Reports the results of interviews with three-, four-, and five-year-old children at various child care centers in Columbia, South Carolina, concerning their fears. The fear of "monsters" was most often reported. Suggests what parents and teachers can do to help children cope with their fears. (BB)

Gifted and talented adolescents have two primary social needs: to have normal social interaction with others and to develop an identity as a person who is gifted and talented. The choices an individual makes are always influenced by personal needs in a social context. Gifted children are members of a subgroup--the gifted--which has negative and…

A survey of 177 Hispanic and 93 Anglo college freshmen examined acculturative stress within a multivariate framework that includes social class, gender, and ethnicity as precursor variables; demographic and psychological indexes of acculturation; college role stresses experienced by most students; and minority stresses especially relevant to…

A discussion of the psychological impact of the African-American experience with the U.S. educational system focuses on how this psychological conditioning affects African-American students' performance on standardized tests and in college courses. It draws on theories of intellectual development and recent research on testing in African Americans…

Reviews the descriptive empirical literature on homeless women, using a theoretical perspective on stress. Finds that homelessness is highly stressful, and examines the sources and mediators of homelessness. Suggests that more is known about the risk factors than about the mediating factors that may decrease the stressful circumstances' impact.…

Two studies with 277 intermediate grade students (106 males, 107 females, and 64 males and females) show that motivational orientations, measured by the scale of S. Harter (1981), are not distributed similarly across gender but that girls are more likely to be extrinsically motivated and influenced by adult feedback. (SLD)

Eighteen mothers of children with severe disabilities participated in classes led by a counselor on topics relating to cognitive processes associated with guilt and self-blame. Results showed significant reductions in measures of guilt, negative automatic thoughts, internal negative attributions, and depression, compared to control group mothers.…

A study found the incidence of psychological trauma in the families of 116 social work master's degree students to be significantly higher than in 46 counterparts in a nonhelping profession (master's-level business administration). Implications are seen for effective social work practice, education, and professional responsibility. (Author/MSE)

Examined association between understanding of psychological causation and ability of young children from low-income families to produce goal-based episodes in narratives. Participants "read" book and resulting narrative was coded for psychological causation and goal-based episodes. Use of psychological causation was related to age and…

Summarizes this special issue on how children develop emotional and social strengths, as well as difficulties. Highlights three areas of focus among the seven articles: (1) the relation of emotional competence to social competence; (2) the socialization of emotional competence; and (3) attachment as the foundation. (SD)

Two levels of education (high school or less, or training beyond high school) and nine content scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 were used to predict employment-related outcomes of 109 blind adults. Education, anger, cynicism, obsessiveness, and family problems were significant predictors of employability. Self-esteem,…

Interviewed elementary and secondary teachers to investigate emotions of teaching and educational change. Results highlight differences in the emotional geographies of elementary and secondary teaching, with elementary teaching characterized by physical and professional closeness which creates greater emotional intensity and secondary teaching…

Examined high school and college students' physical activity levels and affinity for food. Surveys on physical activity, eating frequency, weight status, and psychological affinity for food indicated that many students were discontent with their weight, attempted to avoid food, viewed food as a temptation, and occasionally splurged to produce…

Four studies with kindergarten through fifth graders and adults examined the development of reasoning about the origins of psychological traits. Results suggested an age-related increase in the tendency to distinguish among different psychological traits, and that over time, individuals come to believe that psychological traits are determined…

In a study of French-speaking adolescents (n=547), five measures designed to examine psychological well being found that body image, self-esteem, and negative stressful life events mediate the relationship between gender and depressive symptoms during adolescence. Further analysis of a subsample who recently transitioned to high school also found…