Examining stress reactivity in neonates: relations between cortisol and behavior

The association between cortisol and behavioral reactivity to a medical heel stick and a neurobehavioral exam was examined in 100 healthy African American neonates, who have been underrepresented in this area of research. Using continuous measures, behavioral distress was associated with cortisol reactivity to both stressors. High levels of behavioral distress, however, were associated with cortisol reactivity only in response to the neurobehavioral exam. In contrast, low levels of behavioral distress were associated with cortisol reactivity only in response to the heel stick. The results highlight potentially important parameters for exploring the relation between biological and behavioral reactivity to stress such as the operationalization of behavioral distress and the context in which a stress response is elicited.     

Strengthening Multisite Educational Interventions: An Illustration With Multilevel Modeling

This article illustrates the value and use of multilevel models to examine site-to-site outcome differences in the analysis of data from multisite evaluations. It shows how a traditional analysis approach can overlook effective interventions and miss important links between program implementation and outcomes. Practical issues regarding statistical power and intervention leakage are also discussed. Using data from an evaluation of an alternative teacher certification program, this illustration finds site-to-site outcome differences and shows how program developers can exploit these differences in an attempt to understand and strengthen an intervention.     

Contents, Volume 21 (1999)

Volume Contents

Contents, Volume 21 (1999)     

Phonological and semantic priming in children with reading disability

Lexical priming was assessed in children with reading disability (RD) and in age-matched controls ( M = 11.5 years), in visual and auditory lexical decision tasks. In the visual task, children with RD were found to have deficits in semantic (SHIP–BOAT), phonological/graphemic (GOAT–BOAT), and combined (FLOAT–BOAT) priming. The same pattern of semantic priming deficits also occurred in auditory lexical decisions, suggesting that the semantic deficits are not confined to reading. Children with RD also showed less priming than reading-age matched controls, suggesting that their priming deficits are not simply due to lower reading level but are due to the reading disability in particular. These semantic deficits may contribute to both the word reading and the comprehension problems seen in children with RD.     

Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parental Warmth,Hostility/Rejection/Neglect,and Behavioral Control: Specific and Unique Relations with Parents’ Depression Versus Anxiety Symptoms

Objective. This study advanced and tested conceptualizations of parents’ depression and anxiety in relation to parental warmth, hostility/rejection/neglect, and behavioral control, before and after controlling for comorbid symptoms. Design. Two-parent families (N = 119) with girls (aged 8 to 12) completed questionnaires on parents’ and girls’ depression and anxiety and parents’ parenting. Results. Both parents’ depression and anxiety were related to more hostility/rejection/neglect; and the relations with depression remained after controlling for anxiety, yet the relations with anxiety became non-significant after controlling for depression. Mothers’ and fathers’ depression remained significantly and uniquely related to more hostility/rejection/neglect after controlling for their anxiety in addition to parental warmth, family socioeconomic status, parents’ treatment status, and girls’ depression and anxiety symptoms. Both mothers’ and fathers’ anxiety were related to higher behavioral control, before and after controlling for the parent’s depression, hostility/rejection/neglect, and treatment status, as well as family socioeconomic status and girls’ depression and anxiety symptoms. Fathers’ depression was related to lower behavioral control only after controlling for fathers’ anxiety, and remained so after also controlling for fathers’ hostility/rejection/neglect and the other control variables. Fathers’ depression and anxiety also interacted in relation to behavioral control. Conclusions. Mothers’ and fathers’ depression and anxiety symptoms are differentially related to parental warmth, hostility/rejection/neglect, and behavioral control, especially when comorbid symptoms are considered.     

Can policies help schools affirm gender diversity? A policy archaeology of transgender-inclusive policies in California schools

ABSTRACT

Since 2010, California passed three laws that address the safety and inclusion of transgender students. Seth’s Law (SB 48), the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act (AB 9) and The School Success and Opportunity Act (AB 1266). The policies of 10 large urban districts in and around the San Francisco Bay Area were analyzed using policy archaeology methodology (PAM) to critically evaluate the possibilities and limits of transgender-inclusive policies to support and affirm gender-diverse (transgender, agender, non-binary, etc.) students. The analysis presented here aims to trouble the normalizing categories of the gender binary that get reified in these policies and offers additional ways to create schools that are more affirming and supportive of all forms of gender diversity.     

Patterns of Friendship in Ungraded Primary Classes

Patterns of friendship in 66 ungraded primary classrooms were investigated. A sample of 1168 ungraded primary students participated in rating and nomination sociometric assessments which yielded independent information concerning overall acceptance by the classroom peer group and the presence of reciprocated friendship dyads. Analyses revealed that both peer acceptance level and age relative to classmates influenced whether children had friends, the total number of reciprocated friendships, and the numbers of friendships with children who were of different ages relative to classmates. Previous research had suggested that ungraded primary students who are relatively younger than their classmates are less well accepted by their classmates. Results confirmed and extended this research by demonstrating that relatively younger children in mixed-age classes also are less likely to have reciprocated friendships with classmates. These results suggest that teachers in mixed-age preschool and primary programs may need to implement practices which assist friendship formation, especially for the younger class members.