Peterson studied 1,182 subjects for their tendency to catastrophize, or seeing the bad in one's life as part of an overwhelming evil that occurs to everyone.
The study began in 1921 when subjects were asked questions about disappointments, failures, losses and personal faults and flaws.
He concluded that catastrophizing is linked with poor problem solving, risky decision-making and tendency to be socially withdrawn.
Peterson said that being in an accident or violent situation may not be random, but rather the result of a pessimistic lifestyle.
Ovide Pomerleau of the Nicotine Research Laboratory conducted the study with his colleagues, and detailed the effects of nicotine on experimenting smokers.
Those individuals who said nicotine produced pleasurable effects such as a buzz or relaxation were more likely to become addicted. The study noted that other factors, such as peer pressure, also play a role.
The study has importance concerning cigarette advertising because it stresses the significance of reducing the number of teens who smoke their first cigarette.
The results of the study suggest that in the future it may be possible to identify high-risk children and then target them to deter them from picking up the habit.
Although finding homes for special-needs children is traditionally more difficult than finding homes for infants, steps have been taken to find homes for more of these children.
Of the parents who adopt a special-needs child, 90 percent are given assistance with medical treatment and counseling.
Also noted by the study is the increase in the number of African Americans who adopted a child with a special need.
African Americans adopted 60 percent of the total 1,394 special-needs children.
The photos focused on the inner coma or gassy head of the comet, and were used to study the water photochemistry in comets. Study of the images found that Hyakutake expelled seven to eight tons of water per second. Researchers used an elaborate computer model to confirm these observations.
Researchers found that another image showed an illusion due to the spherical distribution of the hydrogen atoms - the most plentiful element in comets - in the nucleus of the comet, which efficiently scattered incoming ultraviolet rays.
The comet Hyakutake passed within about 16 million kilometers of Earth in 1996.
-Complied by Daily Staff Reporter Will Nash.
04-02-98
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