Explores relationships between perceived control of life of 375 African-American college students and both specific and general fears of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). African-American students have relatively variable responses, but feeling in control is related to lower levels of specific and general fears of AIDS. (SLD)

Reported stressors and patterns of coping strategies of 484 high school students were studied through their responses on the COPE Inventory and other measures. Results support the measure's internal consistency but suggest significant gender differences and four factors among the subscales. Implications for the instruments' use with adolescents…

The Carolina Longitudinal Learning Disabilities Project identified 42 first- and second-grade students with learning disabilities (LD) and compared their development over 5 years with that of randomly selected peers. Different variables were predictive for the two groups. Teacher perceptions of intelligence, measured intelligence quotient, grade…

Describes levels of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) knowledge, condom use, self-efficacy, and intentions to practice HIV-safe behaviors among 52 young incarcerated African-American males. Although overall knowledge and intent to practice safe sex were moderate, transmission knowledge was low. Peer and subjective norms support condom use. (SLD)

Offers activities for educating middle school students regarding the importance of lifestyle. Activities cover eating patterns, physical exercise, and potentially hazardous behaviors. (MDH)

Explores the ideas of teacher Vivian Paley about social justice in the kindergarten classroom. Reviews her book "You Can't Say You Can't Play." Once kindergartners begin to grapple with questions of rejection and exclusion, Paley extends the debate to older children to encourage schoolwide conversations about justice and democracy. (SLD)

Describes study of Israeli children in grades 4, 5, and 6, ages 9-12, that was conducted to test their perception of deceitful behavior in a situation comedy. The influence of television on children's perceptions of the world and on the acquisition of behavioral patterns is discussed, and understanding characters' motivations is examined. (27…

This study found that siblings (n=19) of severely autistic children, siblings of children with Down's syndrome, and siblings of normal children did not differ on measures of perceived self-competence or parents' report of social competence. Siblings of autistic children had more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems than siblings of…

Describes changes in social behavior of 20 at-risk sixth and seventh graders from a small rural school during the implementation of a sport-education curriculum. Exposure to the curriculum was associated with increased positive peer interaction and accurate self-monitoring by students of their own social interactions. (SLD)

Study of students (n=546) from two colleges found selective college students procrastinated more. Academic procrastination was motivated by task aversion at selective college, by fear of task failure at nonselective college. Nonselective college procrastinators more often used both legitimate and nonlegitimate excuses. Excuses were self-generated…

Studied multigenerational links between maternal history of problem behavior, mother's age at birth of first child, and child conduct disorder in boys. Found that maternal age at first birth was associated with child's conduct disorder, and maternal history of problem behavior was also associated with early maternal age at first birth and the…

A study assessed pharmacy students' perceptions about the importance of learning about health beliefs and behaviors of ethnic minority groups, views on the mechanisms by which such cultural information should be conveyed, and differences in perceptions related to student demography. Students believed this information was important but did not make…

Recent research in psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience has demonstrated reliable associations between temperament and individual differences in sensitivity and responsiveness to environmental cues and behavioral consequences. Temperament-influenced behavior patterns evident in infancy have also been found to predict behavioral tendencies in…

Task persistence, measured by a composite score of independent teacher, tester and observer reports, was examined using behavioral genetic analysis. Participants included 92 monozygotic and 137 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs in Kindergarten or 1st grade (4.3 to 7.9 years old). Task persistence was widely distributed, higher among older children,…

The Sports Behavior Checklist (SBC) is subjected to a principal components analysis, and subscales are correlated with subscales of the Conners' Revised Parent Form and the Social Skills Rating System. Both of these analyses are conducted to determine the construct validity of the instrument. A subsample of lower socioeconomic status individuals…