Three analyses of data from 197 older employees and their spouses identified work and nonwork factors influencing age of retirement. Finances predicted retirement but health and gender did not. Being tired of working and expecting to work for pay after retirement predicted earlier retirement. (SK)

For 288 public sector employees in Britain, advancement prospects were positively related to three career-enhancing strategies: expertise development, self-nomination, and networking. Motivation was positively related to expertise development and self-nomination. Work orientation was positively related to expertise development and networking. (SK)

Considers several avenues for stimulating study of the contextual aspects of career behavior. Reviews literature covering career barriers, a conceptually relevant construct, from the perspective of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT); advocates for the study of contextual supports as well as barriers; and proposes additional context-focused…

Examines the extent to which assertiveness and related social skills, personal competence, and refusal efficacy predict alcohol involvement in adolescents. Males were at higher risk for poor refusal skills and reported higher alcohol involvement. Youth characterized by poor social skill development reported lower refusal efficacy, lower grades,…

Examines the use of rank-in-class (RIC) in the college admission process. Reviews the changes occurring in education that have an effect on RIC. Discusses the advantages of using RIC as a predictor of college success. (MKA)

Utilizes survey responses from 2178 community-dwelling older adults to test the hypothesis that predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics are better predictors of discretionary than nondiscretionary service use. Results generally support the hypothesis, underscoring the importance of need characteristics for least discretionary service use.…

Assesses variables associated with increased severity of depressive symptoms among 321 informal caregivers of demented subjects living in the community identified by a Canadian national population-based survey. Measures included patient and caregiver demographics variables, patient behavioral disturbance, activities of daily living and cognitive…

Assesses the relative contributions of social support and interest-occupation congruence in job satisfaction and tenure. Congruence predicted 13% of the variance in job satisfaction for men while social support accounted for 10% of the variance in job satisfaction for women. Neither congruence nor social support predicted tenure. (Contains 35…

Adolescent offenders (N=106) completed the High Risk Situations Questionnaire for Youth Offenders, an instrument designed to assess the self-reported importance of various antecedents to a past, highly salient offense. Results show that delinquency factor scores were significantly higher for property offenders, whereas aggression factor scores…

College students (n=209) completed the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy (CDMSE) Scale, Self-Reliance Inventory, and Work Preferences Scale. Counterdependence (distancing) was negatively related to CDMSE. Self-reliance, work preference, and gender variables were significant predictors of CDMSE. (Contains 27 references.) (SK)

Preliminary findings from a longitudinal study of 32 preschool children who stutter and 32 nonstuttering controls reveal 4 subgroups: (1) persistent stuttering; (2) late recovery; (3) early recovery; and (4) control. Comparative data for the groups regarding frequency of disfluency, acoustic features, phonologic skills, language development,…

Thirty-five substance abusing adolescents completed a cigarette-focused intervention and were followed-up on at three months post-treatment. Six were abstinent from smoking at follow-up, while 17 had attempted cessation. Duration of smoking and intentions to quit predicted cessation attempts. Smoking cessation had no negative effect on substance…

Evaluates risk factors in African American adolescent suicide attempters (n=51) and nonsuicidal (n=124) adolescents. Results show that threat of separation from a parental figure, insomnia, neglect, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, and failing grades were the strongest predictors of suicide attempt. Unexpected findings include high levels of…

Examines several factors that are hypothesized to influence the perceptual congruence of organization members (extent to which members agree on their perceptions of the organization's social structure). Proposes that employees' congruence on the organization's social structure is influenced by similarities in formal structure, demographic…

This study attempted to predict spelling errors of 222 children (grades 4-6) from their performance on pseudohomophone choice and rhyme matching tasks. Analysis showed that both accurate and rapid choice of pseudohomophones sounding like real words and rhyme matching contributed substantially to variations in spelling. (Contains extensive…