What Works for Whom,How and under What Circumstances? Testing Moderated Mediation of Intervention Effects on Externalizing Behavior in Children

In this study, we investigate whether changes in child social cognitive functioning and parenting are the mechanisms through which an individually delivered real‐world child intervention, Stay Cool Kids, aimed at preventing externalizing problem behavior in high‐risk elementary school children, induces changes in child behavior. Moreover, we tested whether mediation was moderated by child characteristics (gender and personality). The sample consisted of 264 fourth‐grade children displaying externalizing behavior (TRF t‐score > 60). Forty‐eight schools were randomly assigned to the intervention or no‐intervention control condition. The results of mediation analyses provided evidence for child positive self‐perception and maternal involvement as working mechanisms of the intervention. Child personality factor extraversion moderated the mediating effect of involvement whereas no moderated mediation was found for gender. Working mechanisms of the intervention differ for children with different personality characteristiscs.     

NO ROOM FOR ABUSE

In Canada, media reports on health care tend to focus on the high costs of the health care system; reporting privileges the economic aspects of this social service. In the Canadian system, long-term care or chronic care is a type of service that is situated within the health care system. Long-term care institutions typically house older individuals who have lost a significant amount of autonomy and require constant care. Until recently, the services dispensed within these institutions were unseen by the media, and thus the public did not reflect much on these services. The publication of the Report of the Royal Commission on the Future on Health Care in Canada in 2002 has fostered a growing public awareness of the vulnerability of older individuals and those with chronic illnesses, and their relationship with their care-givers. Although it may be the case that the typical care for such persons in these situations is now emerging from a zone of invisibility, it is uncertain that the media coverage accurately portrays the realities of institutionalized care-giving. This essay examines the care practices in long-term care institutions in order to understand the processes at work in an environment in which care is commodified. The ‘area’ in which this caring labour is located is an area where constant moral compromise can create a climate where abuse can become endemic. This paper considers these environments and the potential for abuse in them in relation to the concept of ‘grey zone’, first formulated by Primo Levi and later adapted by Giorgio Agamben and Claudia Card, as well as in relation to the related concept ‘bare life’, also formulated by Agamben. The author argues that the ‘greyness’ produced by care practices that are bound to a cost-effective and task-oriented framework create an environment that is not conducive to proper moral behaviour.     

A Review of the Racial Biases of Social Welfare Policies

Social welfare policies are crucial in advancing the well-being of individuals, yet they recreate the social disadvantage they attempt to ameliorate. Notably, these policies have perpetuated racial inequality in our society by implicitly or explicitly disadvantaging certain groups. This paper presents a review of the biases of social welfare policies. Using components of social construction and critical race theories, this paper highlights the ways the design and implementation of policies are racially bias. Among the policies it examines are mothers' pension, Social Security Act, and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act.     

Emoticons und Personenwahrnehmung: Der Einfluss von Emoticons auf die Einschätzung unbekannter Kommunikationspartner in der Online-Kommunikation

Text-based computer-mediated communication is a daily experience in social as well as work-related communication. Enriching text messages with emoticons to convey emotions or non-verbal communication aspects can provide the recipients with important background information. However, it’s still not well understood how impression formation takes place in text-based computer-mediated communication. This study investigated how using emoticons influences the perception of communication partners in anonymous computer-mediated communication settings. In an online experiment (N?=?50) participants rated communication partners, who used emoticons in the experimental condition and did not use emoticons in the control condition, on the following dimensions: Openness, Friendliness, Warmth, Sense of Humor, and Respectability. Furthermore, they guessed the senders’ sex. Results show medium to strong effects on the dimensions “Warmth” and “Friendliness”: Senders using emoticons received higher ratings on these dimensions. Methodical limitations and implications for further research are discussed.     

Seasonal work and sexual behaviour

This research investigates the sexual behaviour and patterns of contraceptive use among seasonal workers temporarily employed at holiday centres in the south of England. Respondents were interviewed in depth at the beginning of the 1996 summer work season, and reinterviewed 5 months later toward the end of the season. This longitudinal methodology enabled changes in sexual behaviour and attitudes during the summer to be identified. The findings show marked changes in the social and sexual behaviour of seasonal workers when at a holiday centre, in particular an increase in the number of sexual partners, casual sex, and sexual risk‐taking behaviour. Seasonal workers showed the same patterns of contraceptive use as those of young people in the general population. Indeed there was no change in their contraceptive behaviour while at the holiday centre even though, for many, their sexual behaviour had changed significantly. Young people working at a holiday centre for the first time were shown to be at greatest risk of experiencing unsafe sex. The evidence of sexual risk‐taking has important social and health implications in locations which experience an annual influx of young people in seasonal employment.     

Improving College Progress among Low- to Moderate-Income (LMI) Young Adults: The Role of Assets

Little is known about the impact of assets on low- to -moderate-income (LMI) young adults’ college progress. In this study college progress refers to young adults who were currently enrolled in, or who have a degree from, a 2-year college or a 4-year college. Findings from this study suggest LMI young adults with school savings were more than three times as likely to be on course than LMI young adults without any savings or who had savings but had not designated any of it for school. In regard to net worth, we found no evidence to suggest that higher amounts of negative net worth were statistically significant; however, high positive net worth was associated with LMI young adults college progress. Findings suggest policy instruments designed to assist adolescents to save such as universal Child Development Accounts may be a simple and effective strategy for helping to keep LMI young adults on course.     

Contents of Volume 51

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 51     

Adolescents' beliefs about marijuana use: a comparison of regular users, past users and never/occasional users

A questionnaire investigating adolescents' opinions and experiences regarding marijuana use was administered to 163 adolescents and young adults (96 boys and 67 girls) aged 13 to 20 (mean age = 16.8, s.d. = 1.5). Items referred to marijuana and other substances' dangerousness, representations regarding the positive and negative consequences of marijuana use. Responses were compared according to marijuana use status (classified into never/occasional use, current regular use and past regular use). Results show that adolescents' opinions differ according to their experience with marijuana use. Current regular users evaluate marijuana as less dangerous, but alcohol and heroin as more dangerous in comparison with never/occasional and past users. Current and past users are more likely to define marijuana as a medical drug and a plant used in agriculture, and less likely to define it as an illegal drug. Current and past users evaluate marijuana use as a way to cope with stress, to relax to a greater extent than do never/occasional users do. The latter attribute more negative consequences to marijuana use such as diminished driving ability and school performance and a pathway to hard drugs.     

Consommation des mass media: biculturalisme des mass media ou bilinguisme des consommateurs?*

The frame of reference of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Bicul-turalism postulates that both French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians have within their reach mass media that allow for their cultural development. This study examines the validity of this assertion by comparing it with observations related to mass media consumption among Montrealers. Diffusion techniques, even though unilingual, could be bicultural in their content and thus serve as instruments for reciprocal knowledge for anglophones and francophones. This does not seem to be the case. The objective of knowing one another could also rest upon the bilingualism of individuals and the consumption of media in both languages. A unilingualism-bilingualism scale was constructed to evaluate this possibility. Among all linguistic groups, even the equilingual ones, there are very few who watch TV programmes and read newspapers in both languages. Unilin-guals and bilinguals other than equilinguals mostly consume mass media products in the language they know best. The linguistic factor alone is incapable of explaining the attraction of the francophones for the English-speaking media, nor does it offer satisfactory explanations for the behaviour of the equilinguals. Le cadre de référence de la Commission d'enquête sur le bilinguisme et le biculturalisme prétend que les Canadiens anglophones et francophones disposent des mass media qui leur permettent de se développer culturellement. La présente étude essaie d'en mesurer l'adéquation avec certains faits relatifs à la consommation des mass media chez les Montréalais. Les techniques de diffusion, tout en étant unilingues, pourraient être biculturelles dans leur contenu et ainsi servir d'instruments de connaissance réciproque pour les Canadiens anglophones et francophones. Telle ne semble pas être la situation. L'objectif de connaissance réciproque pourrait aussi reposer sur le bilinguisme des individus et la consommation des media dans les deux langues. Une échelle d'unilinguisme-bilinguisme a été constituée. Chez tous les groupes linguistiques, même les équilingues, il y a peu de consommateurs de la télévision et des journaux dans les deux langues. Les unilingues et les bilingues autres que les équilingues consomment surtout dans les langues qu'ils comprennent le mieux, mais le f acteur linguistique reste inadéquat pour expliquer l'attrait des médiums de langue anglaise sur les francophones de même que le comportement des équilingues.