Does socioeconomic status explain the relationship between admissions tests and post-secondary academic performance?

Critics of educational admissions tests assert that tests measure nothing more than socioeconomic status (SES) and that their apparent validity in predicting academic performance is an artifact of SES. The authors examined multiple large data sets containing data on admissions and related tests, SES, and grades showing that (a) SES is related to test scores (r = .42 among the population of SAT takers), (b) test scores are predictive of academic performance, and (c) statistically controlling for SES reduces the estimated test?grade correlation from r = .47 to r = .44. Thus, the vast majority of the test?academic performance relationship was independent of SES: The authors concluded that the test?grade relationship is not an artifact of common influences of SES on both test scores and grades. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do "America's Best Hospitals" perform better for acute myocardial infarction?

BACKGROUND: "America's Best Hospitals," an influential list published annually by U.S. News and World Report, assesses the quality of hospitals. It is not known whether patients admitted to hospitals ranked at the top in cardiology have lower short-term mortality from acute myocardial infarction than those admitted to other hospitals or whether differences in mortality are explained by differential use of recommended therapies. METHODS: Using data from the Cooperative Cardiovascular Project on 149,177 elderly Medicare beneficiaries with acute myocardial infarction in 1994 or 1995, we examined the care and outcomes of patients admitted to three types of hospitals: those ranked high in cardiology (top-ranked hospitals); hospitals not in the top rank that had on-site facilities for cardiac catheterization, coronary angioplasty, and bypass surgery (similarly equipped hospitals); and the remaining hospitals (non-similarly equipped hospitals). We compared 30-day mortality; the rates of use of aspirin, beta-blockers, and reperfusion; and the relation of differences in rates of therapy to short-term mortality. RESULTS: Admission to a top-ranked hospital was associated with lower adjusted 30-day mortality (odds ratio, 0.87; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.76 to 1.00; P=0.05 for top-ranked hospitals vs. the others). Among patients without contraindications to therapy, top-ranked hospitals had significantly higher rates of use of aspirin (96.2 percent, as compared with 88.6 percent for similarly equipped hospitals and 83.4 percent for non-similarly equipped hospitals; P<0.01) and beta-blockers (75.0 percent vs. 61.8 percent and 58.7 percent, P<0.01), but lower rates of reperfusion therapy (61.0 percent vs. 70.7 percent and 65.6 percent, P=0.03). The survival advantage associated with admission to top-ranked hospitals was less strong after we adjusted for factors including the use of aspirin and beta-blockers (odds ratio, 0.94; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.82 to 1.08; P=0.38). CONCLUSIONS: Admission to a hospital ranked high on the list of "America's Best Hospitals" was associated with lower 30-day mortality among elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction. A substantial portion of the survival advantage may be associated with these hospitals' higher rates of use of aspirin and beta-blocker therapy.     

Do women's provider-role attitudes moderate the links between work and family?

The authors examined the links between mothers' work qualities and their individual well-being and marital quality, as well as adolescent daughters' and sons' gender-role attitudes, as a function of mothers' provider-role attitudes, in 134 dual-earner families. In home interviews, mothers described their work, provider-role attitudes, family relationships, and mental health; their offspring reported gender-role attitudes. Women's attitudes about breadwinning were coded into main-secondary, coprovider, and ambivalent coprovider groups. Mothers' provider-role attitudes moderated the links between status indicators and mothers' depression, marital conflict, and daughters' gender-role attitudes. For example, depression and marital conflict were negatively related to coprovider mothers' earnings and occupational prestige. The same was not true for main-secondary and ambivalent coprovider mothers. These findings underscore the importance of considering employed women's interpretation of their work roles when exploring work-family links. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining the relations between rumination and adjustment: Do ethnic differences exist between Asian and European Americans?

Past studies have pointed to the dysfunctional nature of rumination in adults. However, past research has not examined ethnic variations. Accordingly, this study examined ethnic differences in rumination in 184 Asian American and 238 European American college students. Consistent with expectations, Asian Americans were found to ruminate more than European Americans. However, rumination was found to have a weaker association with measures of adjustment (viz., affectivity, depressive symptoms, anxious symptoms, and life satisfaction) in Asian Americans compared with European Americans. As a result of conducting regression analyses to determine whether rumination was a unique predictor of functioning beyond affectivity, we found rumination to be a more distinct and useful predictor of functioning for Asian Americans than for European Americans. Overall, compared with findings for European Americans, our findings indicate that important ethnic differences need to be considered in studying rumination in Asian Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can the influence of childhood socioeconomic status on men’s and women’s adult body mass be explained by adult socioeconomic status or personality? Findings from a national sample.

Objectives: On the basis of a life-course risk-chain framework, the authors examined whether (a) residual associations between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and adult obesity and body mass index (BMI) would be observed in women but not men after adjusting for adult SES, (b) adult Big Five personality traits would be associated with adult body mass in both genders, and (c) personality would explain unique variation in outcomes beyond child and adult SES. Design: National survey (Midlife Development in the United States study; N = 2,922). Main Outcome Measures: BMI and obesity. Results: (a) In both genders, association between childhood SES and adult obesity were accounted for entirely by adult SES, but its effect on adult BMI was observed only in women; (b) higher conscientiousness was associated with lower obesity prevalence and BMI in both genders, although more strongly in women, and in men, greater obesity prevalence was associated with higher agreeableness and neuroticism; and (c) personality explained unique outcome variation in both genders. Conclusions: Early social disadvantage may affect adult weight status more strongly in women owing to gender differences in the timing and nature of weight-management socialization. Personality may enhance or detract from risks incurred by childhood or adulthood SES in either gender, necessitating the consideration of dispositional differences in prevention and intervention programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-perceived competence and the relation between life events and depressive symptoms in adolescence: Mediator or moderator?

In a 2-wave longitudinal study, 9th-grade students (N ?=?468) completed self-report measures of stressful life events, depressive symptoms, and 5 domains of self-perceived competence (i.e., academic competence, social acceptance, physical appearance, behavioral conduct, and athletic competence). Teachers and peers also reported about the participants' depressive symptoms. In longitudinal analyses, negative (but not positive) events related to depressive symptoms. Results suggested that self-perceived competence served as a mediator (but not a moderator) of this relation. Negative events predicted changes in self-perceived competence. Self-perceived competence predicted changes in depressive symptoms. Also, the direct effect of negative events on depressive symptoms diminished after controlling for self-perceived competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Too stressed out to participate? Examining the relation between stressors and survey response behavior.

Despite the use of survey-based organizational data in many studies of organizational behavior, survey response behavior and nonresponse are rarely studied phenomena. This study expands on previously proposed survey response and nonresponse frameworks by integrating the job stress literature. The authors investigated whether overload, role ambiguity, and role conflict experienced by individuals relate to survey response behavior. Using organizational citizenship behavior theory and social exchange theory as theoretical frameworks, the authors proposed that nonrespondents experience higher levels of stressors than respondents. Data collected in a longitudinal field study partially supported the hypotheses. As hypothesized, overload increased the likelihood of nonresponse. Contrary to hypotheses, role ambiguity decreased the likelihood of nonresponse. Role conflict was not significantly related to nonresponse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is the breast best for children with a family history of atopy? The relation between way of feeding and early childhood morbidity

BACKGROUND: Previous studies reported that breast-feeding protects children against a variety of diseases, but these studies were generally conducted on "high-risk" or hospitalized children. This paper describes the results of our study on the effects of breast-feeding on rate of illness in normal children with a family history of atopy. METHODS: A historic cohort approach of 794 children with a family history of atopy was used to assess the effects of breast-feeding on illness rates. Family history of atopy was based on allergic diseases in family members as registered by the family physician. Illness data from birth onwards were available from the Continuous Morbidity Registration of the Department of Family Medicine. Information on breast-feeding was collected by postal questionnaire. We then compared rates of illness between children with a family history of atopy who were and who were not breast-fed. RESULTS: Breast-feeding was related to lower levels of childhood illness both in the first and the first three years of life. In the first year of life they had fewer episodes of gastroenteritis, lower respiratory tract infections, and digestive tract disorders. Over the next three years of life they had fewer respiratory tract infections and skin infections. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest a protective effect of breast-feeding among children with a family history of atopy that is not confined to the period of breast-feeding but continues during the first three years of life. Breast-feeding should be promoted in children with a family history of atopy.     

But is it good for the psychologists? Appraisal and status of DSM-III.

Presents a critical analysis of the 3rd edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III). Improvements over DSM-II are acknowledged; it is suggested, however, that problems with larger issues (e.g., multiaxial, diagnosis, operational criteria, and the medical model) overshadow these positive features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do children's perceptions and attributions mediate the effects of mothers' child-rearing actions?

The authors analyzed whether the relation between maternal child-rearing behaviors and a child's self-regulation was mediated by the accuracy in the child's perceptions of the mother's goals and methods and by the direction of attributions for the mother's intentions. Sixty mothers with children 7–10 years old were asked how and why they would react in 15 hypothetical situations. Children were interviewed to assess the accuracy of their perceptions and the direction of their attributions. To assess the children's self-regulation, mothers and children were observed planning an excursion. LISREL analysis showed that the reported use of both control and demandingness and of responsiveness has a positive influence on the accuracy of children's perceptions and, in turn, on their self-regulation. However, part of the positive impact of control and demandingness on children's self-regulation was due to the effect of positive attributions on the accuracy of perceptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do mastery approach goals and research outcome expectations mediate the relationship between the research training environment and research interest? Test of a social cognitive model.

The conduct of research is inherently an achievement-oriented process, yet little research has examined the role of achievement motives relative to important research-relevant outcomes. The present study examined the role of mastery approach goals as potential mediators of the relations between the research training environment (RTE) on one hand, and research outcome expectations and research interest on the other. Participants consisted of 217 doctoral students in counseling psychology. Structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood estimation was used to test the mediational hypotheses. Results of χ2 difference testing indicated that both mastery approach goals and research outcome expectations mediated the relationship between the RTE and research interest. Sobel tests of indirect effect further indicated that (a) mastery approach goals mediated the relationship between the RTE and research outcome expectations, and (b) research outcome expectations mediated the relationship between mastery approach goals and research interest. Practical and theoretical implications for research training are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are coalminers, with low "risk factors" for ischaemic heart disease at greater risk of developing progressive massive fibrosis?

Coalminers with "A" shadows (the first stage of progressive massive fibrosis (PMF)) have a similar standardised mortality ratio (SMR) to those without PMF, and those with A shadows have a much higher specific mortality from pneumoconiosis. It is therefore argued that either A shadows confer immunity against some other disease(s) or that those developing A shadows are selected on the basis of increased life expectancy. These two hypotheses were investigated and as the selection hypothesis appeared promising further studies were made to discover which specific cause of death might be associated with this selection. This, surprisingly, appeared to be ischaemic heart disease.     

Do sex differences in the brain explain sex differences in the hormonal induction of reproductive behavior? What 25 years of research on the Japanese quail tells us

Early workers interested in the mechanisms mediating sex differences in morphology and behavior assumed that differences in behavior that are commonly observed between males and females result from the sex specificity of androgens and estrogens. Androgens were thought to facilitate male-typical traits, and estrogens were thought to facilitate female-typical traits. By the mid-20th century, however, it was apparent that administering androgens to females or estrogens to males was not always effective in sex-reversing behavior and that in some cases a "female" hormone such as an estrogen could produce male-typical behavior and an androgen could induce female-typical behavior. These conceptual difficulties were resolved to a large extent by the seminal paper of C. H. Phoenix, R. W. Goy, A. A. Gerall, and W. C. Young in (1959, Endocrinology 65, 369-382) that illustrated that several aspects of sexual behavior are different between males and females because the sexes have been exposed during their perinatal life to a different endocrine milieu that has irreversibly modified their response to steroids in adulthood. Phoenix et al. (1959) therefore formalized a clear dichotomy between the organizational and activational effects of sex steroid hormones. Since this paper, a substantial amount of research has been carried out in an attempt to identify the aspects of brain morphology or neurochemistry that differentiate under the embryonic/neonatal effects of steroids and are responsible for the different behavioral response of males and females to the activation by steroids in adulthood. During the past 25 years, research in behavioral neuroendocrinology has identified many sex differences in brain morphology or neurochemistry; however many of these sex differences disappear when male and female subjects are placed in similar endocrine conditions (e.g., are gonadectomized and treated with the same amount of steroids) so that these differences appear to be of an activational nature and cannot therefore explain sex differences in behavior that are still present in gonadectomized steroid-treated adults. This research has also revealed many aspects of brain morphology and chemistry that are markedly affected by steroids in adulthood and are thought to mediate the activation of behavior at the central level. It has been explicitly, or in some cases, implicitly assumed that the sexual differentiation of brain and behavior driven by early exposure to steroids concerns primarily those neuroanatomical/neurochemical characteristics that are altered by steroids in adulthood and presumably mediate the activation of behavior. Extensive efforts to identify these sexually differentiated brain characteristics over the past 20 years has only met with limited success, however. As regards reproductive behavior, in all model species that have been studied it is still impossible to identify satisfactorily brain characteristics that differentiate under early steroid action and explain the sex differences in behavioral activating effects of steroids. This problem is illustrated by research conducted on Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), an avian model system that displays prominent sex differences in the sexual behavioral response to testosterone, and in which the endocrine mechanisms that control sexual differentiation of behavior have been clearly identified so that subjects with a fully sex-reversed behavioral phenotype can be easily produced. In this species, studies of sex differences in the neural substrate mediating the action of steroids in the brain, including the activity of the enzymes that metabolize steroids such as aromatase and the distribution of steroid hormone receptors as well as related neurotransmitter systems, did not result in a satisfactory explanation of sex differences in the behavioral effectiveness of testosterone. Possible explanations for the relative failure to identify the organized brain characteristics responsible for behavio     

Does distraction reduce the alcohol–aggression relation? A cognitive and behavioral test of the attention-allocation model.

Objective: This study provided the first direct test of the cognitive underpinnings of the attention-allocation model and attempted to replicate and extend past behavioral findings for this model as an explanation for alcohol-related aggression. Method: A diverse community sample (55% African American) of men (N = 159) between 21 and 35 years of age (M = 25.80) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 beverage conditions (i.e., alcohol, no-alcohol control) and 1 of 2 distraction conditions (i.e., distraction, no-distraction). Following beverage consumption, participants were provoked via reception of electric shocks and a verbal insult from a fictitious male opponent. Participants' attention allocation to aggression words (i.e., aggression bias) and physical aggression were measured using a dot probe task and a shock-based aggression task, respectively. Results: Intoxicated men whose attention was distracted displayed significantly lower levels of aggression bias and enacted significantly less physical aggression than intoxicated men whose attention was not distracted. However, aggression bias did not account for the lower levels of alcohol-related aggression in the distraction, relative to the no-distraction, condition. Conclusions: These results replicated and extended past evidence that cognitive distraction is associated with lower levels of alcohol-related aggression in highly provoked males and provide the first known cognitive data to support the attentional processes posited by the attention-allocation model. Discussion focused on how these data inform intervention programming for alcohol-related aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A person-oriented perspective on sexual offenders, offending trajectories, and risk of recidivism: A new challenge for policymakers, risk assessors, and actuarial prediction?

Current risk assessment tools are embedded in a variable-oriented perspective and based on the assumption that the risk of reoffending is linear, additive, and relatively stable over time. As a result, actuarial instruments tend to overestimate the risk of violent/sexual recidivism for some sex offenders while underestimating this risk for others. One of the main causes of such predictive inaccuracies is the inability of current actuarial tools to account for the dynamic aspects of offending trajectories over time. Using a person-oriented approach, the current study examined the presence of offending trajectories in sex offenders using measures of offending at multiple time points in adulthood to examine the risk of violent/sexual reoffending. The study was based on a sample of 246 adult males convicted of a sexual offense between 1994 and 1998. Group-based modeling was used to identify offending trajectories, while Cox proportional hazard was used to examine the links between the identified trajectories and recidivism. Findings suggest that a sex crime is more reflective of a transitory phase of the criminal career rather than evidence of a “sexual criminal career” in the making. The findings challenge underlying assumptions of current actuarial tools and calls for a more sophisticated approach to risk assessment that accounts for offending patterns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do others judge us as harshly as we think? Overestimating the impact of our failures, shortcomings, and mishaps.

When people suffer an embarrassing blunder, social mishap, or public failure, they often feel that their image has been severely tarnished in the eyes of others. Four studies demonstrate that these fears are commonly exaggerated. Actors who imagined committing one of several social blunders (Study 1), who experienced a public intellectual failure (Studies 2 and 3), or who were described in an embarrassing way (Study 4) anticipated being judged more harshly by others than they actually were. These exaggerated fears were produced, in part, by the actors' tendency to be inordinately focused on their misfortunes and their resulting failure to consider the wider range of situational factors that tend to moderate onlookers' impressions. Discussion focuses on additional mechanisms that may contribute to overly pessimistic expectations as well as the role of such expectations in producing unnecessary social anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can self-determination theory explain what underlies the productive, satisfying learning experiences of collectivistically oriented Korean students?

Recognizing recent criticisms concerning the cross-cultural generalizability of self-determination theory (SDT), the authors tested the SDT view that high school students in collectivistically oriented South Korea benefit from classroom experiences of autonomy support and psychological need satisfaction. In Study 1, experiences of autonomy, competence, and relatedness underlaid Korean students’ most satisfying learning experiences, and experiences of low autonomy and low competence underlaid their least satisfying learning experiences. In Study 2, psychological need satisfaction experiences were associated with productive (achievement and engagement) and satisfying (intrinsic motivation and proneness to negative affect) student outcomes. Study 3 replicated and extended Study 2’s structural equation modeling findings by showing that the hypothesized model explained students’ positive outcomes even after controlling for cultural and parental influences, including the collectivistic value orientation. Study 4 replicated the earlier cross-sectional findings with a semester-long prospective 3-wave design. The authors discuss how the findings support the motivation theory’s cross-cultural generalizability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Activation of the plant plasma membrane H+-ATPase. Is there a direct interaction between lysophosphatidylcholine and the C-terminal part of the enzyme?

During the period 1978 to 1994, 1054 patients with Hodgkins's disease were evaluated and treated at the Departments of Radiation Oncology and Hematology, University "La Sapienza", Rome. A total of 549 patients presented with clinical or pathological stage I and II; 37 of these had Hodgkin's disease below the diaphragm (BDHD), and 512 above the diaphragm (ADHD). A comparison of patients with BDHD versus those with ADHD showed that the first group had a higher male to female ratio. A comparison of cases with stage II BDHD versus those with stage II ADHD showed that patients with BDHD were older (48 years vs 28 years), had different histologic features and a higher incidence of systematic symptoms (67% vs 33%). Stage II BDHD patients had a worse prognosis; in fact, there were significant differences in the overall survival and relapse-free-survival rates for cases with stage II BDHD versus those with stage II ADHD (overall survival, 46% vs 80%, P<0.001; relapse-free survival, 44% vs 69%, P<0.005). Stage was found to be the most important prognostic factor for BDHD cases without systematic symptoms treated with radiation therapy alone. The type of infradiaphragmatic presentation (intra-abdominal vs peripheral disease) did not influence outcome, probably due to the more aggressive therapy received by the intra-abdominal group. Treatment recommendations for BDHD cases should be tailored to the stage and the presence or absence of intra-abdominal localization. For patients with stage IA extended fields, irradiation (inverted Y) is sufficient. However, combined modality therapy should be the treatment of choice for stage II cases, particularly in the presence of intra-abdominal disease. Patients with systematic symptoms also require combined modalities.     

Why are some texts good and others not? Relationship between text quality and management of the writing processes.

Two experiments examined whether text quality is related to online management of the writing processes. Experiment 1 focused on the relationship between online management and text quality in narrative and argumentative texts. Experiment 2 investigated how this relationship might be affected by a goal emphasizing text quality. In both experiments, psychology students were instructed to think aloud while composing their texts. Reaction times to auditory probes were also collected to reflect writers' cognitive effort. Two sets of variables were measured: general temporal indicators (fluency, prewriting pause) and online management of writing processes (number, mean length of episodes). Finally, text quality was assessed. As expected, results confirmed that narrative and argumentative texts are composed using different strategies. Students also composed better texts when a quality-based goal had been set. The main reliable indicator of text quality was an increase of the prewriting pause and of planning processes. These findings indicate that writers tailor their writing behavior to match the type and quality of the text they are asked to produce. These results are discussed in the light of interventions and recommendations in the classroom. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A dimensional analysis of creativity and mental illness: Do anxiety and depression symptoms predict creative cognition, creative accomplishments, and creative self-concepts?

The link, if any, between creativity and mental illness is one of the most controversial topics in modern creativity research. The present research assessed the relationships between anxiety and depression symptom dimensions and several facets of creativity: divergent thinking, creative self-concepts, everyday creative behaviors, and creative accomplishments. Latent variable models estimated effect sizes and their confidence intervals. Overall, measures of anxiety, depression, and social anxiety predicted little variance in creativity. Few models explained more than 3% of the variance, and the effect sizes were small and inconsistent in direction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)