South African pupils performed well below the TIMSS international average in 1995 and 1999 and significantly below all other countries (including the other African countries) in the 1999 study. Path analysis, namely Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis, was applied to the South African TIMSS-R data to explore the effect of contextual factors at…

A longitudinal study was used to examine age differences in the role of body mass index (BMI) and sociocultural pressures in predicting changes in body image and strategies to both lose weight and increase muscles among 443 children aged between 8 and 12 years (207 boys, 236 girls) over a 16-month period. The strongest predictors of body image and…

There is increasing interest in using situational judgment tests (SJTs) to supplement traditional student admission procedures. An important unexplored issue is whether students can intentionally distort or fake their responses on SJTs. This study examined the fakability of an SJT of college students' performance. Two hundred ninety-three…

This article reviews research linking a number of temperamental vulnerabilities to the development of severe conduct problems in children. Also reviewed are 2 areas of research that focus on important developmental processes that could mediate the relation between temperament and conduct problems. These processes are the development of emotional…

This study addressed the influence of social capital factors on the first-year persistence of beginning first- and second-generation four-year college students. First-generation students were those students whose parents had never attended college. Second-generation students had at least one parent who attended college. A case was made for…

Objective: To examine the role of expectancies in adolescent smokeless tobacco (ST) use. Methods: Self-report measures of students' ST expectancies, cigarette and ST use, and peer and family tobacco use were collected from a sample of 978 rural high school students. Results: Student expectancy beliefs significantly predicted ST use and intention…

Objectives: To examine the relationship between an aggregate risk score (smoking, drinking, and number of sex partners) and measures of youth assets in a sample of 3439 youth aged 14?18 years. Methods: Linear regression models for African American and white males and females predicted an aggregate risk score. Results: After adjustments, the youth…

From a prospective study of the development of psychopathology, 129 adolescents were identified who transitioned to a new school in ninth grade. The current study examined the contributions of sex, interpersonal and achievement orientations, peer and academic stressors, and their interactions to the prediction of depressive and aggressive symptoms…

The association of mothers' report of the adequacy of family financial resources with African American mothers' and adolescents' depressive symptoms was assessed. Findings for families with male adolescents revealed that mothers' report of the adequacy of families' financial resources was linked to mothers' and adolescents' depressive…

The present study examines the antecedents of burnout and job satisfaction among counselors employed in workplace settings. Workplace counselors face the unique demands of managing dual client relationships (individual and organization) within the counseling setting. Antecedents of the job-related outcomes of burnout and satisfaction are likely to…

Background: Appraisal and coping following a disaster are important factors in children's post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. However, little is known about predictors of disaster coping responses. This study examined stress-load, appraisals and coping styles measured prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks as predictors of 9/11-specific…

Student engagement with faculty members and its relationship to learning was investigated for students of seven different racial/ethnic groups (N = 4,501), yielding small differences by student race/ethnicity. Relationships with faculty were stronger predictors of learning than student background characteristics for all groups, but strongest for…

In this article, we report on a study about the experiences of graduating sociology majors with out-of-class learning opportunities (OOCLO). Research questions included the following: (1) What is the nature of participation in out-of-class learning for our sociology majors? (2) What barriers do students see to engaging in such experiences? (3)…

Immigrants and/or foreign-born workers are entering the American work-force at an increasing rate. Career motivation for these new entrants requires research attention. As this literature review shows, researchers have virtually ignored the expanding immigrant and/or foreign-born worker population. Career motivation differences among international…

The general ("g") factor is the most general and relevant cognitive ability. This factor is considered to be one of the most important predictors of academic achievement and of many other socially relevant behavioral outcomes. In the last decades, many researchers have investigated the possible changes in the relevance of the…