Rebutts claims by Ben Spiecker and Jan Steutel that sex between individuals with mild or moderate mental retardation is morally permissable only with the substitutive consent of caregivers. Reviews historical, empirical, and practical considerations. Concludes that Spiecker and Steutel's arguments are deeply flawed and their proposed policy is…

Argues that Stephen Greenspan's comment is incoherent and that Mal Leichester and Pam Cooke's position has unacceptable practical consequences. Cautions that their positions have disquieting implications for the practice of treating mental retardation as an exempting condition; and the practice of giving them special welfare rights loses their…

Describes Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), new measure designed to identify the types of interpersonal problems that people experience and the level of distress associated with them before, during, and after psychotherapy. Presents psychometric data from two studies which demonstrated high internal consistency of IIP, high test-retest…

In order to explore factors that influence gender differences in same-sex friendship behaviors, the present study examined how affiliation motive, as measured by thematic apperception to same-sex cues, and affiliation value, obtained from modified Edwards (1957) Personal Preference Scale, determine type of friendship situation and its particular…

One explanation for male sexual aggression implicates certain adverse consequences of male gender socialization. Two studies tested the hypothesis that sexually aggressive men would be more gender stereotyped and would manifest lower capacities for empathy and intimacy. Results were mostly supportive of the hypothesis. (JBJ)

Examined adolescents' perceived levels of intimacy as a function of demographic, family and school, and psychological variables. Students with same-sex friends and greater interest in school reported greater intimacy with mother. Students with higher self-esteem, lower depression, and lower risk-taking scores revealed greater intimacy with both…

Used community samples to determine the effects of childhood family support or dysfunction and the extent of parent drug-use problems on adult intimacy issues, such as sexual satisfaction. Results showed that parent drug-use predicted poor family support; family support correlated strongly with good adult intimate relations. (RJM)

Used specific paths in structural equation models to examine reciprocal effects between constructs of polydrug use and relationship quality for 307 young women and 117 young men over 4-year period. Found eight effects for women and six for men from specific measures of drug use that adversely affected aspects of relationship quality. (Author/NB)

Marriage attitudes were correlated with gender and premarital sexual activity. Females exhibited more favorable attitudes toward marriage than did males. Virgins perceived marriage more positively than did nonvirgins who had multiple sex partners. No significance found between interaction of gender and virginity status. (RJM)

For mysterious reasons only a small proportion of couples with relationship problems seek counseling. This qualitative study included 36 women and 16 men in structured small group discussions. Questions concerned attitudes to relationship counseling. Both groups expressed denial of the problems in the relationship, the seriousness of these…

Examined longitudinally the influence of gender and family factors assessed during adolescence on young adult romantic intimacy. Found that men reported more problems of insufficient intimacy than women, regardless of family dynamics. Flexible control, family cohesion, and mothers' marital satisfaction predicted young adults' intimacy. Family…

According to this author, when parents provide competent daily care, they are teaching infants what love and trust are. All the daily routines parents perform, including feeding, cleaning up, diapering, undressing, dressing and settling into sleep, help provide infants with emotional comfort as well as the courage to learn. This article also…

The topic of sexuality and romantic relationships of people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities was examined. We developed a questionnaire to investigate the 76 respondents' sexual knowledge, attitudes, experience, and needs. During the interviews, observational data were gathered to check the validity of the instrument. Results show…

This exploratory study examined the relationship patterns of child abusers in treatment by comparing interactions involving the therapist with those involving a parent. Twenty participants were included in the study. The participants' relationship patterns were assessed using the core conflictual relationship theme (CCRT) method. Core schemas were…

The association between attachment representations and adolescents' coping with 3 developmental tasks of emerging adulthood-leaving home, advancing in the capacity for mature intimacy, and developing individuation-was examined. Israeli male adolescents (N = 88) were administered the Adult Attachment Interview during their high-school senior year.…