Rhythm in Mother‐Infant Interactions

Rhythmic behavior and the association of vocal rhythmic behavior with language development were studied in a sample of 30 mother‐infant dyads. Dyads were observed in 2 contexts (1 involved sharing pictures and the other sharing musical toys) when infants were 18 and 24 months of age. Vocal rhythmic behavior was seen in both contexts, and in both contexts mothers matched their infant's vocal rhythmic behavior at greater than chance rates. Greater matching tended to be associated with higher language scores whereas, counter to prediction, higher rates of maternal vocal rhythmic behavior tended to be associated with lower language scores. At 24 months of age, mother‐daughter dyads showed more matching than mother‐son dyads. These results suggest that differences in maternal production of vocal rhythmic behavior may foster different language learning strategies.     

Observed and Reported Psychological and Physical Aggression in Young, At-Risk Couples

The occurrence of observed and reported physical and psychological aggression was examined for young, at-risk mostly unmarried couples using reports from both partners and observational data. It was predicted that males higher in antisocial behavior would be more likely to have an antisocial partner and that antisocial behavior would predict aggression toward the partner. The prevalence of reported physical aggression was comparable to that found for prior studies and was generally higher for the young women than the young men. Observed aggression was significantly associated with reported aggression, and psychological aggression was associated with physical aggression. Assortative partnering by antisocial behavior was found. The young man's aggression toward his partner was predicted particularly by his antisocial behavior, whereas that of the young woman was predicted by depressive symptoms and low self-esteem. Relationship satisfaction was associated with the occurrence of psychological aggression but not of physical aggression.     

The impact of educational efforts on first-year university students' acceptance of meningococcal vaccine

The authors measured the impact of educational efforts on the number of college students who received meningococcal vaccine. First-year Brown University students from the classes of 2004 (n = 1,562) and 2005 (n = 1,518) received educational vaccine materials before they arrived on campus, whereas students from the class of 2003 (n = 1.441) did not. Students in the class of 2003, 13% (n = 184) of whom had received vaccine before their arrival on campus, served as the baseline. These educational efforts by the college health services before students arrived on campus increased the number of students immunized before campus arrival to 46% (n = 724) for the class of 2004, and 60% (n = 913) for the class of 2005. Education about the benefits of meningococcal vaccine before students' arrival on campus increased both the number of immunized students and the overall immunization rate among students.     

Men who use violence: intimate violence versus non-intimate violence profiles

The current study examined the differences between three types of violent men based on Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart's (1994) tripartite typology and a group of non-intimate violent men. First, a cluster analysis was conducted on a sample of 91 domestically violent men, resulting in three clusters that approximated the tripartite model for psychopathology as measured by the MMPI-2, that is, non-pathological, borderline/dysphoric, and antisocial. Based on the violence variables (i.e., severity of violence, family-only violence, and exposure to family of origin violence) only severity of violence approximated what would be expected across the three clusters, that is, the less the psychopathology, the less severe the violence. The other two violence variables had approximate frequencies/percentages of occurrence that would be expected for individual typologies with some but not all three typologies. In comparing the three intimate violent typologies to the non-intimate violent group, the non-intimate and non-pathological groups were within normal limits and did not differ significantly on any of the MMPI-2 scales. These non-intimate and non-pathological groups differed significantly from the antisocial and borderline/dysphoric groups on all the scales that defined the psychopathology of these two groups. On the violence variables, the non-intimate groups reported significantly less severe violence than the borderline/dysphoric and antisocial groups.     

Current treatment of generalized anxiety disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder is the most common anxiety disorder and is second only to depression as the most common disorder diagnosed in primary care. Because it is potentially disabling due to its high comorbidity with other psychiatric conditions, psychiatric nurses must accurately diagnose GAD and formulate individualized treatment plans that promote positive outcomes for clients with this disorder.     

Role stress among Canadian white-collar workers

The incidence of various stressors at work and outside work was examined in a group of public service workers with a large Canadian federal government department. Workers were either in clerical, technical and supervisory ('officers'), or management positions. Measures of work stress included role stressors (load, insufficiency, conflict ambiguity and responsibility), as well as stress due to the physical environment. Both life events and daily hassles were included as measures of non-work stress. The consequences of stress were considered in terms of vocational, psychological, interpersonal, and physical strain, as well as in terms of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Potential moderators of stress included social support and self-esteem. Among work stressors conflict, ambiguity and insufficiency were the more closely associated with vocational outcomes. MANCOVA followed by discriminant function analysis showed that clerical workers were distinguished by higher levels of insufficiency, officers by higher levels of conflict and the lowest levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and managers by higher levels of perceived responsibility for others. The results are discussed in terms of social role theory.     

Educational Attainment and Stability in Long-Term Foster Care

SUMMARY. This paper explores the relationship between the reading attainment of a group of 8–14 year olds in long-term foster care and factors in their histories and current home environments. The findings suggest that children's early histories before entry to care may have an effect on their educational attainment in middle childhood. Some amelioration of early childhood experience may be found in a stable foster home placement which has an expectation of permanence. The type of permanent placement seems less important than the expectation of stability. There was no difference in progress between children where the eventual outcome might be adoption or custodianship and those who would remain foster children. Of especial interest was the fact that the foster children's educational attainment was not related either positively or negatively to contact with their birth parents.