The transtheoretical model has a substantial history of measuring the change process. Hemphill and Howell validated the Stages of Change Scale (SOCS) on adolescent offenders. The current study expands their research by developing an additional component of the TTM, the Decisional Balance Scale for Adolescent Offenders (DBS-AO). This measure assesses movement through the stages of change and provides insight into mechanisms through which adolescent offenders attempt to change their criminal behaviors. Two hundred thirty-nine adolescent offenders at the Gainesville State School completed the SOCS, DBS-AO, Paulhus Deception Scales (PDS), and the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD). The study found the DBS-AO is psychometrically sound, demonstrates excellent reliability and has an underlying three-factor solution: Cons, Pros-Self, and Pros-Others. Offenders in the early stages of change scored significantly higher on the Cons scale. Offenders actively changing their behavior scored significantly higher on the Pro-Self and Pros-Other scales.

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is funding and supporting a longitudinal study of Early Child Care. Beginning in 1991, data was collected from ten sites across the United States and included 1,364 families with a newborn child. This study used the NICHD Early Child Care data set to investigate characteristics of teachers that provide childcare in a daycare-like setting or childcare centers. Specifically, the relationship between early childhood teacher endorsement of developmentally appropriate belief systems and teacher education in early childhood were examined to determine their potential influence on the teachers' developmentally appropriate classroom practices, global rating of classroom quality, and child cognitive abilities. These relationships were examined at two time periods- at child age 36 months and child age 54 months. The results indicated that many of these relationships were significant. Interestingly, many of the significant findings were present only at child age 54 months.

The current study attempted to show the relationship of paternal sensitivity and maternal sensitivity and their possible influences on child cognitive and behavioral development. This study used data collected as part of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care, which is a longitudinal, multi-site study. Correlation and regression analyses were computed to examine relationships between the variables at child age 6 and 36 months. Results indicated paternal sensitivity was a significant positive predictor of child cognitive abilities and a negative predictor of both fathers' reports of children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Maternal sensitivity was a significant negative predictor of mothers' reports of children's externalizing behaviors. Interpretations of these results and directions for future research are discussed.

The process by which earned-secures achieve attachment security in adulthood, despite having insecure parent-child relationships in childhood, was the focus of the current study. As internal working models are thought to be formed within relationships, specifically primary attachment bonds (Bowlby, 1969), it was postulated that secondary attachment relationships, specifically those that were positive, had the capacity to revise insecure models of self and other. In the current study, the secondary attachment histories of undergraduates who were earned-secure and continuously-insecure, or insecurely attached since childhood, were compared. A new measure of secondary attachment quality was developed (Questionnaire About Secondary Attachment Figures (Q-SAF)), which was used to measure undergraduates' perceptions of their past and current secondary attachment figures. Findings indicated that in comparison to continuous-insecures, earned-secures perceived their negative secondary attachment figures in adolescence as less mean. Earned-secures also reported being less dependent upon these figures' approval of them for their self-worth and more secure within these relationships. In adulthood, earned-secures reported more trust and intimacy with their positive secondary attachment figures. Compared to continuous-insecures, earned-secures described their peers as being more empathic and altruistic during childhood and more warm during adolescence; earned-secures also reported less dependency and greater closeness with their …

Facilitators are encouraged to get all meeting attendees to participate in the meeting. There is the assumption made that, if they do participate, then this participation will increase the group's general satisfaction of the meeting. Also, knowing the factors that can increase the probability of a successful meeting has been a focus of previous research, yet attendee participation has not been studied. The current research study empirically examines participation's effect on meeting evaluations. This study is a field experiment conducted in a team-based organization, where successful meetings are critical. Data was collected on the amount of participation of team members in their weekly team meeting and their evaluations of the meeting. After running correlations and a principal components analysis, this study found a relationship between participation and meeting evaluations. A scale of meeting success was also created.

Previous researchers have shown that the collaborative, self-directing, and deferring styles of religious coping result in different outcomes of depression under different levels of perceived stress. Neuroticism has also been shown to affect coping effectiveness overall or choice of coping method. However, little work has been done to investigate the association between neuroticism and the choice or effectiveness of religious coping styles in particular, or on the association of neuroticism and perceived stress. The present study addressed research questions by examining relations among neuroticism, perceived stress, objective life events, religious and non-religious coping styles, effectiveness of coping styles, and depression. Hierarchical multiple regression and correlational techniques found that religious coping styles predict depression, religious and non-religious coping correspond, and neuroticism predicts perceived stress beyond situational stressors. Neuroticism did not predict use of religious coping styles, but remaining personality factors were successful in predicting coping. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Organizational change and development (OCD) has been studied by researchers to identify the effectiveness of change initiatives. Because of the broad scope of interventions in OCD, these studies have covered a range of areas including multiple interventions and the methodological rigor used by researchers. However, few have looked at organizational versus individual change within an organization, to examine whether individual change is more effective than organizational change. The purpose of this study is to determine if organizational change occurs in a top down or bottom up manner. A meta-analysis was conducted using 238 field experiments. Each study was coded for intervention and organizational outcome and for individual or organizational level variables. Effect sizes were calculated for each study, each level, and each level by intervention and outcome measure. Results indicate that while OCD interventions overall had a moderate effect size, the level of intervention or outcome was not a moderating variable.

This study investigated if the use of a team feedback system resulted in peers perceiving a change in behavior. Personality variables such as conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extraversion were examined as possible moderators. Self-ratings and peer ratings were collected from 164 individuals through the use of the Center for Collaborative Organizations' Team Feedback System. Using polynomial regression, it was determined that time 1 peer ratings predicted behavior change and the combination of conscientiousness variables moderated peer perceived behavior change.

People living with HIV/AIDS (PLH) struggle with depression. Recent research suggests that depression affects medical regimen adherence, disease progression, and risky sexual behaviors. The present study uses a stress and coping theory viewing HIV-related stigma and physical symptoms as stressors in PLH. Results suggest whereas symptoms and stigma consistently predict negative affect, positive affect, and overall depression, the role of optimism, pessimism, active coping, denial, and behavioral disengagement is not as clear. Pessimism and denial predict negative affect and depression. Optimism and behavioral disengagement predict depression and positive affect. Active coping only predicts positive affect. Focusing on positive and negative affect as distinct components that contribute to overall depression may help researchers develop interventions more effectively.

This study investigated the relationship of the Personnel Decisions International Employment Inventory scales to criminal behavior by using 796 offenders with criminal records in the Texas Department of Corrections and a random sample of 893 non-offender job applicants. The hypothesis that offenders would score lower in integrity scores than non-offenders only gained mixed support, but consistent evidence showed that there were no mean differences between property offenders and other offenders. The implications of the results for future study were discussed.