Twenty abused and 20 nonabused pairs of children (3 to 7 years of age) and their mothers participated in a facial expression posing task and a facial expression recognition task. The expressions produced by subjects were judged on emotion content by naive raters and were coded using Friesen and Ekman's (1984) Emotion Facial Action Coding System (EMFACS). Data analysis indicated that abused children and their mothers pose less recognizable expressions than nonabused children and mothers. Although abused children were less accurate than nonabused children in recognizing emotional expressions, there was no difference in recognition accuracy between the two groups of mothers. A significant correlation between mothers' posing scores and children's recognition scores was also obtained. These results suggest that abused children may not observe easily interpreted voluntary displays of emotion by their mothers as often as nonabused children. This may partially explain the difference in recognition (and production) abilities of abused and nonabused children.

20 maltreated and 20 nonmaltreated children (ages = 3-7 years) and their mothers were observed during a laboratory play session and 7 home observation visits. Ss facial behavior was video recorded in the lab and coded live by observers in the home. Children also participated in an emotionalexpression recognition task. Data analysis showed that both maltreatment status and mothers' facial behavior were predictors of children's recognition scores. Positive relationships were also found between mothers' and children's expressive behavior. Although maltreated and nonmaltreated children differed significantly in their recognition of emotional facial expressions, group differences were not found for either mothers' or children's expressive behavior. Overall, this study's findings indicate that children's recognition and production of facial expressions depends in part on the expressive environment provided by their mothers.

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Clinical/counseling psychologists and social workers (N = 185) from 13 cities in the U.S. readl of 4 vignettes describing a patient. Subjects completed questionnaires that assessed their reactions to the patient described in the vignette. The vignettes were identical except that the patient was identified as having AIDS or leukemia, and the patient's sexual orientation as either homosexual or heterosexual. Results indicate that subjects who rated a patient with AIDS were less likely to accept them for treatment, make physical contact, and were more likely to believe they were less deserving of sympathy than subjects rating patients with leukemia. Participants who did not have previous AIDS education/training were more likely to hold negative attitudes toward gay individuals and persons with AIDS.Several studies have indicated that mental health professionals are encountering in their clinical practices increasing numbers of individuals affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. This includes individuals diagnosed with AIDS, infected with HIV, or individuals who have not con-