Ethnic Differences in Associations Among Popularity,Likability, and Trajectories of Adolescents' Alcohol Use and Frequency

Two‐part latent growth models examined associations between two forms of peer status (popularity, likability) and adolescents' alcohol use trajectories throughout high school; ethnicity was examined as a moderator. Ninth‐grade low‐income adolescents (N = 364; M_age = 15.08; 52.5% Caucasian; 25.8% African American; 21.7% Latino) completed sociometric nominations of peer status and aggression at baseline, and reported their alcohol use every 6 months. After controlling for gender, aggression, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, popularity—but not likability—prospectively predicted alcohol use trajectories. However, these effects were moderated by ethnicity, suggesting popularity as a risk factor for alcohol use probability and frequency among Caucasian and Latino, but not African American adolescents. Results suggest that developmental correlates of peer status should be considered within cultural context.     

Same Language,Different Histories: Developing a “Critical” English Teacher Identity

ABSTRACT

Our paper contends that growing awareness of the historicity of English lies at the heart of the process by which English language teachers develop “critical” identities. We compare novice teachers in three different contexts of English teaching: urban Guatemala, rural Nicaragua, and a Tibetan refugee community in India. Collectively, these ethnographic case studies illustrate the complexity of English teacher identity formation in contemporary global society, as our participants developed new understandings of their positions in history, their relationships with English learners, and the local meanings around English as symbolic capital.     

Behaviors of youth involved in the child welfare system

OBJECTIVE: Using data from a nationally representative panel study, the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), we address the following questions: (a) What are the youth, family, community, and child welfare system risk factors that place youth (ages 11-14 years) living at home, who are referred for maltreatment, at increased risk of delinquent behaviors over time? and (b) What promotive factors at the youth, family, community, and child welfare system levels appear to minimize the risk of delinquent behaviors for these youth over time? METHODS: The study uses the NSCAW data collected at baseline (Wave 1) and 18 months later (Wave 3). The multivariate analyses were conducted using a tobit model adjusted for longitudinal data and a complex survey sample. RESULTS: Several significant risk and promotive factors were found to influence the risk of delinquent behaviors over time. Older youth were more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors than younger youth. Girls were less likely to engage in delinquent behaviors than boys. Race or ethnicity did not have a statistically significant relationship with engaging in delinquent behaviors. Compared with neglected youth, youth who were physically abused were more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors. Increases in caregiver monitoring and in the quality of relationship with caregivers were associated with decreases in delinquent behaviors. Youth at greatest risk and those who engaged in more delinquent behaviors received more child welfare services then youth who did not engage in delinquent behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: The current child welfare delivery system emphasizes provision of services to youth experiencing the more serious problems and less on preventive services. The study findings suggest that preventive services when youth first enter the child welfare system that focus on enhancing caregiver skills in building positive relationships with their youth and increased monitoring of the youth's activity may alter the pathway to delinquent behaviors for these youth.     

Effect of dual-attention task on attack and defensive actions in fencing

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect that the presence of two stimuli that require two different responses (dual-attention) has both, on offensive reaction-response time to a light stimulus, and on defensive response time when the stimulus is a real fencing attack. Twenty-five elite fencers and a fencing master were included in the study. The equipment included four force plates adapted to a scaffold that served as a fencing piste. Two force plates were placed, at the start position, under the fencer’s feet and another two plates were placed under the master’s feet. The results demonstrate that choice reaction time to visual stimuli increases in dual-task conditions with respect to simple reaction time, whereas the mean horizontal force tends to decrease in dual-task. However, when the stimulus was an opponent’s movement, dual-task conditions did not have any effect on the time required to initiate a defensive action. The changes in reaction time when real movements were used as stimuli challenge the validity of the reaction time to visual stimuli paradigm as a predictor of performance in fencing. Also, the results obtained demonstrate that perceptual and attentional processes play a major role in fencer performance in real competition.