E. Roskam's (1985) conjecture that steeper item characteristic curve (ICC) "a" parameters (slopes) (and higher item total correlations in classical test theory) would be found with more concretely worded test items was tested with results from 925 young adults on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (H. Eysenck and S. Eysenck, 1975).…

The relation of the general factor of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) to several response set and personality measures and the circumplex structure was studied with 105 and 1,093 undergraduates. Results support the general factor of the IIP as having a substantial nonbiasing interpretation and indicative of general interpersonal…

Two studies examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between adolescents' aggression, victimization, and high status. Findings indicated that both provocateurs and targets of reputational aggression had high levels of peer-perceived popularity. Proactive aggression was also associated with high popularity, while reactive aggression was…

This study compared mortality data and causes of death in a sample of 908 abused and/or neglected individuals and 667 matched controls followed for 25 years into young adulthood. The study found no significant differences in rates of mortality for the two groups and victims of child abuse and neglect were not more likely to experience a violent…

Investigates the extent to which attitudes, family, and environmental correlates are associated with the escalation from nonviolent to violent offending among incarcerated youths. Beliefs that power equates safety and a violent home environment were salient in understanding escalation in offending behavior, and prior criminal victimization was…

Forty-nine foster children with behavioral problems who were referred to therapy were compared to 19 normal children in foster care. Results found that the age of the child when placed in care, the number of placements, and the type of placement affected the need for therapy. (CR)

This meta-analysis of research on reference service evaluation discusses how often the same variables are examined, to what extent the observed correlations agreed or differed, and whether the results of multiple studies (59 studies listed) can be combined to obtain a more accurate estimate of the strength of association for a variable with…

The reliability of a gain is determined by the reliabilities of the components, the correlation between them, and their standard deviations. Reliability is not inherently low, but the components of gains in many investigations make low reliability likely and require caution in the use of gain scores. (SLD)

The critiques by L. Collins and L. Humphreys in this issue illustrate problems with the use of gain scores. Collins' examples show that familiar formulas for the reliability of differences do not reflect the precision of measures of change. Additional examples demonstrate flaws in the conventional approach to reliability. (SLD)

Self-report drug use data were collected from 282 female alternative school students. Logistic regression analyses indicated that sexual abuse history was significantly associated with lifetime use. While the relationships tested in this study are exploratory, they provide evidence for an important connection between sexual abuse and substance use…

Used a genetic design to investigate association between physical aggression and language development in 19-month-old twins. Found a modest but significant correlation between aggression and expressive vocabulary. Substantial heritability was found for physical aggression. Quantitative genetic modeling suggested that the correlation could not be…

Used data from a statewide sample of 5,870 eighth graders in California to examine the correlates of smoking prevalence estimates. Best friends' smoking accounted for the largest proportion of the variance in prevalence estimates. Smoking by peers may give adolescents the impression that smoking is more normative and prevalent than it actually is.…

Studied the relationships between two real time dynamic decision making tasks (microworlds) and one intelligence test with 100 Swedish adults. Raven's Progressive Matrices scores were a predictor of success in the two microworlds. Discusses methodological problems with microworlds. (SLD)

Teachers in three day care programs completed temperament questionnaires and behavior problem checklists for 133 preschoolers. Results indicated that correlations between temperament and behavior problem variables were generally higher for boys than for girls. (BG)

Used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine relationship between welfare and teenage out-of-wedlock childbearing in the 1979-84 period. The results indicated a relationship between welfare policy and out-of-wedlock childbearing for White and Black, but not for Hispanic, adolescents, although the evidence was not strong…