Adaptation and Evaluation of a Group Curriculum for Latino Clients in a Driving Under the Influence Program

The purpose of this study was to describe the process of culturally adapting group curriculum modules for Spanish speaking clients in a Driving Under the Influence Program as well as to test the acceptability of these modules. Using the Group Topics Evaluation Scale (English and Spanish version), 90 clients rated six modules that were presented in 30 different group sessions. Spanish speaking clients were significantly more likely to rate all six modules much higher than their English speaking counterparts, indicating acceptability. This is important as driving-under-the-influence programs may provide access to Latino clients not seen elsewhere. Possible further research is discussed.     

Future Directions: Social Development in the Context of Social Justice

Many societies and cultures have become increasingly diverse and heterogeneous over the past decade. This diversity has a direct bearing on social justice in children's and adolescents' social development. Increased diversity can have positive consequences, such as the possibility for increased empathy, tolerance, perspective taking, and the celebration of various cultural traditions and values, but it can also result in increased prejudice, bias, and discrimination. In this article, we suggest that incorporating a focus on social justice can transform the field of social development. This can be done by considering the larger societal context of diversity or heterogeneity when investigating children's peer interactions, attitudes, group identity, and social experience. In addition, new findings that incorporate social justice concerns have implications for designing interventions to enhance children's healthy social development. We highlight and discuss recent areas of research that bear on this perspective and discuss avenues for future research and investigation.     

Attitudes toward lesbians,gay men,bisexual women,and bisexual men in Germany

Attitudes toward lesbians, gay men, bisexual women, and bisexual men were assessed in a national representative sample of 2,006 self‐identified heterosexual women and men living in Germany. Replicating previous findings, younger people held more favorable attitudes than older people; women held more favorable attitudes than men; and men held more favorable attitudes toward female than male homosexuality, whereas women did not differentiate. However, women held more favorable attitudes toward homosexuals than toward bisexuals, whereas men did not differentiate. Knowing a homosexual person was an important predictor of attitudes, as was political party preference. Both same‐sex and opposite‐sex sexual attraction were substantially related with attitudes. Our findings support the notion that attitudes toward lesbians, gay men, bisexual women, and bisexual men are related but distinct constructs.     

Attachment Insecurities and Women's Sexual Function and Satisfaction: The Mediating Roles of Sexual Self-Esteem,Sexual Anxiety,and Sexual Assertiveness

We examined the potential role of three mediators—sexual self-esteem, sexual anxiety, and sexual assertiveness—of the association between romantic attachment insecurities (anxiety and avoidance) and two aspects of women's sexual functioning: sexual function and sexual satisfaction. A sample of 556 women aged 18 to 30 agreed to complete an online series of validated questionnaires assessing attachment insecurities and several aspects of sexual functioning. Lower sexual self-esteem and higher sexual anxiety mediated the associations between attachment anxiety and lower sexual function and satisfaction. Lower sexual self-esteem and higher sexual anxiety also partially mediated the links between attachment-related avoidance and the two sexual functioning variables. Sexual assertiveness, however, did not mediate these associations. A significant interaction between attachment anxiety and avoidance was also found to predict sexual satisfaction, with women high in avoidance and low in anxiety being the least satisfied. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical and clinical implications.     

When Is It Okay to Exclude a Member of the Ingroup? Children's and Adolescents’ Social Reasoning

Social exclusion of those who challenge group norms was investigated by asking children and adolescents, adolescents, age 9–13 years (N = 381), to evaluate exclusion of group members who deviated from group norms. Testing predictions from social reasoning developmental theories of group‐based exclusion, children and adolescents evaluated exclusion based on group norms involving allocation of resources and group traditions about dress code. Exclusion of deviant members was viewed as increasingly wrong with age, but also varied by the type of norm the deviant challenged. Participants who reported disliking a deviant member who wanted to distribute money unequally also found it acceptable to exclude them. Those who disliked deviants who went against norms about dress codes did not think exclusion was warranted. These findings are discussed in the context of children's social‐cognitive development regarding peer rejection as well as the role played by moral judgment and group dynamics.     

The Effect of Parental Gender Roles on Students' Attitudes Toward Lesbian,Gay, and Heterosexual Adoptive Couples

All of Canada's provinces and territories legally recognize the right of gay and lesbian couples to adopt children; however, widespread acceptance of this practice has not been documented. Using an experimental design, with 506 university students, the present study assessed (1) attitudes toward gay, lesbian, and heterosexual adoptive couples; (2) the sex of the child to be adopted; (3) gender role characteristics of the adoptive couple; and (4) predictors of attitudes toward adoption by same-sex couples. Using vignettes describing potential adoptive couples, the results revealed that gay and lesbian couples were rated significantly less favorably than heterosexual couples when asked about outcomes for the adoptive child. Participants were more likely to approve of child placements with lesbian adoptive couples whose gender role characteristics emulated the traditional masculine/feminine dyad as compared to lesbian couples in which both partners displayed feminine characteristics. Statistically significant predictors of negative attitudes toward adoption by lesbian couples were religiosity and non-essentialist beliefs about homosexuality as well as endorsement of modern homonegative attitudes predicted negative attitudes toward adoption by gay male couples. Targeted education for social workers and adoption agency workers should be developed to ensure objective assessments of prospective same-sex adoptive couples regardless of their gender role characteristics.