Examined whether mothers who scored low on self-report depression scales were denying their symptoms and suffering from an illusion of mental health. Findings did not support the interpretation that low-scoring mothers were denying other symptoms. Rather, low-scoring mothers: 1) experienced a wide range of emotions and similar levels of positive emotions compared to mid-symptom mothers; 2) changed their reported levels of depressive symptoms over the course of the study; 3) reported a variety of symptoms at levels similar to those of mothers in the mid symptom range; and 4) were affected negatively by having a diagnosis of depression, in a manner similar to mothers in the mid and high symptom groups. Low symptom mothers reported the most positive profiles of maternal adaptation with higher levels of maternal self-esteem and a high ratio of self-reported positive to negative affect. They appeared to be experiencing an underdescribed highly positive normal postpartum state labeled "postpartum exuberance." Postpartum exuberance, as well as a compromise of affective functioning associated with any lifetime diagnosis of depression regardless of the mothers' current level of depressive symptoms, highlights the complexity of emotional reactivity during the postpartum period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

Differential, structural, and absolute stability of babyfaceness and attractiveness at 5 ages were investigated. Attractiveness had differential stability across the life span. Babyfaceness had differential stability from childhood through the 30s for males and through adolescence for females. Consistent with sexual dimorphisms in facial maturation, males had less differential stability in babyfaceness from childhood to puberty than females. Structural stability of facial appearance, as reflected in the relationship between babyfaceness and attractiveness across the life span, was low, with these qualities positively related for females in childhood and for both sexes in their 30s and 50s but unrelated in puberty and adolescence. Absolute stability of babyfaceness and attractiveness was also low, with mean levels decreasing across the life span. Contrary to cultural stereotypes, age-related decreases in attractiveness were equal for male and female Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

Investigated the power of an infantile appearance to elicit baby talk (BT) by assessing the use of BT in task instructions to 29 preschoolers (aged 44–54 mo), who were portrayed as either relatively babyfaced or maturefaced. Men and women taught 2 tasks to a randomly selected boy or girl via a telephone conversation after being shown a photograph, which presumably depicted the children whom they were instructing. Paralleling facial differences between babies and adults, babyfaced Ss had rounder faces, larger eyes, thinner eyebrows, and smaller noses than maturefaced Ss. As predicted, adults used more BT when instructing babyfaced than maturefaced Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

Two hundred two poor, mainly black women were studied to assess the effects of selected social, behavioral, and biologic factors on birth weight. A path analysis was used to model hypotheses about the interrelationships among these variables. Six sociocultural factors had direct paths to quality of prenatal care: amount of insurance, delay in telling others about the pregnancy, attitudes toward health professionals, month of gestation in which the pregnancy was suspected, perception of the importance of prenatal care, and initial attitude toward the pregnancy. Together, these factors accounted for 64% of the variance in the quality of prenatal care received. Four variables had direct paths to birth weight: month in which the pregnancy was suspected, quality of prenatal care, hypertension, and substance abuse, which together accounted for 13% of the variance in birth weight. The key findings were the relative impact that the quality of prenatal care, especially the source of care, had on birth weight, and the potential for improving birth outcomes by addressing the negative effects of underlying social factors.

Maintained 30 adult male Long-Evans rats on an ethanol-containing liquid diet. During development of ethanol dependence, the Ss were given ip injections of either naloxone (2 mg/kg) or saline daily. At the beginning of ethanol withdrawal, the Ss were injected with either naloxone (10 mg/kg) or saline ip. Ss injected with naloxone during the development of ethanol dependence consumed significantly more of the ethanol diet and therefore more ethanol than Ss injected with saline. Ss treated with naloxone throughout both the development of ethanol dependence and during ethanol withdrawal showed delayed or reduced withdrawal symptomatology compared to Ss injected with only saline, naloxone only during the development of dependence, or naloxone only during ethanol withdrawal. These results indicate that naloxone can alter the effects of chronic ethanol exposure and further suggest that ethanol may exert some of its actions through the brain opioid system. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)