Successful aging, increasing in chronological age while maintaining health, is related to a multitude of factors including social and physical behaviors. Older adults may report that they are aging successfully while biomedical outcomes suggest otherwise. In the present study, sociodemographic characteristics, social engagement, physical activity in relation to frailty and health-related quality of life (HR QoL) were examined using a lifespan sample of adults (N = 732) from the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study (LHAS). Four age groups were compared: younger (21-44 years), middle-aged (45-64 years), older (65-84 years), and oldest-old adults (85 to 101 years). A main effect of age was found for both subjective and objective indices of health, with oldest-old adults reporting lowest health and highest frailty; older and oldest-old women were in significantly poorer health and had higher levels of frailty than their male counterparts. Two regression models, one with a subjective health and objective health outcome, were conducted. In model 1, physical activity, hours out of the home, and frailty score were significant contributors to subjective health. In model 2, age, gender, level of education, hours out of the home, and presence of a confidant or close person were all significantly associated with frailty score. Together these findings indicate both physical activity and social support and engagement impact how older adults view themselves aging as well as objective, biomedical outcomes of successful aging.

Anxiety and depressive disorders are among the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorders, yet they remain under-treated in the U.S. Further, Black adults are significantly less likely that non-Hispanic White adults to seek or receive mental health services. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), a risk factor for developing and maintaining anxiety and depressive symptoms, may be negatively related to the decision to seek treatment and sociocultural variables related to treatment-seeking behaviors may impact this relation. The decision to seek treatment is composed of several subcomponents, including readiness to change (RTC) and willingness to seek treatment. Thus, the current study examined the relations between IU, willingness, and RTC anxiety/depression problems and the moderational roles of key sociocultural variables (i.e., cultural mistrust [CM], medical mistrust [MM], perceived discrimination [PED]) in these relations among 161 Black undergraduates with anxiety/depression-related problems. Contrary to prediction, IU was significantly positively related to willingness and to RTC. The sociocultural variables were not significantly related to willingness or RTC. However, there was a significant IU X PED interaction such that IU was positively related to willingness among students with low PED but not high PED. Additionally, there were significant IU X CM and IU X PED interactions such that IU was positively related to RTC among students with high CM (not low CM), and low PED (not high PED). Results highlight the importance of considering the interplay between psychological vulnerability factors (in this case, IU) and sociocultural variables when striving to identify factors related to treatment seeking behaviors among anxious and/or depressed Black students.

A group of depressed (N=10) and a group of normal (N=10) were presented a series of stressor stimuli to assess several parameters of their physiological responses to these stimuli. The results indicated that the groups did not differ in their relative tendency to show maximal response specificity (consistently responding to stress with a maximum response in the same channel) or pattern stereotypy (the tendency to respond consistently in all physiological channels relative to each other). A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), of the levels of the physiological channels under conditions of rest, anticipation, and stress revealed a significant group effect. Univariate analyses of variance (ANOVA) resulted in significant group effects for skin conductance and heart rate variability. Stepwise regression and discriminant analysis procedures revealed skin conductance as the best single variable predictor of group membership. The inclusion of heart rate variability added little discriminating power. The results contradict suggestions made by various authors that normal and pathological groups differ along the consistency of their physiological responses. The depressed group was not more disorganized than the normal group in their physiological responses to repeated stress. Group differences were found, however, in tower levels of skin conductance and heart rate variability. The results of this study indicate that the psycho- physiological assessment of depression is best approached from a longitudinal perspective examining changes in tower levels of specific physiological channels.

Recent research has provided support for a multidimensional view of trait anxiety to supplant the former unidimensional approach. Unidimensional measures of general trait anxiety have been found to be inadequate as predictors of state anxiety reactions across a wide variety of situations. As such, they are poor measures of general trait anxiety. The present investigation was conducted to examine the possible utility of a single anxiety trait score, summed from the subscales of the Stimulus - Response Inventory of General Trait Anxiety (S-R GTA), a multidimensional measure of trait anxiety, in supplementing the ability of individual subscale scores to predict state anxiety responses to trait-congruent situations. It was hypothesized that subjects who scored at the same level on a particular subscale would differ in their responses to trait-congruent stress because of differences in general trait anxiety as measured by the total score on the S-R GTA. A second purpose of this study was to examine the possibility that different dimensions of trait anxiety might differentially affect variables that have been commonly associated with state anxiety arousal. Some researchers have suggested that state anxiety reactions may differ in quality according to the situations that arouse them. Thirty-two subjects were placed in four groups according to their scores on the social evaluation (SE) and physical danger (PD) subscales of the S-R GTA. A high general anxiety group was comprised of volunteers who scored high on both subscales. A low general anxiety group was comprised of volunteers who scored low on both subscales. Two groups reporting moderate levels of general anxiety were comprised of volunteers who scored low on one subscale while scoring high on the other. The subjects were exposed to two stressing situations, one involving social evaluation (a purported test of intelligence) and another which involved physical danger (threat of electric shock). The experimental design was a 4 (groups) by 2 (situations) latin square with repeated measures. Measures of self-reported state anxiety, heart rate, skin conductance, self-reported physiological arousal, performance on a simple task, self-efficacy and self-evaluation were obtained for each situation. The increments in self-reported state anxiety to the stressing conditions paralleled the expectations based on the respective subscale scores on the S-R GTA. Subjects who reported similar levels of trait anxiety to either dimension, regardless of their levels of general anxiety, did not differ in their respective increases in state anxiety to stress. In a discriminant analysis of responses in all of the dependent variables to social evaluation stress and physical danger stress, 46 of the 64 observations were correctly classified. Subjects reported lower levels of self-efficacy to the task involving physical danger, but evaluated their performance as much better than on the task involving social evaluation. The subjects also self-reported higher levels of physiological arousal to the physical danger task, but did not experience greater increases in heart rate or skin conductance. The results provide additional support for the multidimensional view of trait anxiety and argue against the use of a total score on the S-R GTA as a measure of general trait anxiety. The total score did not enhance the ability of the subscale scores to predict state anxiety responses to trait-congruent situations. The results also provide support for the view that the dimensions of trait anxiety differentially arouse the various components of state anxiety. Theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed and suggestions for future inquiry were offered.

Parental involvement is assumed to be an important component of successful school-based family life education programs. Historically, however, parents have been described as uninvolved in their adolescents’ sexuality education. Few data exist that explain either parents’ non-involvement or adolescents’ perceptions of parents as resources to support healthy sexual development. Existing research adopts a narrow, social control perspective on adolescent sexuality and on evaluation of community-based sexuality education programs. Given the increasing numbers of school-based family life education programs and of national organizations encouraging parental involvement components in preventive programs, empirical research on the interface of school and home-based sexuality education is needed. This exploratory study, based on the ecological developmental model of Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1986), describes eighth graders’ perceptions of an existing school-based sexuality education program and of parents as resources for problem solving and sex-specific information. Early adolescents report that these programs increase comfort when talking with parents, but not frequency of talking. Subgroup differences on race, gender, family structure, and dating status, but not age, mediate reports on program effectiveness and perception of parents as a resource. More attention must be given to differences within age-graded groups.

Current treatments of parent-adolescent conflict and autonomy development neglect the active role adolescents can play in managing conflict. The present study tests a conceptual model based on developmental theory. Dating is postulated as a salient source of conflict for parents and middle adolescents. Adolescents will utilize cognitive strategies to achieve dating-related goals. These strategies include both neutral (talking and selective disclosure) and negative (lying and using friends to cover for you) forms of filtering information parents receive in order to achieve their dating-related goals. General developmental and domain-specific factors were postulated to directly affect as well as moderate the effects of this selective sharing of information on conflict frequency and intensity. These moderators included intrapersonal (desire for autonomy and importance of boy/girlfriend) and dyadic (cohesion and dating rule satisfaction) factors. This model was tested with a diverse sample of 325 10th and 12th graders attending public high schools in suburban and rural settings. Only adolescents in current dating relationships were included. Results provide support for the conceptualization of adolescents as active managers of conflict. The degree to which adolescents filter information about dating in order to achieve their dating-related goals affects both the frequency and intensity of conflict. However, intrapersonal and dyadic variables moderate these effects. The proposed set of predictors accounted for as much as 40% of the variance in intensity of dating-related conflict, and as little as 28 percent of the variance in the frequency of general conflict. The importance of developmentally-relevant, domain-specific measurement of conflict was demonstrated. The significant grade and gender interactions with the variables in the model suggest the importance of examining developmental and socialization influences on conflict processes.

Poor peer relations in childhood predict difficulty in adolescent and adult adjustment. Sociometric methods provide a useful way to operationalize social competence. Five groups of children (Average, Popular, Rejected, Neglected, and Controversial), identified by nomination sociometrics, show significant differences on a variety of behavioral and non-behavioral indices. This categorization scheme has value in the identification of children at risk for later maladaptive outcomes, and may be useful in designing preventive intervention programs. The current study attempted to determine the degree to which diagnostic ratings generated by significant adults can be generalized to the sociometric status of children. Parent and teacher ratings were gathered on 134 children who had previously been categorized sociometrically as Popular, Average, Neglected or Rejected. Two significant discriminant functions were found that together accounted for 95% of the variance shared between the sociometric groups and adult ratings. Interpretation of the discriminant functions suggests that Rejected children are rated by adults as more emotionally labile, interpersonally hostile, and less able to cope with failure and social pressure than the Neglected and Popular children. Neglected children are seen as displaying slight motoric, cognitive, and/or academic deficits compared to their Popular peers. The discriminant functions generated were able to correctly classify 62% of the total original sample, 48% with bias removed. Diagnostic inferences and implications of the results for clinical practice are discussed. Limitations of the study together with possible directions for future research are presented.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) disrupts ionic balance and produces acute widespread depolarization. Restoration of ionic balance and neuronal function after TBI may be achieved by increasing inhibitory neurotransmission (e.g., stimulating GABA-A receptors). This study used antibodies specific for β2/3 subunits to examine changes in GABA-A receptors in the rat hippocampus 24 hours following moderate fluid percussion TBI. The β2/ 3 antibody primarily stained dendritic processes. No injury related changes were found in the CA1 but extensive morphological dendritic alterations were found in the CA3 region of the hippocampus. Analysis revealed decreased length of immunoreactive processes in CA3 apical dendrites of injured animals. These changes may represent a sublethal cytoskeletal response to excessive neuroexcitation. Administration of diazepam 15 minutes prior to injury augmented IR β2/3 processes compared to injured/vehicle and sham groups. This study illustrates that GABA-A receptors are altered following TBI and these alterations may be attenuated by increasing inhibitory neurotransmission.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) produces an acute phase of neuronal excitation followed by a chronic phase of depressed neuronal function. Alterations in excitatory and inhibitory receptor interactions may be dynamically involved in subsequent long-term detriments in neuronal and cognitive functioning. TBI- induced elevations in intracellular calcium concentrations ([Ca2+]i) are mediated primarily by the NMDA receptor. Elevated [Ca2+]i may trigger intracellular mechanisms which drive changes in GABA-A receptor protein synthesis and expression, ultimately resulting in receptor dysfunction. Western blot analysis was used to investigate alterations to GABA-A receptor subunits α1 and β33 in the hippocampus of rats 3 hours, 24 hours, or 7 days following TBI. No injury- induced alterations in protein expression were found for the β3 subunit, which in the hippocampus is primarily located on principal neurons (i.e., pyramidal and granule cells). No significant alterations to the α1 receptor were found 3 hours following TBl, but a significant increase in α1 protein was found 24 hours post- injury, and this increase persisted for at least 7 days. GABA-A receptors containing the α1 subunit are primarily located on interneurons, implying a potential strengthening of interneuron-mediated inhibitory tone during the chronic phase of TBI. Study 2 used pre-injury injections of MK-801 (0.3 mg/kg) to block calcium influx through the NMDA receptor. This treatment normalized α1 protein expression 24 hours following injury (the time point of greatest change in study 1). NMDA-mediated calcium influx may, therefore, be responsible for triggering the cascade that results in increased GABA-A receptor α1 protein expression chronically following TBI. These studies demonstrate that TBl produces an increase in GABA-A receptor α1, but not β3, subunits 24 hours and 7 days post-injury. The differential directions of the subunit changes may indicate a strengthening of inhibitory tone during the chronic phase of TBI, a period characterized by a depression of neuronal function. Although the exact mechanism of change to the α1 subunit is unknown, study 2 indicates that it is driven by NMDA-mediated elevations in [Ca2+]i. The functional consequences of increased inhibitory tone may contribute to long-term detriments in cognitive and behavioral outcome following injury.

The focus of this study is to strengthen the technical adequacy of the Multicultural Teacher Competency Scale (MTCS; Spanierman et al., 2011) self-assessment measure for teacher multicultural competence. This study will also examine the relationship between it and the teacher-student relationship and teacher self-efficacy. Results show that the MTCS shows similar internal consistency reliability with a new demographic of in-service teachers. The MTCS also has predictive significance for teacher self-efficacy and student-teacher relationship scores. Implications of the study include the importance for teachers to be taught and practice this competency, as well as, validation that this construct is related to other salient classroom variables. Future research may explore the use of the MTCS with classroom observations, student grades, or behavior reports.