Multiple attachment relationships within families: Mothers and fathers with two young children.

Security of attachment between mothers and fathers and their 2 children was examined in 41 maritally intact families. Strange Situation assessments of attachment security for the younger children (mean age?=?1 year 10 months), Attachment Q-sort ratings of the older children (mean age?=?4 years 8 months), and ratings of parental caregiving behavior of both children were obtained. Younger and older children developed concordant attachments to both parents. Parents were consistent in their caregiving behavior toward their 2 children. However, parents were not congruent in their attachment to their 2 children. Associations were found between maternal caregiving and attachment only in the younger group. The results support the idea that parental caregiving behavior accounts for only modest portions of the variance in attachment security; evolving attachments integrate developmental inputs from the children and the caregivers in the network of early family relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers and fathers teaching 3-year-olds: Authoritative parenting and adult scaffolding of young children's learning.

Investigated variations in parental tutoring of children on the basis of Vygotsky's (1978) theorizing and concept of parental scaffolding of children's learning. Twenty-four couples and their 3-year-old children participated. Mothers and fathers worked separately with the child on three difficult tasks: a block construction task, a matrix classification task, and a story retelling task. Parental interventions were classified by level of support and were used to define the region of sensitivity to instruction, following the work of Wood (1980). Independent observers rated each parent separately on authoritative/uninvolved and authoritarian/permissive styles, following Baumrind's (1967, 1973) typology. Both mothers and fathers adjusted their support of the child as predicted. Later portions of the tutoring interactions demonstrated more fine tuning of interventions by parents than earlier portions. However, authoritative mothers and fathers were generally more likely than nonauthoritative parents to focus interventions in the region of sensitivity across tasks and to shift their interventions contingent on child success or failure. These patterns were also associated with more dyadic success on task as predicted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sibling relationships of children with disabled and nondisabled brothers and sisters.

Goals were to compare children with and without mentally retarded (MR) siblings in terms of their sibling relations and adjustment and to examine the links between these constructs. Ss were 62 children (M age?=?12 years), half with and half without a younger MR sibling. Children and mothers evaluated children's adjustment and sibling relations in home interviews and in 7 telephone calls described the child's sibling activities, household tasks, and negative maternal and sibling interactions that day. Children with MR siblings reported more caregiving, more maternal negativity, and poorer adjustment. Caregiving, sibling and maternal negativity, and child's satisfaction with parents' differential treatment of self compared with sibling were associated with adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disciplinary encounters between young boys and their mothers and fathers: Is there a contingency system?

In a study with 46 sets of male twins and 44 male singletons (mean age 32.4 mo), parents' actions preceding verbal control, considered in addition to their verbal control, were analyzed as 2nd-order antecedents of child compliance. When added to a simple command, physical control detracts from the effectiveness of the command to procure compliance, but positively toned action increases it. Analysis of parents' responses to children's compliance or noncompliance revealed that they were both most often followed by parental nonresponse. The mother tended to react more often to compliance than the father did. The father's presence affected the mother–child interactions beneficially, but she was the major disciplinarian. The kind of response made by parents was generally more a function of the overall base rate of the different parental action categories than a response determined contingently by the child's act. In natural encounters, the control system seems somewhat erratic. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Optimally matching support and perceived spousal sensitivity.

Partner sensitivity is an important antecedent of both intimacy (H. T. Reis & P. Shaver, 1988) and attachment (M. D. S. Ainsworth, 1989). On the basis of the optimal matching model of social support (C. E. Cutrona & D. Russell, 1990), support behaviors that "matched" the support goals of the stressed individual were predicted to lead to the perception of partner sensitivity. Predictions were tested with 59 married couples, who engaged in a videotaped self-disclosure task. Matching support was defined as the disclosure of emotions followed by emotional support or a request for information followed by informational support. Partial evidence was found for the predictions. Matching support following the disclosure of emotions was predictive of perceived partner sensitivity. Mismatched support following the disclosure of emotions predicted lower marital satisfaction, through the mediation of partner sensitivity. Matching support following a request for information was not predictive of perceived partner sensitivity, but negative partner responses (e.g., criticism or sarcasm) following a request for information negatively predicted perceptions of partner sensitivity. The importance of considering the context of support transactions is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cognitive effort and word distinctiveness on learning disabled and nondisabled readers' recall.

Explored the notion that differences in word recall between skilled and learning disabled (LD) readers are related to cognitive effort in 3 experiments. Ss were 12 skilled readers (mean age 13.6 yrs) and 12 LD readers (mean age 13.5 yrs) in Exp I, 12 skilled readers (mean age 12.20 yrs) and 12 LD readers (mean age 11.63 yrs) in Exp II, and 24 skilled readers (mean age 8.75 yrs) and 24 LD readers (mean age 8.55 yrs) in Exp III. Cognitive effort represents the mental input to which a limited-capacity attentional system expands to produce a response. Manipulation of primary task difficulty (anagram solutions) and subsequent performance on a secondary task (word recall of correctly solved anagrams) was used to infer cognitive effort. The primary task included manipulations of word list organization and task orientation instructions. In general, after a difficult primary task, secondary task performance was higher for skilled readers than it was for LD readers. Ability group interactions occurred for word list organization and task orientation instructions. It is suggested that the amount of cognitive effort that can be effectively expended to produce a distinctive memory trace is related to individual differences in attentional capacity. Specifically, skilled readers' encoded memory traces under high-effort conditions contained more distinct semantic information than did the traces of LD readers. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Micropsych: Applications in a residential facility for developmentally disabled persons.

Investigated the impact of a microcomputer system that was used to assist a psychologist in the assessment, training, and management of developmentally disabled persons living in a large residential facility. The microcomputer system generated evaluation reports, analyzed behavior patterns, and prepared comprehensive individualized behavioral intervention plans for individuals. These products were used by the psychologist to assist the facility's management with decisions about placement of residents and resource allocation. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers, fathers, stepfathers, and siblings as providers of supervision, acceptance, and autonomy to young adolescents.

This study examined whether 124 young adolescents living with 2 biological parents and at least 1 sibling (TP) and 27 young adolescents living with mothers, stepfathers, and at least 1 sibling (SF) differed in the extent to which they agreed that mothers, fathers or stepfathers, and siblings often provided supervision, acceptance, and opportunities for autonomy. Support was obtained for the view that the family systems of TP adolescents, more than the family systems of SF adolescents, are hierarchically organized in terms of which specific family members are involved in socialization processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem-solving strategies in learning disabled and normal boys: Developmental and instructional effects.

A developmentally sensitive problem-solving task, the 20-Questions Game, was utilized in this study to examine development- and treatment-related variables among 48 learning disabled and 48 normal boys of two age levels (8–10 years old and 11–23 years old). Subjects performed on three different versions of the experimental task before, immediately after, and two weeks after receiving one of two treatment packages, which differed in their emphasis on task-specific and metacognitive strategies. Results indicated that both younger boys and learning disabled boys demonstrated less efficient problem-solving skills than their older and normally achieving peers. In all subject groups, boys' ability to make use of specific problem-solving skills was highly influenced by variations in stimulus characteristics. Brief training was effective in improving the performance of all subject groups on trained and untrained materials at posttest and follow-up trials. However, expected differences in effectiveness between treatment packages were not realized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adaptability and cohesion of dyadic relationships in families with developmentally disabled children.

In 93 families with developmentally disabled children, mothers, fathers, and 1 nondisabled sibling rated the cohesion and adaptability of family dyads using D. A. Cole and A. E. Jordan's (1989) modified version of Olson's Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (D. H. Olson et al, 1985). With these multiple perspectives of multiple relationships, multitrait-multimethod confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the convergent and discriminant validity of dyadic adaptability and cohesion. Three distinct cohesion traits representing the mother–father, father–child, and mother–child relationships were confirmed. In contrast, mother–child and father–child adaptability traits were highly correlated, suggesting a 2-trait model: parent–child adaptability and mother–father adaptability. The importance of this methodology for research on families with developmentally disabled children is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping behavior and personal responsibility as factors in the perception of disabled persons by the nondisabled.

Two variables—Coping or Succumbing orientations toward one’s disability and being Responsible or Not Responsible for becoming physically disabled—were manipulated to determine their effects upon evaluation by the nondisabled of someone with a disability. Four experimental groups of 24 each, none of whom were disabled, were exposed to all combinations of the two independent variables. Subjects saw one of four videotaped interviews of a person in a wheel chair assuming one of the combined roles (e.g., Coping-Responsible). Dependent measures were a semantic differential, a rating scale of the person with a disability, and affect expressed in a written communication about the disabled person. Results of all measures using two-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were the same. Being portrayed as Coping and Not Responsible resulted in most favorable evaluations, with coping being more potent than responsibility. The order of favorability is Coping-Not Responsible, Coping-Responsible, Succumbing-Not Responsible, Succumbing-Responsible. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative reactions to received spousal care: Predictors and consequences of miscarried support.

This study focused on the negative reactions of older women with osteoarthritis to the receipt of instrumental support (i.e., physical assistance) from their husbands and the effects of such negative reactions on the women's psychological well-being and self-care. Applying a person-environment fit model, the authors predicted that women's negative reactions to spousal support would be determined by the fit between this support and the personal centrality (importance) of being functionally independent. Consistent with this prediction, women who received high levels of support from the husband and for whom being functionally independent was not highly central reacted less negatively to this support. More negative reactions to spousal support were related to greater concurrent depressive symptomatology and fewer self-care behaviors. In addition, negative reactions were predictive of the women's increased depressive symptomatology and decreased life satisfaction. Findings illustrate a useful theoretical approach to the examination of support from family caregivers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers and fathers interacting in dyads and triads with normal and hyperactive sons.

Mother–son and father–son interactions of families with hyperactive and normal 6- to 12-yr-old sons were observed in dyadic and triadic settings. There was more frequent coercion in families with hyperactive boys, especially when mothers and sons interacted in the dyadic setting. This mother–son acrimony carried over to the triadic context, wherein fathers exhibited a rescue-coercion pattern of behavior. Fathers increased, whereas mothers decreased, their demands of sons in triads over dyads, and both fathers and sons became more aversive toward each other in triads than in dyads. This pattern was not as clearly evident in the interactions of families with normal sons. Boys in both groups of families behaved more negatively toward mothers than toward fathers in dyadic interactions. Compared with fathers, mothers made more demands and were more emotionally expressive toward their sons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Print exposure as a predictor of word reading and reading comprehension in disabled and nondisabled readers.

The relation of print exposure, measured by a revised version of A. E. Cunningham and K. E. Stanovich's (1990) Title Recognition Test (TRT), to word reading and reading comprehension was examined in disabled and nondisabled readers, Grades 5–9. In disabled readers, the TRT was a significant predictor of word reading when phonological skill was accounted for but not when orthographic ability was added to the regression equation, suggesting that the TRT overlaps considerably with orthographic skill. The TRT significantly predicted nondisabled readers' word reading after both phonological and orthographic skills were accounted for. The TRT contributed significantly to reading comprehension once variance was partialed from higher order reading processes for disabled readers only. The TRT's power to predict comprehension may be ascribed to the effects of print exposure on automaticity of word recognition, knowledge, or familiarization with text structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Entry behavior and emotion regulation abilities of developmentally delayed boys

This study investigated the social deficits of developmentally delayed children. Participants were 48 five-year-old to eight-year-old boys. Delayed children (n = 20) were compared with nondelayed children of similar chronological age (CA nondelayed; n = 20) and of similar mental age (n = 8). The behavior and emotion regulation strategies of participants were assessed in an analogue entry situation. Delayed children were just as able as nondelayed children to understand the play themes of others but were more intrusive in delivering their entry attempts. Delayed children appeared to have less effective emotion regulation strategies for coping with entry failure and were more likely to increase their use of disruptive entry strategies over time than CA nondelayed children.     

Teenage status of hyperactive and nonhyperactive learning disabled boys

Three groups of learning disabled boys--hyperactives, normoactives, and hypoactives--were studied in grade school, reevaluated at fourteen. At follow-up, all three groups remained at disadvantage to controls on academic and cognitive measures and on complex reaction time. Half the hyperactives had experienced major conflicts with authority, and over a third of hypoactives exhibited psychologically disturbing behaviors. Mental health of normoactives appeared comparable to controls.     

Peer-related social interactions of developmentally delayed young children: Development and characteristics.

Conducted a short-term longitudinal study of the peer-related social interactions of 111 developmentally delayed toddler and preschool age children. Initial analyses centered on 2 groups: one composed of younger and more severely delayed children (aged 1.8–6.6 yrs) and the other consisting of older and more mildly delayed children (aged 2.4–6.8 yrs). Observers coded a wide range of social and play behaviors during free-play interactions in individual classrooms, including ratings of social participation, constructiveness of play, and teacher behavior, as well as a series of sequential interactive measures. Similarities to normally developing children in the organization and developmental progression of peer interactions across the short term were noted for each of the groups. However, comparisons to normative expectations for preschool age children in relation to Ss' cognitive levels and cross-sectional analyses across CA suggested the existence of unusually marked deficits in peer interactions. These deficits may simply be a manifestation of a more basic and generalized social interaction deficit, or they may be related to the cognitive level-expressive language discrepancy characteristic of such children, or they may be due to the fact that such children are usually surrounded by other children with substantial deficits. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Families of the developmentally disabled: A guide to behavioral intervention.

Reviews the book, Families of the developmentally disabled: A guide to behavioral intervention by Sandra L. Harris (1983). Harris states that Families of the developmentally disabled is intended for clinicians who have a basic knowledge of behavior modification, but who may not have experience in applying behavior modification procedures to families with developmentally disabled children. The primary focus of the book is on providing practicing clinicians with a conceptual framework for incorporating behavioral interventions into family treatment situations and parent training programs. The book is divided into five chapters. Each chapter begins with a case study that highlights the issues to be addressed within the chapter, and generally provides the perspective of the author regarding the topic to be addressed. The remainder of each chapter is then devoted to providing a rationale for the perspective, usually containing a liberal number of references to support the author's viewpoint. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does mother know best? Mothers and fathers interacting with preschool sons and daughters.

Studied the interactional teaching patterns of 36 fathers and mothers with their 6-yr-old sons and daughters. Parents were asked to play with their child using a jigsaw puzzle and to teach the child to remember 24 picture cards that could be divided into conceptual categories. It was found that parents' instructional behaviors did not differ as a function of their own sex but rather on the basis of their child's sex. Parents attempted to teach their sons more general problem-solving strategies and were both more directive and more approving or disapproving of their sons than of their daughters. Parents interacted with their daughters in a more cooperative, concrete, and specific fashion; and daughters were given more feedback about their performance. The teaching interaction was effective in helping the child remember more items than they recalled without training. Several explanations for these sex-of-child effects are proposed. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers, fathers, and children in an urban park playground: A comparison of dyads and triads.

Observations were made of mother–child, father–child, and mother–father–child groups in an urban park playground. Results show great similarity between father–child dyads and mother–father–child triads, with mother–child dyads being consistently different. It is suggested that the similarities between triads and father-child dyads may occur because fathers and children rarely spend time alone together. Their dyadic rates of interaction and activity thus resemble those found in the triadic setting they usually experience. Group size and roles and relationships appear to exert a complex interactive effect on family-interaction patterns. The degree to which results might be situation-specific is considered, and implications for our understanding of family-interaction processes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)