Career adjustment and personal adjustment are separate, but they can converge during periods of intense work or family stress. Adjustment following a difficult career decision is affected by risk factors as well as by personal coping resources. (SK)

Very little is known about the processes whereby people encounter and assimilate knowledge about the environmental crisis. The author raises observations and reflections on people's responses to this kind of knowledge. (Author/JOW)

Data on the relatively high prevalence of learning disabilities among populations of delinquents are presented, and three explanatory hypotheses are examined in the context of the research literature: the susceptibility hypothesis, the school failure hypothesis, and the differential treatment hypothesis. A multifactorial explanation is offered.…

Reviews the papers in this special issue of Early Child Development and Care on child abuse and neglect. The papers focus on theory and research, and on intervention, treatment, and prevention practices. (RJC)

A comparative study of competitive trait anxiety (CTA) among university male and female varsity athletes supports the proposed relationship of fear of failure and of evaluation to CTA, but suggests that the pattern of this relationship varies across age, gender, sport, and other variables. (JD)

This study examined rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among 109 severely maltreated children and their mothers. Results indicated a statistical association between a maternal diagnosis of PTSD and PTSD among their maltreated children. In addition, mothers with PTSD were more likely to have children with an earlier age of maltreatment…

Of 69 girls and 21 boys who had been sexually abused, approximately half were diagnosed as having posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD symptoms were related to the nature of the abusive experiences and exacerbated by feelings of guilt. Findings indicate that the impact of the trauma may be mediated (positively or negatively) by the child's…

Explores issues in the relation between love attitudes and age. Results indicate that the factor structure of responses to the Love Attitudes Scale is highly similar in college-aged and middle-age participants, and that age is related to particular responses on certain subscores, especially for females. The data suggests a relation between age and…

Interests denote a relationship between an individual and the environment. A focus on how a person uses an interest helps counselors trace an interest back to its private origins and forward to its expression in occupations. Interest inventories help clients conceptualize needs, values, and their expression. (SK)

This study investigated the relationship between creative interests and dream recall frequency (DRF) by having 44 adults complete dream recall journals as well as a verbal creativity test. Results indicate that persons with both visual and verbal creative skills remember their dreams more. Visual memory may be a mediating variable between…

Counteraggression is discussed as a biological function or survival instinct that escalates violence in schools. Expands Fritz Redl's explanation of underlying reasons why staff dealing with delinquent youth become counteraggressive. Preventing or controlling counteraggressive behavior through analysis of the reasons behind the reaction can help…

Measures of psychological symptoms were administered to 124 sexually abused Latina, African-American, and white girls, aged 6-18. Compared to a standardization sample, subjects had higher depression and anxiety and poorer self-concept. White girls had experienced longer abuse than other subjects, but ethnic groups did not differ in symptom level…

This study of healthy 39-week-old infants, so-called term infants, and chronically stressed 42-week-old infants, so-called postmature infants, showed that sucrose was extremely effective in calming term infants but less effective in calming postmature infants. Results supported the hypothesis that sucrose engages an opioid system in infants. (BG)

Provides a comparative test of two psychological theories concerning the relationship between affect and performance. Used managerial simulations to test whether people with positive dispositions perform better or worse on both decisional and interpersonal tasks. Results support the happier-and-smarter, as opposed to the sadder-but-wiser,…

This study identified potential definitions of psychological abuse by having 381 citizens and 452 social workers rate vignettes of adult behaviors. Nine types of adult behaviors were identified by both groups, including confining a child in a small space, severe public humiliation, severe verbal abuse, threatening a child, and not allowing social…