The identification of recreational counties in nonmetropolitan areas of the USA

Nonmetropolitan counties in the USA with significant concentrations of recreational activity are identified using a combination of quantitative and contextual indicators. The 285 counties identified as recreational encompass 12 percent of the nonmetropolitan counties and 15 percent of the 1990 nonmetropolitan population. Population growth in such counties has consistently exceeded that in other nonmetropolitan areas as well as that in metropolitan areas. Net migration accounted for most of the population growth in such counties during the 24 years considered. The revenue and expenditure patterns of local governments in recreational counties differs from those elsewhere suggesting significant policy concerns.     

What Happens on Islands,doesn’t Stay on Islands: Patterns of Synchronicity in Mosquito Nuisance and Host-Seeking Activity between a Mangrove Island and Adjacent Coastal Development

Urban Ecosystems - Coastal development is expanding globally in response to mass human migration, yet urban planning guidelines often overlook the problems that human encroachment on or near...     

Using Attachment to Better Understand the Therapy Alliance: The Attachment Based Alliance Questionnaire

Questionnaires on the therapeutic alliance are available, but most show inflated scores, limited variability, and few significant findings on the bonds domain. Results of a study of 251 clinical couples, on the development of an Attachment Based Alliance Questionnaire (ABAQ), are presented. Factor analysis (EFA and CFA), show that a one‐factor or two‐factor structure fit the data, with more support for a one‐factor model. Both models map closely with attachment constructs. Results also show that the ABAQ is predictive of changes couples make early in therapy and demonstrated adequate reliability and validity. The ABAQ provides a tool for clinicians as they learn how to attune to relationships in couple therapy and is helpful to researchers in understanding the alliance.     

Implementation of the Family Violence Option 20 Years Later: A Review of State Welfare Rules for Domestic Violence Survivors

The Family Violence Option (FVO) was included in the 1996 welfare reform legislation to ensure that domestic violence survivors are not subject to unfair penalties resulting from compliance with the new requirements. This study presents a comprehensive review of the states’ different approaches to address domestic violence. Our findings identified variation in implementation and practice, from the decision to adopt the FVO to the process of granting waivers. Although not contradictory to the federal legislation, the variation is indicative of the limited research on best practices and lack of national discussions on how state FVO processes relate to one another.     

The Role of Parenting and Family Factors in the Developmental Catch-Up for Children Adopted Internationally

Internationally adopted children are at greater risk for cognitive difficulties. While age at adoption is an established significant predictor of cognitive outcomes, considerable variation persists. The present study focused on whether parenting and family factors explain additional variance in cognitive and linguistic catch-up in this group of children. In total, 46 children were examined at two time points, approximately 12 months apart. Cognitive and linguistic abilities were measured at both time points, with parenting and family factors examined at follow-up, using hierarchical linear regression. Age at adoption and baseline cognitive abilities were the best predictors of cognitive and linguistic catch-up; parenting and family factors generally did not account for a significant increase in explained variance.     

I Don't Like the Tone of Your Voice: Infants Use Vocal Affect to Socially Evaluate Others

Infants can make social judgments about characters by visually observing their interactions with others (e.g., Hamlin, Wynn & Bloom, Nature, 2007, 450, 557). Here, we ask whether infants can form similar judgments about potential social partners based solely on their tone of voice. In Experiment 1, we presented 10.5‐month‐olds with two visually neutral puppets. One puppet spoke in a positive affect and the other spoke in a negative affect. When the puppets were placed within reach of the infants, infants selected the formerly positive puppet. This preference disappeared when the voices were paired with nonsocial objects (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, 10.5‐month‐olds were once again exposed to the same emotionally negative and positive voices. However, no visual characters were present. At test, infants’ visual orientation controlled how long they heard the neutral versions of each voice. Here, infants listened longer to the neutral voice of the formerly positive speaker. That is, just as in Experiment 1, infants’ preferences for the emotionally neutral test stimuli were shaped by their earlier exposure to emotionally charged recordings of that voice. Our findings provide convergent evidence to suggest that infants possess sophisticated social evaluation abilities, preferring to interact with prosocial over antisocial others.     

Illuminating the Black Box From Within: Stakeholder Perspectives on Family Drug Court Best Practices

This article describes a mixed-methods, concept mapping study in an urban family drug court (FDC) designed to identify keys to FDC success from stakeholders’ perspectives. Participating FDC team members and clients developed a set of items they deemed integral to an FDC, thematically clustered the items, and then rated their relative importance. Using these data, cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling generated 6 themes perceived as contributing to positive outcomes. Resultant concept maps revealed that, compared to team members, clients view relational aspects of the FDC as more important. The findings point to implications for future research and social work practice.