Teenage sexual behavior is a serious public health concern in the United States due to risks for STDs, and HIV/AIDS. In addition, adolescent pregnancy imposes great taxpayer and other social costs to society. Previous research has shown that neighborhood characteristics influence adolescent femalesâ sexual risk perceptions and behaviors. However, neighborhood characteristics have rarely been compared to adolescentsâ perceptions of their own neighborhoods when examining perceptions of STDs, HIV/AIDS, or pregnancy. In fact, it is reasonable to explore the degree to which adolescents in certain neighborhood contexts may perceive pregnancy as an adaptive strategy. This study uses longitudinal data from the in-home interviews of the National Adolescent Health Survey Wave 1 to examine neighborhood characteristics, adolescent femalesâ perceptions of their neighborhood, attitudes towards STDs, HIV, and pregnancy, and parent perceptions of the neighborhood. The results show significant between group mean differences for adolescentsâ femalesâ living in neighborhoods with high poverty rates for their perceptions toward chances of contracting an STD. In addition, adolescent females living in neighborhoods with high rates of unemployment and high proportions of young children yielded higher perceptions of risk of AIDS without protection. Adolescent femalesâ perceptions of safety in their neighborhood predicted perceptions of risk towards pregnancy; however, neighborhood perceptions did not significantly predict any other perceptions of risk. Neighborhood perceptions did not mediate the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and perceptions of risk for STDs, HIV/AIDS, or pregnancy. Lastly, favorable perceptions about pregnancy as a life event were predicted by high proportions of young children in the neighborhood, with less favorable perceptions predicted by low unemployment and perceptions the neighborhood as a safe place.

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between teachers? attitudes toward technology and its implementation while their schools are undergoing a large-scale technology infusion in the state of North Carolina. The eleven treatment schools were selected through a grant writing procedure, high technology needs and Title I status. A detailed procedure was used to identify and recruit comparison schools. Treatment schools were provided with almost $1.5 million over three years to purchase educational technology, train their teachers and staff two full-time technology related positions: Media Coordinator and Technology Facilitator. In addition, schools were required to develop and integrate a Media Technology Advisory Committee (MTAC) to oversee planning and budgeting issues related to technology. Utilizing a quasi-experimental pre-post design, this study analyzed teacher attitude changes for treatment and comparison groups over year-one. Attitude and instructional practices were compared with pre-measure data to assess a baseline comparison of groups. Changes in group scores over time were conducted using RMANCOVA and differences were found between groups for two attitude subscales and for four instructional practices. The largest effect was found for technology implementation. Exploratory hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to assess the predictive relationship between attitude subscales and technology implementation. Only teachers? Affective Reaction to Computers had a significant relationship with Technology Implementation.

This study examined the relationship of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity to phonemic awareness and mastery of the alphabetic principle in kindergarten children. Teacher rating scales were used to evaluate symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity and two subtests of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills were used to assess children?s fluency in two basic literacy domains, phonemic awareness and mastery of the alphabetic principle. It was predicted that classroom behaviors related to the two dimensions of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) would be negatively related to children?s acquisition of both early literacy skills. After controlling for demographic differences and classroom assignment, multiple regression analyses indicated that inattention was negatively related to children?s mastery of the alphabetic principle. This relationship remained when verbal ability was added as a control variable. The hypotheses related to other relationships among early literacy skills and hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention were not confirmed. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for explanations of the ADHD and reading disability comorbidity, and future research on the topic of the relationship between the dimensions of ADHD and the acquisition of early literacy skills.

The current investigation examined intraindividual variability and predictors of this variability on neuropsychological measures. A total of 50 (39 women and 11 men) independently living, community-dwelling African Americans ranging in age from 50 to 80 years (M = 65.40, SD = 8.53) were asked to complete measures assessing socio-demographics, physical health (i.e. blood pressure and sleep), and cognitive functioning (i.e. executive function, memory, perceptual speed, constructions, and language) over 8 occasions within a 2-3 week period. The current study observed intraindividual variability across the neuropsychological measures. Results from multilevel modeling suggested that a within-person change in systolic blood pressure was positively associated with performance on executive function (e.g., Letter Fluency), particularly for those participants who on average had high systolic blood pressure and high stress. In contrast, a within-person change in sleep duration was associated with worse performance on constructions and executive functioning (e.g., Letter Fluency). Results also reflected a significant interaction between within-person change in sleep duration and average sleep duration for both perceptual speed (e.g., Number Comparison test) and executive function (e.g., Stroop task). Individuals with low sleep duration on average tended to perform poorly, particularly on those occasions when their sleep duration was below their personal average. In contrast, individuals with high sleep duration on average tended to perform poorly, particularly on those occasions when their sleep duration was above their personal average. Furthermore, daily fluctuations in sleep duration were associated with an increased risk for classification of mild cognitive impairment. The results suggest that variability on neuropsychological measures may be a useful clinical assessment of older African Americansâ cognitive competency.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles of dispositional variables in affecting work performance. Study participants were criminal investigators from a state bureau of investigation (N = 158). The predictive potentials of growth need strength (GNS), learning orientation, performance orientation, and Conscientiousness were examined using structural equation modeling in relation to multidimensional work performance. All scales used for the study?s constructs were subjected to a tetrad analysis prior to modeling in order to ensure unidimensional congeneric indicator sets. Three job performance constructs were incorporated: task performance as rating data, task performance as work activity data, and citizenship performance as rating data. GNS was shown to predict work activity task performance. Conscientiousness was found to predict citizenship performance. Learning orientation predicted both work activity task performance and citizenship performance, however the directions of the relationships were negative. Performance orientation was not found to predict any performance construct. None of the dispositional constructs predicted task performance as derived from ratings. Of the predictors, GNS and learning orientation displayed the highest latent correlation due to their similar conceptualizations. Using different operationalizations and sources for the latent performance criteria increased their measurement distinctiveness, as well as revealing differential predictive validities. The implications of these predictive validities and the importance of using a multidimensional approach to performance in future research are discussed.

In this study, the characteristics of the two prospective memory tasks (activity-based and event-based) were investigated both in the laboratory and a naturalistic setting with the addition of the age component. Forty young and 40 older adults participated. First, the participants came to the lab and answered ninety trivia questions embedded were the prospective memory tasks. Second, they were required to come to Crabtree Valley Mall (the naturalistic setting) a couple of days later (i.e. one particular Saturday) to complete various prospective memory tasks (i.e. finding 4 different menâs shirts as well as filling out a naturalistic questionnaire and picking up debriefing statement). Results found that both age groups performed the event-based task followed by activity-based task better in the lab than in the naturalistic setting. The young participants performed the tasks better than their older counterparts in both contexts, though the effects were nonsignificant. An interesting finding was that older participants performed the naturalistic event-based task better than the young participants. To conclude, the study suggests converting activity-based tasks into event-based tasks to help people accomplish their tasks successfully.

The current study was part of a larger study where overarching purpose was to design a daily measure of everyday cognitive performance. The current investigation examined the extent to which self-report pain was related to cognitive performance in a sample of 148 community dwelling older adults (M = 73 years old, SD = 6.84). A multidimensional battery was used to assess socio-demographics, physical health (e.g. self-report pain, self-report physical health), mental health (e.g. negative affect, life-event stress, and daily stress), and cognitive functioning (e.g. short-term memory, processing speed, inductive reasoning, and working memory) at pretest and over 8 occasions. The direct relationship between self-report pain and cognition was examined as well as potential moderators and mediators of the pain-cognition relationship both at the between- and within-person levels. At the between-person level, self-reported pain was found to be significantly related to processing speed, where high pain was associated with slower reaction time. At the within-person level self-reported pain was found to be significantly related to working memory, where on days when self-reported pain was higher than an individualâs average, their working memory performance suffered. Within-person self-reported pain X age interactions were found for short-term memory, processing speed, and working memory. Additionally, negative affect and stress were found to moderate the pain-cognition relationship. The strength of the pain-cognition relationship is best understood by examining moderating factors such as age, stress, and negative affect. Furthermore, the handful of significant interactions at the within-person level suggest that the pain-cognition relationship is dynamic and should not be assessed at only one time point.

The purpose of this research was to develop an instrument to measure differences in workers? preferences related to the passage of time at work. Previous research indicates that this construct may have implications for the effectiveness of work teams, as well as other work outcomes such as person-organization fit. However, current methods of measuring time preferences are incomplete. Using a ten-factor theoretical framework introduced by Brislin and Kim (2003), a comprehensive instrument was designed and validated. In the first step of the validation, content validity evidence and item quality were assessed, demonstrating that the items were of acceptable quality and content-appropriate. Construct validity was then assessed. Undergraduate students (N = 601) responded to the 186-item questionnaire, as well as a variety of personality and background items. Analyses were conducted in three stages. In the first stage, an exploratory factor analysis revealed a six-factor structure to the items. The second stage of analysis used confirmatory factor analysis to test this structure. Finally, convergent and discriminant validity were assessed. Overall, the findings suggest that this scale is psychometrically sound and suitable for use in organizations.

Medication adherence is essential to retaining functional independence into older adulthood. In the experiment reported here, 25 older and 26 young adults were asked to learn to use medication adherence software supported by a personal digital assistant (PDA). In addition to completing a battery of cognitive tests, each participant?s PDA skill acquisition was assessed over time (i.e., during training, immediately following training, and after a delay). Consistent with previous research, older adults required longer to learn to use the PDA and committed more errors compared to younger adults. Cognitive predictors of PDA performance included spatial ability, perceptual speed, and particularly reading comprehension. Over time, age differences in PDA performance were reduced suggesting that older adults might benefit from the use of PDAs as prospective memory aids.

Faculty are an important part of cooperative research centers. However, their decision to become involved in a center is entirely voluntary. A center?s success is dependent on both the recruitment and retention of top-notch faculty. Knowing what contributes to a faculty member?s satisfaction, commitment, and ultimately decision to remain in the organization should be a high priority for center management. The purpose of this study was to examine the concepts of satisfaction and organizational commitment as they pertain to faculty involved in industry-university research centers. A model, which included the variables of intrinsic rewards, extrinsic rewards, satisfaction, commitment, and retention cognitions, was proposed. Data were collected from faculty at industry-university research centers nationwide via an Internet survey. Results showed support for the proposed model. In particular, the model shows that satisfaction is a significant predictor of commitment. Both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards were significant predictors of satisfaction. Intrinsic rewards also had a direct effect on commitment. Both satisfaction and commitment have a significant direct effect on retention cognitions. Implications of the model results for centers are discussed.