Incongruent Teen Pregnancy Attitudes,Coparenting Conflict,and Support Among Mexican‐Origin Adolescent Mothers

The current longitudinal study examined whether differences between Mexican‐origin adolescent mothers and their mother figures (N = 204 dyads) in attitudes on the status attained through teen pregnancy were associated with conflict in their coparenting relationship and whether coparenting conflict was associated with adolescent mothers' perceptions of social support. Findings revealed that when adolescents held more positive attitudes than their mother figures about the status gained through teen pregnancy, they tended to report greater coparenting conflict with their mother figures. Furthermore, greater coparenting conflict was significantly associated with decreases in adolescents' perceptions of social support (i.e., emotional, instrumental, companion support) 1 year later. Findings underscore the importance of incongruent attitudes and the quality of coparenting relationships between adolescent mothers and their mother figures in relation to support processes. Findings are discussed with respect to understanding Mexican‐origin adolescent mothers' social support in the context of family subsystem attitudes and interactions.     

Emergent Intraverbal Forms may Occur as a Result of Listener Training for Children with Autism

The purpose of the present study was to assess whether intraverbal behavior, in the form of answers to questions, emerges as a result of listener training for five children diagnosed with autism. Listener responses were targeted and taught using prompting and differential reinforcement. Following successful acquisition of listener responses, the intraverbal form of the response was probed. Data were evaluated via a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design that included a control series. Results showed listener-to-intraverbal transfer for four of the five participants. One participant required additional teaching that involved tacting the items selected during listener training.

     

Examining First Date Goals across Different Types of Date Initiation

Abstract

Individual goals for first dates are examined in the context of requesting the first date, accepting a first date request, going on a blind date, and going on a group date in a sample of 211 college students. Results indicate that first dates are more likely to be group dates than blind dates or requested dates and those individuals on blind dates and group dates are less likely to endorse goals of having sex or investigating romantic potential than those who request or accept the first date. Results are considered using error management theory, cognitive valence theory, and stage models of relationships. The differences that emerge across the type of date initiation indicate the type of date initiation and are important in addressing courtship.     

Seeking Help from Clergy Among Black Caribbeans in the United States

This study examined use of clergy for serious personal problems within a representative sample of US black Caribbean adults from the National Survey of American Life. Logistic regression analysis was used and confirmed the importance of problem type, church involvement, and nativity as correlates of clergy use. Findings for black Caribbeans indicate similarities, as well as important departures from prior research on the correlates of clergy assistance among African Americans. These and other findings confirm the position of black Caribbeans as a distinctive ethnic subgroup within the general black population in the United States.     

The clinical e-mail explosion

The computer is transforming patient-physician communication. Physicians are already using electronic mail (e-mail) in physician-to-physician consultation, medical journal dissemination, and hospital-physician communication. This article addresses the value of e-mail for patient-physician communication. It explores the nature of this electronic medium, outlines published guidelines, delineates expected benefits and potential complications, and proposes how to incorporate e-mail into health information systems. This article is designed to help guide clinicians and health care delivery organizations in the use of e-mail with patients to enhance rather than complicate the provider-patient relationship. Unique advantages of e-mail in the clinical setting include: the ability to offer routine transactions and patient education; increased efficiency; the self-documenting nature of this medium; cost-effectiveness; and serving as a clinical extender.     

Consumer participation in the employment rehabilitation process: contextual factors and implications for practice

Rehabilitation models of practice have emerged that offer persons' with disabilities opportunities to have an active role in the work entry or re(entry) process. Despite the growth and interest in empowering client involvement in practice, consumer views on the determinants of participation are not fully understood. Thus, consumer feedback on using a self-directed approach to employment rehabilitation was elicited to identify factors integral to their participation in the process. Focus groups were conducted with 35 adult consumers with developmental, mental health, physical and learning disabilities to gain insights into their involvement in a participatory approach to find employment. Content analysis of data revealed barriers and facilitators, which hindered or enabled consumer involvement in the vocational service process. This article discusses the importance of considering issues across the rehabilitation system, practice and lived contexts when implementing participatory approaches in vocational rehabilitation settings.     

Identity-based planning of prices and quantities: Cambridge and neoclassical models for Brazil

The paper uses two extensions of standard “sources of growth” analysis to develop price-endogenous medium term planning models for Brazil. The model constructed on the basis of neoKeynesian (or Cambridge, England) assumptions is shown to describe Brazilian growth and distribution changes in the 1960s better than the alternative neoclassical model. In forecasting exercises for the 1970s, both models point to a trade-off between increased inflation and a higher labor share. The neoclassical variant suggests that potential balance of payments difficulties can be offset by opportune devaluation, but the Cambridge results are much less optimistic. Current events suggest that this pessimistic view may be closer to the mark.     

Stability of attributes of positive functioning and of developmental assets among African American adolescent male gang and community-based organization members

An analysis is presented of the longitudinal stability over the course of a year of characteristics of positive functioning and of individual and ecological developmental assets, among African American male youth involved in gangs or in community-based organizations (CBOs) serving youth. Evidence is provided for the potential of positive youth development among both groups of adolescents.     

A consistent nonparametric density estimator for the deconvolution problem

The problem of nonparametric estimation of a probability density function when the sample observations are contaminated with random noise is studied. A particular estimator f?_n(x) is proposed which uses kernel-density and deconvolution techniques. The estimator f?_n(x) is shown to be uniformly consistent, and its appearance and properties are affected by constants M_n and h_n which the user may choose. The optimal choices of M_n and h_n depend on the sample size n, the noise distribution, and the true distribution which is being estimated. Particular selections for M_n and h_n which minimize upper-bound functions of the mean squared error for f?_n(x) are recommended.