Examined peer influence for 1,969 adolescents across 5 risk behaviors: smoking, alcohol consumption, marijuana use, tobacco chewing, and sexual debut. Results show that a random same-sex peer predicts a teen's risk behavior initiation through influence to initiate cigarette and marijuana use, and influence to initiate and stop alcohol and chewing…

A study of behavior patterns, actions, and habits that contribute to older adults falling in public places identified such factors as lack of familiarity, health, overexertion, environmental influences/hazards, eyesight and mobility behaviors, and pace. Prevention interventions should employ strategies that actively engage adults in critical…

Studied the organization of the behaviors involved in the development of prehension by 80 infants of 1-8 months. Four types of behavior patterns that occurred at different periods were found to constitute the development of prehension. (BG)

Data provide strong evidence that studies of stress and cortisol release in infants must take into account basal level, circadian rhythm, and behavioral effects and employ appropriate statistical procedures. Participants were infants of two, four, and six months of age from whom salivary cortisol was obtained before and 15 minutes after an…

Introduces Family Behavior Loop Mapping as diagraming method for wet and dry repetitive behavior cycles of substance abusers. Explains family wet/dry behavior cycles as changes in family function corresponding to abuser shifts from active use (wet) to abstinence (dry). (Author/CM)

Specifies parameters of adolescent girls in distress in terms of behavioral and personality features. Discusses main characteristics of adolescents, females, and those in social distress. Develops an integrative theoretical model that illustrates uniqueness of this group and its problems. Concludes that needs of this group require establishment of…

The ability of three-year-old children to deceive was examined in order to determine whether they were able to hide their emotional expression intentionally. Results indicated that very young children have begun the process of learning how to mask their emotional expressions and support the role of socialization in this process. (RH)

Manifest discrete time and latent Markov chain models are described, and the results given by each are compared for the re-analysis of a three-wave table of repeated behavior ratings of children. More recent developments in latent discrete time Markov chain modeling address the problems of the table more efficiently. (SLD)

A longitudinal study of leisure participation and motivation revealed that sports/recreation, unstructured leisure activities, domestic, organizational, and intellectual activities showed significant five-year stability coefficients. Motivations for leisure activities--achievement, supervising others, social interaction, creativity, physical and…

The case study of a nine-year-old boy with autism suggested that his frequent repeated utterance "can I talk" served important social and communicative functions for the child who used the phrase as a compensatory strategy to ensure predictability within conversational exchanges while maintaining social interactions. (DB)

Investigates the influence of several factors on accuracy in detecting truth and deceit. Found that accuracy was much higher on truth than deception, novices were more accurate than experts, accuracy depended on type of deception and whether suspicion was present or absent, suspicion impaired accuracy for experts, and questions strategy…

The dendritic structure of layer II-III pyramidal neurons of the parietal cortex in 41 Long-Evans rats was compared to behavioral assessments of attention to novelty, response flexibility, and reasoning. A significant correlation between dendritic arborization and behavioral performance was not demonstrated. (SLD)

Sees research on Type A behavior as plagued by inadequate theory, insensitive assessment, and insufficient interventions. Discusses conceptual models (transactional model, social cognitive theories, and associative network theory); questions view of hostility as only pathogenic feature of Type A behavior; and describes ethnographic gap in Type A…

Discusses issues to consider when investigating behavioral effect of foods, including idiosyncratic response to particular food, necessity of identifying individual sensitive to food being studied, necessity of including washout phase, consideration of withdrawal effects, assessment of change, dietary challenge, and time parameter necessary for…

Critically reviews data about the behavioral characteristics of mentally retarded sexual offenders. Discusses possible interactions between mental retardation and the provision of services and directions for future research. (Author)