In response to O'Brien et al., who examined predictors of child outcomes among at-risk infants, this article suggests that the goal of prevention and early detection can be more efficiently met if the focus shifts from prediction to ongoing monitoring of children's developmental growth. A three-step model involving ongoing screening, eligibility…

Using a classroom survey of 3061 secondary school students, analyzed the relationship among a set of predictors including personality trait, social and cultural variables, and drug use. Findings reveal problems in applying the personality trait theory in a rural subgroup. Measures of global and local cultural orientation predicted drug use. (RJM)

Reviews the major literature on creative processes in children that should be predictive of adult creativity, focusing on affective processes and children's play. Describes Russ's (1993) model of affect and creativity, and cognitive processes, personality processes, and affective processes important in creativity. Discusses theories of play,…

Four studies tested claims that young children are inhibited in attempts to change drawings because of constraints by order in which representational elements are drawn. Found that procedural rigidity levels did not predict preschoolers' performance when asked to change their representation and that preschoolers could change rigid sub-procedures…

Examines individual and situational variables as factors in the behavior of computer users, namely copying of software and distribution of computer viruses. The results indicate that situational variables explain much of the variance in copying software, while the individual variable of sex is strongly related to computer virus distribution. (17…

Presents a model that suggests the cognitive style and personality traits that are likely to affect programming stages and empirically investigates 1 portion of that model with 192 college students. Correlations between results from the Group Embedded Figures Test and design and coding tasks are discussed. (LRW)

Suggests that models of parenting style, such as Baumrind's popular model, are insensitive to variations in parenting resulting from characteristics of the different situations in which the parenting is expressed. Argues that considering parenting in context adds greater specificity to the model and enhances the potential for predicting child…

Tested relevance of risk-factor model for predicting drug use among rural seventh graders (n=235). Nineteen of 20 risk factors were significantly related to at least 1 category of drug use. Subset of 10 risk factors was significantly associated with prevalence and frequency of use of cigarettes, beer and wine, hard liquor, marijuana, and other…

A study compared approaches to assessing the influence of student financial aid on within-year persistence of traditional college students. Results indicated that models including tuition were better predictors of persistence, that use of multiple approaches provided more insight into policy's role, and that tuition charges had a consistent…

This study employed an ecological perspective to predict variations in the rate of child abuse and neglect among children aged 0 to 19 years in Alberta, Canada, in 1986. Positive correlates of the child maltreatment rate included population change, unemployment rate, percent Native, and North West region of Alberta. Implications for assessing…

A model to assess the relationships between student characteristics (especially student effort), perceived college environments, student behavior, and student achievement gains was evaluated through examination of responses of 2,271 students on the College Student Experiences Questionnaire. Academic and social effort expended were the principal…

Describes a study that established a measure and model for use in predicting and explaining electronic mail systems as an example of computer-mediated communication technologies usage and choice. The results indicated that all of the eight hypotheses showed significant correlation between criterion and predictor variates, supported by different…

Explored the antecedents of the ambivalent attachment pattern in Israeli infants. Found that mothers of ambivalent infants showed lower education level, higher separation anxiety, and higher parenting stress than mothers of secure infants. Infants' perceived difficult temperament did not discriminate between the two groups. Longer maternal work…

Tests a model that posited that three diverse sets of academic outcomes for children were uniquely determined by psychological, family, and peer factors. Results reveal that early verbal skills are unique predictors of academic outcomes, and that the relative importance of psychological and peer factors depends on the kind of academic outcome of…

Tested two path models of Predictors of Adjustment to School. The primary-school model analysis indicated that more difficult temperament, child's reported stressful life events, and male sex predicted teacher's ratings of poor student adjustment. The secondary-school model analysis showed that less family cohesion, adolescent's reported stressful…