Children's beliefs about long-term health effects of alcohol and cocaine use.

OBJECTIVE: To assess age differences in children's beliefs about the long-term health effects of alcohol and cocaine, to use such beliefs to predict attitudes toward and intentions to use these substances, and to establish whether accurate beliefs are more predictive than inaccurate ones. METHODS: Children ages 6 to 12 (N: = 217) responded to an open-ended question about the effects of long-term alcohol and cocaine use and to 12 structured questions asking whether each produces alcohol-like, cocaine-like, and tobacco-like effects. RESULTS: Differentiation among alcohol, cocaine, and tobacco effects was limited but increased with age. Beliefs about health effects had no impact on alcohol attitudes and intentions, but intentions to drink were stronger among older and white children. Anti-cocaine attitudes and intentions were associated with being older and non-White and with having accurate knowledge of cocaine's true health effects-but also with believing falsely that cocaine has tobacco-like effects and that drugs in general have catastrophic effects. CONCLUSIONS: With age, and as predicted by Werner's orthogenetic principle, children differentiated more sharply between substances. Although negative misconceptions can contribute to anti-drug attitudes and intentions, children should nonetheless be taught about the distinct effects of different substances on health.

Parental drug use and the socialization of AIDS knowledge and attitudes in children.

Children aged 6 to 18 who had a parent enrolled in drug treatment were matched on the child's age, sex, and ethnicity and on the parent's level of education with children from a community sample. They were compared with respect to parents' knowledge of HIV transmission, parents' efforts to teach their children (ages 6 to 18) about HIV and AIDS, and children's knowledge and attitudes regarding AIDS. Children of drug-abusing parents had more direct and indirect experience with people affected by AIDS than other children, and they demonstrated more knowledge of HIV transmission, once other variables were controlled. Overall, however, few group differences in parents' knowledge and socialization efforts or in children's AIDS-related knowledge and attitudes were observed. Although children of drug abusers appear to be learning as much as other children about HIV and AIDS, they nonetheless deserve special attention as a group at risk for HIV infection.

Social implications of behavioral interventions for persons with mental retardation.

The influence of type of behavioral program and program outcome on university students' perceptions of a hypothetical 17-year-old boy with mental retardation who exhibited severe self-injury was examined. A positive program was viewed as more acceptable and effective than were other programs (extremely aversive, mildly aversive, positive combined with extremely aversive, and control). Successful programs were also judged more acceptable and effective than were unsuccessful ones. When a program succeeded the individual was also seen as more likable, competent, adjusted, capable of learning, responsible, and problem-free. These preliminary findings point to the merits of considering the individual's social image in evaluating treatment acceptability.

The role of germs and viruses in children's theories of AIDS (or, AIDS are not Band-Aids).

The development of knowledge of germs and viruses in relation to AIDS and flu was examined in a predominantly Mexican American sample of children aged 8-9, 10-11, and 12-13. Children progressed with age from identifying the disease agent for these diseases as a nondescript germ or something other than a germ to implicating a disease-specific germ or virus. Parallel age trends in mastery of the two diseases were observed; gender and ethnic differences were minimal. Solid command of germ and virus concepts in relation to AIDS was associated with more casually sophisticated understanding of the disease but not with more accurate knowledge of modes of HIV transmission. Grasp of flu germ/virus concepts did not contribute to greater understanding or knowledge of AIDS. Overall, children seem predisposed to construct a germ theory of an unfamiliar disease such as AIDS but need help in differentiating between one germ and another.

Factors associated with disclosure of diagnosis to children with HIV/AIDS.

Disclosure of the diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) to a child is a controversial and emotionally laden issue. To understand the factors that affect the process of disclosure and its consequences, we studied 99 parent-child dyads recruited from patients being treated at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Parents and HIV-infected children were interviewed and administered several standardized measures. Parental depression, family environment, social support satisfaction, socioeconomic status, child and parent gender, child's age, parental HIV serostatus, and disease severity were used to predict disclosure status. Results indicate that the majority of caregivers do disclose the diagnosis to the child, usually with no ill effects, and that age is the most significant predictor of whether or not a child has been told. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently estimate that there are over 6611 children with AIDS (under age 13), and 2184 adolescents with AIDS (ages 13-19) in America. As an increasing number of children who are born infected with HIV live to older ages, the question of when and how to talk with them about their illness becomes more crucial. In addition to the growing number of children infected with HIV, there are many thousands of children profoundly affected by the impact of this disease on a close family member--a mother, father, sibling, or other relative in the kinship network. Yet, the initial reaction most adults have upon learning of their own, or of a family member's, HIV diagnosis is that the diagnosis must be kept a closely guarded secret. One reason frequently cited by parents and family members is their fear that the stigma of AIDS will have a negative impact on their children and their families. Disclosure of an HIV diagnosis to a child is a controversial and emotionally laden issue in the pediatric health-care community as well. However, no systematic research has studied the issues that surround disclosure of an HIV diagnosis to the patient and the factors that predict disclosure.

Intuitive theories of human immunodeficiency virus transmission: their development and implications.

Explored the use of cluster analysis to characterize the development of intuitive theories of HIV transmission and examined relationships between children's theories and their attitudes regarding AIDS. In Study 1, analyses of interviews with 188 children and adolescents led to the identification of three relatively immature theories (undifferentiated thinking in which anything can cause AIDS, uncertainty about its causes, and a hybrid theory emphasizing germs as well as any form of drug use) and two relatively mature ones (both emphasizing true AIDS risk factors but differing in their understanding of blood exchange as a cause). Unwillingness to interact with persons with AIDS and worry about AIDS decreased with age and the former in particular was most closely associated with the belief that AIDS is spread through casual contact. In Study 2, analyses of data from a largely Mexican American sample of 306 third, fifth, and seventh graders yielded largely similar findings despite use of different risk factor subscales. Overall, the intuitive theories approach and the use of cluster analysis in its service appear to be promising ways of assessing children's knowledge of disease so that appropriate interventions for different subgroups of children can be designed.

Collective identity and intergroup prejudice among Jewish and Arab students in the United States.

Relationships between indicators of collective identity (collective self-esteem, religious involvement, and involvement in ethnic organizations) and prejudice toward the other-group were examined in a sample of Jewish and Arab students in the United States. Contrary to expectations, collective identity variables were largely unrelated to prejudice among the Jewish students, although the Jewish students who expressed the least amount of anti-Arab sentiment were those who were the most religious. As expected, the Arab students who (a) had low public collective self-esteem and (b) were highly involved in religious and ethnic organizations tended to be the most prejudiced. The findings for Arab students, in particular, contradict findings obtained in the laboratory, using the minimal intergroup paradigm, and suggest that individuals who are highly involved in in-group activities but believe their group is not viewed favorably by others may derogate the members of a salient out-group in an attempt to acquire a more positive social identity.

Response biases in interviews of individuals with limited mental ability.

The validity of responses by individuals with mental retardation during interviews is threatened by a number of biases. Acquiescence (the disposition to answer 'yes' regardless of the question asked) is a commonly observed response bias committed by respondents to questionnaires and interviews, and this disposition is significantly more pronounced when persons of low status are questioned by high-status interviewers. Research on the acquiescence bias suggests that it can be reduced in mentally retarded respondents by replacing the usual 'yes/no' question format with an 'either/or' format. Enhancing the either/or choices with accompanying picture representations of each choice is beneficial in increasing mentally retarded subjects' responding and in reducing their tendency to choose the latter of two either/or choices. 'Nay-saying' (the disposition to say 'no' regardless of the question asked), while less common than 'yea-saying' (i.e. than acquiescence), has also been noted in response to certain question formats and taboo topics. This review implies that the validity of an interview with respondents of limited intelligence depends greatly on the format of its questions.

Parents' contributions to children's knowledge and attitudes regarding AIDS: another look.

Attempted to determine, using a sample of students in Grades 3, 5, and 7, whether parent-child communication about AIDS and parent knowledge of AIDS predict children's knowledge, social attitudes, and worry regarding AIDS, partially replicating tests by Sigelman, Derenowski, Mullaney, and Siders (1993) of main effects, interaction, and potentiation models of parent-child socialization. Most parents had talked to their children about AIDS but many were susceptible to myths about HIV transmission. Child age was the strongest predictor of accurate knowledge and positive attitudes, but gender, ethnicity, and parent education also made modest contributions. Consistent with the potentiation model, parent knowledge of common transmission myths predicted child knowledge of those same myths (and willingness to interact with individuals who have AIDS as well) only when parent-child communication about AIDS was relatively extensively (and only when child rather than parent reported it). Findings suggest that both the quantity and quality of parental messages must be considered by socialization researchers but that parents may not be the primary socializers of knowledge and attitudes regarding AIDS and other health issues.

Parents' contributions to knowledge and attitudes regarding AIDS.

Examined, in a sample of 170 students in Grades 1-12, relationships between parental background and socialization variables and children's knowledge of AIDS risk factors and willingness to interact with people who have AIDS. Most parents had talked to their children about AIDS and supported early AIDS education, but were susceptible to common transmission myths. Age was the strongest predictor of a child's knowledge and attitudes, but parent ethnicity, education, and occupational status also contributed. Moreover, consistent with a "potentiation" model of socialization, parent knowledge of common transmission myths predicted child knowledge of those same myths only when parent-child communication about AIDS was relatively frequent.

Do you believe in magic? The impact of "Magic" Johnson on adolescents' AIDS knowledge and attitudes.

A group of young people ages 10 to 18, interviewed after basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced that he had tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), were asked for their reactions to the news. Their knowledge of and attitudes regarding AIDS were also compared to those of similar young people interviewed before the announcement. Reactions to the announcement were varied and were accompanied by only isolated changes in knowledge and attitudes, suggesting that news of this celebrity's HIV infection served primarily to reinforce or make temporarily more salient knowledge and attitudes that predated the announcement.

Conformity, peer pressure, and adolescent receptivity to treatment for substance abuse: a research note.

To explore the possibility that peer influences not only contribute to adolescent substance abuse but shape feelings about being in treatment for substance abuse, forty adolescent inpatients were surveyed. Misconduct, including substance abuse, was predicted best by perceived peer pressure toward misconduct, low opinions of the value of treatment by disposition to conform to antisocial peers, and sense of stigma associated with being treated by perceived peer pressure toward conformity. Concerns over peer acceptance may be one basis for resistance to substance abuse treatment.

The development of distributive justice orientations: contextual influences on children's resource allocations.

Previous research on the development of distributive justice decisions, by centering largely on situations in which rewards for work productivity are to be allocated, has shed little light on the child's developing ability to select the justice norm most appropriate to the situation. Children 5, 9, and 13 years of age were asked to allocate resources and judge the fairness of alternative decision rules in situations to which either equity, equality, or need norms were especially applicable. As predicted, young children were insensitive to contextual information, generally preferring to allocate resources equally, whereas older children tailored their decisions appropriately to the situation. The fact that developmental trends differed from situation to situation points to the importance of adopting a contextual perspective on the development of distributive justice orientations.

Courtesy stigma: the social implications of associating with a gay person.

We investigated the operation of courtesy stigma with American male college students who reacted to a fictitious male student described as gay, rooming by choice with a gay male student, involuntarily assigned to room with a gay, or rooming with a male heterosexual. Among respondents who expressed strong intolerance of gays, the voluntary associate of a gay was perceived as having homosexual tendencies and as possessing the same stereotyped personality traits attributed to a gay. No such courtesy stigma was attached to the involuntary associate of a gay by these respondents. Relatively tolerant respondents engaged in no courtesy stigmatization at all. Thus, courtesy stigmatization occurred only under circumscribed conditions and appeared to depend more on the tendency of highly intolerant individuals to infer that a male student who apparently liked a gay individual was himself gay than on a motivation to maintain cognitive consistency.

Effects of treatments and their outcomes on peer perceptions of a hyperactive child.

In an exploration of the social impacts of treatments for hyperactivity, two age groups (kindergarteners and first-graders vs. fourth- and fifth-graders) heard about a hyperactive child whose problem was treated either by an internal and controllable means (effort) or by an external and uncontrollable means (medication) and whose behavior either did or did not improve. The attributions and affective responses of both age groups were influenced by both the nature and the effectiveness of treatment, and there was only weak support for the hypothesis that younger children are more influenced by treatment outcome than older children are. However, older children, conforming to attribution theory predictions, held target children more accountable for the success or failure of their own efforts than for the outcomes of medication, particularly valuing the child whose own efforts succeeded. By contrast, young children judged the child whose efforts failed as more worthy of pride and more likable than the child whose medication failed. Implications for peer acceptance of hyperactive children over the childhood years are discussed.

Impacts of labeling and competence on peers' perceptions: mentally retarded versus nonretarded perceivers.

In an attempt to determine whether educably mentally retarded children hold the same attitudes towards members of their group that nonretarded children hold, regular-class and special-education class students in junior high school indicated their trait perceptions of and willingness to interact with same-sex target children who were either competent or incompetent spellers and who were labeled as either regular-class or special-class students. Although both groups perceived competent peers more positively than incompetent peers, only nonretarded students perceived peers labeled as special-education students more negatively than they perceived unlabeled peers. Neither group expressed any unwillingness to interact socially with either an incompetent or a special-class student. Thus, within the context of this study, there was no evidence that special-education students internalize prevailing negative attitudes toward their group.

Evaluating alternative techniques of questioning mentally retarded persons.

In an examination of methodological issues involved in interviewing retarded persons, alternatively worded or structured questions were embedded in interviews with three samples. Questioning techniques were evaluated according to the extent to which (a) interviewees could provide answers, (b) their answers agreed with parallel responses given by attendants or parents, and (c) answers were free of systematic response bias. Open-ended questions were found to be unanswerable by many persons, and supplementing them with clarifying examples and probes for additional information only exacerbated response bias. By comparison, yes-no checklists enhanced responsiveness but introduced serious acquiescence bias, whereas multiple choice questions, particularly with pictures, yielded valid answers from high proportions of interviewees. Implications for question design were discussed.

Teaching interview skills to mentally retarded persons.

Five types of behavior found to be predictive of impressions made by mentally retarded persons in interviews were designated as targets of interview skills training: responsiveness to questions, speech intelligibility, eye contact, smiling, and attractiveness. Two training conditions, using an instruction-modeling-rehearsal-feedback format and differing only in type of feedback (video tape and verbal vs. verbal alone), were compared to a placebo condition. Although formal training proved to be little more effective than did the placebo experience, significant improvements in responsiveness and eye contact in the verbal-feedback condition and other trends pointed to the feasibility of improving interview skills with minimal intervention.