Many intervention programs use home visiting to target enhanced parent-child interactions; however, few studies have examined specific intervention strategies, limiting the potential utility of evaluation results to guide practice, research, or policy effectively. In this paper, we recommend that researchers and program evaluators open the "black box" of home visiting intervention strategies. We initiate this effort by exploring the overall intervention processes in two home visiting programs and describing specific strategies (e.g., coaching and modeling) interventionists used during triadic interactions with the parent and child together. One study included 28 families parenting a child with a disability and receiving Part C services, and the second study included 92 families receiving Early Head Start services. Interventions were not homogeneous across programs or families. Minimal time was focused on facilitating parent-child interactions; when these strategies were used, however, mothers were more likely to be engaged in the intervention activities.

Research has suggested that women are prone to sexual regrets of action. In the present study, the authors examined "hooking up" as a predictor of sexual regret in 152 sexually active college women. Results indicate that two sexual behaviors were particularly predictive of participants' regret: (a) engaging in sexual intercourse with someone once and only once and (b) engaging in intercourse with someone known for less than 24 hr. Noncoital hookups (performing and receiving oral sex) were not significantly related to regret, indicating that college women may be underestimating the health risks associated with oral sex. Although hookups are a common feature of contemporary college life, the results counter the popular assumption that hookups are inconsequential for college women. The authors discuss the preventative health implications of their findings.

Hookups--casual sexual encounters that may or may not include intercourse - are common on college campuses. Previous research has suggested that these casual sexual encounters may have serious health-related consequences. Understanding the relationships among multiple predictors of hooking up is important if high-risk prevention programming among college students is to be effective. This study considers each of the Big Five personality traits as predictors of hooking-up behaviors in a sample of Midwestern undergraduates (N = 247). Fifty-six percent of women and 63% of men reported engaging in a hookup. In general, Extraversion was positively associated with hooking up behaviors; Conscientiousness was negatively associated with hooking up. Relationships between personality and hooking up were significant while controlling for alcohol use. Implications for prevention programming on college campuses are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to determine if undergraduates (N = 839) apply the same standard to themselves when labeling a behavior "having sex" as they apply to their significant others if those persons engage in the same behaviors outside the relationship. Using a between-participants design, one form asked participants if each of 11 behaviors constituted having sex if they engaged in the activity; the other form asked participants if each of the same behaviors constituted having sex if their significant other engaged in the activity outside their relationship. Participants answering for themselves were less likely to indicate a behavior was having sex for all behaviors except penile-anal and penile-vaginal intercourse. Men were also more likely than women to indicate most behaviors were having sex. The authors discuss what they define as a definitional discontinuity in undergraduate emerging adults' definitions of having sex. Fundamental attribution error (FAE) and emerging adulthood literature are used to explain the findings. Health and relationship implications are identified.

This exploratory study examines older women's perceptions of living alone. Older adult women (N = 53) living alone were interviewed. Findings show tremendous variability in the perceptions of this sample. Whereas some women showed significant levels of loneliness and depression, many did not. Thirteen percent of the participants (n = 7) negatively perceived living alone, 49.1% (n = 26) neutrally perceived living alone, and 37.7% (n = 20) positively perceived living alone. Participants' most enjoyed aspects of living alone were being one's own boss/being independent (51%) and keeping one's own schedule (49%). Common responses for least enjoyable aspects of living alone were lack of companionship (62%), no one to help with housework (36%), and fear of falling or getting hurt (30%). Nurses should be aware that although some have perceived older adult women living alone as a vulnerable population, one cannot make assumptions based on living arrangements.

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As a nation, we face a shortage of individuals to serve our aging population. Therefore, the recruitment of undergraduate students into gerontology programs is an important, although challenging task. The purpose of this study was to determine if students who do not choose to major in gerontology do so because they simply are unaware of the opportunities or because they are uninterested. College students who were not gerontology majors (N = 226) were surveyed to determine whether they were aware of a gerontology major at their university, whether they could define gerontology, and their reasons for not pursuing gerontology. Results suggest that a lack of awareness, rather than a lack of interest, may be responsible for the challenges of recruiting college students into the field of gerontology. This implies that the most efficient path to bolstering our gerontology workforce may be to make students aware of the diverse and rewarding career opportunities in the field of aging.