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Psychological Bulletin

Table of Contents
March 2003, Volume 129, Number 2
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Articles

Biocultural Orchestration of Developmental Plasticity Across Levels: The Interplay of Biology and Culture in Shaping the Mind and Behavior Across the Life Span* by Shu-Chen Li

Less Is More: Meta-Analyses of Sensitivity and Attachment Interventions in Early Childhood* by Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, and Femmie Juffer

Searching for the Structure of Coping: A Review and Critique of Category Systems for Classifying Ways of Coping* by Ellen A. Skinner, Kathleen Edge, Jeffrey Altman, and Hayley Sherwood

Smoking, Stress, and Negative Affect: Correlation, Causation, and Context Across Stages of Smoking* by Jon D. Kassel, Laura R. Stroud, and Carol A. Paronis

The Contingent Smile: A Meta-Analysis of Sex Differences in Smiling* by Marianne LaFrance, Marvin A. Hecht, and Elizabeth Levy Paluck



Abstracts
March 2003, Volume 129, Number 2


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Biocultural Orchestration of Developmental Plasticity Across Levels: The Interplay of Biology and Culture in Shaping the Mind and Behavior Across the Life Span
Shu-Chen Li
Max Planck Institute for Human Development

The author reviews reemerging coconstructive conceptions of development and recent empirical findings of developmental plasticity at different levels spanning several fields of developmental and life sciences. A cross-level dynamic biocultural coconstructive framework is endorsed to understand cognitive and behavioral development across the life span. This framework integrates main conceptions of earlier views into a unifying frame, viewing the dynamics of life span development as occurring simultaneously within different time scales (i.e., moment-to-moment microgenesis, life span ontogeny, and human phylogeny) and encompassing multiple levels (i.e., neurobiological, cognitive, behavioral, and sociocultural). Viewed through this metatheoretical framework, new insights of potential interfaces for reciprocal cultural and experiential influences to be integrated with behavioral genetics and cognitive neuroscience research can be more easily prescribed.

Psychological Bulletin, 2003, Vol. 129, No. 2, 171–194, ©2003 American Psychological Association


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Less Is More: Meta-Analyses of Sensitivity and Attachment Interventions in Early Childhood
Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, and Femmie Juffer
Leiden University

Is early preventive intervention effective in enhancing parental sensitivity and infant attachment security, and if so, what type of intervention is most successful? Seventy studies were traced, producing 88 intervention effects on sensitivity (n = 7,636) and/or attachment (n = 1,503). Randomized interventions appeared rather effective in changing insensitive parenting (d = 0.33) and infant attachment insecurity (d = 0.20). The most effective interventions used a moderate number of sessions and a clear-cut behavioral focus in families with, as well as without, multiple problems. Interventions that were more effective in enhancing parental sensitivity were also more effective in enhancing attachment security, which supports the notion of a causal role of sensitivity in shaping attachment.

Psychological Bulletin, 2003, Vol. 129, No. 2, 195–215, ©2003 American Psychological Association


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Searching for the Structure of Coping: A Review and Critique of Category Systems for Classifying Ways of Coping
Ellen A. Skinner and Kathleen Edge
Portland State University

Jeffrey Altman and Hayley Sherwood
University of Rochester

From analyzing 100 assessments of coping, the authors critiqued strategies and identified best practices for constructing category systems. From current systems, a list of 400 ways of coping was compiled. For constructing lower order categories, the authors concluded that confirmatory factor analysis should replace the 2 most common strategies (exploratory factor analysis and rational sorting). For higher order categories, they recommend that the 3 most common distinctions (problem- vs. emotion-focused, approach vs. avoidance, and cognitive vs. behavioral) no longer be used. Instead, the authors recommend hierarchical systems of action types (e.g., proximity seeking, accommodation). From analysis of 6 such systems, 13 potential core families of coping were identified. Future steps involve deciding how to organize these families, using their functional homogeneity and distinctiveness, and especially their links to adaptive processes.

Psychological Bulletin, 2003, Vol. 129, No. 2, 216–269, ©2003 American Psychological Association


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Smoking, Stress, and Negative Affect: Correlation, Causation, and Context Across Stages of Smoking
Jon D. Kassel
University of Illinois at Chicago

Laura R. Stroud
Brown Medical School

Carol A. Paronis
Harvard University

This transdisciplinary review of the literature addresses the questions, Do stress and negative affect (NA) promote smoking? and Does smoking genuinely relieve stress and NA? Drawing on both human and animal literatures, the authors examine these questions across three developmental stages of smoking—initiation, maintenance, and relapse. Methodological and conceptual distinctions relating to within- and between-subjects levels of analyses are emphasized throughout the review. Potential mechanisms underlying links between stress and NA and smoking are also reviewed. Relative to direct-effect explanations, the authors argue that contextual mediator–moderator approaches hold greater potential for elucidating complex associations between NA and stress and smoking. The authors conclude with recommendations for research initiatives that draw on more sophisticated theories and methodologies.

Psychological Bulletin, 2003, Vol. 129, No. 2, 270–304, ©2003 American Psychological Association

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The Contingent Smile: A Meta-Analysis of Sex Differences in Smiling
Marianne LaFrance
Yale University

Marvin A. Hecht
Oracle Corporation

Elizabeth Levy Paluck
Yale University

The authors present a meta-analysis of sex differences in smiling based on 448 effect sizes derived from 162 research reports. There was a statistically significant tendency for women and adolescent girls to smile more than men and adolescent boys (d = 0.41). The authors hypothesized that sex differences in smiling would be larger when concerns about gender-appropriate behavior were made more conspicuous, situational constraints were absent or ambiguous, or emotion (especially negative) was salient. It was also predicted that the size of the sex difference in smiling would vary by culture and age. Moderator analysis supported these predictions. Although men tend to smile less than women, the degree to which this is so is contingent on rules and roles.

Psychological Bulletin, 2003, Vol. 129, No. 2, 305–334, ©2003 American Psychological Association