Discusses the uniquely intense stress in Japan due to the "Examination Hell" which contributes to a high rate of young suicide. The social structural factors are analyzed in terms of weak ego; restraint on aggression; lack of social resources; and views of life, death, and suicide. (Author)

A survey of 295 college students and 116 faculty investigated perceptions of how professor behavior contributes to an improved student-professor relationship, focusing on four dimensions of the relationship: fairness; caring and individual attention; flexibility and open-mindedness; and trust and credibility. Results varied by gender and major,…

Describes a course on social and personality development in which students wrote term papers about 10 aspects of child and adolescent development depicted in an animated film of their choice. Students had to provide two examples of each aspect from the films. Student response to the assignment was generally favorable. (MJP)

Two focus groups of high-risk inner-city African-American and Caucasian adolescent girls (15 to 16 years old) were organized to explore issues related to sexual decision making. Transcripts of the groups were reviewed for recurrent themes and viewpoints. Verbatim examples are presented. Participants reported pressures to have sex and a lack of…

Researchers examined relationships between generative teaching and elementary student teachers' social maturity, receptivity to criticism, and ability to incorporate criticism, comparing more and less effective subjects. Effective teaching was found to be strongly related to ability to use generative teaching principles and to subjects' social…

Many women of low socioeconomic status who have contracted HIV qualify for individual, dual, and multiple psychiatric diagnoses that predate their knowledge of their HIV infection. Earlier intervention addressing these problems might have prevented the onset of psychiatric disorders as well as high-risk behaviors that lead to HIV infection. (FC)

Describes a study that used qualitative analysis to determine the scope and interjudge agreement of personality information communicated to computer-using classroom teachers through three types of children's drawings: freehand, graphics tablet, and Logo. Children's drawings as psychological assessment tools are discussed and gender, age, learning…

Replicates the Asch conformity experiment (two participants pretend to misjudge a shorter line for a longer one in an attempt to influence a third participant) and applies it to 110 school children ages 3 to 17. Indicates that conformity decreases with age in perceptually ambiguous tasks. (MJP)

The special needs of young adults with concurrent mental health and substance abuse problems are discussed. This article presents federal initiatives and research findings, and describes state-of-the-art approaches to treatment and rehabilitation. Strategies for training mental health professionals to diagnose and treat dually disabled persons are…

The study examined the antecedents and correlates of general life satisfaction as reported by 108 gifted and talented young women. Results of the six-year longitudinal analyses supported the predicted centrality of instrumental self perception to social self esteem, occupational confidence, and general life satisfaction. (Author/DB)

Reports on a study of the effects of culture, gender, and age on interpersonal distance, body orientation, and touch among 381 same-sex and mixed-sex dyads in 7 nations. Finds that more touch was observed among Italian and Greek dyads than among English, French, and Dutch dyads. (CFR)

Reports a six-year study of explicit references to young children's small physical stature in an Australian newspaper. Suggests that when newspaper representations of children and childhood are examined for their focus on children's diminutive size, two conflicting themes emerge: endearment versus depreciation. Suggests that these size-value…

In case studies of four nine-year-old Hungarian children with high intellectual potential, this study analyzed the sociocultural, environmental, and family-connected factors and the motivational and personality traits responsible for the decrease of intellectual potential in some children. (SW)

This study investigated achievement motivation based on a survey of 63 Latina women (43 doctoral graduates and 20 completers of doctoral coursework) and interviews with 10 of the women. Results indicated varying strengths in intrinsic achievement motives of mastery, work, competitiveness, and personal unconcern; low levels of sex-role…

Examined whether children of alcoholic mothers were more psychologically damaged than children of nonalcoholic mothers. The subject families' potential for creating a good upbringing environment and subjects' childhoods were studied. Found that children of alcoholic mothers develop social maladjustment problems and addictions, and have a high rate…