Book Review

AIDS AND THE NEW ORPHANS COPING WITH DEATH. Barbara O. Dane & Carol Levine (Eds.). Westport, Connecticut: Auburn House, 1994, 158 pp.; $49.95 (hardback) or $17.95 (paperback).     

Some simple log-linear models for the analysis of ordinal response data

A family of log-linear models are proposed to describe contingency tables in which one variable can be considered as the response to the remaining. The proposed models take into account the ordering nature of the response categories and have structure similar to that employed in polynomial regression. Stochastic ordering of the response distributions under the proposed models is discussed and the model-reduction techniques are developed. The proposed models are applied to two data sets previously analysed in the literature.     

Prediction and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect

A high-risk population was successfully identified by the use of perinatal screening procedures. These children encountered significantly different parenting practices than the low-risk "control" group. There were also significant differences between "High-Risk" and "Low-Risk" families on issues concerning social adjustment and mother/infant attachment. Five children in a "High-Risk Nonintervene" group required hospitalization for serious injuries thought to be secondary to abnormal parenting practices. There were no such hospitalizations in either a High Risk Intervene group or a Low Risk group. Labordelivery observations, and postpartum interviews and observations provided the most accurate predictive information; prenatal interviews and questionnaires did not add significantly. Perinatal assessment and simple intervention with families at high risk for abnormal parenting practices significantly improves the infants' chances for escaping serious hospitalized physical injury.     

On the decomposition of X2 for two-way contingency tables

When samples are taken independently from I populations and the subjects classified into J categories, can the Pearson's chisquare statistic X² testing the homogeneity model on the resulting I×J two-way table be decomposed into components familiar in the analysis of variance? Will the X² testing the homogeneity model on tables derived by collapsing columns in the spirit of orthogonal comparisons in factorial experiments be asymptotically independent? The answers to both questions are generally negative. This paper gives a theoretical justification.     

Assessment of a State TANF Funded IDA Initiative: A Case Study

Individual development accounts (IDAs), wealth-building programs for the working poor, have existed since the late 1980s. Current research suggests that IDA programs benefit families while contributing to local and state economies. This program evaluation assessed the impact of one state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)-funded IDA initiative. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from four agencies chosen using cluster sampling across the state. Agency programmatic and participant data from the last year of operation (N?=?160) were examined. Agencies also provided contact information for three participants who had graduated and three who exited the program prematurely in the past year of operation. In person, interviews were held with agency directors (n?=?6) and IDA participants (n?=?11) were interviewed by telephone. Results indicate that 69% (n?=?111) of IDA enrollees successfully completed the program. IDA participants who exited the program prior to completion also expressed benefits associated with the time in which they were involved. Programmatic and individual benefits and challenges reported guide recommendations for improving IDA marketability, participant outcomes, and organizational performance rates. A critical implication of the findings is the need to expand the use and design of IDA programs legislatively to better serve historically oppressed and working poor families more effectively.     

Racial Identity,School Racial Climate,and School Intrinsic Motivation Among African American Youth: The Importance of Person–Context Congruence

Researchers have been concerned with whether strong racial identification promotes or inhibits achievement motivation among African American youth, but current literatures have paid little attention to the role of youths' contexts. In this study, we outline a racial identity–context congruence framework that predicts positive benefits of a strong, positive racial identity when the context is congruent with youths' beliefs. To test this framework, we examined school racial climate as a moderator in the relationships of three racial identity variables (centrality, private regard, and public regard) with intrinsic motivation for attending school in a sample of 11th graders. Overall, results support the congruence perspective and also demonstrate how feelings of belonging at school mediate the relationship between racial identity–racial climate congruence and school intrinsic motivation.     

Where You Lead,I Will Follow: Exploring Sibling Similarity in Brain and Behavior During Risky Decision Making

This exploratory study examined whether social learning increases similarity in adolescent siblings’ behavior and neural patterns during risky decision making. Participants included 86 adolescents (43 sibling dyads; younger siblings: M_age = 12.2 years; 22 females; older siblings: M_age = 14.6 years; 20 females) who completed questionnaires, and a decision‐making task during an fMRI scan. Younger siblings became more similar to their older siblings’ risky decision making after observing their older sibling take risks). Younger siblings who reported greater modeling of their older sibling, and less differentiation from them, showed increased neural similarity to their older siblings in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and the right anterior insula and ventral striatum, respectively. These findings highlight siblings as salient social agents in how adolescents process risky decision making.