This study examined mothers', fathers ', preschool teachers', and kindergarten teachers' opinions regarding children's requisite kindergarten entry skills. Participants were 101 preschool teachers from eight counties in northern Utah, as well as 113 kindergarten teachers and 286 parents of kindergartners from five school districts in northern Utah. Questionnaires were administered to assess opinions regarding (a) the preschool teachers' role in preparing children for kindergarten, (b) the parental role in preparing children for kindergarten, (c) priorities for requisite kindergarten entry skills, (d) the importance of specific skills emphasized in preschool, and (e) the importance of specific skills emphasized in kindergarten. Findings indicated that teachers agreed significantly more so than parents that preschool teachers could do more to prepare children for kindergarten. When asked what their child's preschool/day care teacher has done, parents' responses were similar to preschool teachers' when asked what they had done, suggesting consistency in what is taught in preschools, and strong communication with parents. All groups similarly agreed that parents could do more to prepare children for kindergarten. While reading to children and reading/writing skills were the most popular responses listed by all four groups, some significant differences emerged regarding what parents could do. Kindergarten teachers mentioned reading to children and language/communication skills more frequently than did the other groups. Moreover, fathers mentioned responsibility/self-help skills less frequently than all other groups. All four groups ranked how to listen, how to follow directions, and how to feel confident as the three most important requisite kindergarten entry skills. The four least important skills for parents, and preschool and kindergarten teachers were how to count, how to raise one's hand, how to write, and how to read. Significant differences existed between all groups' ratings of the importance of specified skills to be emphasized in preschools/day care centers, as well as for skills to be emphasized in kindergarten, although the mean ratings for each skill were moderately high. Mothers, preschool teachers, and kindergarten teachers rated most skills higher than did fathers. Preschool and kindergarten teachers rated most skills very similarly. Implications of these findings for parents, and preschool and kindergarten teachers are discussed. Suggestions for future research are then offered.

Pretest data from a two-year project entitled "An Early Intervention Program for Parents of Young Children at-Risk" were collected and analyzed, in a sample of 2,191 low-income parents, for Head Start participation and baseline information. Respondents participating in the sample were from the states of California, Delaware, Nevada, South Carolina, and Utah. For their participation in the study, respondents received a free subscription to age-paced newsletters, which contained information about appropriate growth expectancies, nutrition, and guidance for their child of 36 months or younger. Newsletters were mailed monthly to parents who had children 12 months and younger and every other month to parents with children older than 12 months. Knowledge of infant/toddler development among Head Start and non-Head Start parents was measured by i-test comparisons. Univariate analysis of demographic influences on developmental knowledge was computed by a oneway ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficients. Demographic variables measured were state of residence, race, educational level, marital status, employment status, attitude, income level, number of children, supplemental programs, and age of parent. Findings revealed that Head start parents did not have a significantly greater knowledge of infant/toddler development than non-Head start parents who had more than one child. Developmental knowledge scores were higher for Head start parents than non-Head start first-time parents. All participating Head start parents had at least two children, one in the Head start program and one other child 25 months or younger. There were differences in developmental knowledge scores by state of residence, race, educational level, marital status, and employment status. Demographic variables found to have a positive correlation with developmental knowledge scores were attitude, income level, number of children, and age of parents. There was a negative correlation with the effect of supplemental programs. Programs tested for this effect were AFDC, Food stamps, Medicaid, WIC, Social Security, and Head Start. A greater proportion of Head Start parents participated in these income-assistance programs, which may have influenced their scores for child development knowledge .

A university sample of238 undergraduate and graduate students between the ages of 19 and 58 completed the Student Stress Measure. Specifically, upper-division undergraduate students and clinical/nonclinical graduate students in social science programs (FHD, Social Work, Sociology, Psychology) were measured for stress level differences due to their particular academic requirements. Results indicate that, overall, graduate students are more stressed than undergraduate students. Of the graduate students, Sociology students were most stressed in terms of Lifestyle stress scores. The comparison of clinical and non-clinical graduate students shows that there is no difference in stress levels. The Psychology and MFT graduate student comparison indicates that Psychology students are more stressed than MFT students on the Lifestyle Scale only. Fourteen program requirements are related positively to stress levels. The Academic Stressors Scale was the only stress measure that yielded statistical significance for gender, employment status, and marital status. Age correlated negatively with the Events Scale. Confounding factors, such as sample size, are addressed. Suggestions for future research are provided.

During 1995, over 20,000 adolescents completed the in-home interview for The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). One question asked females if they had ever been forced to have sexual intercourse (FSI). In addition, they were asked about other sexual behavior, their psychological well-being, and behavior problems. The present study examines the associations between FSI and 26 outcome variables, comparing adolescent females who reported FSI with females who reported voluntary intercourse, and with females who reported no intercourse. In addition, the large Add Health sample allowed comparisons between five race/ethnicity groups and four adolescent groups broken down by age. Psychological and emotional correlates of sexual abuse have been widely documented, but until now, studies of sexual abuse had largely consisted of small samples of mostly White females with limited generalizability. The Add Health sample was large enough to go beyond psychopathology to include risky sexual behavior, and behavior problems. The Add Health sample is representative of the overall population of adolescents in the United States during the mid 1990s. Results showed that females forced to have intercourse have earlier and more frequent risky sexual behavior, more severe symptoms of psychopathology, and were much more likely to report behavior problems such as smoking, drinking, and drug use (a finding that has been largely unreported) than were females who reported no intercourse. Drug use was the variable on which females who reported forced intercourse and those who reported no intercourse differed most. Females who reported FSI were five times more likely to have reported illicit drug use than were females who reported no intercourse. Asian and White females who reported forced intercourse had the greatest vulnerability for negative outcomes, while African American females who reported forced intercourse had the greatest resilience against negative outcomes. Among female adolescents who reported forced intercourse, the youngest (ages 12, 13, and 14 years) were the most vulnerable to experience severe psychopathology and to report cigarette smoking and drinking alcohol.

The purpose of this study was to examine a sample of LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) adolescents from 9th - 12th grade to analyze how they spend their time on a given Sunday. The intent of the paper was to determine if adolescent time use was influenced by such independent variable as gender, age, living arrangements, work, school, perceptions of their family, and what time of the day the youth attend Sunday meetings on a specific Sunday. A questionnaire was given to 272 students who attend released school time seminary at a particular high school in Utah. Each student in the sample provided information relative to themselves and their family. They also provided information as to what they mostly did during 15 minute increments for a 24 hour period starting at midnight Saturday night and going through midnight on Sunday night. They were given 28 different items of time use common to adolescents and then were asked to determine what they did most during each 15 minute increment on the Sunday being examined. Simultaneously another similar study was being performed by another graduate student, at an alternative high school in the same area as this study, and the same questions concerning time usage were asked. Some of the most striking differences in time usage were that the alternative high school students spent far less time attending church and doing homework for school, and much more time working for paid employment, socializing with their friends, and using drugs and alcohol. Some of the most significant findings of the study include: 1) males spent considerably more time watching TV and videos, hanging out, cruising and being with friends, working, and playing athletics whereas the females spent more time with personal grooming, talking on the phone and studying school assignments, 2) the time of day when church meetings were held did not influence significantly now when church meetings were held did not alter significantly the number who attended their Sunday meetings, and 3) the perceived degree of family strengths held by the youth did not alter significantly how they spent their Sunday time. Other significant findings include: 4) those youth over 16 spent more time with friends out of the home, less time watching TV and videos, and more time doing paid employment on Sunday, 5) youth who live with both parents spent more time doing school assignments and attending church meetings and 6) those adolescents who work on Sunday spent an average of almost two and a half hours working on Sunday, and they watched TV and videos more and spent less time with their family.

Eighty-four adolescents responded to the survey administered for this study. Thirty-eight members were from the nonadjudicated community sample (e.g., from a semirural Utah community); 46 members of a juvenile court adjudicated group (e.g., juveniles from Cache County, Utah, who were currently on probation) also responded to a paper-pencil survey asking about protective/deficit factors and involvement in problematic behaviors. Results illustrate the differences in levels of protective/deficit factors and problem behaviors attained between these two convenience samples for a number of variables. The findings showed that the nonadjudicated group consistently reported higher levels of protective factors and lower levels of problem behaviors than did the adjudicated group. The nonadjudicated group showed some interesting differences and similarities for each of the specific protective/deficit factors and problem behaviors when compared to the adjudicated group. Few differences in the attainment of protective/deficit factors and problem behaviors were found within the samples by gender. Parents' current marital status as intact (e.g., both natural parents were married to each other) showed a consistent relationship to an adolescent's status as either a member of the adjudicated or the nonadjudicated groups. Similarly, parents' current marital status showed a correlation to protective/deficit factors and problem behaviors exhibited in youth. Religious affiliation also illustrated important relationships between the two samples. The findings showed that the Latter-day Saint (LDS) or Mormon nonadjudicated sample had attained statistically signifi cantly higher amounts of protective factors and statistically significantly lower amounts of problem behaviors. Similarly, a comparison of the Mormon adjudicated and the non-Mormon adjudicated groups revealed that the Mormons in the adjudicated group had attained statistically significantly lower amounts of problem behaviors but not statistically significantly higher amounts of protective factors. Adolescents in both samples were similar in their choices to take a problem to an older sibling, an adult friend, or a grandparent. The nonadjudicated san1ple was statistically significantly different than the adjudicated sample in reporting their choices to take a problem to a parent/stepparent or a religious leader/teacher.

A self-selected sample of232 newlywed husbands and wives in Utah was surveyed to assess marital satisfaction, marital adjustment, and problematic areas during the first few months of marriage. The study utilized the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMSS) and the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS), in addition to a list of30 potential problematic areas created by Creighton University to measure these constructs. Although the majority of the newlyweds in this sample were fairly satisfied and well adjusted, II% of both husbands and wives scored in the distressed range on the RDAS, signaling that the first few months of marriage can be a time of tension and strain for some couples. Many demographic and interactional history variables were tested as to how well they predict marital satisfaction and marital adjustment among newlywed husbands and wives, and only husbands' religiosity and whether a child was brought into the marriage were significant predictors of both husbands' and wives' marital satisfaction and marital adjustment scores. The most problematic areas for both husbands and wives were balancing employment and marriage and the presence of debt brought into marriage. When regression analyses were carried out that included demographics and problematic areas, a high degree of religiosity among husbands and wives was the strongest and most consistent predictor of marital satisfaction and marital adjustment. However, it was the problematic areas in the relationship that accounted for the majority of the variance in marital satisfaction and marital adjustment scores, rather than the demographic variables alone. Thus, it appears that the demographic variables affect the likelihood that various marital problems would arise, which, in tum, increased the likelihood of lower marital satisfaction and marital adjustment among both husbands and wives. These findings suggest that educators and others helping engaged couples and newlyweds should focus more on the problematic areas that often arise in marriage, which are noted in this study, rather than the demographic and interactional characteristics couples bring to the marriage. Moreover, it is suggested that marriage education strategies be centered on engaged and newlywed couples to assist them in adjusting to the new roles and expectations they encounter.

The purpose of this study was to identify the individual, familial, and child-care characteristics related to children's perceptions of their nonparental child-care environments. One-hundred seventy-five children, their families, and child-care providers participated in this study. Children attended one of three forms of child care: large center-based child-care settings, home-based child-care settings, and a preschool. Correlates of children's perceptions of their child-care experiences came from variables classified into six categories: individual child characteristics, family structure, family processes, previous child-care experiences, child-care structure, and child-care processes. Children's perceptions were elicited through the Child Care Game Assessment (CCGA), a role-playing game-like experience for 4- and 5-year-old-children. The CCGA's 59 items were divided into four subscales: discipline, negative provider behaviors, the quality of time spent at child care, and the suitability of the setting. Theoretically, interactions between children and their care providers (including parents and nonparental care providers) la id the foundation for children's developing personal premise system, or what they believe others think of them and what they expect from others. The CCGA, while not a direct measure of the personal premise system, was a valuable resource in defining what children need to develop a confident personal premise system. It accomplished this by defining the variables that have the most influence on their child-care perceptions. Results indicated that children attending the different forms of child care did not differ in their perceptions of child care, nor did their previous child-care experiences make a difference. Individual characteristics, family structure, family processes, childcare structure, and child-care processes did correlate with children's perceptions. Variables measuring aspects of the child-care settings accounted for more variance in children's perceptions than variables classified in the family categories. The child-care variables also provided evidence that children's personal premise system is influenced by the child-care setting and provider. The theoretical implications of the results are discussed and a rationale for the significant and nonsignificant results is proposed. Implications of the study for childcare providers, parents, researchers, and policy makers are also discussed.

This study measured the effectiveness of watching a motivational videotape and completing one semester of peer tutoring on changing high school students' attitudes towards their peers with disabilities. Attitudes were measured with the Scale of Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons (SADP), administered to classrooms in two randomly selected high schools before and after viewing the video. The SADP was administered to a different sample of students before and after completing one semester of tutoring peers with disabilities. Peer tutors also completed one-page weekly journals. Responses from all participating students were compared between the pre- and postassessments using paired t tests. Seven attitudinal scales were derived from a factor analysis of the 24 items that compose the SADP. Two of the subscales (self-determination and community) were statistically significant, both in a positive direction for the treatment groups. The self determination subscale assesses attitudes about whether people with disabilities are competent. The community subscale assesses attitudes toward group homes in residential areas. Results from the videotape treatment group only were similar, with statistical significance for the same measures, while with the peer tutor group, statistical significance was found only with self-determination. Two questions were included on the SADP about intentions to peer tutor. After participating in the videotape treatment, the percentage of students willing to peer tutor increased, the number of students who were not willing to peer tutor decreased, while the students who were ambivalent stayed about the same. Females were found to be more accepting of people with disabilities, scoring higher than males on positive attitudinal measures and lower on most negative measures. The peer tutor journals provided a more in-depth examination of student attitudes. Peer tutoring increased comfort levels around people with disabilities for some students. Some students felt better about themselves. Several tutors reported that they became friends with the people they were tutoring. A few students expressed frustration with the person they were tutoring. Others wrote comments about how their perceptions of what people with disabilities can do changed positively.

A qualitative study was conducted to better understand how marriage and family therapists use homework directives in their work with couples. Eleven therapists of different marital therapy orientations were interviewed. Remarkably, all of the therapists reported using clinical homework directives in their practice with couples, including those clinicians who primarily identify themselves with psychodynamic models- -models that do not typically include homework in their constructs. Four themes emerged as to why homework is given: (a) to augment or extend the therapy session outside of therapy, (b) to help the clients focus on the therapy process between session, (c) to assess client problems or dynamics for the therapist and the client, and (d) to communicate clients' responsibility for change. Themes concerning the types of homework clients used are (a) behavioral--specific physical actions to do between sessions; (b) communication exercises; (c) writing assignments; and (d) combinations of behaviors, communication exercises, or writing assignments. Results also indicate that most of the therapists in the study subscribe to more than one model of therapy in their clinical work with couples.