Perceived Availability,Risks, and Benefits of Gambling among College Students

The current study was an exploration of gambling-related perceptions and their relation to gambling behavior among young adult college students. Three hundred and two ethnically diverse undergraduates at a large urban public university completed a survey to assess their perceptions of the availability, risks, and benefits of gambling, and the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) to assess gambling behavior and problems. Participants generally rated gambling as more available than alcohol or marijuana, and less risky than alcohol or cigarettes. The most common perceived benefits of gambling were social enhancement, financial gain, and positive changes in affect. Perceived benefits were a significant predictor of gambling problems. Perceived availability, perceived risk, and perceived benefits were found to be significant predictors of regular gambling. These results provide valuable information about the ways that college students perceive gambling and demonstrate that perceptions can be important predictors of gambling behavior. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Predictors of Prejudice Against Lesbians and Gay Men in Jamaica

Jamaica has acquired an international reputation for strong antigay prejudice, incidents of antigay violence, and outspoken, antigay public figures. In recent years, national and international gay rights groups have attempted to improve this situation. However, these efforts have not been based on an empirical analysis of the factors underlying Jamaican antigay bias, which is essential for developing effective prejudice-reducing strategies. Using data collected in two large-scale national surveys in 2011 and 2012 (N ₂₀₁₁ = 997, N ₂₀₁₂ = 945), we investigated predictors of Jamaican antigay prejudice, including age, gender, religious affiliation, education, income, and a preference for dancehall music. We also examined changes in reported antigay bias between 2011 and 2012 after accounting for other predictors. All proposed variables predicted some aspect of antigay prejudice, though sometimes in unexpected ways. Male gender emerged as a particularly important predictor. We discuss the strengths and limitations of our design and the implications of our findings for prejudice-reduction strategies in Jamaica.     

Electronic Journals: Cataloging and Management Practices in Academic Libraries

The growth and availability of electronic journals offer libraries the opportunity to provide end users with quick and easy access to more journals than ever before, thereby creating a complex new workload in academic libraries. Libraries have addressed the evolving challenges unique to electronic resources by creating new policies and workflows and dedicating staff to work on the processes, despite the lack of best practices. In the fall of 2009, a survey was distributed to ninety-five libraries at peer institutions to gather information about their policies and practices for cataloging and managing electronic journals in order to gauge the current status of electronic journal management among these peer institutions. This paper reports on the survey findings related to cataloging approach, sources for bibliographic records, methods for identifying problems, and the staff and staff hours dedicated to electronic journals.     

Object exploration during the transition to sitting: A study of infants at heightened risk for autism spectrum disorder

Learning to sit promotes infants' object exploration because it offers increased access to objects and an improved position for exploration (e.g., ). Infants at heightened risk (HR) for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit delays in sitting and differences in object exploration. However, little is known about the association between sitting and object exploration among HR infants. We examined changes in object exploration as HR infants (N = 19) and comparison infants with no family history of ASD (Low Risk; LR; N = 23) gained experience sitting independently. Infants were observed monthly from 2.5 months until 1 month after the onset of independent sitting. At 12, 18, 24, and 36 months, infants completed standardized developmental assessments, and HR infants were assessed for ASD symptoms at 36 months. Although HR infants began sitting later than LR infants, both groups increased time spent grasping, shaking, banging, and mouthing objects as they gained sitting experience. Groups only differed in time spent actively mouthing objects, with LR infants showing a greater increase in active mouthing than HR infants. Findings suggest that HR infants experience a similar progression of object exploration across sitting development, but on a delayed time scale.     

Invited Essay: Investigating Family Voices from the Margins

This essay surveys articles from the Journal of Family Communication to make the argument that our journal needs to feature more scholarship on families that heretofore have been virtually ignored or marginalized. We discuss four types of diversity to consider when exploring questions of family communication, and review three imperatives for making this argument.     

Understanding and Reducing Sexual Prejudice in Jamaica: Theoretical and Practical Insights From a Severely Anti-Gay Society

Jamaica has earned an international reputation for severe sexual prejudice—perhaps disproportionately so compared to other severely anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) societies. Until recently, however, no quantitative empirical research had investigated Jamaica’s sexual prejudice, leaving the prejudice poorly understood and methods of reducing it unclear. This article reviews empirical research on Jamaican anti-LGBT prejudice from the past 15 years. It situates Jamaica within the global context, explains the current understanding of the severity and nature of the problem, evaluates solutions currently being explored, and suggests promising strategies based on available evidence. Importantly, this article also reflects on lessons learned from Jamaica that are relevant for other severely anti-LGBT societies.     

The Role of Labeling and Bias in the Portrayals of Acts of “Terrorism”: Media Representations of Muslims vs. Non-Muslims

Several high-profile negative events involving Muslim perpetrators have recently been covered by the media. We investigated whether the same negative actions are more likely to be labeled “terrorism” when they are committed by Muslims than when they are committed by White non-Muslims. In Experiment I (n?=?60), using a real article about a Muslim perpetrator and a modified version about a non-Muslim perpetrator, we found that participants were more likely to identify a crime as terrorism when it was perpetrated by a Muslim. The label “terrorism” also mediated the effect of Muslim identity on negative judgments of the behavior. In Experiment II (n?=?60), we replicated the results of Experiment I and clarified that the effects persisted when we used a real article about a non-Muslim perpetrator and a modified version about a Muslim perpetrator. We discuss implications for cross-group communication and representations of Muslims in the media.     

如何弹奏《哈农》——论弹奏《哈农》练习曲中的误区

《哈农钢琴练指法》是专门为解决手指独立训练的特殊练习。进行这种练习 ,要求弹奏者精力集中 ,专心致志 ,有目的、有方法的训练 ,那种无思想的“信手弹来”是不科学的     

Examining the use of tobacco on college campuses.

The authors used the Health Risk Behavior Survey for University Students to assess the prevalence of tobacco use among undergraduates in the Florida state university system. They examined the relationships of gender, marital situation, and minority status to 6 smoking behaviors (tried cigarettes, smoked regularly, tried to quit smoking, age when first smoked regularly, number of cigarettes smoked in the last month, and number of days smoked in the past month). Findings suggested that White students were more likely than minority students to try cigarettes and women more likely than men to smoke regularly. Married students smoked more regularly than others and were less likely than single students to have tried to quit smoking. The investigators suggested analyzing latent behaviors associated with smoking and called for a national meta-analysis of data from smoking studies to help clinicians deal with student tobacco use.