Identifying psychological and behavioral factors that contribute to low or inconsistent contraceptive use is one important means by which to develop targeted interventions to promote this health behavior. The current study investigated social anxiety as a potential barrier to contraception-related communication and use among a sample of 499 undergraduate women (Mage = 20.81, SD = 3.63). Social anxiety was associated with increased likelihood of having never spoken to anyone about birth control, decreased likelihood of having spoken to one’s mother about birth control, and decreased likelihood of having ever utilized contraceptive methods that require communication with a healthcare provider among the full sample, but not among the subset of the sample that reported being sexually active with men. Additionally, there was no significant impact of social anxiety on contraceptive knowledge and, although there was a positive relationship between social anxiety and embarrassment-related condom concerns, social anxiety was not associated with shared decision-making about birth control or condom use/unprotected sex frequency with past-year partners among the subset of the sample who had been heterosexually active over the last year. Overall, these findings indicate that although social anxiety may negatively impact communication about contraception in some cases, it does not seem be a significant barrier to contraceptive-related communication or use among heterosexually active college-aged women. Future research will benefit from continued exploration of other potential psychosocial (and targetable) barriers to contraceptive-related communication and use. / Psychology

While the prevalence rates of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are increasing, the screening rates for the disease are low. A major barrier to AD screening is older persons’ lack of knowledge about the disease (Ayalon & Arean, 2004). Older adults have anxiety about AD (Corner & Bond, 2004; Devlin et al., 2007), but less is known about how that anxiety may affect their screening behavior. The current study measured AD Knowledge and AD Anxiety and determined how these factors were related to Willingness to Screen for AD in a sample of midlife and older adults (N = 96, mean age = 62.45, range 55 to 86). It was expected that greater AD Knowledge would be associated with more Willingness to Screen and that higher AD Anxiety would be associated with less Willingness. Further, it was hypothesized that AD Anxiety would moderate the relationship between AD Knowledge and Willingness. AD Knowledge and Trait Anxiety were not significant predictors of Willingness to Screen, while AD Anxiety was positively associated with Willingness. AD Anxiety moderated the relationship between AD Knowledge and Willingness. When individuals had lower AD Anxiety, their Willingness increased as their AD Knowledge increased. In contrast, for participants with relatively more AD Anxiety, their Willingness decreased as their AD Knowledge increased. Understanding how knowledge about AD affects older adult screening preferences differently based on the amount of anxiety they have about AD will facilitate development of the most effective interventions to increase awareness about AD and promote screening.

Book Summary: Uniquely focused on the teacher-student dynamic, the Psychology of Classroom Learning: An Encyclopedia examines the fundamental psychological aspects of learning such as cognition, motivation, and emotion, as well as individual and environmental factors at work in the classroom. Teachers, school psychologists, those studying developmental and school psychology and the general reader will find nearly 300 alphabetically arranged essays examining how instruction and learning are affected by factors such as classroom management, multiculturalism, learning styles, home schooling, peer relationships, school culture, discipline, self-esteem, socioeconomic status, and more. In addition to these topical essays, biographical entries on leaders in educational psychology are included. This two-volume encyclopedia also offers statistical information in the form of charts and sidebars, synopses of recent research specific to essay topics, and images. Extensive cross-references, a glossary, and subject index are included.

Book Summary: Places school superintendents within the ongoing dialogue about the future of public education, from which they have been largely absent. Includes practical and theoretical assessments of how superintendents and administrators can move into the future.

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