Bonnie C. Nicholson

Psychopathic personality traits in relational aggression among young adults.

Psychopathy is a robust predictor of overt physical aggression that may also be relevant to relational aggression (RA). This study was conducted to investigate the utility of psychopathic personality traits in the prediction of RA in a sample of 291 college students. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that both primary and secondary psychopathic traits explained additional variance in general/peer and romantic RA beyond physical aggressiveness. Consistent with previous research, no gender differences were found on either form of RA, challenging the popular stereotype of RA as a female behavior. Moreover, psychopathic traits were not differentially predictive of RA by gender or level of physical aggressiveness. Implications of these findings for research and clinical practice are discussed.

Evaluating a Brief Parental-Education Program for Parents of Young Children

The effectiveness of a brief parental-education program for 40 families with very young children was studied. Families were assigned to either a parental-education or waiting-list control group. The parental-education program included information and strategies drawn from developmental and cognitive psychology and social learning theory. Analysis showed that participating parents significantly reduced their use of corporal and verbal punishment, changed their parenting attitudes, and improved their perceptions of their childrens behavior in comparison to the control group. Effects were maintained at six weeks follow-up. Results supported tailoring parental-education programs to the unique needs of participants.

A Community-Based Parenting Program with Low-Income Mothers of Young Children

Research has established a significant relationship between certain parental characteristics, such as income or parenting practices, and the development of child behavior problems. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a parenting program for low-income parents of children one to five years old which was offered through community-based family resource centers. Seventy-one mothers completed the program and showed significant decreases in their use of verbal and corporal punishment and significant increases In nurturing behaviors; their childrens behavior also improved significantly. Forty-five percent of parents also met Jacobson and Truaxs (1991) criteria for clinically significant change. Implications for practitioners working with this challenging population are discussed.

Parenting Young Children: Comparison of a Psychoeducational Program in Mexico and the United States∗

The purpose of this study was to compare the cross‐cultural effectiveness of a psychoeducational program with 82 Mexican and 63 American mothers with very young children. The 10‐hour program was presented by trained facilitators in Mexico and the United States to small groups of mothers. Results showed that the both groups of mothers significantly increased their expectations and use of nurturing strategies and reduced their use of verbal and corporal punishment with their young children following the program. In addition, the reported frequency of child behavior problems decreased significantly at post‐test. The similar results obtained across cultures were explained based on research finding similar parenting practices with young children between Mexican and American parents. * This research was supported by grants from the Child Abuse Prevention Fund and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Technologic

Evaluation of a Community‐Based Parenting Program with the Parents of Young Children∗

This study evaluated the ecological effectiveness of a cognitive‐behavioral parenting program for parents of children aged one to five years old offered through community‐based family resource centers. Ninety‐one parents completed the program and showed significant decreases between pre‐test and post‐test in use of verbal and corporal punishment as well as significant increases in nurturing behaviors as measured by the Parent Behavior Checklist (PBC; Fox, 1994). Reported child behavior problems also reduced significantly. Two‐month follow‐up showed that changes were maintained in parental nurturing but not discipline. Forty percent of parents also met Jacobsen and Truaxs (1991) criteria for clinically significant change on at least one PBC scale. Implications for the effectiveness of the parenting program and its application to the prevention of behavior problems are discussed. ∗This research was partially supported by a special purpose grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washingt...

The Role of Parenting in Relational Aggression and Prosocial Behavior among Emerging Adults

This study investigated the role of remembered parenting styles and parental psychological control in the prediction of relational aggression and prosocial behavior in a college student sample (N = 323). Participants’ retrospective ratings of how they were parented were related to relational aggression and prosocial behavior; however, somewhat different relationships emerged for African American and White participants. Permissive parenting, authoritative parenting, and parental psychological control predicted relational aggression. Participant race and all 3 parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) predicted prosocial behavior. Participant race moderated the relationship between psychological control and prosocial behavior. Specifically, parental psychological control was inversely related to prosocial behavior for African American, but not White, participants.

Relational Aggression in College Students' Dating Relationships

This study focused on romantic relational aggression, a variable that appears to predict intimate partner violence but remains understudied in the college population. College student participants (N = 260) between the ages of 18 and 25 who reported that they had been in a romantic relationship during the past year completed measures of romantic relational aggression, sex role attitudes, acceptance of couple violence, and trait anger. Although respondent gender and sex role attitudes predicted romantic relational aggression as expected, gender did not moderate the relationship between sex role attitudes and relational aggression. Acceptance of violence predicted the perpetration of romantic relational aggression above and beyond the effects of trait anger and sex role attitudes. Trait anger also predicted romantic relational aggression.

Alcohol consumption and negative sex-related consequences among college women: the moderating role of alcohol protective behavioral strategies

Alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBS) limit overall negative consequences; however, less is known about the relationship between PBS and negative sex-related consequences. The purpose of the current study was to examine the moderating effects of 2 distinct types of PBS—controlled consumption strategies and serious harm reduction strategies—on the relationship between alcohol consumption and alcohol-related risky sexual behavior and sexual victimization. Participants were 459 undergraduate women (ages 18–25) who had consumed alcohol within the past 30 days. Both types of PBS significantly qualified the alcohol-sexual victimization link, but neither type of PBS qualified the alcohol-risky sexual behavior link.

Exploring Parenting as a Predictor of Criminogenic Thinking in College Students

Crime-promoting cognitions and attitudes, globally labeled as criminogenic thinking, are shown to perpetuate maladaptive and antisocial behavior in criminals and nonoffenders. In the nonoffender population, these thinking patterns may not lead to illegal behavior, but can result in irresponsible or maladaptive behavioral consequences. Theories suggest that early childhood parent–child interactions may be partly responsible for the development of criminogenic thinking. While the relationship between parenting and antisocial behavior is well documented, the connection between parenting and the development of criminogenic thinking styles has not yet been explored. The current study examined the nature of the relationship between exposure to parenting behaviors and subsequent criminogenic thoughts in a nonoffender, college population. The sample included 119 undergraduates. Results indicate that parenting may affect general criminogenic thinking as well as specific types of criminogenic thinking styles. Relevance and importance of the findings with regard to clinical work and parenting are also discussed.

Introduction to the special issue: Science-practice integration in counseling psychology training: Trends and models

The majority of counseling psychology programs utilize the scientist–practitioner training model (Horn et al., 2007). Originating with the Bolder and Northwestern Conferences, the scientist–practitioner model has continued to be reaffirmed as the model of choice in counseling psychology programs in the United States, as well as in other countries around the world (Vespia & Sauer, 2006). In fact, Murdock and colleagues point to the scientist–practitioner model in their widely adopted Model Counseling Program (Murdock, Alcorn, Heesacker, & Stoltenberg, 1998). Further, the policy statement which resulted from the National Conference on Scientist–Practitioner Training (Belar & Perry, 1992) offers a conceptualization of this approach to training: