Sofic groups: graph products and graphs of groups

We prove that graph products of sofic groups are sofic, as are graphs of groups for which vertex groups are sofic and edge groups are amenable

Attitudes about Help-Seeking Mediate the Relation Between Parent Attachment and Academic Adjustment in First-Year College Students

Although numerous studies have documented an association between parent attachment and college student adjustment, less is known about the mechanisms that underlie this relation. Accordingly, this short-term longitudinal study examined first-year college students’ attitudes about academic help-seeking as one possible mechanism. As predicted, help-seeking attitudes mediated the relation between parent attachment and academic adjustment, even after controlling for gender and initial academic adjustment, with females holding more favorable attitudes about academic help-seeking. College personnel might explicitly encourage academic help-seeking in first-year students to maximize academic success and mitigate the effects of insecure attachment and gender-specific socialization

Prospective Analysis of Early Lapse to Drinking and Smoking Among Individuals in Concurrent Alcohol and Tobacco Treatment [post-print]

The aims of the current study were to examine, prospectively, (a) dynamic changes in affective state, self-efficacy, and urge in the hours before initial smoking and drinking lapses among individuals in concurrent alcohol and smoking treatment, and (b) the extent to which self-efficacy, urge to use, and/or the use of one substance predicted lapse to the other substance. Ninety-six men and women recruited for a clinical trial of concurrent alcohol and tobacco treatment were eligible for inclusion. Only data from those who experienced an initial lapse to drinking (n = 29) or smoking (n = 32) were included. Two outpatient substance abuse clinics provided concurrent alcohol and smoking treatment on a weekly basis for three months. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) methods were employed over a 28-day monitoring period to assess antecedents to first drink, and a 14-day monitoring period was examined for initial smoking lapses. Baseline and EMA measures of positive and negative affect, alcohol/smoking urge, alcohol/smoking abstinence self-efficacy, nicotine withdrawal, and quantity/frequency of alcohol and tobacco use were examined as lapse predictors. Analyses of EMA ratings controlled for the corresponding baseline measure. Smoking lapse among individuals in concurrent alcohol and tobacco treatment was foreshadowed by higher urges to smoke, lower positive mood, and lower confidence to resist smoking. Drinking lapse was preceded by lower confidence to resist smoking, but only among individuals who reported recent smoking. Concurrent alcohol and smoking treatment should focus on the enhancement of abstinence self-efficacy, positive mood, and the curbing of urges in order to offset lapse risk

Parental opinions about prenatal genetic screening and selective abortion for Down Syndrome.

Recent advancements in the field of genetic testing have made it easier to prenatally identify the presence of Down Syndrome in a fetus. The purpose of this study was to examine the opinions of parents who are currently raising a child with Down Syndrome towards genetic screening and selective abortion for the condition, as well as any potential effects of this process on their families. A series of individual interviews with twenty parents was conducted. An inductive methodology was used to analyze interview data. The key findings indicate that parents’ perspectives of the role of the physician in the genetic screening process, as well as their perceptions of threat to their children and families, each ranged from neutral to extremely negative. There was an association between these two perceptions. Parent advocates are engaged in a power struggle with physicians over influence on expectant parents at the time of fetal diagnosis

Characteristics and Correlates of Supportive Peer Mentoring: A Mixed Methods Study [post-print]

In this mixed methods study, we employed thematic analysis (TA) to examine peer mentors’ perceptions of benefits, challenges, and roles they experienced as mentors, as well as benefits and challenges experienced by first-year college students. We also utilized quantitative student ratings to classify mentors as highly, moderately, or minimally supportive in order to determine whether any subthemes from the TA appeared more or less frequently across the three groups. Highly supportive mentors reported greater camaraderie among their seminar students and fewer unmotivated students, but also fewer opportunities to provide support to students. Moreover, mentors’ and students’ perceptions in the minimally supportive group were discrepant; mentors in this group consistently reported that they provided more support than was perceived by mentees

Short-Lived Phi Mesons

We use effective hadronic field theory to study in-medium properties of the $\phi$ meson. The dominant decay channels \phi\toK^{+}K^{-} and $\phi\to\pi\rho$ are modeled using an SU(3) chiral Lagrangian with normal and abnormal parities. The $\phi$ self-energy is approximated to one-, two-, and even three-loop order in the strong coupling. Effects of modified spectral functions for $\pi$, $K$, $\rho$ and $\phi$ are also included in the calculation. This allows us to study in-medium decay of phi mesons into (in-medium) kaon-pair daughters and (in-medium) $\pi\rho$ pairs. The results point to the possibility of rather short-lived $\phi$'s, short enough to decay inside the fireball in relativistic heavy ion collisions. Implications relevant for the NA49 and NA50 experimental results, recently dubbed the ``$\phi$ puzzle'', are discussed.Comment: 7 pages Latex, 4 figures, Talk presented at Hot Quarks 2004, July 18-24, 2004, Taos Valley, NM, US

Peer Mentor Characteristics that Predict Supportive Relationships with First-Year Students: Implications for Peer Mentor Programming and First-Year Student Retention [post-print]

Peer mentoring programs frequently are implemented on college campuses to enhance first-year college student retention; however, few studies have examined characteristics of peer mentors that are associated with more supportive mentor–mentee relationships, leaving college personnel with a limited understanding of how to improve these vital programs. Accordingly, in this prospective study, we examined whether mentors’ attachment style and self-efficacy to mentor predicted peer mentors’ (n = 76) or mentees’ (n = 999) ratings of mentor-provided support. Results showed that mentor self-efficacy mediated the relation between an avoidant attachment style and mentor-reported support; that is, peer mentors with a more avoidant attachment style reported lower self-efficacy to mentor and, in turn, endorsed providing lower levels of support for mentees. Mentor–mentee contact, however, was the only predictor of mentees’ ratings of mentor support. Future research should aim to extend these preliminary findings so as to inform the selection, training, and supervision of peer mentors in college settings, with the ultimate goal of enhancing first-year student retention