Examined the negative impact of economic hardship on a spouse's marital instability in White, middle-class couples (N=76). The results indicated economic pressures had an indirect association with married couples' evaluation of the marriage by promoting hostility in marital interactions and curtailing the warm and supportive behaviors spouses…

Identifies metacommunication strategies with which preschool children negotiate meanings during dramatic play. Finds behaviors ranging from those which overtly expose the play frame to those which operate within the play frame. Proposes a system of implicit rules, indigenous to the child culture, which guide choice of strategy. (SR)

Investigates whether social perceivers who have been trained to detect deception from behavioral cues are more accurate in judging social actors' veracity than untrained social perceivers. Finds that such training enhances social perceivers' detection deception accuracy, particularly for males judging trained communicator/deceivers. (SR)

Investigated personality styles, concerns, and behaviors of depressed adolescents using Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI). Data from 332 high school students on Beck Depression Inventory and MAPI were reduced to 2 factors accounting for 65.1 percent of total variance, the first suggesting socially withdrawn, overtly recognizable…

Explores bereavement of persons who have experienced death of a close friend. Used 12 open-ended interviews with and 23 essays by college students in first study and a mutual support group in the second study. Findings indicated parallel survivor-friend and family member bereavement patterns. (Author/ABL)

Results suggest that the most adaptive course of action for children may be to be responsive to environmental demands and interpersonal constraints. In the study, the patterns of compliance of 31 children of 18 months, 32 children of 24 months, and 36 children of 30 months, and their mothers and fathers were observed in five situations. (RH)

In a random national sample of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), religious commitment had the strongest direct effect on religious behavior, while belief (orthodoxy), personal community relationships, and religious socialization produced indirect effects. Education and female gender were positively related to religious behavior. Contains 58 references…

The study examined whether classroom context cues in videotapes showing a nonhandicapped and a learning disability expectancy would affect evaluation bias of 80 elementary-school teachers. Results suggest that teachers hold initial biases about the behavior of learning-disabled students but take into account the classroom context when rating…

Examined the correspondence between the roles of family and work figures, using 10 adults who had at least one year experience in their jobs. Results support the view that in working, people reenact roles and dramas from their families of origin, but these results must be regarded as tentative and promising. (ABL)

The Excellent Principal Inventory is a unique evaluation instrument that enables principals to obtain confidential performance feedback from superiors, peers, and teachers. Five research-based commitments (to student success, teaching and learning, the school staff, innovation, and leadership) reflect the values and behaviors developed for the…

Investigates behavioral characteristics of 223 runaway and homeless youth who sought services from programs in New York. Results suggest that behavioral indicators of maltreatment can be observed among runaway and homeless youth. Indicators vary as a function of gender, maltreatment, and reasons for seeking assistance. (RJC)

Basketball experts (N=28) responded to "rule- and norm-related behavior" questionnaire, assessing crisis relevance of behaviors which were against rules of situation and were either fair or unfair, called or not called by officials. Results revealed that officials' calls and fairness of violations substantially influenced diagnostic…

The structure of adaptive behavior as a function of age and handicap status was investigated with 288 mentally retarded persons and nonretarded controls. Exploratory analysis of the subscale scores from the Scales of Independent Behavior revealed a large Adaptive or Personal Independence dimension and smaller Academic, Personal Responsibility, and…

The relationship between abnormal stereotyped behaviors and abnormal focused affections was examined in 20 children (ages 7-13) with developmental disabilities. Results include all children with abnormal focused affections exhibited stereotypes; abnormal focused affects could be studied reliably in this population through several methodologies;…

Prosecuting and defense attorneys across Indiana were surveyed concerning the acceptability of specific behaviors associated with child abuse. Among respondents (n=154) prosecutors had more severe judgments than defense attorneys on 32 of the 42 behaviors. Cognitive dissonance theory is proposed as an explanation for these findings. (Author/DB)