Relations between neighborhood factors, parenting behaviors, peer deviance, and delinquency among serious juvenile offenders.

The present study examined relations among neighborhood structural and social characteristics, parenting practices, peer group affiliations, and delinquency among a group of serious adolescent offenders. The sample of 14-18-year-old boys (N = 488) was composed primarily of economically disadvantaged, ethnic-minority youth living in urban communities. The results indicate that weak neighborhood social organization is indirectly related to delinquency through its associations with parenting behavior and peer deviance and that a focus on just 1 of these microsystems can lead to oversimplified models of risk for juvenile offending. The authors also find that community social ties may confer both pro- and antisocial influences to youth, and they advocate for a broad conceptualization of neighborhood social processes as these relate to developmental risk for youth living in disadvantaged communities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parents' ethnic-racial socialization practices: A review of research and directions for future study.

Recently, there has been an emergence of literature on the mechanisms through which parents transmit information, values, and perspectives about ethnicity and race to their children, commonly referred to as racial or ethnic socialization. This literature has sought to document the nature of such socialization, its antecedents in parents' and children's characteristics and experiences, and its consequences for children's well-being and development. In this article, the authors integrate and synthesize what is known about racial and ethnic socialization on the basis of current empirical research, examining studies concerning its nature and frequency; its child, parent, and ecological predictors; and its consequences for children's development, including ethnic identity, self-esteem, coping with discrimination, academic achievement, and psychosocial well-being. The authors also discuss conceptual and methodological limitations of the literature and suggest directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing Reference Evapotranspiration by the Hargreaves Method in Southern Spain

The Hargreaves method enables reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0) estimation in areas where meteorological information is scarce, as, for example, southern Spain. However, this method is known to produce considerable bias in this region, especially during the dry, hot summer months. An evaluation of the method is made by comparing daily estimates with those made by the more commonly recommended Penman–Monteith method at 16 meteorological stations. Computed ET0 values at the coastal stations are, on average, 0.69 mm?d?1 smaller than the Penman–Monteith estimates whereas at inland stations a small average overestimation of 0.13 mm?d?1 is shown. The adjusted Hargreaves coefficient (AHC), obtained through regression analysis, increases at the coastal stations, on average, to 0.0029, and decreases at the inland stations to 0.0022. Adjustment with the Samani method does generally not produce more accurate estimates in this region. Finally a linear relationship between the AHC and the rate of the average temperature to the average daily temperature range is proposed for the regional adjustment of the Hargreaves coefficient.     

Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research.

This article presents an expanded model of acculturation among international migrants and their immediate descendants. Acculturation is proposed as a multidimensional process consisting of the confluence among heritage-cultural and receiving-cultural practices, values, and identifications. The implications of this reconceptualization for the acculturation construct, as well as for its relationship to psychosocial and health outcomes, are discussed. In particular, an expanded operationalization of acculturation is needed to address the “immigrant paradox,” whereby international migrants with more exposure to the receiving cultural context report poorer mental and physical health outcomes. We discuss the role of ethnicity, cultural similarity, and discrimination in the acculturation process, offer an operational definition for context of reception, and call for studies on the role that context of reception plays in the acculturation process. The new perspective on acculturation presented in this article is intended to yield a fuller understanding of complex acculturation processes and their relationships to contextual and individual functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Brief psychotherapies: Principles and practices.

Reviews the book, Brief psychotherapies: Principles and practices by Michael F. Hoyt (2009). Despite the evident desire of many clients to address their issues in as time-efficient manner as possible (even one session), most therapists are trained to deliver psychotherapy via longer-term models of practice. Although more graduate programs than in the past are beginning to offer training in brief therapy, in many instances this is a one course elective without related practical experience. Hoyt’s book provides a wide-angle overview of the field of brief therapy, as well as an up close look at one of its most prominent models (Solution-Focused Therapy). In doing so, it could serve as a centerpiece for courses in brief psychotherapy. Time sensitive therapy fits in a time sensitive world—a world in which both the clients and funders of services want problems to be addressed in as focused a way as possible. This book teaches therapists a great deal about how to navigate in that world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem-solving instruction and problem-solving transfer: The correspondence issue.

R. E. Mayer and A C. Wittrock (1996) have raised the specificity-generality issue as it applies to the teachable aspects of problem-solving transfer. Simply put, do the instructional practices that foster more efficient acquisition-learning of problem-solving strategies automatically foster more efficient problem-solving transfer? On the basis of the present findings the answer is no. Four instructional conditions differing in levels of specificity produced different levels of acquisition. However, when the same students engaged in a delayed problem-solving task, comparable levels of problem-solving transfer performance were observed. In this case, a general approach to problem-solving instruction produced significantly poorer acquisition-learning performance but equally good problem-solving transfer performance. Results are discussed within the context of investigating prior knowledge (F Dochy, M. Segers, & A M. Buehl, 1999) and the identification of source memory (A. Koriat, M. Goldsmith, & A. Pansky, 2000) as a viable tool in this effort. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The "never-to-be-forgotten investigation": Luella W. Cole, Sidney L. Pressey, and mental surveying in Indiana, 1917–1921.

The case of Cole and Pressey's mental survey of southern counties in Indiana provides a microhistorical view of intelligence testing and its popularization. Providing fresh insight into the nature and commerce of mental surveying outside of the Army's notorious program during World War I, this case is an example of larger phenomena at that time. Intent on popularizing their products, Cole and Pressey attended to the minutiae of the consumption and production of their psychological apparatus in their attempts to create and satisfy market conditions. Here, markets would dictate the success of their scales, and in turn mediate their psychology. I argue that the popularization of intelligence testing had as much to do with the mundane market practices of psychologists as with the intellectual practices of Army elites. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Profile of Psychologists' Views of Critical Risk Factors for Completed Suicide in Older Adults.

The ability to accurately and reliably predict whether an older adult will commit suicide has eluded clinicians and researchers. A random national sample of psychologists who work with older adults was surveyed regarding their perception of 36 risk factors for completed suicide and indirect self-destructive behavior in older adults. This study produced a profile of psychologists' assessment and treatment practices when working with suicidal older adults. Determining what psychologists consider to be the most salient risk factors for completed suicide is important in identifying a minimum standard that clinicians should follow when assessing older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Geriatric Mental Health Policy: Impact on Service Delivery and Directions for Effecting Change.

The treatment of mental health problems in older adults has advanced considerably over the past several decades. Nevertheless, the mental health needs of the nation's elderly population remain substantially unmet. This article identifies the significant but previously neglected role of regulatory policies and administrative practices in limiting the use and provision of geriatric mental health services. Such factors are the least recognized and understood by psychologists, although they are the very factors on which psychologists can have the most potential influence. This article subsequently identifies salient legislative proposals and regulatory developments, while addressing the importance of advocacy on agenda setting and policy change. The final section provides specific proposals and mechanisms at micro and macro levels for improving the geropsychology service system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent Gambling: Relationships With Parent Gambling and Parenting Practices.

This study explored the possible links between family risk factors (i.e., parent gambling and parenting practices) and adolescent gambling. A community sample of 938 adolescents (496 females and 442 males) completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA; K. C. Winters, R. Stinchfield, & J. Fulkerson, 1993b) along with a questionnaire assessing parenting practices. Both parents completed the SOGS (H. R. Lesieur & S. B. Blume, 1987). Results showed that adolescent gambling frequency was related to both parents' gambling frequency and problems. However, adolescent gambling problems were linked only to fathers' severity of gambling problems. Low levels of parental monitoring enhanced adolescents' risk of getting involved in gambling activities and developing related problems. A higher level of inadequate disciplinary practices was also related to greater gambling problems in youth. These links were significant after controlling for socioeconomic status, gender, and impulsivity- hyperactivity problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)