Genetic and Familial Influences on Self-Perception in Early Childhood and Self-Esteem in Adulthood: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Self-perception in early childhood and self-esteem in adulthood are related to a variety of aspects of psychological wellbeing. The goal of the present study was to examine genetic and familial influences on self-perception and self-esteem in separate samples of children (153 twin pairs of 5-year-olds) and adults (753 twin pairs between the ages of 25-75 years). Genetic common factor modeling showed that three facets of self-perception (physical competence, peer acceptance, and maternal acceptance) loaded onto a single heritable factor in children. Multilevel modeling showed no effects of self or co-twin sex on self-perception, but authoritative parenting style was negatively related to self-perception in boys. Similarly, in Study 2, with the adult sample, five self-esteem items loaded on a single heritable factor with no effects of co-twin sex on adult self-esteem. Remembered maternal affection, paternal affection, and maternal discipline were positively related to self-esteem in adults; maternal affection was especially significant for women. The reversal in direction of parenting effects between early childhood and adulthood suggests that parents may play different roles in shaping how children and adults think of themselves. These results suggest that self-perception in childhood and self-esteem in adulthood are both influenced by genetic and environmental factors and that parenting is an important environmental factor for both children and adults.

Higher Emotion Dysregulation and Coping Motives in Alcoholand Marijuana Users.

BACKGROUND: Prior research indicates that difficulties in emotion regulation may contribute to the use of substances (e.g. alcohol and marijuana) to alleviate negative affect. Therefore, we hypothesized that coping motives for alcohol and marijuana use would serve as an intermediary in the relationship between emotion dysregulation and alcohol/marijuana-related outcomes. Methods: The sample comprised 241 college students who used both alcohol and marijuana and 378 college students who used alcohol only. Parallel indirect effects models were estimated to test the hypothesis that emotion dysregulation is associated with alcohol and marijuana use/problems through alcohol and marijuana coping motives. Results: Coping motives were consistently identified as the driving intermediary when it came to alcohol and marijuana problems, as well as marijuana consumption. Enhancement motives were only implicated in the relationship between emotion dysregulation and alcohol consumption among the alcohol-only group. Conclusion: Overall, the pattern of results suggests that, as hypothesized, alcohol and/or marijuana users higher in emotion dysregulation are more likely to use alcohol or marijuana to alleviate negative affect. Although further research is warranted, individuals who use substances for coping purposes may benefit from interventions designed to improve emotion regulation skills.

The Role of Remembered Parenting on Adult Self-Esteem: A Monozygotic Twin Difference Study.

Self-esteem is an attitude about the self that predicts psychopathology and general well-being. Parenting practices have been shown to be related to self-esteem, but these estimates are confounded because parents and children share genes. The aim of the present study was to use the monozygotic (MZ) twin difference design to isolate the non-shared environmental impact of remembered parenting on self-esteem. In a sample of 1328 adults (345 MZ twin pairs, 319 DZ twin pairs), retrospective reports of maternal and paternal affection were related to self-esteem, all of which were significantly heritable. Using MZ difference scores, paternal affection differences, but not maternal affection differences, were significantly related to self-esteem differences. These results suggest that parenting provided by the father directly impacts self-esteem through non-shared environmental mechanisms. Maternal affection, on the other hand, impacts self-esteem through shared genes (not shared environment, as shared environment was not a significant aspect of self-esteem). This has implications for parenting intervention programs.

Comparison of the Original and Short Form Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised With High School and Underage College Student Drinkers.

Cooper developed and provided initial support for the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R). More recently, Kuntsche and Kuntsche introduced the briefer DMQ-R SF. Psychometric properties of the DMQ-R and the DMQ-R SF were examined in samples of high school (n = 131) and underage college student drinkers (n = 189). The original and short-form versions of the DMQ-R were similar with regard to composite score validity, concurrent validity, and internal consistency. Only the Enhancement Motives subscale showed slight decrements in reliability and validity for the short form. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the DMQ-R SF was associated with slightly better goodness-of-fit and invariant factor loadings between the high school and college student samples. Despite its briefer form and reduced task demands for participants, the DMQ-R SF appears to provide nearly equivalent, and in some instances slightly improved, measurement of drinking motives in underage drinkers as does the original DMQ-R.

Sexual willingness with same- and other-sex prospective partners: Experimental evidence from the bar scene.

Sex is ubiquitous in the media, but only a fraction depicts sexual interactions between same-sex partners. This field study, conducted outside of bars in the Midwestern United States, examined 83 heterosexuals' sexual willingness with a same- or other-sex partner. Participants viewed a randomly assigned video vignette of a same- or other-sex partner. Alcohol intake, partner attractiveness, and sexual willingness were measured. Using moderated regression analysis, we found that alcohol intake predicted sexual willingness with the male target for both men and women, but not with the female target. The attractiveness of same-sex partners was related to sexual willingness. Sexual willingness was only influenced by alcohol intake and perceived attractiveness of a same-sex prospective partner. Most notably, alcohol intake was related to increased sexual willingness of men with a same-sex partner, suggesting a potential shift in normative casual sexual behavior among heterosexual men.

An electrophysiological investigation of the effects of social rejection on self control.

Previous studies have shown that social rejection leads to impaired performance on a variety of tasks that require self control, including the Stroop color-word interference task; however, mechanisms underlying the effect remain to be elucidated. We attempted to clarify the effects of social rejection on self control resources by measuring event-related potentials (ERPs) during a computerized Stroop test. Stroop performance and ERPs from 54 participants in rejected, control, and accepted groups were analyzed. A significant difference in the pattern of results for the N450 ERP was found, with rejected participants showing less negativity on incongruent trials and more on congruent trials compared to accepted participants and controls. The results suggest social rejection reduces the engagement of cognitive control mechanisms, and are more consistent with a limited strength resource model than with limited capacity resource models that focus on limitations in attention.

Differences in drinking expectancies and motives for regular education and special education high school students with emotional/behavioral disorders.

Alcohol expectancies and drinking motives were compared for regular education students (n=159) and students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) receiving special education services (n=51). Differences existed between groups with respect to expected negative social consequences and emotional and physical outcomes associated with drinking. Across groups, drinkers reported more positive alcohol expectancies than non-drinkers, while non-drinkers reported more negative alcohol expectancies than drinkers. Differences also existed between the regular education and EBD students who drank with respect to coping, conformity, and social motives. Accounting for sample sizes differences, the relationship between alcohol use and negative physical effect was stronger for regular education students, while the relationship between alcohol use and conformity motives was stronger for the EBD group.

Beneficial but not sufficient: effects of condom packaging instructions on condom use skills.

Among those who are sexually active, condom use is the only method of protection against HIV/AIDS. Poor condom skills may lead to condom use failures, which can lead to risk of exposure. Despite the wide availability of condom use instructional leaflets, it is unclear whether these instructions sufficiently teach condom use skills. Ninety-two male and 113 female undergraduates were randomly assigned to a control condition (read non-condom instructions) or a treatment condition (read condom instructions). Participants completed self-report measures related to condom use and performed a condom demonstration task. Participants who read the condom instructions did not perform significantly better on the demonstration task, F (1, 203) = 2.90, P = 0.09, η(2) = 0.014. At the item level, those who read the condom instructions better performed two of the seven condom use steps correctly. These data suggest that condom packaging instructions do not effectively teach condom use skills.

Direct and indirect effects of birth order on personality and identity: support for the null hypothesis.

The authors proposed that birth order affects psychosocial outcomes through differential investment from parent to child and differences in the degree of identification from child to parent. The authors conducted this study to test these 2 models. Despite the use of statistical and methodological procedures to increase sensitivity and reduce error, the authors did not find support for the models. They discuss results in the context of the mixed-research findings regarding birth order and suggest further research on the proposed developmental dynamics that may produce birth-order effects.

Toward errorless condom use: a comparison of two courses to improve condom use skills.

Traditionally, researchers have focused HIV/AIDS prevention efforts on increasing condom use, yet few researchers have assessed condom use skills. Because incorrect condom use may lead to condom failure, promoting condom use without ensuring participants have the skills necessary for correct condom use may lead to increased risk of exposure. This study compared the effects of two condom use courses on condom use skills. These courses were administered as part of a HIV/AIDS educational program for college students. Participants in the treatment groups (n=179) attended either a limited, 1-Session, or extensive, 3-Session, condom use course, and an additional 108 participants served as a Control Group. Condom use skills increased among participants in both treatment groups; however, the greatest improvement was among those in the 3-Session Group. This finding supports use of the extensive, 3-Session course as a more effective means for improving condom use skills.

Needle and syringe cleaning practices among injection drug users.

Bleach-mediated disinfection (BMD) of needles and syringes (NS) has been advocated as a risk-reduction intervention against HIV among injection drug users (IDUs). The effect of needle exchange on the BMD practices of 176 NS-sharing IDUs was evaluated. IDUs were randomly assigned to either 1) Pharmacy Sales Condition, access to NS via legal sales of nonprescription NS; or 2) Needle Exchange Condition, with additional access to NS via an experimental needle exchange program. Repeated measures analysis revealed a main effect of time on BMD, no effect of assignment condition, and no time by assignment interaction. Logistic regression revealed IDUs who traded sex for money or drugs were less likely to practice BMD, and IDUs who reported a reduced number of sex partners were more likely to practice BMD. Future interventions should incorporate behavioral BMD components and address the concerns of those who trade sex for money or drugs.

Selection effect of needle exchange in Anchorage, Alaska.

Participation bias (selection bias) may be a problem in studies that attempt to evaluate the effects of needle-exchange programs (NEPs). The present study looked at only those injection drug users (IDUs) who were randomly placed in the needle-exchange condition in a two-arm randomized clinical trial of needle exchange. Time to follow-up between the experimental NEP condition (n = 296; median = 261 days) and pharmacy sales condition (n = 304; median = 256 days) was not statistically different [chi(2) (1, N = 600) = 0.42, P =.52]. Within the NEP condition, a similar analysis comparing time to follow-up between IDUs who used the NEP (n = 65; median = 199 days) and those who refrained from using the NEP (n = 231; median = 286 days) was highly significant, chi(2) (1, n = 296) = 17.3, P=.0001. The final logistic regression model predicting use of the NEP was the log 10 transformation of the number of times injected heroin in the last 30 days (odds ratio [OR ]=4.9, confidence interval [CI ]2.8, 8.9), ever injected amphetamine in the last 30 days (OR =4.9, CI 1.09, 22.5), and ever shared injection equipment in the last 30 days (OR =2.9, CI 1.5, 5.5). Within the NEP condition, follow-up rates differed between those who used the NEP and those who did not use it. Of drug users randomly assigned to an NEP, the ones who actually used the NEP had higher levels of drug use. Predictors of who used the NEP were consistent with the studies of Hagen et al. This study demonstrates that selection bias occurs among IDUs who use NEPs.