Pregnant and Postpartum Adolescents' Perceptions of the Consequences of Child Abuse

A study of 263 pregnant and postpartum indigent and minority teens was conducted in order to examine their perceptions of the consequences of child abuse and their own child abuse history. Teens identified drug and alcohol abuse and teen suicide as the most serious consequences of abuse. Interestingly, they did not identify pregnancy as a consequence. Twenty-seven percent reported a history of abuse. Identifying behavioral and emotional consequences of abuse is important because it affects both the well-being of the adolescent mother and her child. An experience of abuse and its behavioral consequences may interfere with a teen's ability to benefit from parenting intervention programs. Therefore, parenting programs may wish to consider the necessity of screening for a history of abuse as well as adding components on behavioral problems adolescent mothers are concerned about. Additionally, there is a need to reach out to pregnant, parenting and future parents in other settings such as prisons, psychiatric, and residential centers, since issues of abuse may coexist with other behaviors.     

Are Referees Sufficiently Informed About The Editor'S Practice?

This paper clarifies why editors of academic journals should share with their referees the information about the number of referees they consult and the decision rule they apply. Our analysis also rationalizes the common questionable phenomenon of editors who seem to distort the yes or no recommendations of their referees. The editors request a recommendation of whether to accept or reject the paper as well as an assessment of the paper. The editors need the complete reports to make the appropriate correction of the referees' final recommendations.     

Attitudes Toward the Unemployed

The present study examined whether politicalorientation, experience of unemployment or with theunemployed, and/or occupational background predictedthree dimensions of attitudes expressed toward theunemployed in conversation. The three dimensions were:nature of attitude, variability in attitude, and form ofattitude. Sixty-seven employed individuals participated.Political orientation was found to be a good predictor of the nature of and variability inattitudes toward the unemployed. It was also a goodpredictor of the form with which attitudes wereexpressed in general, with political moderates usingfewer generalizations than those who were politicallypolarized, but it was not a good predictor of the formthat people used to express particular types ofattitude. Occupational group also predicted the nature of and variability in attitudes toward theunemployed, with other factors constant. Personalexperience was a good predictor of the form of attitudeexpressed. Those with more experience with unemployed people tended to use fewer generalizations.However, personal experience of unemployment or with theunemployed did not predict the nature of attitudesexpressed.     

Contingency Learning and Reactivity in Preterm and Full‐Term Infants at 3 Months

Learning difficulties in preterm infants are thought to reflect impairment in arousal regulation. We examined relationships among gestational age, learning speed, and behavioral and physiological reactivity in 55 preterm and 49 full‐term infants during baseline, contingency, and nonreinforcement phases of a conjugate mobile paradigm at 3 months corrected age. For all infants, negative affect, looking duration, and heart rate levels increased during contingency and nonreinforcement phases, whereas respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA, an index of parasympathetic activity) decreased and Cortisol did not change. Learners showed greater RSA suppression and less negative affect than nonleamers. This pattern was particularly evident in the preterm group. Overall, preterm infants showed less learning, spent less time looking at the mobile, and had lower Cortisol levels than full‐term infants. Preterm infants also showed greater heart rate responses to contingency and dampened heart rate responses to nonreinforcement compared to full‐term infants. Findings underscore differences in basal and reactivity measures in preterm compared to full‐term infants and suggest that the capacity to regulate parasympathetic activity during a challenge enhances learning in preterm infants.     

Optimal decision rules for fixed-size committees in polychotomous choice situations

This paper derives optimal decision rules for fixed-size committees in polychotomous choice situations. Earlier studies focus on the dichotomous choice model and thus the present extension broadens the scope of applications of the theory of collective decision making. Received: 10 November 1999/Accepted: 13 April 2000     

The Pervasive Impact of War-Related Loss and Bereavement in Israel

The study of loss as a result of war and conflict has been a mainstay of the bereavement field in Israel. The present article provides a brief background of Israel and its literature relating to loss and bereavement. A series of research studies based on the Two-track Model of Bereavement and covering both military and other losses are reviewed from the vantage point of their impact on and contributions to changing conceptualizations of loss. The article concludes with a review and analysis of the sociocultural trends that have shaped the approach to military bereavement in Israel.