"A mechanistic explanation of popularity: Genes, rule breaking, and evocative gene-environment correlations": Correction to Burt (2009).

Reports an error in "A mechanistic explanation of popularity: Genes, rule breaking, and evocative gene–environment correlations" by Alexandra Burt (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2009[Apr], Vol 96[4], 783-794). Due to a production error, an incorrect version of the article was printed. To see the complete, corrected article, please go to http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0013702. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2009-03773-005.) Previous work has suggested that the serotonergic system plays a key role in “popularity” or likeability. A polymorphism within the 5HT2A serotonin receptor gene (?G1438A) has also been associated with popularity, suggesting that genes may predispose individuals to particular social experiences. However, because genes cannot code directly for others' reactions, any legitimate association should be mediated via the individual's behavior (i.e., genes→behaviors→social consequences), a phenomenon referred to as an evocative gene–environment correlation (rGE). The current study aimed to identify one such mediating behavior. The author focused on rule breaking given its prior links to both the serotonergic system and to increased popularity during adolescence. Two samples of previously unacquainted late-adolescent boys completed a peer-based interaction paradigm designed to assess their popularity. Analyses revealed that rule breaking partially mediated the genetic effect on popularity, thereby furthering our understanding of the biological mechanisms that underlie popularity. Moreover, the present results represent the first meaningfully explicated evidence that genes predispose individuals not only to particular behaviors but also to the social consequences of those behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting Sex Offender Institutional Adjustment and Treatment Compliance Using the Personality Assessment Inventory.

This study examined the utility of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) to identify prison inmates in a mandatory sex offender treatment program prone to engage in institutional misconduct. Archival PAI and institutional disciplinary data were coded for 137 inmates in treatment for an average of 1.59 years. The Antisocial Features scale predicted various forms of general and major infractions (e.g., verbal aggression), with no other scales providing any incremental validity beyond this measure. The Treatment Rejection scale was uniquely but modestly correlated (r=.14) with treatment noncompliance, even though such infractions were rare in this sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of comorbid psychopathy on criminal offending and emotion processing in male offenders with antisocial personality disorder.

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and psychopathy are two syndromes with substantial construct validity. To clarify relations between these syndromes, the authors evaluated 3 possibilities: (a) that ASPD with psychopathy and ASPD without psychopathy reflect a common underlying pathophysiology; (b) that ASPD with psychopathy and ASPD without psychopathy identify 2 distinct syndromes, similar in some respects; and (c) that most correlates of ASPD reflect its comorbidity with psychopathy. Participants were 472 incarcerated European American men who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (4th ed., American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for ASPD and Psychopathy Checklist criteria for psychopathy, who met the criteria for ASPD but not for psychopathy, or who did not meet diagnostic criteria for either ASPD or psychopathy (controls). Both individuals with ASPD only and those with ASPD and psychopathy were characterized by more criminal activity than were controls. In addition, ASPD with psychopathy was associated with more severe criminal behavior and weaker emotion facilitation than ASPD alone. Group differences in the association between emotion dysfunction and criminal behavior suggest tentatively that ASPD with and ASPD without prominent psychopathic features may be distinct syndromes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of family management practices and early adolescent behavioral outcomes.

Stage–environment fit theory was used to examine the reciprocal lagged relations between family management practices and early adolescent problem behavior during the middle school years. In addition, the potential moderating roles of family structure and of gender were explored. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to describe patterns of growth in family management practices and adolescents' behavioral outcomes and to detect predictors of interindividual differences in initial status and rate of change. The sample comprised approximately 1,000 adolescents between ages 11 years and 15 years. The results indicated that adolescents' antisocial behaviors and substance use increased and their positive behavioral engagement decreased over time. As adolescent age increased, parental knowledge of their adolescent's activities decreased, as did parental rule making and support. The level and rate of change in family management and adolescent behavioral outcomes varied by family structure and by gender. Reciprocal longitudinal associations between parenting practices and adolescent problem behavior were found. Specifically, parenting practices predicted subsequent adolescent behavior, and adolescent behavior predicted subsequent parenting practices. In addition, parental warmth moderated the effects of parental knowledge and rule making on adolescent antisocial behavior and substance use over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors and outcomes of joint trajectories of callous–unemotional traits and conduct problems in childhood.

Callous–unemotional (CU) traits are associated with antisocial and delinquent behaviors in children and represent a potential risk factor for adult psychopathy. However, there is a paucity of longitudinal research that explores the development of these traits, their longitudinal association with conduct problems (CP), and their psychosocial predictors and outcomes. Using a large sample of children followed longitudinally from the Twins Early Development Study (N = 9,578), we described the joint developmental trajectories of CU traits and CP during childhood (between ages 7 and 12) and examined the child- and family-level predictors (4 years old) and concomitant outcomes (12 years old) associated with the trajectories. The developmental trajectories were characterized with teachers' ratings of CU traits and CP from ages 7 to 12. Using general growth mixture modeling, we identified four trajectories of CU traits (stable high, increasing, decreasing, and stable low) and two trajectories of CP (high and low). Compared with the children who followed a low trajectory of CU traits and CP, those who followed a high trajectory of CU traits and CP had more negative child- and family-level predictors at 4 years (including CP, hyperactivity, negative parental discipline, and chaos in the home). Children with high or increasing levels of CU traits and concomitant high levels of CP presented the most negative outcomes at 12 years (including hyperactivity, peer problems, emotional problems, and negative parental feelings). Children with high CU traits and concomitant high levels of CP in childhood should be prioritized for targeted intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enduring vulnerabilities, relationship attributions, and couple conflict: An integrative model of the occurrence and frequency of intimate partner violence.

We tested an integrative model of individual and dyadic variables contributing to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Based on the vulnerability-stress-adaptation (VSA) model, we hypothesized that three “enduring vulnerabilities” (i.e., antisocial behavior, hostility, and depressive symptoms) would be associated with a “maladaptive process” (i.e., negative relationship attributions) that would lead to difficulties in couple conflict resolution, thus leading to IPV. Among a community sample of 167 heterosexual couples who were expecting their first child, we used an actor–partner interdependence model to account for the dyadic nature of conflict and IPV, as well as a hurdle count model to improve upon prior methods for modeling IPV data. Study results provided general support for the integrative model, demonstrating the importance of considering couple conflict in the prediction of IPV and showing the relative importance of multiple predictor variables. Gender symmetry was observed for the prediction of IPV occurrence, with gender differences emerging in the prediction of IPV frequency. Relatively speaking, the prediction of IPV frequency appeared to be a function of enduring vulnerabilities among men, but a function of couple conflict among women. Results also revealed important cross-gender effects in the prediction of IPV, reflecting the inherently dyadic nature of IPV, particularly in the case of “common couple violence.” Future research using longitudinal designs is necessary to verify the conclusions suggested by the current results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clarifying the role of defensive reactivity deficits in psychopathy and antisocial personality using startle reflex methodology.

Prior research has demonstrated deficits in defensive reactivity (indexed by potentiation of the startle blink reflex) in psychopathic individuals. However, the basis of this association remains unclear, as diagnostic criteria for psychopathy encompass two distinct phenotypic components that may reflect differing neurobiological mechanisms—an affective–interpersonal component and an antisocial deviance component. Likewise, the role of defensive response deficits in antisocial personality disorder (APD), a related but distinct syndrome, remains to be clarified. In the current study, the authors examined affective priming deficits in relation to factors of psychopathy and symptoms of APD using startle reflex methods in 108 adult male prisoners. Deficits in blink reflex potentiation during aversive picture viewing were found in relation to the affective–interpersonal (Factor 1) component of psychopathy, and to a lesser extent in relation to the antisocial deviance (Factor 2) component of psychopathy and symptoms of APD—but only as a function of their overlap with affective–interpersonal features of psychopathy. These findings provide clear evidence that deficits in defensive reactivity are linked specifically to the affective–interpersonal features of psychopathy and not to the antisocial deviance features represented most strongly in APD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

生活方式变化对我国成人肥胖的影响研究——基于CHNS数据的实证分析

以CHNS数据库为基础,实证分析了从1989—2009年20年间生活方式变化对我国成人肥胖蔓延的影响。结果表明,劳动强度的降低对于被观察者患BMI超重、BMI肥胖,腹胖和中心胖的概率均有显著正向影响;偏好于在家吃晚餐对于被观察者患BMI超重、BMI肥胖,腹胖和中心胖的概率有显著负向影响;喜欢喝啤酒对于被观察者患BMI超重、BMI肥胖,腹胖和中心胖的概率均有显著正向影响。     

Behaving Clean without Having to Think Green? Local Eco-Technological and Dialogue-Based,Low-Carbon Projects in Sweden

Two kinds of local low-carbon initiatives are the focus in this paper: those initiated under the umbrella of a central government program, and those initiated from below by individuals and municipalities in Sweden. The project studied in the first category was focused on eco-technological innovations undertaken by a municipal housing company. The case in the second category was a dialogue-based program with selected citizens willing to test a climate-friendly lifestyle. The latter approach faced strong barriers when going from words to deeds, lacking the large-scale favors of massive eco-technological investments. Highlighting one particular project in each category, we illustrate the potentials and barriers of each approach. It is concluded that policymakers have to find ways to combine the two, otherwise there is a risk that low-carbon committed individuals will become disillusioned or that eco-technological gains will be spoiled by “rebound consumption.”     

Daily wastewater pollutant dynamics with respect to catchment population structure

To relate population structure and activity to wastewater volume and composition, field trials were conducted at the outlets of two urban catchments that have different population structures (residential-only and mixed). Macropollution and metal micropollution were both considered. In the residential-only catchment, a diurnal pattern with a morning peak (at 10:00) and an evening peak (at 20:00, corresponding to dinner) was observed for all seasons. No difference was observed throughout the year; patterns in summer days, in which daily mobility out of the catchments should be reduced, were similar to those observed in other seasons. For both catchments, N-NH₄ (from urine) and chemical oxygen demand (from urine and grey water) correlated with Cu, Zn, Al, Fe and Mn but not with alkaline earth metals. The observed diurnal pattern is associated with work and school mobility and with the general lifestyle of the population. Such an approach is useful to model expected domestic pollution patterns, with respect to lifestyle changes in the future.