-esteem children…

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…