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This study reports results from in-depth interviews with 57 highly religious middle-aged married couples representing the major Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) and residing in New England and Northern California. The study uses grounded theory methods to create themes that describe the ways that religiosity influences marital commitment. Couples reported that religious beliefs and practices helped them include God as the third partner in their marriage, believe in marriage as a religious institution that lasts, and find meaning in committing to marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIMS: This study investigated the relationship between positive and negative subjective responses at the time of initial cocaine use with adult cocaine dependence and life-time use rates. Psychostimulant pre-exposure, regular smoking or stimulant treatment before initiation were examined to explore the incentive sensitization theory of addiction. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 202 adult participants who had tried cocaine on at least one occasion were studied prospectively from childhood into adulthood. The cocaine-initiated group included 89 who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual version IV (DSM-IV) criteria for attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and 113 age-matched controls. DESIGN: Five childhood and three adulthood interviews provided data on ages of initiation into cocaine and life-time use of cocaine from ages 16-40 years. Correlations of each subjective response and analyses of variance (ANOVAs) of cocaine 'liking' and 'wanting' with DSM-III-R cocaine dependence and life-time use provided support for the validity of the measures. ANOVA provided evidence of the effect of psychostimulant pre-exposure on 'liking' and 'wanting'. Logistic regression modeled the prediction of dependence and life-time use with the independent variables of 'liking' and 'wanting', psychostimulant pre-exposure and participant characteristics. RESULTS: When cocaine was first tried, 'liking' and 'wanting' were significant predictors of cocaine dependence and life-time use. Mean 'liking' or 'wanting' responses did not differ by participant characteristics. Those who were pre-exposed by regular smoking or stimulant treatment had higher 'liking' and 'wanting' scores; but participants who were pre-exposed by both stimulant treatment and regular smoking reported the lowest liking and the highest wanting responses, consistent with the incentive sensitization theory. Logistic regression showed that the 'liking' and 'wanting' responses increased significantly the odds of DSM-III-R cocaine dependence and life-time use. CONCLUSION: In this sample, subjective 'liking' and 'wanting' measured risk for cocaine abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet pornography is a multi-billion-dollar industry that has grown increasingly accessible. Delay discounting involves devaluing larger, later rewards in favor of smaller, more immediate rewards. The constant novelty and primacy of sexual stimuli as particularly strong natural rewards make Internet pornography a unique activator of the brain's reward system, thereby having implications for decision-making processes. Based on theoretical studies of evolutionary psychology and neuroeconomics, two studies tested the hypothesis that consuming Internet pornography would relate to higher rates of delay discounting. Study 1 used a longitudinal design. Participants completed a pornography use questionnaire and a delay discounting task at Time 1 and then again four weeks later. Participants reporting higher initial pornography use demonstrated a higher delay discounting rate at Time 2, controlling for initial delay discounting. Study 2 tested for causality with an experimental design. Participants were randomly assigned to abstain from either their favorite food or pornography for three weeks. Participants who abstained from pornography use demonstrated lower delay discounting than participants who abstained from their favorite food. The finding suggests that Internet pornography is a sexual reward that contributes to delay discounting differently than other natural rewards. Theoretical and clinical implications of these studies are highlighted.

We investigated how power dynamics in close relationships influence the tendency to devote resources to the pursuit of goals valued by relationship partners, hypothesizing that low (vs. high) power in relationships would lead individuals to center their individual goal pursuit around the goals of their partners. We study 2 related phenomena: partner goal prioritization, whereby individuals pursue goals on behalf of their partners, and partner goal contagion, whereby individuals identify and adopt as their own the goals that their partner pursues. We tested our ideas in 5 studies that employed diverse research methods, including lab experiments and dyadic studies of romantic partners, and multiple types of dependent measures, including experience sampling reports, self-reported goal commitment, and behavioral goal pursuit in a variety of goal domains. Despite this methodological diversity, the studies provided clear and consistent evidence that individuals with low power in their relationships are especially likely to engage in both partner goal prioritization and partner goal contagion. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).)

Religiousness is reliably associated with lower substance use, but little research has examined whether self-control helps explain why religiousness predicts lower substance use. Building on prior theoretical work, our studies suggest that self-control mediates the relationship between religiousness and a variety of substance-use behaviors. Study 1 showed that daily prayer predicted lower alcohol use on subsequent days. In Study 2, religiousness related to lower alcohol use, which was mediated by self-control. Study 3 replicated this mediational pattern using a behavioral measure of self-control. Using a longitudinal design, Study 4 revealed that self-control mediated the relationship between religiousness and lower alcohol use 6 weeks later. Study 5 replicated this mediational pattern again and showed that it remained significant after controlling for trait mindfulness. Studies 6 and 7 replicated and extended these effects to both alcohol and various forms of drug use among community and cross-cultural adult samples. These findings offer novel evidence regarding the role of self-control in explaining why religiousness is associated with lower substance use.

In four methodologically diverse studies (N = 644), we found correlational (Study 1), longitudinal (Study 2), and experimental (Studies 3 and 4) evidence that a sense of belonging predicts how meaningful life is perceived to be. In Study 1 (n = 126), we found a strong positive correlation between sense of belonging and meaningfulness. In Study 2 (n = 248), we found that initial levels of sense of belonging predicted perceived meaningfulness of life, obtained 3 weeks later. Furthermore, initial sense of belonging predicted independent evaluations of participants essays on meaning in life. In Studies 3 (n = 105) and 4 (n = 165), we primed participants with belongingness, social support, or social value and found that those primed with belongingness (Study 3) or who increased in belongingness (Study 4) reported the highest levels of perceived meaning. In Study 4, belonging mediated the relationship between experimental condition and meaning.

Aggression pervades modern life. To understand the root causes of aggression, researchers have developed several methods to assess aggressive inclinations. The current article introduces a new behavioral method-the voodoo doll task (VDT)-that offers a reliable and valid trait and state measure of aggressive inclinations across settings and relationship contexts. Drawing on theory and research on the law of similarity and magical beliefs (Rozin, Millman, & Nemeroff [1986], Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 703-712), we propose that people transfer characteristics of a person onto a voodoo doll representing that person. As a result, causing harm to a voodoo doll by stabbing it with pins may have important psychological similarities to causing actual harm to the person the voodoo doll represents. Nine methodologically diverse studies (total N = 1,376) showed that the VDT had strong reliability, construct validity, and convergent validity. Discussion centers on the importance of magical beliefs in understanding the causes of aggressive inclinations., (© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

People differ in what they think makes for a successful relationship, but it is unclear how these beliefs relate to the perpetration of violence. Four studies (N = 2,591) examined the relationship between growth beliefs and the perpetration of violence in close relationships. Specifically, the current work tested the hypothesis that growth beliefs mitigate against close relationship violence, possibly due to increased satisfaction with sacrificing one's own self-interest for the betterment of the relationship. Studies 1 and 2 provided cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence that growth beliefs predicted less perpetration of close relationship violence. Studies 3 and 4 showed that the relationship between growth beliefs and lower perpetration of violence was mediated by satisfaction with sacrifice within one's relationship. All effects of growth beliefs remained significant after controlling for destiny beliefs. Discussion centers on the importance of implicit theories of relationships for understanding the perpetration of violence in close relationships.

Objective: Curiosity is the propensity to recognize and seek out new information and experience, including an intrinsic interest in learning and developing one's knowledge. With few exceptions, researchers have often ignored the social consequences of being curious., Method: In four studies using cross-sectional (N = 64), daily diary (Ns = 150 and 110, respectively), and behavioral experimental (N= 132) designs, we tested the hypothesis that individual differences in curiosity are linked to less aggression, even when people are provoked., Results: We showed that both trait and daily curiosity were linked to less aggressive responses toward romantic relationship partners and people who caused psychological hurt. In time-lagged analyses, daily curiosity predicted less aggression from one day to the next, with no evidence for the reverse direction. Studies 3 and 4 showed that the inverse association between curiosity and aggression was strongest in close relationships and in fledgling (as opposed to long-lasting) romantic relationships. That is, highly curious people showed evidence of greater context sensitivity. Intensity of hurt feelings and other personality and relationship variables failed to account for these effects., Conclusions: Curiosity is a neglected mechanism of resilience in understanding aggression., (© 2012, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Anger is commonly associated with aggression. Inefficient anger-coping strategies increase negative affect and deplete the regulatory resources needed to control aggressive impulses. Factors linked with better emotion regulation may then weaken the relationship between anger and aggression. The current work explored one factor associated with emotion regulation-differentiating one's emotions into discrete categories-that may buffer angry people from aggression. Three diary studies (N = 628) tested the hypothesis that emotion differentiation would weaken the relationship between anger and aggression. In Study 1, participants high in emotion differentiation reported less daily aggressive tendencies when angry, compared to low differentiators. In Study 2, compared to low differentiators, high differentiators reported less frequent provocation in daily life and less daily aggression in response to being provoked and feeling intense anger. Study 3 showed that high daily emotional control mediated the interactive effect of emotion differentiation and anger on aggression. These results highlight the importance of considering how angry people differentiate their emotions in predicting their aggressive responses to anger., ((PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).)

Why do people behave aggressively toward romantic partners, and what can put the brakes on this aggression? Provocation robustly predicts aggression in both intimate and nonintimate relationships. Four methodologically diverse studies tested the hypothesis that provocation severity and relationship commitment interact to predict aggression toward one's romantic partner, with the aggression-promoting effects of provocation diminishing as relationship commitment increases. Across all four studies, commitment to one's romantic relationship inhibited aggression toward one's partner when individuals were severely (but not mildly) provoked. Study 4 tested the hypothesis that this Partner Provocation × Commitment interaction effect would be strong among individuals high in dispositional tendencies toward retaliation but weak (perhaps even nonexistent) among individuals low in such tendencies. Discussion emphasizes the importance of understanding instigating, impelling, and inhibiting processes in the perpetration of aggression toward intimate partners.

Many models of aggression include negatively valenced emotions as common elicitors of aggressive behavior. Yet, the motivational direction of these emotions is not taken into account. The current work explored whether sensitivity to a negative emotion associated with behavioral avoidance-disgust-will predict lower levels of aggression. Five studies tested the hypothesis that disgust sensitivity predicts less aggression. In Study 1 (N = 92), disgust sensitivity predicted less trait physical and verbal aggression. In Study 2 (N = 268), participants high in disgust sensitivity were less likely to behave aggressively towards a stranger on a reaction-time task. In Study 3 (N = 51), disgust sensitivity was associated with less intimate partner violence inclinations. Study 4 (N = 247) replicated this effect longitudinally. In Study 5 (N = 166), each domain of disgust (i.e., moral, sexual, and pathogen disgust) had a buffering effect on daily aggression when daily experiences activated those specific domains. These results highlight the usefulness of considering the motivational direction of an emotion when examining its influence on aggression.

Eight studies (N=2,973) tested the theory that gratitude is related to fewer depressive symptoms through positive reframing and positive emotion. Study 1 found a direct path between gratitude and depressive symptoms. Studies 2-5 demonstrated that positive reframing mediated the relationship between gratitude and depressive symptoms. Studies 6-7 showed that positive emotion mediated the relationship between gratitude and depressive symptoms. Study 8 found that positive reframing and positive emotion simultaneously mediated the relationship between gratitude and depressive symptoms. In sum, these eight studies demonstrate that gratitude is related to fewer depressive symptoms, with positive reframing and positive emotion serving as mechanisms that account for this relationship.

Temptation pervades modern social life, including the temptation to engage in infidelity. The present investigation examines one factor that may put individuals at a greater risk of being unfaithful to their partner: dispositional avoidant attachment style. The authors hypothesize that avoidantly attached people may be less resistant to temptations for infidelity due to lower levels of commitment in romantic relationships. This hypothesis was confirmed in 8 studies. People with high, vs. low, levels of dispositional avoidant attachment had more permissive attitudes toward infidelity (Study 1), showed attentional bias toward attractive alternative partners (Study 2), expressed greater daily interest in meeting alternatives to their current relationship partner (Study 5), perceived alternatives to their current relationship partner more positively (Study 6), and engaged in more infidelity over time (Studies 3, 4, 7, and 8). This effect was mediated by lower levels of commitment (Studies 5-8). Thus, avoidant attachment predicted a broad spectrum of responses indicative of interest in alternatives and propensity to engage in infidelity, which were mediated by low levels of commitment.

We proposed that expressing gratitude would increase positive perception of a relationship partner, thereby increasing comfort in expressing relationship concerns, which is a form of relationship maintenance. Study 1 (n = 159) showed a relationship between naturally occurring expressions of gratitude and comfort in voicing relationship concerns. Study 2 (n = 178) provided longitudinal evidence for direction of effects because Time 1 gratitude expression predicted Time 2 comfort in voicing relationship concerns, controlling for baseline comfort in voicing relationship concerns. Study 3 (n = 225) showed that expressing gratitude to a friend did increase voicing relationship concerns, compared with positive thought and neutral control conditions. In Study 4 (n = 74), we explored the mechanism through a longitudinal, experimental design and found that participants assigned to express gratitude reported higher comfort voicing concerns and more positive perception of partner than did control participants. Moreover, positive perception of partner mediated the relationship between condition and comfort in voicing relationship concerns., (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.)

We used latent growth curve modeling to examine the effectiveness of a relationship education intervention (Relationship U, or RU) on rates of extradyadic involvement in a sample of 380 college students in committed romantic relationships. RU is designed to be integrated into existing college courses; it educates students about partner selection, making healthy relationship transitions, communication skills, and the potentially negative consequences of cheating in romantic relationships and how to prevent its occurrence. Participants who received the intervention reported trajectories of less extradyadic involvement over time relative to control participants. Being female was not associated with less extradyadic involvement at baseline, but it did predict less extradyadic involvement over time across both intervention and control conditions. Implications for dissemination of relationship education are discussed.

Because religion and/or spirituality is integral to the lives of a majority of the world population, we conducted 3 studies on the role of prayer in romantic relationships. Study 1 (N = 375) showed that prayer for the partner predicted lower levels of extradyadic romantic behavior over a 6-week period, over and beyond relationship satisfaction, and initial levels of extradyadic romantic behavior. In Study 2 (N = 83), we used an experimental design to show that participants assigned to pray for each day for 4 weeks engaged in lower levels of extradyadic romantic behavior during that time, compared with those who engaged in daily positive thoughts about the partner or a neutral activity. Perception of the relationship as sacred mediated the relation between experimentally manipulated prayer and later infidelity. Study 3 (N = 23) showed that objective observers rated participants who had been praying for their partner for 4 weeks as more committed to their romantic relationship than control participants. The implications of these results are then discussed. Because religion and/or spirituality is integral to the lives of a majority of the world population, we conducted 3 studies on the role of prayer in romantic relationships. Study 1 (N = 375) showed that prayer for the partner predicted lower levels of extradyadic romantic behavior over a 6-week period, over and beyond relationship satisfaction, and initial levels of extradyadic romantic behavior. In Study 2 (N = 83), we used an experimental design to show that participants assigned to pray for each day for 4 weeks engaged in lower levels of extradyadic romantic behavior during that time, compared with those who engaged in daily positive thoughts about the partner or a neutral activity. Perception of the relationship as sacred mediated the relation between experimentally manipulated prayer and later infidelity. Study 3 (N = 23) showed that objective observers rated participants who had been praying for their partner for 4 weeks as more committed to their romantic relationship than control participants. The implications of these results are then discussed.

Despite the fact that many oral diseases afflicting the long-term care or homebound elderly are preventable or treatable, many older people do not seek available treatment, or their oral health care needs are not being met. The dental profession must, therefore, increase the preventative dental awareness of elders and make preventative and treatment services more accessible to this population. Interdisciplinary training and collaborative efforts among the dental profession, medical profession and caregivers are necessary in preventing oral disease for this geriatric population, which would improve not just oral health, but overall systemic health as well, thereby improving their quality of life.

Four methodologically diverse studies (N = 1,758) show that prayer frequency and alcohol consumption are negatively related. In Study 1 (n = 824), we used a cross-sectional design and found that higher prayer frequency was related to lower alcohol consumption and problematic drinking behavior. Study 2 (n = 702) used a longitudinal design and found that more frequent prayer at Time 1 predicted less alcohol consumption and problematic drinking behavior at Time 2, and this relationship held when controlling for baseline levels of drinking and prayer. In Study 3 (n = 117), we used an experimental design to test for a causal relationship between prayer frequency and alcohol consumption. Participants assigned to pray every day (either an undirected prayer or a prayer for a relationship partner) for 4 weeks drank about half as much alcohol at the conclusion of the study as control participants. Study 4 (n = 115) replicated the findings of Study 3, as prayer again reduced drinking by about half. These findings are discussed in terms of prayer as reducing drinking motives., ((PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).)

This research was conducted to examine the hypothesis that expressing gratitude to a relationship partner enhances one's perception of the relationship's communal strength. In Study 1 (N = 137), a cross-sectional survey, expressing gratitude to a relationship partner was positively associated with the expresser's perception of the communal strength of the relationship. In Study 2 (N = 218), expressing gratitude predicted increases in the expresser's perceptions of the communal strength of the relationship across time. In Study 3 (N = 75), participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition, in which they expressed gratitude to a friend, or to one of three control conditions, in which they thought grateful thoughts about a friend, thought about daily activities, or had positive interactions with a friend. At the end of the study, perceived communal strength was higher among participants in the expression-of-gratitude condition than among those in all three control conditions. We discuss the theoretical and applied implications of these findings and suggest directions for future research.

Social anxiety is marked by viewing social interactions as competitive, hypervigilance to signs of social threat, and avoidance of interactions that may result in social rejection. Therefore, social anxiety should relate to: (1) greater hostile feelings toward others, (2) heightened perceptions of hostility in others, and (3) relatively low levels of violence and aggression. To date, however, little is known about these relationships. In four independent non-clinical samples (total N=2643), we examined relationships between social anxiety, hostility, and aggression using a range of measures that included both self-report and behavioral assessments. In Study 1, social anxiety correlated positively with feeling hostile toward others. In Study 2, social anxiety correlated positively with hostile perceptions of others. In Study 3, social anxiety was related to less positive attitudes toward behaving violently toward one's relationship partner. In Study 4, social anxiety was related to less aggressive behavior, as indicated by less intense and prolonged noise blasts delivered to a fictitious opponent. Taken together, these four studies paint a picture of socially anxious people as bracing for the worst by feeling and perceiving hostility in the social environment, but behaving the best by refraining from aggression and violence., (Copyright 2009. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The objective of the current studies was to test whether praying for a relationship partner would increase willingness to forgive that partner. In Study 1 (N = 52), participants assigned to pray for their romantic partner reported greater willingness to forgive that partner than those who described their partner to an imagined parent. In Study 2 (N = 67), participants were assigned to pray for a friend, pray about any topic, or think positive thoughts about a friend every day for 4 weeks. Those who prayed for their friend reported greater forgiveness for their friend than did those in the other two conditions, even when we controlled for baseline forgiveness scores. Participants who prayed for their friend also increased in selfless concern during the 4 weeks, and this variable mediated the relationship between experimental condition and increased forgiveness. Together, these studies provide an enhanced understanding of the relationship benefits of praying for a partner and begin to identify potential mediators of the effect.

The present research tested the hypothesis that concepts of gratitude are prototypically organized and explored whether lay concepts of gratitude are broader than researchers' concepts of gratitude. In five studies, evidence was found that concepts of gratitude are indeed prototypically organized. In Study 1, participants listed features of gratitude. In Study 2, participants reliably rated the centrality of these features. In Studies 3a and 3b, participants perceived that a hypothetical other was experiencing more gratitude when they read a narrative containing central as opposed to peripheral features. In Study 4, participants remembered more central than peripheral features in gratitude narratives. In Study 5a, participants generated more central than peripheral features when they wrote narratives about a gratitude incident, and in Studies 5a and 5b, participants generated both more specific and more generalized types of gratitude in similar narratives. Throughout, evidence showed that lay conceptions of gratitude are broader than current research definitions.

Four studies (N = 643) supported the hypothesis that social exclusion would reduce the global perception of life as meaningful. Social exclusion was manipulated experimentally by having a confederate refuse to meet participants after seeing their videotaped introduction (Study 1) and by ostracizing participants in a computerized ball-tossing game (Study 2). Compared to control condition and acceptance conditions, social exclusion led to perceiving life as less meaningful. Exclusion was also operationalized as self-reported loneliness, which was a better predictor of low meaning than other potent variables (Study 3). Study 4 found support for Baumeister's model of meaning (1991), by demonstrating that the effect of exclusion on meaning was mediated by purpose, value, and positive self-worth.

This study reconsiders the relationship of childhood Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and childhood conduct problems with adult criminal activity by clarifying the role of the cardinal behaviors associated with the DSM-IV ADHD subtypes (inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity). Since their childhood (average age 9 years), 230 male and 75 female subjects have been followed prospectively and were interviewed as young adults (average age 26 at follow-up). Early childhood behavior ratings by parents and teachers were examined to determine the role of conduct problems, hyperactivity-impulsivity, and inattention in predicting adult criminal involvement as measured by both official arrest records and self-report. Results show that both hyperactivity-impulsivity and early conduct problems independently, as well as jointly, predict a greater likelihood of having an arrest record for males, but not for females. For male subjects with 10 or more self-reported crimes, both early conduct problems and hyperactivity-impulsivity were significant predictors, both alone and in combination. Therefore, it appears that predominantly the symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity, but not inattention, contribute to the risk for criminal involvement over and above the risk associated with early conduct problems alone.

This study focused on an audience at high risk for heavy use of licit and illicit substances: young adults who as children had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The participants in this study were part of a longitudinal study of the life histories of 492 children, one third of whom were identified as hyperactive in 1974 and whose childhood symptom ratings and medical histories were used to establish Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., revised; DSM-III-R) ADHD diagnoses (American Psychiatric Association, 1987). The objectives of the study centered on describing (a) developmental history of tobacco use among ADHD and non-ADHD participants in a longitudinal sample, (b) the characteristic adult patterns of tobacco use from early adolescence through early adulthood, and (c) the relationship between ADHD status and tobacco and substance dependence outcomes. Adult data were obtained for 81% of the original 492 participants (77% of the ADHD and 86% of the controls). Lifetime and current tobacco use were assessed from child, adolescent, and adult data, yielding eight measures of smoking status. The study showed that participants with and without ADHD did not differ in age of initiation to smoking, but there was a significant difference in the age they began smoking regularly. By age 17, 46% of all participants with ADHD, as contrasted with 24% of the age-mate controls, reported smoking cigarettes daily. In adulthood, the proportion of participants with ADHD who were current smokers (42%) continued to exceed that of the age-mate controls (26%). Among current adult smokers, 35% with ADHD smoked daily as compared to 16% of the age-mate controls. There were significantly different lifetime tobacco dependence rates--40% compared to 19% for age-mate controls. The rates for cocaine dependence were 21% for participants with ADHD and 10% for age-mate controls. We reported a significant difference in rates of daily smoking and tobacco dependence for those with ADHD who had used stimulant medication in childhood in contrast to controls. Results were interpreted to support a possible link between ADHD treatment histories and levels of tobacco smoking and tobacco dependence in adulthood.

Strategies are discussed for locating and interviewing a community-based sample of 492 adults, approximately half of whom were diagnosed in 1974 with ADHD. Completion rates, reasons for attrition, and amount of time and intensity of effort associated with subject location are reported. We found that 81% of the original sample had been located after 28 months, and that the reconstituted sample closely resembled the original larger childhood sample in background characteristics. Findings confirm that staff persistence was an important factor in containing attrition, and that longer contact intervals are likely to be a necessary feature of follow-up with socially and behaviorally disordered samples.

Three groups of 11 year old boys, classified as reading-disabled/hyperactive, hyperactive, and normal controls, made same-different judgments to pairs of verbal or visuospatial stimuli presented simultaneously to the right or left side of a fixation point. Two experimental paradigms were used, one emphasizing comparison judgments from memory, the other, new comparison judgments. Reading-disabled boys made more errors of judgment than did controls. All subjects exhibited faster reaction times for different judgments of pairs appearing in the left visual field. Reaction times were longer and errors more numerous for judgments made when two stimuli were presented simultaneously, one to each visual field. Differences in performance for the two halves of the visual field are attributed to memory storage effects for overlearned stimuli. The deficiency in interhemispheric comparisons is attributed to immaturity of the cerebral commissures. The reading-disabled group appears to encompass two subgroups with differing modes of information processing.

The development of a standard scoring procedure by which the factor scores from the School Version of the Adaptive Behavior Scale can be combined was described. Subjects were 1,650 pupils in regular classes, 3,052 pupils in EMR programs, and 828 pupils in TMR classes from California and Florida. Discriminant analysis of the factor scores was computed in order to specify the discriminant coefficients to be used in predicting school classification status. Cross-validation of the discriminant analysis was obtained, and a procedure for creating a composite score was described.

Characteristics of hyperactive children, including speculation in regard to etiology, are reviewed. Drug effects studies and drug treatment of hyperactive behavior are examined, and unresolved issues are discussed. Conclusions indicate that individual differences in hyperative children should form the basis for treatment planning, rather than simply treating groups of children under the rubric "hyperactivity."

An extensive questionnaire was completed by 48 physicians, detailing the medical and behavioral information they collect in forming a diagnosis of conditions that have hyperactive behavior as a symptom. Results indicate that diagnoses are made primarily on the basis of behavioral indicators, and indicators and information from the child's personal medical history, rather than from other data collected during the physical exam.

Much time is spent in elementary schools in assessment of cognitive attributes of children, little in measurement of noncognitive attributes. This study evaluates relative importance of early assessments of cognitive versus noncognitive variables as predictors of high school achievement and adjustment. Results demonstrate the critical, and frequently more important, contribution of the noncognitive attributes.

Hyperactive boys and matched controls from a large-scale epidemiological study, followed for at least three years to age 12, were compared on parent and teacher reports and assessments of attention, achievement, and intellectual functioning. Three outcome groups, based on presence or absence of hyperactivity symptoms, were derived and compared to the DSM-III description of ADD-H. Problem-free adolescents who were hyperactive in childhood were found to be more mature cognitively and behaviorally than those whose problems persisted.

An examination of temperament characteristics of hyperactive and control subjects indicates that, early in their lives, hyperactive children were viewed as having extreme temperament patterns characteristic of children difficult to rear. Primary hyperactive children were characterized by low threshold level, difficulties in staying on schedule, adjusting slowly to changes and being very active, and not being persistent. Implications of the findings for child-rearing practices are discussed.

The AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale, Public School Revision, was administered to 2,618 elementary-school children from 7 to 13 years of age. The sample of children included White, Black, and Spanish-surname groups from regular and special-education classes. Factor analyses of domain scores indicated four dimensions of adaptive behavior: Functional Autonomy, Interpersonal Adjustment, Social Responsibility, and Intrapersonal Adjustment. Comparison of factor structure across school classification and age groups revealed the same four dimensions for all groups. Implications for the assessment of adaptive behavior were discussed.

The pattern and progression in drug use across a 1-year interval was investigated for 54 hyperactives and 47 controls aged 13-18. Initiation and use rates between groups at Time 1 and Time 2 also were studied. Patterns of drug usage differed slightly between hyperactives and controls, with the hyperactives showing greater involvement with cigarettes. As well, the data for progression in use across the 1-year interval showed that hyperactives were by-and-large less predictable than controls in the progression of their drug use. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Hyperactivity is a complex childhood problem and may represent several groups or syndromes, each with its own etiological patterns. This paper presents results of analyses indicating that, although biological and demographic factors may predispose children to being identified and treated as hyperactive, the major contributions to the condition are early manifestations of temperament and the quality of the family's interaction with the child.

This study seeks to reconcile the widely varying estimates of prevalence of hyperactivity in children. Parents, teachers, and physicians were asked to identify hyperactive children in a sample of some 5000 elementary school children. Approximately five percent were considered hyperactive by at least one defining system; only one percent were considered hyperactive by all three definers. Prevalence rates were relatively constant from kindergarten through fifth grade.

A factor analysis of the "Behavior and Temperament Survey--Home Version" resulted in four independent dimensions that were consistent with the DSM-III diagnostic criteria for inattention, hyperactivity, and conduct disorders. A factor dimension labeled "Impulsivity," not in DSM-III also resulted. Data include correlations between scales, descriptive statistics, and reliability estimates. They also show the stability of the BTS-H over a three-year period.

In a representative sample of San Francisco Bay Area school children, 1.2% were identified as hyperactive by parents, teachers, and physicians. Estimates of the prevalence of various treatment regimens indicate that 58% of those so identified received medication in one year, but a much larger number (86%) will be given medication at some time. Initiation of treatment appears to coincide with stressful times in school, and multiple treatment approaches are generally employed.

Guided by the goal of documenting the natural course of the life histories of a large sample of hyperactive children and their control counterparts, this research reports the extent to which prenatal, developmental, and health history factors distinguish hyperactive and control groups, as well as the relative contributions of the various medical factors. Results indicate that prenatal factors, rather than those occurring later in the child's medical history, are the best predictors of subsequent hyperactive diagnosis.