Excerpt: Are home and private schools a “cost” to traditional public schools? This argument has often been used by local school districts, and others, to push for legislation that would restrict the establishment of these alternative schools.

Excerpt: Driven by parents’ beliefs that home- school learning environments can be superior to those of public or private schools, as well as a desire by parents to spend more time together as a family, Nevada homeschooling has undergone remarkable growth during the past decade.

The current investigation examined the relations between adolescent reports of parent religiosity and parenting processes, using both a dimensional and a typological conceptualization of parenting. Self‐report data were collected from 357 late adolescents. Partial correlations indicated that parent religiosity was associated with both parenting dimensions and parenting styles in conceptually expected directions. Regression analyses provided evidence that the dimensional conceptualization of parenting explained additional variability in perceived parental religiosity above and beyond parenting style effects. Findings suggest that a dimensional conceptualization of parenting processes extends the literature on parent religiosity because it yields more nuanced information about how parental religiosity may be related to differentiated parenting behaviors. Potential therapeutic implications of the findings are discussed.

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Saliva, popular for the measurement of cortisol concentrations, can be easily and painlessly obtained, so that study participants or medical patients may collect their own samples. This raises the question of whether cortisol concentrations are stable if samples are mailed unfrozen. Seventeen adult subjects (five males, 12 females, mean age=27.82, SD=7.55) participated in this study. One saliva sample from each subject was split. Half were frozen within 1 h. The other was exposed to conditions that would mimic a postal trip, including wide variations in temperature and movement over 5 days. A statistically significant positive correlation between cortisol concentration in the frozen and nonfrozen saliva samples was found (R2=0.92, p<.001). A paired t-test revealed no significant difference between samples (t(16)=1.56, n.s.). This indicates that cortisol concentrations are stable during extended periods without freezing when exposed to widely varying temperatures and movement.

Excerpt: With all that is currently known about symptoms that indicate mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), it is unfortunate that many individuals go undiagnosed for long periods of time after sustaining such an injury.

In two studies, I examined student responses to an increased emphasis on exiperiential actvites in a required underaduate developmental psychology course. For four experiential sections (n = 143), each class topic was related to a specific, real-world application. Four other sections (n = 187) were taught primarily by lecture, with one out-of-class observation assignment. The experiential sections rated the value of and interest in the subject matter higher and the courtesy and consideration of the instructor significantly more positively than did the lecture sections. Students in the two types of sections did not differ significantly in achievement. A follow-up study identified the origin of change in attitudes toward the course.

Abstract Addiction to drugs and alcohol is a widespread, and ever-growing problem in American society today. Individuals who undergo treatment for their addiction often find it difficult to gain employment due to employers' negative perceptions of addiction. Previous research has found that many employers have a stigma of those in addiction recovery. However, little research has been done to determine if these stigmas affect hiring decisions. Drug and alcohol misuse are prominent in the Appalachian area, which presents an issue for employers in the area who maintain a drug-free work place or who have a stigma of those in addiction recovery. The proposed study will assess employers’ attitudes towards applicants who have a history of substance misuse and/or are in treatment for substance misuse, with specific focus on self-reported likelihood of hiring an applicant who is in recovery. We hypothesize that employers will report a decreased likelihood of hiring individuals who are in recovery for substance misuse. Participants who are at least eighteen years of age and English-speaking will complete a survey on the REDCap web platform that includes a subset of questions from the Addiction Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (AABS). Items that will be used to assess employers’ attitudes were adapted from the Substance Use Stigma Mechanisms Scale (SU-SMS) and the Perceived Stigma Addiction Scale (PSAS). The proposed study is part of a larger study that is assessing attitudes and beliefs toward addiction among employers and within faith communities, as well as perceived stigmas experienced by those who are living with addiction or have a history of substance misuse, with particular emphasis on attitudes within the Appalachian Highlands community. Possible limitations of this proposed study include the lack of generalizability since employers in the Appalachian area may not be representative of the overall population. Another possible limitation is the use of self-report measures. Participants may not be willing to report accurately due to the sensitivity of the topic. If results of the proposed study support our hypothesis, further research should look at ways to reduce stigma and support employers in hiring those in addiction recovery. Existing research suggests that employment is vital for addiction treatment success and is associated with a decreased likelihood of relapse, making the need for the amelioration of this stigma imperative in dealing with the addiction crisis.

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