Attachment, Identity Development, and Sexual Behavior Among College Students

The prevalence of nonmarital sexual behavior among adolescents continues to rise, as does the number of sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, and unwanted pregnancies. College-age adolescents appear to be even more susceptible to these problems. Sound theoretical knowledge would seem useful in designing more effective prevention programs. The purpose of this study was to identity theoretical factors that contribute to or decrease such behaviors. Two hundred fifty-two single college students completed measures designed to examine relations among identity development, attachment patterns, gender, and sexual behavior in older adolescents. Attachment and identity measures were used to explore variations in sexual behavior relating to identity development and the quality of intimate relationships formed in late adolescence. Three measures were used to assess these theoretical constructs and to measure sexual behavior: The Personal Opinion Survey contains Grotevant and Adams\u27 64-item Extended Version of the Objective Measure ofEgo Identity Status; a modified version of Simpson, Rholes, and Nelligan\u27s 13-item Attachment Style measure; and 19 items that assess sexual behaviors. Results confirmed statistically significant relations among identity development, attachment patterns, gender, and sexual behavior. Specifically, correlational analyses confirmed relations among identity, attachment, and premarital intercourse, age of first intercourse, and items pertaining to risky sexual behavior. Identity was also statistically significantly related to premarital intercourse. Attachment and identity sub scale scores were predictive of sexual behavior when multiple regression equations were generated. Previous studies of identity, gender, and intimacy among older adolescents support the findings of this study. Other researchers have found relationships between attachment and intimacy among this population. The results of this study and future research areas are discussed

When should animals share food? Game theory applied to kleptoparasitic populations with food sharing

Animals adopt varied foraging tactics in order to survive. Kleptoparasitism, where animals attempt to steal food already discovered by others, is very common among animal species. In this situation, depending on the ecological conditions, challenged animals might defend, share, or even retreat and leave their food to the challenger. A key determinant of the likely behavior is the nature of the food itself. If food is discovered in divisible clumps, it can be divided between animals in a number of ways. This is the general assumption in one type of game-theoretical model of food stealing, producer–scrounger models. Alternatively, food items may be essentially indivisible, so that sharing is impossible and either the attacker or the defender must retain control of all of the food. This is the assumption of the alternative game-theoretical models of kleptoparasitism. In this paper, using a game-theoretic approach, we relax this assumption of indivisibility and introduce the possibility of limited food sharing behavior between animals in kleptoparasitic populations. Considering the conditions under which food sharing is likely to be common, it is shown that food sharing should occur in a wide range of ecological conditions. In particular, if food availability is limited, the sharing process does not greatly reduce the short-term consumption rate of food and food defense has a high cost and/or a low probability of success, then the use of the food sharing strategy is beneficial. Thus, the assumption of the indivisibility of food items is an important component of previous models

Early participation in a prenatal food supplementation program ameliorates the negative association of food insecurity with quality of maternal-infant interaction.

Food insecurity is detrimental to child development, yet little is known about the combined influence of food insecurity and nutritional interventions on child development in low-income countries. We proposed that women assigned to an early invitation time to start a prenatal food supplementation program could reduce the negative influence of food insecurity on maternal-infant interaction. A cohort of 180 mother-infant dyads were studied (born between May and October 2003) from among 3267 in the randomized controlled trial Maternal Infant Nutritional Interventions Matlab, which was conducted in Matlab, Bangladesh. At 8 wk gestation, women were randomly assigned an invitation time to start receiving food supplements (2.5 MJ/d; 6 d/wk) either early (~9 wk gestation; early-invitation group) or at the usual start time (~20 wk gestation; usual-invitation group) for the government program. Maternal-infant interaction was observed in homes with the use of the Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training Feeding Scale, and food-insecurity status was obtained from questionnaires completed when infants were 3.4-4.0 mo old. By using a general linear model for maternal-infant interaction, we found a significant interaction (P = 0.012) between invitation time to start a prenatal food supplementation program and food insecurity. Those in the usual-invitation group with higher food insecurity scores (i.e., more food insecure) had a lower quality of maternal-infant interaction, but this relationship was ameliorated among those in the early-invitation group. Food insecurity limits the ability of mothers and infants to interact well, but an early invitation time to start a prenatal food supplementation program can support mother-infant interaction among those who are food insecure

Postnatal depression is associated with detrimental life-long and multi-generational impacts on relationship quality

Postnatal depression (PND) is known to be associated with a range of detrimental child and adolescent outcomes, resulting from its disruptive impact on mother-child relationship quality. However, until now little has been known about the impact of PND on the longer-term relationships between mothers and their children, and any intergenerational effects this may have. Mother-child relationship quality is of interest from an evolutionary perspective as it plays a role in the accrual of offspring embodied capital, thus affecting offspring quality and offspring’s capacity to subsequently invest in their own children. Relationships with offspring also mediate grandparent-grandchild relations; if PND negatively affects long-term mother–offspring relationship quality, it is also likely to negatively affect grandmaternal investment via reduced grandmother–grandchild relationship quality. Here, we use responses to a retrospective questionnaire study of postmenopausal women, largely from the UK and US, to assess the impact of PND occurring in generation 1 on mother–child relationship quality across the life course of the child (generation 2) with whom it was associated, and also on the relationship quality with grandchildren (generation 3) from that child. Average mother-child relationship quality was lower when the child’s birth was associated with PND. Multi-level regression modelling found that mother-child relationship quality decreased as PND symptom severity increased after controlling for individual effects and a variety of other factors known to influence relationship quality (individual mothers n = 296, mother-child dyads n = 646). Additionally, intergenerational relationships appear to be affected, with PND negatively associated with grandmother-grandchild relations (individual grandmothers n = 125, relations with grandchildren from n = 197 grandmother-parent dyads). That PND has long-term detrimental consequences for mother-child relationships, well beyond adolescence, highlights the need for investment in strategies to prevent PND and its cascade of negative multigenerational effects

Trace Elements: Non-linear multi-narrative storytelling as a means of deconstructing American mythologies

The following paper is the critical foundation for the thesis project Trace, and draws analysis from New Media Studies, Queer Games Studies, Visual Culture Studies, Science Fiction, Queer Theory and more. Trace is a non-linear, multi-vocal narrative fiction navigated from the experience of three family members around select historically pivotal events. A combination of text, illustration, video, sound and internet sources, Trace explores different modes of temporality and media representation to examine the frameworks in which particular stories are told. Shaped as a collection of multimedia fragments, the project offers the reader navigation through certain choices—such as avoidance, complicity, action, or resistance—as the story unravels. Trace is built in Twine, a free, open-source hypertext game platform, with some additional HTML5/CSS. Both the project and paper attempt to question three main themes of media shift, queer structure and digital identities. First, how does new media function as both a platform and as perspective for continually shifting information? Second, how do queer narrative content and structure work together to amplify conceptual aspects of non-linear storytelling? Along with this question, the paper examines how several new media artists—with a particular focus on women, queer, trans and gender non-conforming artists—are working with non-linear storytelling to examine dominant historical narratives. And finally, is it possible to construct a truthful historical narrative that contains a multiplicity of voices, identities and contradictions

Peer Groups and Adolescent Development in Traditional and Alternative High Schools

This study explored the influence of peer relationships on students who have a history of school difficulties. Peer Relationship Surveys I and II assessed school-based peer group status, relationship qualities, school-related behaviors, attitudes, and intentions (BAJs); substance (i.e., alcohol and tobacco) use; and identity development in relation to experiences at traditional (survey I, retrospective accounts) and alternative high schools (survey II). Both surveys were administered in five classrooms to students at an alternative high school (i.e. Cache High) during the first academic term (August 1999) and in January 2000. Eighty-five and 83 predominantly Caucasian adolescents between the ages of 15 to 19 completed surveys I and II, respectively. Twenty-one students were interviewed. The majority of participants indicated that peer group membership and status were less salient at the alternative school and that the quality of their peer relationships at the alternative school was better than what they had experienced at their traditional high schools. Quantitative analyses provided less support for the linkages between peer relationship quality, school-related BAIs, and grades, but interviews with students consistently supported the premise that supportive peer relationships contributed to improvement in school BAIs. Compared to responses about their traditional high school experiences, students reported more positive school-related BAIs and fewer negative BAIs at the alternative school. Analyses of differences or change in identity statuses showed that moratorium scores, which are characterized by greater exploration of choices in personal beliefs, educational goals, and interpersonal relationships, were statistically significantly different based on comparisons of responses to surveys I and II. Findings suggests that school environments (traditional and alternative) do influence peer status, peer relationship qualities, school-related BAIs, grades, and identity status development. This study demonstrated that adolescents who were labeled as unmotivated and possibly academically underachieving in traditional high schools found that with encouragement and individualized attention at the alternative school they could change their school-related attitudes and performance. Conclusions from this study emphasize the importance of tailoring educational experiences to the needs of students rather than expecting students to conform to existing school structures and procedures, which are clearly ineffective for some learners