The impact of stress and coping: Developmental changes in the transition to adolescence

Developmental change in the impact of stressful life events and coping styles were assessed among Israeli preadolescent and adolescent boys. A school sample completed a questionnaire tapping emotionally, cognitively, and practically oriented styles of coping, along with a life event survey. Teachers reported on behavior and adjustment. Analyses revealed that coping among preadolescent males was relatively undifferentiated and of limited efficacy. The transition to adolescence saw an increased qualitative differentiation of emotionally from practically or cognitively oriented coping styles, as well as quantitatively greater use of cognitively oriented coping. Further, cognitively and practically oriented coping served as effective foils to the adverse effects of stress, whereas emotionally oriented coping was counterproductive. Discussion focused on the possible contribution of cognitive growth to coping, as well as the relative utility of adult models for the study of coping in young populations.Received doctorate in educational psychology from University of California, Los Angeles. Current research interests include stress and coping across the life span, social sources of adolescent self-esteem, and intergroup relations in the junior high school.Received doctorate in clinical psychology from Hebrew University. Research interests include social and emotional development in children and adolescents.Received doctorate from Groningen University. Research interests include longitudinal studies of health and well-being in normal families and those with mentally ill members.Received master's degree in clinical child psychology from Bar-Ilan University. Research interests are in family relations and socioemotional development.     

South Africa: The politics of racial terminology

Survey of racial terminology employed in southern Africa since 1652 is discussed     

Interpapillary lines--the variable part of the human fingerprint.

The dermatoglyphic pattern of human palms and soles is individually unique and unchanging. Their prints show the course of the papillary ridges as papillary lines. Case reports and a few older studies of repeatedly taken fingerprints could, however, show that so-called interpapillary lines can develop between the papillary lines. The questions of this study were: How often do interpapillary lines occur? Can the differences between papillary and interpapillary ridges be quantified? Five-hundred and two ink prints of the palms and fingers from the archive of the Bochum Police Department were examined retrospectively. In 121 volunteers, the appearance of interpapillary lines was examined prospectively. From the later collective, the fingerprints of 13 people with interpapillary lines and nine people without were examined further by taking two silicon prints and measuring them with laser profilometry In 215 of the 502 ink prints (42.8%) interpapillary lines could be demonstrated. In those subjects younger than 20 years they were less frequently observed (34.1%) than in those above the age of 20 (51.8%). In all cases using laser profilometry the interpapillary lines could be related to a corresponding interpapillary ridge. The interpapillary ridge heights were 24.9 +/- 10.0 microm, significantly lower than the papillary ridges, which measured 59.0 +/- 19.2 microm. Interpapillary ridge widths were with 194.8 +/- 65.1 microm significantly narrower as compared to 435.5 +/- 57.4 microm in the papillary ridge. Those papillary ridges, between which interpapillary ridges were found, were significantly further apart from each other (610.5 +/- 78.9 microm) than those without interpapillary ridges (484.9 +/- 70.6 microm). During the course of a lifetime new ridges between the regular papillary ridges can develop or manifest. The fact that interpapillary lines are more frequently found on the right hands in men and those with increasing age is consistent with the theory that they correspond to degenerative changes and with sensitivity of touch.     

The Impact of Job Characteristics on Private Prison Staff: Why Management Should Care

The number of private prisons run by corporate security businesses has increased rapidly throughout the past two decades. There has been a parallel increase in literature, both pro and con, comparing the efficiency and effectiveness of private and public prisons; however, private prison staff has been largely ignored. OLS regression analysis of a survey of 160 employees at a Midwestern private prison facility showed that the job characteristics of job stress, supervision, and job variety were far more important than personal characteristics of race/ethnicity, gender, age, tenure, education and position in influencing staff job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Specifically, job stress had the largest impact on job satisfaction, while quality of supervision had the greatest impact on organizational commitment.