Proactive Parenting and Children's Effortful Control: Mediating Role of Language and Indirect Intervention Effects

We examined associations of proactive parenting, child verbal ability, and child effortful control within the context of a randomized prevention trial focused on enhancing parenting practices in low‐income families. Participants (N = 731) were assessed annually from the age of two to five, with half randomly assigned to the Family Check‐Up (FCU). Results indicated that the child's verbal ability at the age of three partially mediated the influence of proactive parenting at the age of two on children's effortful control at the age of five. More importantly, the FCU indirectly facilitated children's effortful control by sequentially improving proactive parenting and children's verbal ability. The findings are discussed with respect to taking a more integrative approach to understanding early predictors and the promotion of self‐regulation in early childhood.     

Early and Middle Adolescents' Reasoning About Moral and Personal Concerns in Opposite‐sex Interactions

This study examined how adolescents coordinate personal and moral concerns in reasoning about opposite‐sex interactions. Sixty‐four early and middle adolescents (Ms = 12.74, 16.05 years) were individually interviewed about two hypothetical situations involving opposite‐sex interactions (commenting on appearance, initiating a date), presented in four conditions that varied the salience of personal vs. moral concerns. Overall, participants viewed opposite‐sex interactions as harmless and acceptable in personal conditions, but as moral concerns became more salient, they were viewed more negatively, as less contingent on the target's response, and as entailing humiliation, coercion, and victimization. Age differences occurred primarily in reasoning about conditions entailing mixed‐personal and moral concerns. Implications for adolescents' understanding of harassment and victimization are discussed.     

Reactions to interperson distance and topic intimacy: A comparison of strangers and friends

An experiment was conducted to test certain theoretical predictions derived from theories proposed by Hall (1966) and by Sundstrom and Altman (1976). Forty-five opposite-sex pairs discussed either a high, medium, or low intimacy topic while standing facing each other at either an intimate (30 cm), personal (60 cm), or social (165 cm) interperson distance. Following discussion, participants rated their reactions to the interperson distance on several dimensions. The results provided no support for the hypothesis, inferred from Hall's theory, that subjects would prefer an interperson distance that corresponded to topic intimacy. Ratings of feelings about the interpersondistance revealed a nonlinear relationship between rated feelings and interperson distance that is partially in accord with expectations derived from Sundstrom and Altman's theory, although there were some inconsistent findings.     

The Training of Receptionists

The role of the receptionist in the intake/therapeutic process has been largely ignored in the literature. However this role has been demonstrated in practice to have considerable importance. On the one hand an administrative position, the receptionist in a counselling agency is also required to talk with and to some extent “manage” people in crisis, elicit some information and yet not get into the client's request in detail. It is argued that because of these additional, specialised, potentially stressful tasks, the role and training of receptionists in counselling agencies should be reconsidered. Given the recent introduction of the Training Guarantee Legislation (1990), the welfare sector now has the opportunity to re-assess carefully the training and support needs of reception staff with a view to improving the counselling service as a whole.     

Turkey and the European Union: Modernizing a Traditional State?

This paper discusses the difficulties encountered when reforms are attempted to the administration of public policy in Turkey. This discussion is timely, since Turkey has recently stepped up its modernization agenda in its drive to gain membership of the European Union. The paper briefly examines the political and administrative structure of Turkey before discussing the influence of the EU on the country's modernization agenda.     

THE LIFE-CYCLE LABOR SUPPLY OF MARRIED WOMEN AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR HOUSEHOLD INCOME INEQUALITY

In a life-cycle model of married womens' labor supply the husband's expected lifetime income should have a greater effect on his wife's labor supply than should his current income. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics data, the husband's average lifetime income (over the panel years) does have a greater negative income effect than current income. However, this income effect has declined over time: the labor supply of wives is becoming less sensitive to their husbands' incomes. This declining elasticity would cause household income inequality to worsen over time, but has been offset by other factors.     

Workplace discrimination and traumatic brain injury: the national EEOC ADA research project

Using the Integrated Mission System of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the employment discrimination experience of Americans with traumatic brain injury is documented. Researchers compare and contrast the key dimensions of workplace discrimination involving Americans with traumatic brain injury and persons with other physical, sensory, and neurological impairments. Specifically, the researchers examine demographic characteristics of the charging parties; the industry designation, location, and size of employers against whom complaints are filed; the nature of discrimination (i.e., type of adverse action) alleged to occur; and the outcome or resolution of the investigations. Findings indicate that persons with traumatic brain injury were more likely to encounter discrimination after obtaining employment as opposed to during the hiring process. They were also more likely to encounter discrimination when they were younger or Caucasian or when employed in the Midwestern or Western United States. Implications are addressed.