The reliability of self-reported sexual behavior is a question of utmost importance to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention research. The Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB) interview, which was developed to assess alcohol consumption on the event level, incorporates recall-enhancing techniques that result in reliable information. In this study, the TLFB interview was adapted to assess HIV-related sexual behaviors and their antecedents, and its reliability was assessed. The interview was administered to 110 participants (46% women, M age = 19.7; range = 18-41), and 58 participants who reported sexual behavior during the previous three months returned one week later for a second interview. Test-retest intraclass correlations (rho) from the TLFB protocol showed that all sexual behaviors were reported reliably (rho range = .86 to .97, median = .96). Bootstrapping, a nonparametric statistical technique, was used for significance testing in the reliability analyses. Reliability was equivalent across each of the three months assessed with the TLFB and was equivalent to conventional assessment methods (i.e. single-item questions). These findings show that the TLFB sexual behavior interview provides reliable reports of sexual behavior over three months and yields event-level data that are extremely valuable for sexual behavior and HIV-prevention research.
Relations between attachment and child emotional and behavioral regulation were studied
longitudinally in a sample of 223 children from urban, low-income families. Attachment in the
Strange Situation at 12 and 18 months was scored using the infant classification system and at 24
months was scored using a preschool classification system. Only modest stability was found in
attachment whether within or across classification systems, with the percentage of insecure
attachments consistently increasing over time. Results indicated both concurrent and predictive
associations with indices of child regulation based on observer ratings or maternal report.
However, only the 24-month classification predicted maternal report of externalizing and
internalizing behavior problems at age 3.5 years, with additional variance accounted for by
selected measures of child emotional and behavior regulation from the same assessment.
Attachment security (B) and atypical attachment classifications (D, A/C, and AD) appear to
provide the most consistently useful information about child functioning. Results are discussed in
terms of continuity and change from the perspective of developmental psychopathology.
Child maltreatment is associated with detrimental developmental effects. In view of the fact that child maltreatment typically occurs within the context of a caretaking relationship, attachment theory can give us insight into the nature of difficulties experienced by survivors. Therapeutic preschool has been found effective in addressing developmental problems in abused children. This study examines the effectiveness of an attachmentbased therapeutic preschool for maltreated children. Means tests indicate that, at the time of discharge, the children being served had made significant overall developmental gains as well as significant gains in the personal-social and adaptive domains of development.
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