Discusses study that examined the relationship between age, education, sex, and household income, and attitudes toward computers. An eight-item Likert scale, which was developed to measure the attitudes (the Computer Orientation Scale) is described, and the findings are reported, i.e., age and education had direct effects on computer attitudes. (5…

Describes the development of the Media Specialist Stress Inventory (MSSI), designed to examine the degree to which stress variables can be used to predict burnout levels of school library media specialists. The results of tests of the reliability and validity of the MSSI are presented and discussed. (31 references) (CLB)

A study of 92 medical students found that critical thinking skills, as measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, were moderately predictive of academic success during the preclinical years of medical education. (Author/MSE)

Data from the National Institute for Mental Health's Epidemiologic Catchment Areas Survey followed 7,103 parents who denied physical abuse/neglect of their children in Wave I but admitted it in Wave II, 1 year later. Social and demographic variables were limited predictors of maltreatment, while substance abuse disorders and depression were…

A longitudinal study examined predictive relations among sociometric status, aggression, and adolescent childbearing; the relation among peer status, aggression, and multiple births; and whether these variables are related to the timing of adolescent childbearing. Results suggest that controversial peer status and aggression predict adolescent…

Studied the influence of parenting, personality, and school adjustment on early adolescent substance use in 1,023 middle school students. Findings indicate similarity in etiology of early adolescent substance use across gender and ethnicity; the importance of examining multiple domains of influence on adolescent substance use; and the need to…

Examined Swedish children's inhibition behavior using mothers' and psychologists' ratings of inhibition at age 18 and 24 months to predict later ratings through age 16 years. Prediction was more reliable for children rated as very inhibited or very uninhibited than for those in nonextreme group through age six. Only for inhibited girls did early…

Hypothesized that individual differences in 81 sixth-grade boys' self-restraint would serve as a mediator between family factors in preadolescence and sons' delinquent behavior 4 years later. General family functioning at preadolescence, independent of other scores, predicted boys' level of self-restraint four years later. (MDM)

Determined whether there are developmental precursors to accidents and resulting physical impairment. Data collected at ages 8 and 14 (147 males and 142 females) were related to the number of types of accidents and impairment by the age of 27. Accidents and impairment were most frequent among individuals whose behavior had been characterized by…

Narrative features of the life stories of child abuse survivors (n=23) and nonvictimized college student respondents (n=23) were compared. Narratives of survivors differed from the comparison group in both relative emphasis on the past versus present/future and on others rather than self. An emphasis on others by child abuse survivors emerged as…

A multicausal model of adolescent homelessness was tested in 54 homeless adolescents and 58 controls. The homeless adolescents were found to be significantly more deprived emotionally, socially, and culturally than the controls. Subjects reported a lack of parental warmth, care, and support; unstimulating family environments; high levels of family…

A cross-sectional design with equivalent measures involving 200 college students and 325 high school students investigated the rates of depression reported by college males and females relative to those reported by high school students, as well as variables explaining shifts. Lower depression levels are found in college females. (SLD)

A cross-validation study is reported in which personality and cognitive ability variables were evaluated as predictors of 2 separate performance criteria for 450 Master of Business Administration students. Personality variables are found to be related to academic success when characteristic modes of behavior play a role in academic performance.…

A model of roll call voting by House members on the Family and Medial Leave Act (FMLA) of 1990 was tested. Found that support for the FMLA was tied to a range of dispositional and contextual demand variables: conservatism, presidential support, etc. The model accurately predicted 90% of the votes. (RJM)

Videorecorded stimuli were used to assess social information processing patterns in 3 domains (peer group entry, response to provocation, and response to authority directive) in 259 first, second, and third graders. Teacher and peer ratings of behavior competence supported the hypothesis that children's behavioral competence is a function of…