Perceived consequences of absenteeism.

Investigated whether organizational policies and practices can be effective deterrents to absenteeism. Hypotheses about the relationships between consequences of absenteeism and past and future absenteeism were based on an expectancy model of behavior. Data were collected from 60 blue-collar employees in one department of a unionized automobile-parts foundry. Results indicate that for some employees absenteeism provided an opportunity to experience consequences that tended to encourage absenteeism and that were not offset by organizationally controlled consequences that would tend to deter absenteeism. An absenteeism policy that both rewards attendance with consequences that usually motivate absenteeism and one that penalizes absenteeism is proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental work schedules and adolescent risky behaviors.

Using a large contemporary data set (the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth–Child Supplement), the authors examined the effects of parental work schedules on adolescent risky behaviors at age 13 or 14 and the mechanisms that might explain them. Structural equation modeling suggests mothers who worked more often at night spent significantly less time with children and had lower quality home environments, and these mediators were significantly linked to adolescent risky behaviors. Similar effects were not found for evening work schedules, while other types of maternal and paternal nonstandard work schedules were linked to higher parental knowledge of children's whereabouts, which led to lower levels of adolescent risky behaviors. Subgroup analyses revealed that boys, those in families with low incomes, and those whose mothers never worked at professional jobs may particularly be affected by mothers working at nights, due to spending less time together, having a lower degree of maternal closeness, and experiencing lower quality home environments. In addition, the effects of maternal night shifts were particularly pronounced if children were in the preschool or middle-childhood years when their mothers worked those schedules. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived stress and diabetes control in adolescents.

Monitored insulin administration, dietary intake, and exercise levels of 22 female and 17 male diabetic adolescents (mean age 13.8 yrs). Measures of blood glucose and perceived minor stressors were also obtained. The best index of stress was one in which number and magnitude of negative stressors were combined into a cumulative stress measure. Negative cumulative stress significantly correlated with blood glucose levels after controlling for the effects of insulin, diet, and exercise. In addition, diabetes control tended to be better when Ss, particularly boys, adjusted well to negative stress. Findings suggest that minor stressors can influence health outcome, but positive and negative stress need to be assessed independently. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived smokeless tobacco addiction among adolescents.

Although the prevalence and associated factors of smokeless tobacco (SLT) use are well documented, there are no data on the prevalence and associated factors of SLT dependence-addiction. From a survey of 11,057 adolescents in the nonurban Southeastern United States, 3,726 reported having tried SLT, and 17% of those who had tried SLT perceived that they were addicted to it. Years of SLT use, frequency of use per day, and hours of exposure per day were strongly related to perceived addiction. Those using SLT for 1 year or longer had perceived addiction rates of 37% and were over 12 times more likely to report being addicted than were those using for less than 1 year. After controlling for level of SLT use, other factors including parental SLT use, perceived control over health, and racial-ethnic group also contributed minimally but significantly to reported SLT addiction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Protecting the self from the negative consequences of risky decisions.

Three experiments tested the idea that a motive to protect self-esteem (SE) from the threat of regret can influence decision making. Threat to SE was manipulated by varying whether people expected to know the outcome of their decisions. Study 1 showed that when Ss expected feedback about their decisions, only Ss low in SE made regret-minimizing choices. Study 2 showed that when Ss did not expect to know the outcome of their decisions, SE differences in choice strategies disappeared. Study 3 manipulated expectations about feedback on chosen and unchosen alternatives and showed that the more feedback that was expected, the more likely low but not high SE Ss were to make regret-minimizing choices. These studies suggest that people base decisions not only on objective attributes of choice alternatives, but also on the damage to SE that is perceived to result from a poor-decision outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and health risk behaviors among Mexican American adolescents.

Utilizing the concept of race-based traumatic stress, this study tested whether posttraumatic stress symptoms explain the process by which perceived discrimination is related to health risk behaviors among Mexican American adolescents. One hundred ten participants were recruited from a large health maintenance organization in Northern California. Mediational analyses indicated that adolescents who perceived more discrimination reported worse posttraumatic stress symptoms, controlling for covariates. In turn, adolescents who experienced heightened posttraumatic stress symptoms reported more alcohol use, more other drug use, involvement in more fights, and more sexual partners. Perceived discrimination was also directly related to involvement in more fights. Results provide support for the notion of race-based traumatic stress, specifically, that perceived discrimination may be traumatizing for Mexican American adolescents. Counseling psychologists and counselors in schools and community settings should assess Mexican American adolescents for the effects of discrimination and provide appropriate interventions to reduce its negative emotional impact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual- and organizational-level consequences of organizational citizenship behaviors: A meta-analysis.

Although one of the main reasons for the interest in organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) is the potential consequences of these behaviors, no study has been reported that summarizes the research regarding the relationships between OCBs and their outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide a meta-analytic examination of the relationships between OCBs and a variety of individual- and organizational-level outcomes. Results, based on 168 independent samples (N = 51,235 individuals), indicated that OCBs are related to a number of individual-level outcomes, including managerial ratings of employee performance, reward allocation decisions, and a variety of withdrawal-related criteria (e.g., employee turnover intentions, actual turnover, and absenteeism). In addition, OCBs were found to be related (k = 38; N = 3,611 units) to a number of organizational-level outcomes (e.g., productivity, efficiency, reduced costs, customer satisfaction, and unit-level turnover). Of interest, somewhat stronger relationships were observed between OCBs and unit-level performance measures in longitudinal studies than in cross-sectional studies, providing some evidence that OCBs are causally related to these criteria. The implications of these findings for both researchers and practitioners are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived consequences and adolescent drinking: Nonlinear and interactive models of alcohol expectancies.

Nonlinear and interactive models of alcohol expectancies and drinking were investigated using survey data obtained from junior and senior high school students on 2 occasions 2 years apart. Significant nonlinear and interactive effects were found in cross-sectional analyses. First, negative expectancies were most predictive when subjective likelihood was low. Second, drinking was highest when respondents believed that (a) negative consequences were unlikely and affective enhancement was likely and (b) both affective enhancement and social facilitation were likely. A simpler linear model was adequate for predicting changes in drinking, with both negative and affective enhancement expectancies having significant longitudinal effects. The results support the importance of alcohol expectancies but suggest that the relationships between these beliefs and adolescent drinking may be complex. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of sexual and dating behaviors among adolescents.

Data on sexual behavior were obtained from 183 male and 193 female 12–18 yr olds, selected from 3 birth cohorts using a stratified random sample. Eight latent constructs—sexual and dating involvement, self-acceptance, feminist sex-role attitudes, deviant social network, importance of dating, lack of heterosexual competence, sexually active social network, and stressful change events—were hypothesized to explain the variance in 26 observed variables. Several causal models were tested that specified structural relationships among the latent constructs. A theoretically meaningful model was arrived at that linked the 8 error-free factors. This model indicates that dating and sexual involvement was a direct function only of the importance of dating, which in turn was positively related to self-acceptance and stressful changes and negatively related to lack of heterosexual competence. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional consequences of loss for our adolescents.

Evaluated 24 children between the ages of 8 and 16 yrs who experienced the death or loss of a parent during infancy, early childhood, or latency. Each was referred for psychological evaluation because of manifested school dysfunctions. Feelings of abandonment and depression were 2 major symptoms, either expressed or felt by the Ss. Their yearning for the lost object who abandoned them, through death, appeared to persist throughout their early life. Findings suggest that the death or loss of a parent in early infancy, latency, or adolescence, is a traumatic event on the personality development and functioning of the child. Treatment approaches that are needed with this population are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived vulnerability to alcohol-related harm in young adults: Independent effects of risky alcohol use and drinking motives.

Perceived vulnerability to negative outcomes can motivate heavy drinkers to adopt health protective behavior, but little is known about determinants of perceived vulnerability to alcohol-related harm. University students (N ?=?286) were assessed to determine epidemiological risk status on a standardized problem drinking measure, typical reasons for drinking and cutting down, and perceived risk of experiencing alcohol-related harm. Results showed a positive relationship between problem drinking status and perceived risk of experiencing harm. However, at-risk drinkers believed that they were less likely to personally experience harm than comparable peers (p ?     

Personal religious practice, risky behavior, and implementation intentions among adolescents.

The benefits of religiousness for promoting well-being and avoiding risky behaviors has long been noted, especially for adolescents, but a precise understanding of the mechanism underlying this effect on risky behaviors has not yet been developed. We hypothesized that religious practices help religious adolescents form implementation intentions (IIs) when pursuing decisions and goals to avoid risky behaviors. We predicted that participants with higher rates of private religious practice would generate greater numbers and higher quality IIs to avoid risky behaviors relative to other participants. In this preliminary exploration, 50 college students completed assessments of private religious practices, risk–benefit evaluations about risky scenarios, and the number and quality of IIs they could generate to avoid risk in those scenarios. Results supported our predictions: After controlling for age and gender, participants who engaged more frequently in private religious practice were able to generate both more and higher quality IIs about avoiding risky scenarios. This provides initial support for the hypothesis that religiousness may protect against risky behaviors by enhancing the abilities of religious adolescents to form IIs to avoid risky behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neurobiological and memory models of risky decision making in adolescents versus young adults.

Predictions of fuzzy-trace theory and neurobiological approaches are examined regarding risk taking in a classic decision-making task—the framing task—as well as in the context of real-life risk taking. We report the 1st study of framing effects in adolescents versus adults, varying risk and reward, and relate choices to individual differences, sexual behavior, and behavioral intentions. As predicted by fuzzy-trace theory, adolescents modulated risk taking according to risk and reward. Adults showed standard framing, reflecting greater emphasis on gist-based (qualitative) reasoning, but adolescents displayed reverse framing when potential gains for risk taking were high, reflecting greater emphasis on verbatim-based (quantitative) reasoning. Reverse framing signals a different way of thinking compared with standard framing (reverse framing also differs from simply choosing the risky option). Measures of verbatim- and gist-based reasoning about risk, sensation seeking, behavioral activation, and inhibition were used to extract dimensions of risk proneness: Sensation seeking increased and then decreased, whereas inhibition increased from early adolescence to young adulthood, predicted by neurobiological theories. Two additional dimensions, verbatim- and gist-based reasoning about risk, loaded separately and predicted unique variance in risk taking. Importantly, framing responses predicted real-life risk taking. Reasoning was the most consistent predictor of real-life risk taking: (a) Intentions to have sex, sexual behavior, and number of partners decreased when gist-based reasoning was triggered by retrieval cues in questions about perceived risk, whereas (b) intentions to have sex and number of partners increased when verbatim-based reasoning was triggered by different retrieval cues in questions about perceived risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and the predisposition to engage in risky or problem behaviors during adolescence.

Longitudinal data from a representative sample of 1,978 Black and White adolescents were used to examine the role of personality in multiple risk or problem behaviors. Results indicate that covariation among diverse behaviors (educational underachievement, delinquent behavior, substance use, sexual behavior) can be adequately modeled by a single higher order factor, and that impulsivity and avoidance coping serve as generalized risk factors for involvement in these behaviors. Whereas none of the personality variables examined explained change in problem behaviors once established, avoidance coping prospectively predicted involvement among a subgroup of adolescents with little or no prior involvement. Results suggest that dysfunctional styles of regulating emotions and emotionally driven behaviors are core features of risky or problem behaviors during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative affective consequences of thinking about disease detection behaviors.

It was proposed that thinking about disease-detection behavior would lead to more negative moods than thinking about health-promotion behavior. Detection behaviors produce more negative moods because they can threaten perceptions of good health. In a laboratory study, the initial mood states of 121 participants recruited from undergraduates and the general community were measured using a neutral-words rating procedure. Then participants were randomly assigned to think about performing a disease-detection behavior or a health-promotion behavior. Subsequently, they wrote down their responses to the behavior and evaluated these 35 either positive, negative, or neutral. Finally, the participant's mood was remeasured using both a neutral words-rating procedure and a more traditional bipolar rating measure. Results indicated that thought about disease-detection behavior produced more negative affective responses and more negative mood change than did thought about health-promotion behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dieting behaviors and weight change history in female adolescents.

The prevalence of dieting, weight change history, and specific weight loss behaviors was examined in a population-based sample of 1,015 female 9th–12th graders. Healthy weight loss behaviors were reported much more frequently than unhealthy weight loss behaviors (e.g., healthy behaviors: exercise?=?32.4%, decrease fat intake?=?26.0%, reduce snacks?=?25.0%, reduce kilocalorie intake?=?22.4%; unhealthy behaviors: fasting?=?8.1%, diet pills?=?5.4%, vomiting?=?4.4%). Obesity status and restrained eating scores were positively related to greater history of weight loss episodes, pounds lost, and weight fluctuations and to greater use of healthy weight loss methods and weight loss programs. Implications for public health recommendations regarding dieting and its associated behaviors in female adolescents are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determiners and consequences of verbal behaviors of young children and their mothers.

Explored the dynamic aspects of maternal language instruction and first language learning. 10 boys and 10 girls between 1 and 5 yrs of age were observed with their mothers in their middle-class homes. 11 types of motivating techniques and 5 types of instructional activities could be reliably differentiated. The frequencies of motivating techniques remained unchanged with the child's increasing age and language level, whereas the frequencies of the mother's instructional activities declined significantly. Meaningful intercorrelations of the motivating techniques attested to the mutual adaptation of mothers and children. Significant intercorrelations of the types of contents taught suggested maternal teaching styles. Motivating techniques and contents of instructions were only weakly related, indicating that instructional strategies can be combined rather flexibly. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships Between Perceived Stress and Health Behaviors in a Sample of Working Adults.

The study examined associations between perceived stress and fat intake, exercise, alcohol consumption, and smoking behaviors. Data were from surveys of 12,110 individuals in 26 worksites participating in the SUCCESS project (D. J. Hennrikus, R. W. Jeffery, & H. A. Lando, 1995), a study of smoking cessation interventions. Linear regression analyses examined cross-sectional associations between stress level and health behaviors. Analyses were stratified by gender and controlled for demographics. High stress for both men and women was associated with a higher fat diet, less frequent exercise, cigarette smoking, recent increases in smoking, less self-efficacy to quit smoking, and less self-efficacy to not smoke when stressed. Stress was not associated with alcohol intake. Findings suggest that the association between stress and disease may be moderated in part by unhealthy behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of unhealthy weight-control behaviors among adolescents: Implications for prevention programs.

This study aimed to identify correlates of unhealthy weight-control behaviors in adolescents to guide the development of programs aimed at the primary prevention of disordered eating. A model explaining unhealthy weight-control behaviors was tested among 4,746 adolescents using structural equation modeling. Models fit the data well and explained 76% of the variance in unhealthy weight-control behaviors among girls and 63% among boys. Weight-body concerns were a strong correlate of unhealthy weight-control behaviors in both girls and boys. Models also emphasized the importance of weight-specific social norms within the adolescent's proximal environment. Findings suggest the importance of addressing weight-body concerns within prevention programs and extending interventions beyond classroom settings to ensure changes in weight-related norms among peer groups and family members. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental attachment styles of late adolescents: Qualities of attachment relationships and consequences for adjustment.

Lack of a self-report measure of late adolescent parental attachment style has threatened to hinder expansion of the empirical basis of attachment theory. Two studies were undertaken that provided evidence of validity for a new classification of parental attachment style from patterns of scores on the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (G. C. Armsden & M. T. Greenberg, 1987). Discriminant function analyses differentiated among secure, ambivalent, and avoidant attachment with 2 empirically derived dimensions, which paralleled the essential attachment functions theorized by M. D. S. Ainsworth (1989). Overall, insecurely attached late adolescents reported greater depression, anxiety, and worry than their securely attached counterparts. For women but not for men, insecure attachment was associated with diminished college adjustment and lower intimacy development. These results portend the promise of investigations of parental attachment style to elucidate contributions of parental attachment to late adolescent development and adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)