What do minority elementary students understand about the causes of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, colds, and obesity?

Elementary school-age children's conceptual understanding and factual knowledge about the causes of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), colds, and obesity are poorly understood, particularly among black children living in low-income, urban neighborhoods. We examined minority children's conceptual understanding about the causes of these illnesses. In addition, children's knowledge and misconceptions about the causal agents of AIDS, colds, and obesity were investigated. A developmentally based, semistructured interview was developed to measure children's level of understanding about the causes of each condition. Interviews were conducted with 239, predominately black, first, third, and fifth grade students attending two public elementary schools in a low income city in northern California. Interviews were verbally administered and tape recorded for later verbatim transcription. Children's responses to questions about causality first were scored based on their level of conceptual sophistication. Responses then were assigned to thematic categories reflecting the children's factual knowledge about the causes of AIDS, colds, and obesity. Increases in grade level were associated with higher scores for causality of AIDS (p < .0001), colds (p < .0001), and obesity (p < .01). In all three conditions, causality scores increased between first and fifth grades, but did not significantly vary between third and fifth grades. Gender, socioeconomic status, and number of adults living in the household were not significantly associated with causality scores. Within each grade, the finding of lower causality scores for AIDS, as compared to colds and obesity, points out the need for developmentally appropriate explanations to children about the causes of AIDS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The effects of social sex-role stereotypes and sexual orientation on psychotherapeutic outcomes.

This paper examines the relationship of biological sex, social sex-role stereotypes, and sexual orientation of client and the therapist to psychotherapeutic outcomes. It was hypothesized that analogus biological sex, departures in social sex-role, and sexual orientation of client and therapist would have positive effects on psychotherapeutic outcomes. Twenty-four clients and 16 therapist, including five client-therapist pairs, were interviewed on how issues of social sex-role stereotyping and sexual orientation arose and were dealt with in therapy. The results indicated (a) a trend toward more positive outcomes when client and therapist were of the same sex, and (b) that similarity of sexual orientation of client and therapist is related to positive psychotherapeutic outcomes. The results for deparature from social sex-role stereotypes were inconclusive.