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…

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…

Previous research suggests that self-derogation/rejection and peer factors are strongly related to adolescent substance use. However, much less is known about the role and significance of these risk factors in the escalation of drug use over time. In the current study, we examined whether early reports of self-derogation and peer approval…

To steer a course through the world, people are almost entirely dependent on visual information, of which a key component is optic flow. In many models of locomotion, heading is described as the fundamental control variable; however, it has also been shown that fixating points along or near one's future path could be the basis of an efficient…

Motivation and effort patterns associated with achievement on classroom assessments in middle-school science and social studies were studied with a sample of 223 8th graders in different classroom assessment environments. Classroom assessment environments were characterized by student perceptions of the importance and value of assessment tasks,…

A measure of collective efficacy was developed and administered to undergraduates working in project teams in engineering courses. Findings in each of two samples revealed that the measure contained a single factor and was related to ratings of team cohesion and personal efficacy. Collective efficacy was also found to relate to indicators of team…

The present study examines potential variation in the family environments of African American and Caucasian males and females coming to the attention of the juvenile court. Results of initial analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures indicated a significant Gender x Ethnicity interaction on scores from the family/parenting domain of the Global Risk…

The transition to parenthood is a time of stress for many couples. Most research on the transition to parenthood has been conducted with middle-class, heterosexual couples. The current study uses multilevel modeling to examine predictors of change in relationship quality (love and conflict) during the transition to parenthood in 29 lesbian…

This study examined the contribution of demographic characteristics, early maltreatment, and peer and family relationships during adolescence to the prediction of aggressive and nonaggressive antisocial behavior (AASB and NAASB, respectively) during young adulthood; and determined whether adoption status has additional ability to predict ASB, once…

A non-arbitrary method for the identification and scale setting of latent variables in general structural equation modeling is introduced. This particular technique provides identical model fit as traditional methods (e.g., the marker variable method), but it allows one to estimate the latent parameters in a nonarbitrary metric that reflects the…

The aim of the research was to determine within a single study the extent to which demographic factors, self-rated-health and psychosocial factors present the strongest risks or benefits to older adults' mortality in the course of a 5.9-year longitudinal follow-up. The initial sample of 732 individuals was drawn randomly from the registry listings…

We considered whether positive and stable self-stereotypes of stigmatized group members can influence functioning (in contrast, stereotype threat theory suggests these influential self-stereotypes are limited to ones that are negative and situational). Specifically, we examined older individuals' positive age stereotypes after a life-threatening…

What aspects of emotional competence help protect people from stress, anxiety, and depression, and help to promote positive affect? A total of 163 university students completed a two wave study that involved measuring emotional competence and emotional well-being at 1-year intervals. As expected, Time 1 measures of emotional competence predicted…

This study compares the classification accuracy of linear discriminant analysis (LDA), quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), logistic regression (LR), and classification and regression trees (CART) under a variety of data conditions. Past research has generally found comparable performance of LDA and LR, with relatively less research on QDA and…