Sherry A Span | PubMed Health

PubMed2004

Cognitive functioning moderates the relation between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms and alcohol use in women.

Previous work revealed that cognitive functioning moderated the relation between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Symptoms and alcohol use [Alcohol., Clin. Exp. Res. 23 (1999) 224]. ADHD Symptoms correlated significantly with alcohol use for individuals with a poorer performance on tasks assessing prefrontal area functioning but not for individuals with higher scores on these tasks. The current study proposes to replicate this previous work and extend it in three ways. These include using a sample consisting solely of women, including the current DSM-IV [American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., revised). Washington, DC: Author] criteria for ADHD, and increasing the number of measures to assess cognitive functioning and drinking habits. Eighty-two female undergraduates completed four measures of alcohol use, three measures of ADHD, and six measures of cognitive functioning. Stacked two-group analyses replicated the previous moderator effect. Alcohol use and ADHD symptoms correlated .31 (ns) for the individuals who scored higher on the neuropsychological tasks. However, these constructs correlated .53 (P < .05) for individuals with lower scores on these tasks. Better performance on tasks assessing prefrontal area functioning may protect individuals from drinking in accordance with their ADHD symptoms.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Cross-cultural differences in female university students' attitudes toward homosexuals: a preliminary study.

62 Caucasian, 61 Hispanic, and 44 Asian female undergraduates completed the Index of Homophobia by Hudson and Ricketts, seven items from the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale by Herek, and three questions on Affectional Orientation toward homosexuals from D'Augelli and Rose. Overall, familiarity with homosexuals as measured by self-reported number of homosexual friends correlated negatively with scores on the homophobia measures, but there were no significant differences among the groups' reported number of homosexual friends. Asian students scored significantly higher on the homophobia measures than Caucasian students. Both Asian and Hispanic students endorsed the statement significantly more often than Caucasian students that the university would be better if only heterosexuals attended. No significant differences in scores were found regarding attitudes toward lesbians versus gay men.

Adult↗