D. Bruce Carter

Validity of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale: Two replication studies

To enhance the construct validity of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale (SRES), two replications of earlier validity studies were undertaken. Samples were from several college campuses and primarily Caucasian. In Study 1, multiple regression analyses confirmed a hypothesized curvilinear relationship between scores on the SRES and scores on the MacDonald Sex Role Survey, a measure of gender role ideology regarding women. In Study 2, the expectation that SRES would share a relatively small amount of total variance with both the Femininity/Expressiveness and Masculinity/Instrumentality trait subscales of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire was supported. Both sets of results are consistent with earlier validity research using different measures.

Gender schemas and the salience of gender: Individual differences in nonreversal discrimination learning

Sixty-seven 3–6-year-old children, identified as gender schematic and aschematic, completed a nonreversal discrimination learning task. This task permits examination of childrens abilities to attend selectively to particular dimensions of a multidimensional stimulus. Gender typing and size of stimulus were the relevant target dimensions. Gender schematic children required significantly more trials to criterion when the shift was from sex type to size of stimulus, and significantly fewer trials to criterion when the shift was from size to sex type of stimulus, than did aschematic children. Gender aschematic childrens performance was relatively unaffected by type of stimulus dimension. Results support predictions of the differential salience of the gender dimension to gender schematic and aschematic children.

Self-Concept and Sex-Role Orientation: An Investigation of Multidimensional Aspects of Personality Development in Adolescence.:

A total of 354 6th through 12th grade adolescents completed both a measure of self-concept and a revised version of the Bem Sex Role Inventory in order to assess relationships between sex-role orientation and self-concept during adolescence. It was hypothesized that sex-role orientation and self-concept were systematically related multi-dimensional aspects of personality. The results confirmed the major hypotheses. Overall, Masculine and Androgynous adolescents scored significantly higher than did Feminine and Undifferentiated adolescents on the instrumental self-concept dimension of Achievement/Leadership. In contrast, Feminine and Androgynous adolescents scored significantly higher than their Masculine and Undifferentiated peers on the expressive self-concept dimension of Congeniality/Sociability. Feminine adolescents exhibited significantly higher adjustment self-concepts than did their Undifferentiated peers, but both groups scored lower on this aspect of self-concept than did Androgynous and Masculine adolescents. Finally, on the dimension of Masculinity/Femininity, Masculine adolescents scored significantly higher, and Feminine adolescents significantly lower, than did their Androgynous and Undifferentiated peers. Regression analyses indicated a significant Masculinity component for the instrumental, and a significant Femininity component for the expressive, dimension of self-concept. In addition, only Masculinity contributed significantly to the regression predicting overall Adjustment scores. No age differences emerged from any of the analyses. The results illustrate the utility of the notion that self-concept and sex-role orientation are multidimensional constructs.

Relationships between Cognitive Flexibility and Sex-Role Orientation in Young Adults

This study examined relationships between sex-role orientation and cognitive flexibility in young adults, specifically, differences in cognitive flexibility between persons with different sex-role orientations and the contributions of masculinity and femininity to the differences observed. A sample of 100 men and 100 women completed the Bern Sex-role Inventory and a test of cognitive flexibility. Androgynous individuals were expected to exhibit greater cognitive flexibility than traditionally sex-typed, i.e., masculine and feminine, or undifferentiated individuals. Men scored significantly higher on this measure than women. Androgynous individuals, as predicted, were cognitively more flexible than were feminine or undifferentiated individuals, but no differences emerged between androgynous and masculine persons. Further study of cognitive correlates of sex-role orientation seem appropriate.

Gender role orientation and physical health: A study among young adults

The purpose to this study was to examine the relationship between gender role orientation and physical health among young adults. One hundred forty-five undergraduates (103 females, 42 males) completed a measure of gender role orientation (Bem Sex Role Inventory), self-reported physical health (Personal Health Questionnaire), health related behaviors (Health Behaviors Inventory), and neuroticism (Eysenck Personality Inventory). The sample consisted of European-American (89%), African-American (8%), and Asian-American (3%) individuals. Results showed that gender role orientation was significantly related to health-related behaviors (e.g., smoking, exercise), but not to self-reported physical health (e.g., upper respiratory infections). Overall, androgynous individuals had better health-related behaviors than masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated individuals.

Sex-Role Orientation and Attitudes towards Women: Differences among College Athletes and Nonathletes

A total of 365 men (96 nonathletes, 106 individual sportsmen, 163 team sportsmen) completed a measure of sex-role orientation, the Bern Sex-role Inventory, a measure of views of womens roles (the Attitudes Towards Women Scale), and an index of attitudes towards mens and womens premarital heterosexual behavior, the Reiss Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Scale. Analyses indicated that competitive team athletes were significantly more masculine, were more tolerant of premarital sexual behavior for both sexes, and showed less egalitarian views towards women than did their nonathlete and individual athlete peers. No differences in femininity were observed between the groups. The results support the contention that success in athletics is associated with masculine characteristics and indicate the desirability of considering type of athletic activity when discussing the characteristics of athletes.

Postpartum Depression and the Affordable Care Act: Recommendations for Social Work Educators

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates ongoing research on postpartum depression; however, very little research has been published in social work journals and in advanced-level textbooks on this topic. This article describes the problem of postpartum depression and argues that social work educators and researchers must pay greater attention to this issue in light of the ACA mandates, so that social workers can provide effective services to postpartum mothers and their children. The Council on Social Work Education’s recently published Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards are considered while making curriculum recommendations on postpartum depression for social work educators.

Parental emotion regulation and preschoolers’ prosocial behavior: The mediating roles of parental warmth and inductive discipline

Abstract The potential mediating roles of parental warmth and inductive discipline on the relations of parental emotion regulation strategies to children’s prosocial behavior were examined in this study. Sixty-four parents of preschoolers (50% girls) completed questionnaires assessing their own regulation practices (i.e., cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression), parenting behaviors (i.e., parental warmth/nurturance, inductive discipline), and children’s prosocial behavior (voluntary behavior intended to benefit another). The authors hypothesized that cognitive reappraisal would be positively and expressive suppression would be negatively related to parenting behaviors and children’s prosocial behavior. They further hypothesized that parental warmth and inductive discipline would mediate the relations between parents’ own regulation strategies and children’s prosocial behavior. Results demonstrated that parental cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with warmth, and expressive suppression was negatively associated with inductive discipline and children’s prosocial behavior. Parental warmth, but not inductive discipline, mediated the relations between cognitive reappraisal and children’s prosocial behavior. The results highlight adults’ own regulatory strategies as predictors of socialization behaviors and the potential processes for socialization of children’s moral emotions and positive social development.

Prenatal Depression: Screening and Referral for Women Who Are Low Income during Antenatal Care

This study uses prenatal clinical chart reviews of 245 women who were screened for depression while receiving antenatal care services at an urban hospital-based clinic in Syracuse, New York. The results indicate that more than one half of the mothers who screened positive are not being adequately referred and followed-up on to ensure they are receiving proper treatment. Among the mothers who are not being successfully referred are women who are non-English speaking, facing multiple life stressors, and inadequately insured. Recommendations for colocating services that may ease the ongoing burdens of new motherhood are addressed.

INTERTRIAL VARIABILITY BY PSYCHIATRIC INPATIENTS ON THE ROD AND FRAME TEST

This paper points out the importance of considering intertrial variability of a subjects performance on the rod-and-frame task. It is argued that such variability has significant implications for cognitive-perceptual constructs such as field-dependence—independence. For illustration, scores on the rod and frame are presented for a group of 32 psychiatric inpatients.