Behavioral Expectations Research Articles

Understanding family functioning in mothers and daughters with obesity

ABSTRACT Purpose This study sought to understand family functioning surrounding weight in Mexican American women with obesity. Methods Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with mothers and adult daughters (N = 116). Results Thematic analysis identified five themes. 1) The communication process drives perception of supportive messages. Messages perceived as non-supportive consist of directives as interventions, confirmation of faults, and critical compliments whereas supportive consist of compliments, encouragement, empathetic listening, and disclosure. 2) Acculturation differences interfere with intergenerational alliance. Differences involve dissonance in communication, behavioural expectations, and weight-related practices. 3) Maladaptive conflict responses contribute to relational strain. These responses include avoidance, withdrawal, and defensiveness. 4) Role transformations alter the generational hierarchical relationship. Daughters serve as role models, caregivers, or collaborators. 5) Low communal coping heightens psychological distress. It does so by challenging family roles, increasing social isolation, and compromising social support. Conclusion Obesity interventions for Mexican American women may benefit from targeting relational skills to improve family functioning.

Towards a history of transit etiquette: the development of orderly boarding practices in Tokyo

This article is a call for the historical study of transit etiquette: the behavioural expectations that guide the mundane conduct of transport users. It identifies the formation of contemporary protocols of transit etiquette as a productive line of scholarly inquiry by taking the transformation of (de)boarding behaviours in Tokyo between the 1880s and the 1960s as a case study. Zooming in on urban railways in the Japanese capital, it describes the processes through which (de)boarding practices grew more elaborate in character and more narrowly defined in terms of the spatio-temporal location at which they could be legitimately exercised. It examines three groups of factors that contributed to this process: “software” and “hardware” interventions in transport operations as well as their broader historic context. Simultaneously, it cautions against linear narratives of consistent improvement by stressing the contradictions of this process. The article contributes to mobility studies by calling attention to the malleability and socio-technical construction of the norms that guide mundane mobility practices. It provides a provisional template for subsequent historical accounts of transit etiquette, and argues that such studies can empower research on mobilities and transport to contribute to wider debates about (in)civility and the organisation of urban life.

An Umbrella Review and a Meta-analysis of Meta-analyses of Disordered Eating Among Medical Students.

To prevent eating disorders in future physicians, this umbrella review and meta-analysis of previous meta-analyses estimates the prevalence of disordered eating (DE) among medical students worldwide and identifies key risk factors. Four databases were searched electronically between their inception and February 1, 2023. The search was later updated to December 31, 2023. The search yielded prevalence rates for medical students who scored above established cutoffs on validated assessment measures for DE. These were computed to provide an overall pooled estimate. The data was taken from 2 previous reviews. Both these systematic reviews found a 15.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 14.7%-15.6%) prevalence rate of DE among medical students. The equivalent Hedges' G = 0.30 (95% CI: 0.29-0.31), the equivalent odds ratio = 1.74 (95% CI: 1.71-1.77), I2 = 97.6%, and the excess of statistical significance is P = .001. The trim and fill adjusted effect size was 16.0% (95% CI: 14.0%-20.0%). Because eating disorders put students' safety and well-being at risk and because the health of early-stage physicians is vital to the welfare of a country, early signs of disordered eating must become a priority of medical schools and a signal for effective prevention and intervention. The recommendation is to ensure supportive environments, provide easy access to effective care, and hold clear expectations for student eating behavior.

Sleep Norms

This study documents sleep norms and studies the effect of norm information on anticipated behavioral change. Participants were shown either a small or large gap between others' ideal sleep duration (injunctive norm) and actual sleep patterns (descriptive norm). While we find limited effects of injunctive norm information alone, alignment between perceived behavior and societal expectations led to greater intention for longer sleep and earlier bedtimes. Conversely, a large gap between norms and actual behavior heightened interest in advice for improving sleep. These results suggest that understanding and communicating social norms can be crucial in promoting healthy sleep practices.

Target Happiness Attenuates Perceivers' Moral Condemnation of Prejudiced People.

Five experiments (combined N = 4,915) tested the prediction that the moral boost of happiness would persist for social targets with moral failings. In Studies 1 and 2, White and Black participants, respectively, judged happy (versus unhappy) racist targets more morally good. In Study 3, happy (versus unhappy) racist targets were judged more morally good and less (more) likely to engage in racist (good) behavior. Behavioral expectations explained the link between happiness and moral evaluations. Study 4 replicated Studies 1 to 3 in the context of sexism. In Study 5, happy (versus unhappy) targets who engaged in racially biased behavior were evaluated as more morally good, and this effect was explained by behavioral forecasts. Happiness boosts attributions of moral goodness for prejudiced people and does so via expectations for future behavior. Future directions are discussed.

Managing Student Behavior in Middle School Special Education Classrooms: A Single-Subject Study of CW-FIT

Teachers have the responsibility of managing student classroom behavior. The positive effects of evidence-based classroom management methods, like Class-Wide Function-related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT), have been demonstrated in a variety of settings; however, research on the efficacy of CW-FIT in special education classrooms is scarce. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of CW-FIT in two middle school special education math classrooms. Teachers implemented CW-FIT by instructing students in classroom behavior expectations and using a group contingency involving the use of teams, a timer, praise, points, and group rewards. One teacher alternated between using an audible and inaudible timer, while the other used an audible timer. There was an increase in student on-task behavior and teacher praise when CW-FIT was implemented, with no significant difference in outcomes between conditions with an audible versus inaudible timer. Teachers and students indicated that they found the intervention to be socially valid.

Parenting dimensions and views on adolescent decision making in health care: A cross-national study of Belgian and Dutch parents.

The aim of this study was to investigate the link between parenting and parents' perspectives on health-related decision making for adolescents. During adolescence, there is a gradual increase in responsibility and autonomy, which influences parenting behavior and child development. Understanding how parenting is associated with parents' views on medical decision making is crucial in the context of the parent-child-physician triad. This study was the first to explore parenting and parents' views on adolescent health care decision making. We compare Belgian and Dutch parents-two countries selected for their different legal frameworks on medical adolescent decision making. An online questionnaire surveyed 984 Belgian and 992 Dutch parents (ages 35-55) with at least one child. Analytical methods included t tests, structural equation modeling, and latent profile analysis. Parents considered adolescents to be competent decision makers at 16.7 years old. Dutch parents granted autonomy at younger ages than Belgian parents. Parents with high behavioral expectations granted autonomy to adolescents at higher ages, while those high in autonomy support and punishment granted autonomy at lower ages. When classifying parents into profiles, we distinguished four types: highly permissive, moderately permissive, moderately restrictive, and highly restrictive groups. The majority of the sample was classified into moderately and highly restrictive profiles. The study highlighted the importance of providing parents with education and support on adolescent development and autonomy. Parenting practices that encourage autonomy and support open communication between parents and adolescents may contribute to a more trusting and supportive parent-child context for adolescent medical decision making. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Expectations of preventative benefits and risk behaviors in a randomized trial evaluating oral HIV preexposure prophylaxis candidates

ABSTRACT When participants enrolled in an HIV prevention trial hold a preventive misconception (PM) – expectations that experimental interventions will confer protection from HIV infection – they may engage in behaviors that increase their risk of acquiring HIV. This can raise ethical concerns about whether those enrolled in the trial understand the nature of participation and their safety. Consequently, we systematically evaluated the prevalence of PM and its association with risk behaviors in a trial examining three candidate regimens for oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in which all participants received at least one antiretroviral agent. Overall, trial participants exhibited relatively high preventive expectations that may be associated with an increase in risk behaviors among men who have sex with men. In addition, we identified substantial site variability in PM that necessitates future research to uncover its source. This will allow appropriate measures to be taken to mitigate PM and help ensure that participants have an accurate understanding of the potential risks and benefits of trial participation throughout the course of a trial.

Problem Analysis and Application Research in Legal Judgment Prediction Based on Data Mining

The judgments of some hot cases that exceeded public expectations seem to confirm this. Although the legal certainty is questioned, the judgment remains predictable. The predictability of judgments is a way to enhance judicial authority and maintain judicial credibility. It is also a way to achieve overlapping consensus between the judiciary and the public, provide stable value guidance and behavioral expectations for the public, and promote the generation and development of public rational trust. To enhance public legal trust by improving the predictability of judgments, it is necessary to increase the burden of reasoning for judicial judgments, avoid randomness and contingency, and ensure the adequate provision and substantial disclosure of previous judgment information, so that judgment prediction in the era of big data can truly become possible. The research is to use the optimized particle swarm algorithm as the underlying model to carry out joint modeling and prediction research on the analysis and application of problems in the prediction of legal judgments. According to experimental calculations, the optimized particle swarm algorithm can significantly improve the accuracy and universality of legal judgment prediction. After optimization, the convergence speed is increased by about 5%, and the value of the acceleration factor is more significant.

Affective risk perception index as a screening tool for construction workers

Affective risk perception has been receiving attention from occupational safety researchers. This study proposes the Affective Risk Perception Index (ARPI) to serve as a screening tool and provides a guideline to researchers and safety practitioners for the use of the ARPI. 536 construction workers participated in a questionnaire survey. ARPI scores were analysed using the 15th percentile, median and 85th percentile to create four categories of ARPI, namely ‘poor’ (0–20 points), ‘moderate’ (21–41 points), ‘good’ (42–55 points) and ‘excellent’ (56–60 points). Hierarchical multiple regression was used to examine the predictive value of the ARPI for the self-reported risk-taking behaviour of construction workers and compare the four categories of the ARPI in predicting such behaviour. Compared to personal factors (including perceived behavioural control, attitude towards risk-taking behaviour and outcome expectancy), the ARPI made the relatively smaller contribution to explaining the variance of the self-reported risk-taking behaviour of construction workers. Results showed that construction workers who were classified as good or excellent in the ARPI engaged significantly less in risk-taking behaviour than those who had a poor or moderate level of affective risk perception. Furthermore, no statistically significant differences were observed between poor and moderate levels of affective risk perception and between good and excellent levels of affective risk perception in predicting the self-reported risk-taking behaviour of construction workers. Therefore, the cut-off score of the ARPI is 42 and the ARPI serves as a practical screening tool for predicting the risk-taking behaviour of construction workers.

A Qualitative Study of Caregivers of Children Living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana: Diagnosis History, Health-seeking Behaviour, and Care Expectations

Caregivers of Children Living with HIV/AIDS experience severe burdens in Africa amidst unmet needs while seeking care from hospitals. This study aimed to explore the diagnosis history, health-seeking behaviour, and care provided by hospitals and whether the services meet caregivers’ expectations. We used a qualitative approach and conducted individual in-depth interviews among purposively sampled caregivers of children living with HIV/AIDS from three hospitals. We achieved data sufficiency after interviewing nine participants. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed manually through Collaizi’s steps. Four themes developed including; history of pregnancy and poor HIV testing, effective care for caregivers and CLWH, attitude of healthcare providers, and unmet expectations of care. Healthcare providers showed positive attitudes towards caregivers and provided services (counselling, dispensing Anti-retrovirals, health monitoring, and coordination of clinical care). Expectations bordered on financial support (for food, education, health care), and treatment for opportunistic infections. Findings indicate gaps in HIV voluntary testing for pregnant women, enrollment in Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT), and unmet needs. It is imperative to improve coverage of testing for pregnant women and efforts made to meet their needs. Financial support, provision of food security, and assistance for caregivers are essential for care.

Neighborhood features moderate genetic and environmental influences on children's social information processing.

Neighborhood is a key context where children learn to process social information; however, the field has largely overlooked the ways children's individual characteristics might be moderated by neighborhood effects. We examined 1,030 six- to 11-year-olds (48.7% female; 82% White) twin pairs oversampled for neighborhood disadvantage from the Twin Study of Behavioral and Emotional Development in Children. We evaluated neighbor reports (N = 1,880) of neighborhood structural and social characteristics as moderators of genetic and environmental influences on children's social processing. Although there was no evidence of moderation for children's hostile attributions, there was robust evidence that the social and structural characteristics of the neighborhood moderated the genetic and environmental origins of children's positive expectations of aggressive behavior. Specifically, we found that genetic influences on aggressive expectations increased in the presence of neighborhood deprivation and decreased in the presence of protective social processes and availability of resources. Such findings suggest that protective neighborhood social processes may buffer against the development of aggressive expectations during middle childhood by suppressing the expression of genetic influences on those outcomes. In doing so, they suggest that neighborhood social processes may be able to promote youth resilience to neighborhood deprivation "under the skin." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations Between Social–Emotional Teaching Practices and Reductions in Preschoolers' Challenging Behavior

It is widely assumed that (1) children with challenging behavior may lack the social–emotional skills to be successful in classroom settings and (2) instruction in social–emotional skills can help prevent the occurrence of young children's challenging behavior. However, no data are available to indicate whether specific social–emotional skills might be most effective in reducing existing challenging behavior. In this study, we used an archival database to examine possible relationships between types of social–emotional instruction and changes over a 4-month period in levels of social skills and challenging behavior. The database, from a randomized trial of an intervention for preschoolers' challenging behavior, included measures of types of social–emotional instruction and children's social skills and challenging behaviors. Correlational analyses revealed statistically significant relationships between two types of social–emotional teaching practices and reductions in preschoolers' challenging behavior for children in the intervention group, teaching children behavior expectations and teaching problem-solving. No other statistically significant associations were identified. The results are discussed in relation to possible implications for social–emotional instruction for preschool children already exhibiting challenging behavior and the value of further research focused on preventing challenging behavior in young children.

A Mixed-Methodological Inquiry of Correctional Population Responses Toward the Prison Rape Elimination Act

For the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) to prevent sexual victimization in the correctional system, incarcerated persons and corrections staff must hold favorable views of this law, and behave in manners conducive toward its mission. In regards to behavior, both populations must report allegations of sexual misconduct, and be cautious in their interactions with one another. Currently, no study has researched whether these perceptual and behavioral expectations are being followed, or the factors influencing them. Mixed-methodological questionnaire data gathered from incarcerated persons ( n = 490) and corrections staff ( n = 222) who were in three state prisons located in the southeastern United States revealed how our custodial sample, compared to staff, were less likely to view PREA favorably, or to adopt behaviors supportive of this policy. Statistically significant correlates of self-reported behaviors included age, sex, and race. Discussion of results centers around ways of creating institutional cultures embracing of PREA.

Cyber Resilience, Dependability and Security

There is a continuing skills shortage associated with digital security and DevSecOps (World Economic Forum, 2023), but this paper argues that is due to non-recognition that it is time for cyber security and/or digital security to be defined, and a further separation of specialisms in computing to be made apparent. This has become increasingly important when considering Artificial Intelligence. The problem is not new. This paper presents a refinement of the principles suggested by Milner (2007) of using a model to describe behaviour and organise software, grappling with seemingly intractable and complex problems which cross boundaries between different systems: engineering, technological, social, economic, legal, and political, each with a distinct perspective and goal. It emphasises Hoare’s (1996) assertion that system failures are largely due to failed analysis impacting development of resilient systems. It argues that there are dichotomies between resilience – a system security/safety perspective, dependability – a user/consumer perspective, and security – a technology perspective. Many proposed systems to date have conflated these perspectives in the secure by design paradigm which requires a depth of knowledge and expertise. Unicorns are rare. This paper suggests how to overcome the skills shortage utilising the skill sets that are available in a manner that maximises the contribution to digital security. Recognising that not everyone and everything needs to communicate with the world reduces complexity and can increase trust. Concentration on the operational purpose of a system, resulting in an Operational Design Domain (ODD) reduces complexity further. Additional reduction in complexity is achieved by placing resilience in an engineering and programming development context, grounded in acceptable behaviours, while accepting dependability as a user expectation of system behaviour, and cyber security as a separate specialism addressing access to systems and infrastructure. Much of this paper is a reversion to defensive programming through the ODD. There is a need for any solution to the skills shortage be scalable and economic, and this paper suggests how that can be achieved using existing skill sets targeted at their specialisms.

Parent-Child Associations in COVID-19–Related Preventive Behaviors and Efficacy Expectations: A One-Year Longitudinal Survey

PurposeIt is necessary to identify the variables that explain the variance in preventive behaviors against COVID-19 to increase adolescents’ engagement in these behaviors. We focused on efficacy expectations of preventive behaviors and their associations within families. This study examined the associations between efficacy expectations and preventive behaviors, and between adolescents and their parents in terms of efficacy expectations and preventive behaviors. MethodsA cross-lagged panel model was employed to analyze 281 parent-child pairs consisting of 245 children (118 girls, mean age = 17.4 years), 277 mothers (median age = 49.3 years), and 211 fathers (median age = 51.5 years). Participants completed the Prevention of COVID-19 Infection Scale at baseline (October 2020 to April 2021) and one-year follow-up to assess efficacy expectations and preventive behaviors for sanitization, contact, and hoarding factors. ResultsEfficacy expectations of preventive behaviors at baseline were positively associated with preventive behaviors at one-year follow-up regarding the sanitization and contact factors. Additionally, for parents, efficacy expectations of preventive behaviors at baseline were positively associated with subsequent preventive behaviors regarding the hoarding factor. Parental efficacy expectation scores for contact at baseline were positively associated with their children’s scores at one-year follow-up. DiscussionThe findings highlight the association between parental efficacy expectations at an initial time point and adolescents’ efficacy expectations at one-year follow-up toward COVID-19 preventive measures, particularly contact-related behaviors. These insights can inform public health interventions targeting individual expectations and parental involvement to promote effective preventive practices during future health crises.

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SCHOOL AND CLASS CLIMATE

Although there is no generally accepted definition of school climate and a single position on its dimensions, most authors agree that school climate is a multidimensional and complex construct, which refers to the quality and character of school life. Educational reforms that want to improve the quality of learning, but also improve the educational effect of the school, should not ignore that the school climate is one of the most researched school phenomena that affects the behavior and life of all participants in school life. In addition to the definition of school climate and other terms that conceptually overlap with school climate or other aspects of school life, it is necessary to define school climate and classroom climate. In contrast to school climate, classroom climate refers to social interactions in the classroom, student expectations for behavior, and school performance, but also to the physical characteristics of the classroom or the “intellectual, social, emotional, and physical environment in which students learn”. Classroom climate refers to the perception of the classroom environment, and school climate refers to the perception of the entire school. Classroom climate affects the perception of school climate as a more comprehensive phenomenon. The school climate’s perception depends on individual factors and the classroom climate. Teachers are the ones who represent one of the main factors in shaping students school experiences. A study conducted by Hallinan (2008) indicated that the teacher-student relationship predicts student commitment to school. Two special dimensions of that relationship are social and emotional support for students and teachers expectations of students. Students and teachers perceive the school climate more favorably when they feel safe and when aggression and victimization are not frequent. Students who feel safe at school are better adjusted, exhibit less delinquent and aggressive behavior, and report higher self-esteem. By improving the school climate, and especially the relationship between teachers and students, by establishing fair rules in the school and respecting diversity, the students behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement in school is affected, which further affects various areas of the student’s life, such as student well-being or and their academic achievement.

Gender and leadership evaluations: what happens if we actually measure expectations–behavior incongruence?

PurposeRole congruity theory and gender stereotypes research suggests men are expected to engage in agentic behavior and women in communal behavior as leaders, and that role violation results in backlash. However, extant gender and leadership research does not directly measure expectations–behavior incongruence. Further, researchers have only considered one condition of role incongruence – display of counter-role behavior – and have not considered the outcomes of failing to exhibit role-congruent behavior. Additionally, few studies have examined outcomes for male leaders who violate gender role prescriptions. The present study aims to address these shortcomings by conducting a novel empirical test of role congruity theory.Design/Methodology/approachThis experimental study used polynomial regression to assess how followers evaluated leaders under conditions of incongruence between follower expectations for men and women leaders’ behavior and leaders’ actual behavior (i.e. exceeded and unmet expectations). Respondents read a fictional scenario describing a new male or female supervisor, rated their expectations for the leader’s agentic and communal behavior, read manipulated vignettes describing the leader’s subsequent behavior, rated their perceptions of these behaviors, and evaluated the leader.FindingsFollowers expected higher levels of communal behavior from the female than the male supervisor, but no differences were found in expectations for agentic behavior. Regardless of whether expectations were exceeded or unmet, supervisor gender did not moderate the effects of agentic or communal behavior expectations–perceptions incongruence on leader evaluations in polynomial regression analyses (i.e. male and female supervisors were not evaluated differently when displaying counter-role behavior or failing to display role-congruent behavior).Originality/valueIn addition to providing a novel, direct test of role congruity theory, the study highlighted a double standard in gender role-congruent behavior expectations of men and women leaders. Results failed to support role congruity theory, which has implications for the future of theory in this domain.

The Consequences of Falling Behind the Curve: Inflation Shocks and Policy Delays Under Rational and Behavioral Expectations

The Consequences of Falling Behind the Curve: Inflation Shocks and Policy Delays Under Rational and Behavioral Expectations

School Effectiveness Factors and Student Achievement: A Longitudinal Study in an Urban School District

In this study we explore the longitudinal impact of effective school factors on student achievement over a five-year period in an urban school district. By collecting teacher survey data from urban schools in a Midwest school district and analyzing the survey data alongside student achievement, we identified several factors associated with student achievement growth. Our findings reveal that Shared Vision and Goals is positively associated with student achievement growth in math and reading. Furthermore, Student Behavior Expectations and Behavior Management Practices are positively associated with growth in reading achievement. Our research contributes to the understanding of effective school factors from a longitudinal perspective, particularly in an urban school setting.