This study examined when the shared activity of extreme sports predicts relationship closeness. Participants who were skydivers involved in a relationship with a nonskydiver or a fellow skydiver were asked about perceived severity and perceived likelihood of possible negative events related to skydiving. Those who shared the activity of skydiving with their relationship partner reported higher levels of closeness than those who did not. However, this difference was contingent on perceptions of skydiving. Among those who perceived that possible negative events related to skydiving would be likely to happen but low in severity, closeness was higher if skydiving was an activity they shared with their partner. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the role of shared activities in relationship closeness.

This study seeks to demonstrate the benefits of bilingual instruction, story drama, and play with low-income preschool children. Sixty-five percent of the children in the study were dual language learners (DLLs). The investigation took place in a state-funded, public, universal prekindergarten program implementing Tools of the Mind (Tools), a Vygotskian play-based curriculum. Teachers read aloud fairy tales twice a week. Children in three classrooms were exposed to one of three read-aloud conditions: English-only, bilingual and no play, or bilingual and play. The results indicated that the classroom that provided bilingual instruction and play had significantly higher English proficiency and story recall scores than either of the other two classrooms. Providing opportunities to play and reenact fairy tales seemed to have positive effects on English proficiency and story recall for low-income preschool children.

Professional development was conducted to assess the effects of dialogic reading (DR) on child outcomes related to vocabulary development in English and Spanish. Six teachers and 72 children enrolled in a state-funded public universal prekindergarten program, partnering with higher education, participated in the study. The content of the professional development consisted of research-based DR strategies and vocabulary for English-only, bilingual, and Spanish-dominant speakers. The format included in-service training workshops, consultations, and reflections within community of practice meetings. The results showed that the intervention led to an increase in vocabulary over time within and across language groups. Regardless of teacher experience and educational training, vocabulary for all prekindergarten children improved. Suggestions are offered for replicating DR techniques in early care and development settings. Findings add to the importance of providing instruction in vocabulary for low socioeconomic status prekindergarten programs as well as the role higher education can serve in partnering with public schools.

The purpose of this research-to-practice article is to describe dialogic reading (DR) as a professional development intervention that took place in a state-funded public universal prekindergarten program, partnering with a university. Our goals were to use a research-based literacy program to measure child outcomes related to vocabulary development in English and Spanish. Through our professional development, faculty at our university provided in-service workshops, consultations, and reflections within community of practice meetings. Children varied in their home language experiences and we used a few data sources to provide insights about children's home language abilities. We categorized children's language exposure as English only, bilingual, and Spanish dominant. Teachers’ fidelity of implementation of weekly DR lessons learned during in-service training was monitored by university faculty. Practical implications of the findings to replicate this research with diverse populations are provided for early childhood teachers.

In even the most satisfying relationships, couples face specific problems, varying in severity. Partners may strategically devote more time and effort to actively working on their most severe problems. However, actively addressing problems comes with risks, especially for partners who perceive barriers to leaving the relationship. Two studies of partners in seriously dating, cohabiting, and marital relationships examined responses to problems of varying degrees of severity and the role of barriers. In each, a positive association was found between the severity of problems and use of various strategies to address the problems. However, barriers to leaving the relationship moderated these associations, such that partners with more barriers to leaving were less likely to actively address their more severe problems.

When do attributions of responsibility predict support for governmental institutions? Data from an online survey of 508 United States citizens examining attributions for their most salient national problem revealed associations between attributions and evaluations of the Presidency, Supreme Court, and Congress. With respect to the Presidency, causal attributions were related to more negative evaluations, while resolution attributions were related to more positive evaluations. This was especially true for conservative participants. With respect to the Supreme Court, causal attributions were related to more negative evaluations. With respect to Congress, there was an association between causal attributions and negative evaluations, but only for those with a low level of resolution attributions. Results are discussed in terms of the political climate and differences in institutional expectations. (C) 2011 Western Social Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In what circumstances might privacy concerns about new communication tools like instant messaging help predict the degree to which people feel comfortable communicating via these new communication tools? The current study examined whether topic intimacy and perceived privacy predict levels of comfort with disclosure, and whether these associations are moderated by overall levels of trust and frequency of technology use. Participants reported on the degree to which they would feel comfortable discussing each of 32 topics (e.g., ''times when I felt that I was in love'') using 10 different communication tools. Topic and tool interacted, such that the privacy of the communication tool was related to disclosure comfort only for intimate topics. Privacy concerns were more important to less frequent technology users, and topic intimacy mattered most to participants with low levels of trust. Results are discussed in terms of implications for extending models of disclosure to the selection of new communication tools.

Recently, concerted efforts have been made to encourage teachers to utilize technology within the classroom. Just as other modes of presentation style have implications for students' perceptions of their classroom experiences, so, too, might teachers' use of technology. The current study investigated this possibility, as well as whether the strength of this association between teachers' use of technology and students' perceptions is moderated by context. Using data from 101 high school students from the United States, it was found that teachers within the disciplines of math and science who use more technology are perceived as more competent. In other disciplines, there is not a significant association between technology use and teacher evaluations. Implications with respect to the anticipated future increases in technology use and possible consequences for student motivation and learning are discussed.

Like relationship satisfaction, constraints on leaving a relationship have been described as a component of global commitment. But do constraints increase or decrease efforts to maintain the relationship? To address this question, the authors of the current article describe 3 independent studies of spouses and married couples. Across all studies, wives who perceived more constraints on leaving the marriage exhibited lower levels of negative behavior only when their husbands were relatively unconstrained. In Study 3, this association was especially pronounced among less satisfied wives. In Study 2, spouses' perceived constraint also interacted to predict husbands' behavior, but in the opposite direction: Husbands who perceived more constraints behaved less negatively when their wives were similarly constrained but more negatively when their wives were less constrained. These results highlight differences in behavior between couples who persist in marriage because they desire to and those who endure because they have to, raising questions about measures of global commitment that obscure these distinctions. They also highlight the need for a dyadic perspective on the forces that keep relationships together.

Objectives: To assess whether exercise was associated with increased positive and decreased negative affect for university students during academically demanding times. Design: Within-subjects daily diary study. Methods: Fifty-nine university students completed the LTEQ [Godin, G., & Shephard, R.J. (1985). A simple method to assess exercise behavior in the community. Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Science, 10, 141-146], cognitive appraisals of daily events [Lazarus, R. S. (1999). Stress and emotion: A new synthesis. New York: Springer], and the PANAS [Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063-1070] for 14 days immediately prior to the final examination period. Results: Our hypotheses were partially supported as threat appraisals were significantly associated with decreased positive affect on days closer to the final examination period. Contrary, to our hypotheses exercise was not independently associated with increased positive and decreased negative affect. However, the interaction between exercise and day was significant as participants experienced increased positive affect during the last 3 days of data collection immediately preceding the final exam period. There was also a significant exercise by threat interaction with follow-up tests showing the exercise/negative affect relationship was significantly moderated by threat appraisals only when academic events were appraised as mildly threatening. Conclusions: These findings suggest that exercise behavior might be an effective way for college students to cope with stress especially during academic demanding times. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

AbstractBecause physical aggression in relationships frequently occurs within the context of disagreements, partners with more fodder for disagreements (e.g., more relationship problems) may be especially prone to engage in aggression. However, this may be less true among partners who have a means of coping with their relationship problems. Because previous research suggests that perceptions of improvement serve as a coping strategy in a wide range of adverse circumstances, the current study examined whether this coping strategy would prove effective in the context of relationship problems by examining data from a sample of married and cohabiting individuals. In both groups, perceived changes in problems moderated the association between problems and aggression; number of relationship problems was only significantly associated with level of physical aggression among partners who perceived low levels of improvement in those problems over time. Results are discussed in terms of implications for intervention strategies.

Because physical aggression in relationships frequently occurs within the context of disagreements, partners with more fodder for disagreements (e.g., more relationship problems) may be especially prone to engage in aggression. However, this may be less true among partners who have a means of coping with their relationship problems. Because previous research suggests that perceptions of improvement serve as a coping strategy in a wide range of adverse circumstances, the current study examined whether this coping strategy would prove effective in the context of relationship problems by examining data from a sample of married and cohabiting individuals. In both groups, perceived changes in problems moderated the association between problems and aggression; number of relationship problems was only significantly associated with level of physical aggression among partners who perceived low levels of improvement in those problems over time. Results are discussed in terms of implications for intervention strategies.

We assessed within- and between-person associations among appraisals of daily life events, positive and negative affective states, and exercise behavior and the moderating role of personality for the exercise/affect relationship with individuals with physical disabilities. Forty-eight individuals with physical disabilities completed measures of personality and daily assessments of affect, exercise, and cognitive appraisals of life events for eight consecutive days. The results revealed that exercise behavior was associated with increased positive and decreased negative affect even when associations between daily events and affect were statistically controlled. Finally, aspects of personality, especially Neuroticism, significantly moderated the exercise/affect relationship for both positive and negative affect.

Objectives: To assess within-subject associations between daily life events, positive and negative mood states, and exercise and the moderating role of personality for the exercise/mood relationship.Design: Within-subjects daily repeated measures.Methods: College students (n = 106) completed the NEO-FFI (The NEO-PI-R Personality Inventory: Professional Manual) and daily assessments of mood. exercise, and appraisals of daily events for eight consecutive days.Results: Results confirmed the hypotheses that increased levels of exercise would result in significant increases in positive mood states and reductions in negative mood. Even when positive and negative daily life events were controlled, significant associations between exercise and positive mood were observed. Also observed were significant reductions in negative mood when participants exercised more. However. these associations were not significant when daily events were controlled. Finally, aspects of personality were found to moderate the exercise/mood relationship, but these associations were generally small. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.