Positive parenting, family cohesion, and child social competence among immigrant Latino families.

The relation between positive parenting, family cohesion, and child social competence was examined among Latino families (predominantly from Mexico) who were recent immigrants to the United States. A mixed method study was conducted, including both pre- and post-test self-reported surveys (9-month interval) and qualitative data from focus groups. A total of 282 parents and 282 children (ages 9–12) participated in the survey study. Results at post-test follow-up indicated that family cohesion predicted improvements in child social problem-solving skills and social self-efficacy, and positive parenting predicted improvements in child social self-efficacy. A total of 12 mothers participated in the focus group study that was designed to explore barriers to positive parenting and family cohesion in this population. Results from focus groups revealed four major themes impacting parenting and family cohesion: (a) acculturation differences between parents and children and the resulting power imbalance; (b) difficulty getting involved in their child's education; (c) loss of extended family; and (d) discrimination against immigrants and legal status. The implications for family support programs for immigrant Latino families and their children are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social categorization and the assimilation of "new" group members.

50 male and 50 female undergraduates were divided into 5-member same-sex discussion groups that met once a week for 3 wks to discuss topical issues. Within each group, 2 randomly selected experimental Ss were told that they were newcomers entering a long-standing group. The 3 remaining control Ss received no such information and instead believed (correctly) that everyone was new to the group. The experimental Ss exhibited strong in-group/out-group biases as a result of their categorization. These affective, cognitive, and behavioral biases were strongest during the 1st group meeting, then weakened over time as the distinction between new and old members became less salient. No similar biases were exhibited by controls. Results suggest that social categorization plays an important role in the assimilation of new group members. (67 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Know thyself."

Explores the understanding of selfhood as a central concern of psychology, the science of human experience. The conscious self defines human beings, fosters socialization, and, to a great extent, determines behavior. The achievement of a mature self-concept is viewed as a developmental process reflecting social experience as well as personal integration. Some implications of the self-concept are considered in relation to the family system, parenting, psychopathology, psychotherapy, and "the promotion of the public welfare." (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are there "his" and "hers" types of interdependence? The implications of gender differences in collective versus relational interdependence for affect, behavior, and cognition.

In a recent review, S. E. Cross and L. Madson (1997) forwarded that many gender differences in social experience and behavior may be better understood through consideration of gender differences in independence and interdependence. In the current studies an expansion of the model to include both relational and collective aspects of interdependence was investigated (see R. F. Baumeister & K. L. Sommer, 1997). On the basis of the literature regarding gender differences in affect, behavior, and cognition, it was hypothesized that women would focus more on the relational aspects of interdependence, whereas men would focus more on the collective aspects of interdependence. Five studies in which gender differences in self-construals, emotional experience, selective memory, and behavioral intentions were examined supported the expansion of the model to include both relational and collective aspects of interdependence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "Social contagion, adolescent sexual behavior, and pregnancy: A nonlinear dynamic EMOSA model."

The epidemic model of the onset of social activities (EMOSA model) for adolescent sexuality by J. L. Rodgers, D. C. Rowe, and M. Buster (1998) is examined. Strengths of the model include the nonlinear dynamic specification that seems reasonably realistic and the potential when used as a theoretical tool to generate new hypotheses for further testing at the individual level. Limitations include the lack of a well-developed statistical framework, the inability to include a variety of predictors to capture both social contagion and individual differences in the same model, and the focus on aggregate-level data. The EMOSA model for sexuality can be reparameterized to a hazard rate or an event history model that eliminates these shortcomings. Growth curve analysis represents another analytic alternative for the EMOSA model that also does not have these limitations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting stress, perceived parenting behaviors, and adolescent self-concept in European American families.

This study assesses whether the stresses associated with parenting a child are indirectly related to adolescent self-concept through parenting behaviors. We examined longitudinal associations among mothers' and fathers' parenting stress at age 10, children's perceptions of parenting at age 10, and adolescents' self-concept at age 14 in 120 European American families. Mothers' and fathers' parenting stress was related to children's perceptions of acceptance and psychologically controlling behavior, and psychologically controlling behavior (and lax control for fathers) was related to adolescent self-concept. We further examined which domains of parenting stress and perceived parenting behaviors were associated with adolescents' scholastic competence, social acceptance, physical appearance, and behavioral conduct. Parenting stress was related to specific parenting behaviors, which were, in turn, related to specific domains of self-concept in adolescence. Parenting stress appears to exert its effects on early adolescent self-concept indirectly through perceived parenting behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Review of The parent-child connection": Erratum.

Reports an error in "Review of The parent-child connection" by Charlotte Johnston (Canadian Psychology Psychologie Canadienne, 1989[Oct], Vol 30[4], 697-698). Arnold Rincover's affiliation with the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education was incorrectly given as Associate Professor. He has been an Extramural Instructor at O.I.S.E. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-09101-001.) Reviews the book, The parent-child connection by Arnold Rincover (1988). The Parent-Child Connection is a well written book that offers valuable advice to help parents of young children evaluate and understand their children's behaviour. It also offers useful suggestions on managing child behaviour, although these parenting tips are most likely to be useful to those parents who least need them (i.e., those with numerous personal and social resources, whose children are presenting only minor behavioural difficulties). The two general themes of the book, child behaviour as communication and developmental norms as guidelines for deciding if behaviour is problematic, are well-suited to the purposes of a parent reference book. They offer an appropriate framework for discussing specific child behaviours and helping parents to determine if these behaviours are problematic in their children. This book is a welcome addition to the list of available parenting books, and may prove particularly useful for younger parents in need of accurate and understandable information about normal child development and behaviour. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between neighborhood factors, parenting behaviors, peer deviance, and delinquency among serious juvenile offenders.

The present study examined relations among neighborhood structural and social characteristics, parenting practices, peer group affiliations, and delinquency among a group of serious adolescent offenders. The sample of 14-18-year-old boys (N = 488) was composed primarily of economically disadvantaged, ethnic-minority youth living in urban communities. The results indicate that weak neighborhood social organization is indirectly related to delinquency through its associations with parenting behavior and peer deviance and that a focus on just 1 of these microsystems can lead to oversimplified models of risk for juvenile offending. The authors also find that community social ties may confer both pro- and antisocial influences to youth, and they advocate for a broad conceptualization of neighborhood social processes as these relate to developmental risk for youth living in disadvantaged communities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evolution and "evolutionary behavorism": Comment.

Comments on W. R. Woodward's (see record 1982-30310-001) article on the discovery of social behaviorism and social learning theory from 1870 through 1980. The article suggests that within several concepts that are related to social behaviorism and social learning theory, the same "discovery" has been made to account for an important part of behavioral variance. This involves a functional feedback model with internal variables and some kind of selection via symbolic processes that are termed "evolutionary." The present author raises concern for Woodward's use of the biological evolutionary theory in this context. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluative pressure in mothers: Effects of situation, maternal, and child characteristics on autonomy supportive versus controlling behavior.

This study examined the effects of situational pressure and maternal characteristics (social contingent self-worth, controlling parenting attitudes) on mothers' autonomy support versus control in the social domain. Sixty 4th-grade children and their mothers worked on a laboratory task in preparation for meeting new children, with mothers in either an evaluation (mothers told their child would be evaluated by other children) or no-evaluation (no mention of evaluation) condition. Mothers in the evaluation condition spent more time giving answers to their children. Mothers with controlling parenting attitudes exhibited more controlling behavior. Further, mothers with high social contingent self-worth in the evaluation condition were most controlling. Results suggest the importance of interactions between situations and maternal characteristics in determining levels of mothers' autonomy support versus control and have implications for helping parents support children's autonomy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The quest for "similar instances" and "simultaneous possibilities": Metaphors in social dilemma research.

Since the time of the ancient Greeks, metaphors have been revered by scholars in all disciplines for their unsurpassed epistemological value. In this article, the authors review the role of the metaphor in the acquisition of knowledge and advancement of science, with specific emphasis on the ways in which metaphors have informed theory and research in social dilemmas. In highlighting the abundance and variety of social dilemma metaphors, the authors focus on metaphors' role in suggesting fresh theoretical perspectives, novel methodological approaches, and new insights with regard to solutions and practical applications. They suggest promising directions for future research and offer strategies for taking further advantage of the special relationship between metaphors and social dilemmas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Generativity and authoritarianism: Implications for personality, political involvement, and parenting.

Generativity (Erikson, 1950) and authoritarianism have recently received increased attention in the personality and social psychology literature. The authors articulate connections and distinctions to test hypotheses concerning personality, politics, and parenting on a sample of adults and their adolescent children. The Big 5 Openness to Experience factor was positively related to generativity and negatively related to authoritarianism. In addition, high scorers on generativity were interested in political issues, whereas those scoring high on authoritarianism were not. High scorers on authoritarianism also used a punitive parenting style that had adverse consequences for parent–child relationships, whereas generative parents used an authoritative style that produced positive outcomes. Although generative and authoritarian individuals may share a focus on passing down traditions, the content of those traditions seems to span a wider range for people who are high in generativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

In vitro fertilization and the family: Quality of parenting, family functioning, and child psychosocial adjustment.

This study examined associations between homologous in vitro fertilization (IVF) and quality of parenting, family functioning, and emotional and behavioral adjustment of 3–7-year-old children. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Taiwan with 54 IVF mother–child pairs and 59 mother–child pairs with children conceived naturally. IVF mothers reported a greater level of protectiveness toward their children than control mothers. Teachers, blind to condition, rated IVF mothers as displaying greater warmth but not overprotective or intrusive parenting behaviors toward their children. Teachers scored children of IVF as having fewer behavioral problems than control children. In contrast, IVF mothers reported less satisfaction with aspects of family functioning. Family composition moderated parenting stress: IVF mothers with only 1 child perceived less parenting stress than did those in the control group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting in a broader context: A reply to Emery, Fincham, and Cummings (1992).

In their comment on the authors' (see record 1992-43921-001) discussion of the role of the family in child psychotherapy, R. E. Emery et al (see record 1993-14493-001) took issue with the emphasis on the mediational role of parenting practices and the importance of parenting as a focus of treatment. In response, it is emphasized that the aim was not to offer a comprehensive analysis of etiological factors in child psychopathology but rather to provide some practical research-based guidelines for child therapists. In addition, an attempt is made to clarify some areas of possible confusion, including the meaning of contextual variables, parenting as the appropriate focus of treatment, assumptions about what is meant by parenting, and differences in conceptualizations of intervention in family process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Approach and avoidance coping responses among older problem and nonproblem drinkers": Clarification.

Reports a clarification in the article by R. H. Moos et al (Psychology and Aging, 1990[Mar], Vol 5[1], 31–40). The authors wish to note that research reported in the article by P. L. Brennan and R. H. Moos (see record 1991-10154-001) was based on the sample used in the research reported by Moos et al and that this information was inadvertently deleted in the Brennan and Moos article. (The following abstract of the article by Moos et al originally appeared in PA, Vol 77:14961.) The Coping Responses Inventory (CRI) was used to study coping among older problem and nonproblem drinkers. The CRI organizes coping efforts according to their focus (approach or avoidance) and method (cognitive or behavioral). Compared with nonproblem drinkers, older problem drinkers were more likely to use cognitive and behavioral avoidance responses to manage life stressors. Problem drinkers who experienced more negative life events and more severe stressors used both more approach and more avoidance coping. Those who had more financial and social resources relied more on approach and less on avoidance coping. Problem drinkers who relied more on avoidance coping tended to have more drinking problems and to report more depression and physical symptoms and less self-confidence. Positive reappraisal was associated with less depression and more self-confidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Trance" versus "skill" hypnotic inductions: The effects of credibility, expectancy, and experimenter modeling.

Compared a hypnotic induction procedure based on social learning principles (skill induction) with a traditional eye-fixation/relaxation trance induction, a highly credible placebo induction, and a no-induction base-rate control. Before inductions were administered, 100 undergraduates completed Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, the Rotter Trust Scale, and an absorption scale. The trance induction surpassed the skill induction only on the Hypnosis Inventory. Experimenter modeling did not enhance the effectiveness of the skill induction. Skill and trance inductions elicited slightly higher behavioral scores on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C than did the placebo induction. However, this difference was not obtained on other measures of hypnotic responsivity and depth. Significant correlations were found between expectancy, absorption, and responsiveness on all dependent measures. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the relationship between absorption and responsivity was mediated by expectancy. Results support the hypotheses that hypnotic responses are elicited by the expectancy for their occurrence and that induction procedures are a means of increasing Ss' expectancies for hypnotic responses. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social status in small groups: Individual–group similarity and the social "misfit."

Proposes that social status is a function of both individual and group characteristics and argues that 2 factors are necessary to predict peer popularity—prosocial interaction and person–group similarity. Prosocial behavior, viewed as a prerequisite for high social status, was predicted to be consistently correlated with status across peer groups. The relation between status and other social behaviors such as aggression was predicted to be mediated by the degree of similarity between the individual and the peer group. Two studies were conducted with 217 males (mean age 10 yrs) at a summer program for children with behavioral and social problems. Data from both acceptance and rejection measures of status support the proposed model. This evidence helps to integrate discrepant findings in the sociometric literature and demonstrates the utility of social psychological theories of interpersonal attraction in the study of peer status. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Eating lightly" and the self-presentation of femininity.

In Experiment 1, male and female subjects were given an opportunity to snack as they participated in a "get-acquainted study" with a same-sex or opposite-sex partner (confederate) whose social desirability was manipulated. Consistent with the hypothesis that women may eat less when motivated to present themselves in a feminine light, female subjects ate significantly less with a desirable male partner than in the remaining three conditions. In contrast, male subjects did not eat more (or less) with a desirable woman, although they did show an overall tendency to eat less with female (vs. male) partners. In Experiment 2, female subjects snacked as they got acquainted with a desirable male partner (confederate). Before this interaction, subjects received feedback indicating that they had either very masculine or very feminine interests. In addition, subjects believed either that their male partner was aware of their gender feedback or that he was unaware. Consistent with predictions derived from Schlenker's (1982) analytic-identity theory of social conduct, subjects in the partner-aware conditions ate less when they had received masculine (vs. feminine) feedback, whereas subjects in the partner-unaware conditions ate less when they had received feminine (vs. masculine) feedback. Implications for understanding eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whither the bias: The female client's "edge" in psychotherapy?

Tested the hypothesis that, along several dimensions, women may be favored as psychotherapy clients by examining ratings of the process-relevant interpersonal characteristics and gross outcome expectancies for 72 new male and 92 new female clients (mean age 41 yrs). Eight male and 8 female therapists (mean age 36 yrs) completed a questionnaire that assessed clients on interpersonal evaluation and interpersonal control dimensions and included ratings of client's social skills, expected treatment success, expected termination conditions, and expected duration of treatment. Results show that, as hypothesized, males were ascribed more negative interpersonal characteristics and poorer social skills than females. Males were also rated higher on a composite "controllingness" variable. There was a significant client sex difference in expected duration of treatment (with females expected to stay longer), but no differences were found in expectancies regarding premature termination or treatment success. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)