A study investigated whether medical residents' compliance with guidelines for health promotion and disease prevention improved after exposure to a revised curriculum over three years. Chart audits indicate that, although compliance increased during the first year, activities returned to baseline levels thereafter, despite continued exposure to…

Examined the intersection between internalizing and disruptive behavior problems in 890 inner-city boys in grades 4 and 7 over a 3-year period. Found that internalizing problems were more associated with a diagnosis of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder than with a diagnosis of conduct disorder. (MDM)

Examines gender differences in 4-year olds, observing, in 3 replications, 18 to 21 girls and 20 to 22 boys at home and school. Relations between individual characteristics and behavior, or between different aspects of behavior, differ in a number of ways between girls and boys. (SLD)

Compulsory attendance policies have been instituted in higher education with the expectation that academic achievement will improve, but empirical research on this relationship is equivocal. One theory of motivation posits that students' motivational beliefs, classroom context, and student behaviors are important variables in academic achievement.…

A Harvard School of Public Health survey of 17,592 college students concerning alcohol consumption found 84% reported drinking during the school year, with 19% frequent binge drinkers. Half of these were binge drinkers in high school. Also investigated were other drug use, dangerous behavior, secondhand binge effects, and gender effects. A 12-step…

This article explores the problems that occur when gifted children are misdiagnosed with additional exceptionalities. This dilemma is illustrated through a case study of a gifted child diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Guidelines are suggested for careful diagnosis and a diagnostic matrix for interpreting behavior is…

This study tested the association between mother's early age at first birth and various life outcomes for her children in later adolescence and early adulthood. Data were analyzed from the Rochester Youth Development Study, an ongoing panel study of adolescents enrolled in seventh or eighth grade in Rochester Public Schools in 1988 ("N"=729). Boys…

A large study which investigated the nature of dyadic interactions in a university second language (ESL) classroom setting found that students form very distinct and stable relationships or patterns of dyadic interaction. This paper uses a case study approach to illustrate two of the patterns found in the study: a collaborative pattern and a…

The current investigation was designed to examine the provision of cognitive stimulation to preschool-aged children from high-risk families. Participants were drawn from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, a prospective, longitudinal investigation of individuals recruited in 1976-77 from lower SES neighbourhoods who were rated by childhood…

Prader-Willi syndrome is a multisystem neurogenetic obesity disorder with behavioral manifestations, including hyperphagia, compulsive behavior, self-injury, and mild to moderate mental retardation. In an 8-week open-label study, we evaluated adjunctive therapy with the anticonvulsant topiramate in 8 adults with Prader-Willi syndrome. Appetite was…

The ability to make precise distinctions among related personality constructs helps clarify theory and increases the utility of clinical assessment. In three studies, the authors evaluated the validity of distinctions among four impulsivity-like traits: sensation seeking, lack of planning, lack of persistence, and urgency (acting rashly when…

This study examined reminiscence functions and vivid (i.e., landmark) personal memories in nine samples ranging from the teens to the nineties. Participants (n = 198) ranging in age from 18-95 years completed the Reminiscence Functions Scale (Webster, 1997) and described a vivid personal memory which was subsequently rated for frequency of recall,…

This article focuses on the possibility that autism spectrum disorder (ASD: Asperger syndrome, autism and atypical autism) in its milder forms may be clinically important among a substantial proportion of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and discusses OCD subtypes based on this proposition. The hypothesis derives from extensive…

Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted of "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders", Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) symptoms of common mental disorders derived from structured interviews of a representative sample of 4,049 twin children and adolescents and their adult caretakers. A dimensional model based on the assignment of symptoms…

Background: Many studies have found that there is a low-to-moderate association between exercise during adolescence and exercise habits in adulthood. A question that arises from these earlier studies, with a follow-up period of about five to 20 years, is how children's and adolescents' physical activity affects their inclination to exercise later…