Debra H. Zand

Mentees' Perceptions of Their Interpersonal Relationships : The Role of the Mentor-Youth Bond.

Outcome studies of mentoring programs have demonstrated that they hold considerable promise in promoting competence across multiple developmental domains. A theoretical model of mentoring identified modification of youths’ perceptions of their interpersonal relationships as a contributor to positive outcomes. To date, however, there has not been a direct examination of the role of the mentor—youth bond in this process. The present study examines whether the quality of the mentoring relationship uniquely predicts other relationship-based outcomes at two time points. Regression analyses indicated that the quality of the mentor—youth bond significantly predicted youths’ scores in most relationship-based outcomes (i.e., friendship with and self-disclosure to adults) at 8 and 16 months. Study implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The Harter Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents: Psychometrics for an Early Adolescent, African American Sample.

This study investigated the factor structure and other psychometric properties of Harters (1988) Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA) for a group of 174 African American, early adolescents (ages 11-14 years). An exploratory principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation yielded 6 conceptually relevant factors, 2 of which were exact replications of the original factors reported by Harter. Results also indicated gender differences in the domains of global self-worth, athletic competence, and romantic appeal. Directions for future research are offered, including a recommendation to add another domain for improvement of the SPPAs content validity for an African American sample.

Predictors of Retention in an Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Prevention Study

This article explored retention patterns, as well as factors that predicted these patterns, in the evaluation of a relationship-based substance abuse prevention intervention study that targeted inner-city African American youth. A total of 851 contacts were made to retain 82% (n = 104) of the baseline sample (N = 127) in the evaluation. Results from multinomial regression analyses indicated that participantswho were retained in the evaluation were more likely to perceive alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use as less risky and were more likely to report higher levels of family supervision than were evaluation attrits. Those who were easy to retain reported lower family conflict and fewer family relocations during the past year than those who were difficult to retain. Implications of these findings for developing retention strategies, as well as future research, are discussed.

Lesbian Dating and Courtship from Young Adulthood to Midlife

Summary Lesbian dating and courtship were explored based on interviews with 38 predominantly white lesbians (ages 22-63) representing young adult, adult, and midlife age groups. Friendship was found to be the most widely used courtship script across all age groups, followed by the sexually explicit and romance scripts, with friendship and romance scripts being preferred. Unique aspects of lesbian dating cited by participants included freedom from gender roles, heightened intimacy/friendship, the rapid pace of lesbian relationship development, and the effects of prejudice. Friendship was found to be differentiated from romance by two main criteria: emotional intensity and sexual energy or contact. Verbal declarations of interest and nonverbal behaviors were the primary means of communicating sexual attraction. Few lesbians adhered to traditional gender roles in dating, and those who reported assuming the feminine reactive role nevertheless rejected the traditional notion that women should limit sexual contact. Overall, midlife lesbians were more purposive in their dating and more free from gender roles. Specifically, they were more concerned about the “attachment-worthiness” of a prospective partner and were significantly more likely than young adults to view dating as having a serious goal, to proceed at a rapid pace, to ask for a date, and to initiate physical intimacy.

Social Competence in Infants and Toddlers with Special Health Care Needs: The Roles of Parental Knowledge, Expectations, Attunement, and Attitudes toward Child Independence

Little research has empirically addressed the relationships among parental knowledge of child development, parental attunement, parental expectations, and child independence in predicting the social competence of infants and toddlers with special health care needs. We used baseline data from the Strengthening Families Project, a prevention intervention study that tested Bavolek’s Nurturing Program for Parents and Their Children with Health Challenges to explore the roles of these variables in predicting social competence in infants and toddlers with special health care needs. Bivariate relationships among the study variables were explored and used to develop and test a model for predicting social competence among these children. Study findings pointed to a combination of indirect and direct influences of parent variables in predicting social competence. Results indicated that parents who encouraged healthy behaviors for developing a sense of power/independence were more likely to have children with social competence developing on schedule. Elements related to parental expectations, however, did not have the hypothesized relationships to social competence. The present study provides preliminary data to support the development of knowledge based interventions. Within medical settings, such interventions may indeed maximize benefit while minimizing cost.