Male gender role conflict, depression, and anxiety: Clarification and generalizability to women.

The purpose of this study was (a) to determine whether the relationship between male gender role conflict variables and mental health generalizes to women and (b) to investigate other aspects of social gender roles and mental health. An adaptation of the Gender Role Conflict Scale (I. M. O'Neil, B. J. Helms, R. K. Gable. L. David, & L. S. Wrightsman, 1986) and measures of depression and anxiety were administered to male and female college students. Men showed more restricted emotionality. more restricted affection, greater appropriate and inappropriate success, and more restricted affection, particularly for other men; there were no gender differences related to the conflict between work and family. However, for the most part these variables were related to depression and anxiety in similar ways in men and women. The major predictor of depression and anxiety for men and women was conflict between work and family. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of child adrenocortical functioning in pathways between interparental conflict and child maladjustment.

This study examined the interplay between interparental conflict and child cortisol reactivity to interparental conflict in predicting child maladjustment in a sample of 178 families and their kindergarten children. Consistent with the allostatic load hypothesis (McEwen & Stellar, 1993), results indicated that interparental conflict was indirectly related to child maladjustment through its association with individual differences in child cortisol reactivity. Analyses indicated that the multimethod assessment of interparental conflict was associated with lower levels of child cortisol reactivity to a simulated phone conflict between parents. Diminished cortisol reactivity, in turn, predicted increases in parental reports of child externalizing symptoms over a 2-year period. Associations between interparental conflict, child cortisol reactivity, and child externalizing symptoms remained robust even after demographic factors and other family processes were taken into account. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between spouses' depressive symptoms and marital conflict: A longitudinal investigation of the role of conflict resolution styles.

This study investigated longitudinal relations between spouses' depressive symptoms and styles of conflict resolution displayed by husbands and wives in marital conflict, including angry, depressive, and constructive patterns of expression. Behavioral observations were made from a community sample of 276 couples during marital conflict resolution tasks once a year for 3 years. Couples were observed engaging in a major and minor conflict resolution task. Constructive, angry, and depressive conflict resolution styles were derived from the behavioral observation coding. Couples self-reported on depressive symptoms and marital dissatisfaction. Path analyses provided support for an extension of the marital discord model of depression (Beach, Sandeen, & O'Leary, 1990). Specifically, angry, depressive, and constructive styles of conflict each mediated the link between marital dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms. Significant cross-spouse effects were found. Implications for the treatment of depressed and/or relationally discordant couples are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Substance use after residential treatment among individuals with co-occurring disorders: The role of anxiety/depressive symptoms and trauma exposure.

This longitudinal study examined the contribution of anxiety/depressive symptoms and lifetime and recent trauma exposure to substance use after residential substance abuse treatment among individuals with co-occurring disorders. Data were collected from adults at treatment entry and 6 and 12 months later. At treatment entry, nearly all participants reported lifetime trauma exposure, and over one third met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Over the follow-up, nearly one third of the participants were exposed to trauma. Lifetime trauma exposure and a diagnosis of PTSD at treatment entry were not associated with substance use over the follow-up. Trauma exposure and anxiety/depressive symptoms over the follow-up were associated with an increased likelihood of substance use. Gender did not moderate the association between trauma exposure and anxiety/depressive symptoms and substance use. These findings highlight the importance of monitoring for trauma exposure and symptoms of anxiety/depression to better target interventions and continuing care approaches to reduce the likelihood of posttreatment substance use in this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of change in adolescent substance use and symptomatology: Impact of paternal and maternal substance use disorders.

The effects of paternal and maternal substance use disorders (SUDs) on trajectories of change in adolescent offspring nicotine, alcohol, and drug use and symptomatology were investigated in a population-based sample of adolescent twins (N = 1,514). Adolescent and parental substance phenotypes were assessed when most adolescents were 11 years old, with 2 assessments of adolescents approximately every 3 years thereafter. Growth curves were fit using hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicated acceleration of substance involvement during adolescence, particularly for boys. Paternal and maternal SUD were each associated with more extreme trajectories. There was evidence for an additive, rather than interactive, combined parental effect. Findings help clarify the impact of paternal and maternal SUD on the development of substance involvement during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minority stress predictors of HIV risk behavior, substance use, and depressive symptoms: Results from a prospective study of bereaved gay men.

Objective: Minority stress is the most frequently hypothesized risk factor for the increased rates of adverse behavioral and mental health outcomes among sexual minorities. However, there is a paucity of longitudinal research addressing this hypothesis. Design: Prospective, community-based cohort of 74 bereaved gay men. Participants were assessed before the partner or close friend died of AIDS and then at 1, 6, 13, and 18 months postloss. Main Outcome Measures: HIV risk behavior (unprotected anal intercourse), substance use and abuse symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Results: Hierarchical Linear Modeling analyses revealed that changes in internalized homophobia, discrimination experiences, and expectations of rejection were differentially associated with HIV risk behavior, substance use, and depressive symptoms, respectively. In contrast to the significant effects of minority stress, bereavement-related stressors (e.g., length of partner illness, quality of relationship with deceased) were largely unrelated to these outcomes. Conclusion: The results provide evidence for the predictive validity of minority stress, even in the context of a major life stressor, and suggest the importance of targeting minority stress experiences in HIV and mental health interventions with gay men. Future studies are needed to assess the mechanisms through which minority stress is associated with adverse health outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in the development and adult outcome of co-occurring depression and delinquency in adolescence.

Using a dual trajectory modeling approach, we examined co-occurring trajectories of depression and delinquency from age 11 to age 18 and their relation to adult outcome six years later in a community sample of 1423 (674 boys) adolescents. We also examined the effects of childhood externalizing, internalizing, and social problems on trajectory membership for depression and delinquency. The results showed that although more girls than boys were likely to follow high-level, co-occurring trajectories on depression and delinquency, the adult outcome of adolescents following high-level trajectories on both domains was poorer for boys than for girls. However, the combination of decreasing depression symptoms and increasing delinquency symptoms across adolescence was related with poorer adult outcomes for girls compared to boys. Finally, whereas boys' high-level co-occurring trajectory of depression and delinquency was predicted by childhood aggression, girls' equivalent trajectory was predicted by childhood depression and delinquency. The findings support the “gender paradox” effect (Loeber & Keenan, 1994) stating that in disorders with an unequal gender ratio, members of the gender with the lower prevalence rate tend to be more seriously affected in terms of comorbidity and poor outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of aggressive personality and family relationships in explaining family conflict.

This study investigated whether genetic and environmental influences on global family conflict are explained by parents' personality, marital quality, and negative parenting. The sample comprised 876 same-sex pairs of twins, their spouses, and one adolescent child per twin from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden. Genetic influences on aggressive personality were correlated with genetic influences on global family conflict. Nonshared environmental influences on marital quality and negative parenting were correlated with nonshared environmental influences on global family conflict. Results suggest that parents' personality and unique experiences within their family relationships are important for understanding genetic and environmental influences on global conflict in the home. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity in the positive illusory bias.

The present study examined the relationships among gender, inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, depressive symptoms, and biases in perceptions of scholastic competence in children. Participants were 38 children with predominantly inattentive symptoms (IA), 59 children with predominantly hyperactive/impulsive symptoms or a combination of hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention (HICB), and 83 control (CTL) children. HICB children overestimated their scholastic competence more than IA children when reading and math achievement scores were used as criteria and more than CTL children when math achievement and teacher perceptions of children's competence were used as criteria. IA children generally did not differ from CTL children with regard to estimations of competence. Regression analyses suggested that positive illusory self- perceptions are associated with more severe hyperactivity/impulsivity, but not more severe inattention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict typology and children's appraisals: The moderating role of family cohesion.

Intense and frequent marital conflict is associated with greater appraisals of threat and self-blame in children, but little else is known about contextual factors that might affect appraisals. Systemic family theories propose that to understand child adaptation, it is necessary to understand the interconnected nature of family subsystem relationships. In a sample of 257 families with 8- to 12-year-old children, this study examined whether a four-level typology of marital conflict management was related to children's perceptions of marital conflict and their appraisals of perceived threat and self-blame. In addition, family cohesion was tested as a moderator of the relationship between marital conflict style and children's appraisals. Observational coding was used to group couples into Harmonious, Disengaged, Conflictual-Expressive, and Conflictual-Hostile groups. Children's report of the intensity, frequency, and degree of resolution of interparental discord corresponded well with observers' ratings. The relationship between marital conflict style and appraisals of threat and self-blame was moderated by family cohesiveness. At high levels of family cohesiveness, no group differences were found for either perceived threat or self-blame, whereas when family cohesiveness was low, threat was higher for the Harmonious and Conflictual-Hostile groups, as compared to the Conflictual-Expressive group, and self-blame was higher for both conflict groups (expressive and hostile), as compared to the Disengaged group. The results provide further evidence of interconnected nature of family subsystem relationships and the importance of distinguishing among different approaches to marital conflict management for understanding the complex and perhaps subtle but meaningful effects different family system factors have on child adaptation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The symptomatic expression of major depressive disorder in adolescents and young adults.

Data from the Oregon Adolescent Depression Project were used to examine the symptomatic expression of major depressive disorder (MDD) as a function of age and gender. The objective was to investigate the phenomenological nature of MDD among a cohort of adolescents as they progressed into early adulthood. The analyses were based on 564 participants who had experienced MDD in their lifetime. No systematic differences in the relative rate of occurrence of specific symptoms across episodes and only minor symptom differences between male and female participants were found. Age did not significantly influence the symptom picture. Stability of specific symptoms and episode severity across episodes was low. The results are discussed within the context of a stressor-symptom matching model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drinking to cope and alcohol use and abuse in unipolar depression: A 10-year model.

This study examined drinking to cope with distress and drinking behavior in a baseline sample of 412 unipolar depressed patients assessed 4 times over a 10-year period. Baseline drinking to cope operated prospectively as a risk factor for more alcohol consumption at 1-, 4, and 10-year follow-ups and for more drinking problems at 1- and 4-year follow-ups. Findings elucidate a key mechanism in this process by showing that drinking to cope strengthened the link between depressive symptoms and drinking behavior. Individuals who had a stronger propensity to drink to cope at baseline showed a stronger connection between depressive symptoms and both alcohol consumption and drinking problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of specific emotions in children's responses to interparental conflict: A test of the model.

Mothers, fathers, and their 6-year-old children (N?=?164) participated in a study testing key tenets of the specific emotions model of marital conflict. Parents reported their marital conflict strategies, were observed interacting with their children, and rated children's behavioral adjustment. Children reported their emotional reactions to specific interparental conflicts. Results support the specific emotions model. Children's behaviors mirrored the marital or parental behaviors of same-gender parents. Indirect effects of marital aggression through parental behavior were detected, and marital and parental behaviors interacted to predict girls' externalizing. Girls' anger, sadness, and fear increased with fathers' marital aggression. Fear and the anger by fear interaction predicted girls' internalizing. Fathers' marital aggression interacted with anger to predict externalizing and interacted with fear to predict internalizing behavior in boys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in the emergence of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents: A longitudinal investigation of parent and child reports.

The authors address questions about the rate that depressive symptoms emerge, developmental and gender differences in this rate, and differences between parent and child estimates of this rate. In a 12-wave, cohort-sequential, longitudinal design, 1,570 children (Grades 4-11) and parents completed reports about children's depression. Cross-domain latent growth curve analysis revealed that (a) the rate of symptom growth varied with developmental level, (b) gender differences symptom growth preceded emergence of mean level gender differences, (c) the rate of symptom development varied with age, and (d) parent-child agreement about rate of symptom change was stronger than agreement about time-specific symptoms. The authors suggest that predictability of depressive symptoms varies with age and the dimension under investigation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The critical role of conflict resolution in teams: A close look at the links between conflict type, conflict management strategies, and team outcomes.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 93(2) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2008-02855-019). Figure 2 on p. 184 (Theoretical Contributions section) is missing information about the numbers of teams and statements for the two groups using particularlistic strategies. For the decreasing and consistently low performance/decreasing and consistently low satisfaction group, there were 14 teams and 40 statements; for the decreasing and consistently low performance/increasing and consistently high satisfaction group, there were 11 teams and 46 statements.] This article explores the linkages between strategies for managing different types of conflict and group performance and satisfaction. Results from a qualitative study of 57 autonomous teams suggest that groups that improve or maintain top performance over time share 3 conflict resolution tendencies: (a) focusing on the content of interpersonal interactions rather than delivery style, (b) explicitly discussing reasons behind any decisions reached in accepting and distributing work assignments, and (c) assigning work to members who have the relevant task expertise rather than assigning by other common means such as volunteering, default, or convenience. The authors' results also suggest that teams that are successful over time are likely to be both proactive in anticipating the need for conflict resolution and pluralistic in developing conflict resolution strategies that apply to all group members. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of life satisfaction and depressive symptoms in all-cause mortality.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether life satisfaction and depressive symptoms are independent predictors of mortality in a non-Western sample of adults. The sample included 5,131 adults (ages 50–95 at baseline) in Taiwan who participated in the Survey of Health and Living Status of the Near Elderly and Elderly. There were 1,815 deaths recorded over a 10-year period. Higher life satisfaction significantly predicted lower risk of mortality after controlling for age, sex, education, marital status, and health status. Depressive symptoms significantly predicted higher risk of mortality. A significant interaction with age revealed that the protective effect of life satisfaction weakened with age. The results suggest that life satisfaction and depressive symptoms independently predict mortality risk in adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Daily stress, cortisol, and sleep: The moderating role of childhood psychosocial environments.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore whether childhood family environments moderated the relation between daily stress and daily biological outcomes (sleep, cortisol output) in healthy young adults. Design: There were 87 participants, ages 19 to 25 who provided information on characteristics of their childhood family environment (conflict, parental warmth). Main Outcome Measures: For 1 week they completed a daily stress checklist via electronic diary, provided salivary cortisol samples 4 times a day, and wore an Actiwatch to measure sleep (minutes, efficiency). Data was analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Results: Family risk significantly moderated the relation between daily number of stressors and sleep minutes (b = ?12.10, p = .02), such that the more difficult one's childhood environment, the less sleep individuals got on days in which they experienced a greater number of stressors. Parental warmth moderated the relation between stress severity and cortisol output (b = ?0.19, p = .04), such that the less parental warmth individuals received during childhood, the more cortisol they secreted on days that they experienced more severe stress. Conclusions: The childhood psychosocial environment may have long-term effects on biological responses to daily stress, creating vulnerability to disease in individuals from difficult childhoods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interparental conflict and children's school adjustment: The explanatory role of children's internal representations of interparental and parent-child relationships.

This study examined how children's insecure internal representations of interparental and parent-child relationships served as explanatory mechanisms in multiple pathways linking interparental conflict and parent emotional unavailability with the emotional and classroom engagement difficulties the children had in their adjustment to school. With their parents, 229 kindergarten children (127 girls and 102 boys, mean age = 6.0 years, SD = .50, at Wave 1) participated in this multimethod, 3-year longitudinal investigation. Findings revealed that children's insecure representations of the interparental relationship were a significant intervening mechanism in associations between observational ratings of interparental conflict and child and teacher reports on children's emotional and classroom difficulties in school over a 2-year period. Moreover, increased parental emotional unavailability accompanying high levels of interparental conflict was associated with children's insecure representations of the parent-child relationship and children's difficulties in classroom engagement at school entry. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the intrinsic processes that contribute to difficulties with stage-salient tasks for children who are experiencing interparental discord. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The critical role of conflict resolution in teams: A close look at the links between conflict type, conflict management strategies, and team outcomes": Correction.

Reports an error in "The critical role of conflict resolution in teams: A close look at the links between conflict type, conflict management strategies, and team outcomes" by Kristin J. Behfar, Randall S. Peterson, Elizabeth A. Mannix and William M. K. Trochim (Journal of Applied Psychology, 2008[Jan], Vol 93[1], 170-188). Figure 2 on p. 184 (Theoretical Contributions section) is missing information about the numbers of teams and statements for the two groups using particularlistic strategies. For the decreasing and consistently low performance/decreasing and consistently low satisfaction group, there were 14 teams and 40 statements; for the decreasing and consistently low performance/increasing and consistently high satisfaction group, there were 11 teams and 46 statements. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-00266-012.) This article explores the linkages between strategies for managing different types of conflict and group performance and satisfaction. Results from a qualitative study of 57 autonomous teams suggest that groups that improve or maintain top performance over time share 3 conflict resolution tendencies: (a) focusing on the content of interpersonal interactions rather than delivery style, (b) explicitly discussing reasons behind any decisions reached in accepting and distributing work assignments, and (c) assigning work to members who have the relevant task expertise rather than assigning by other common means such as volunteering, default, or convenience. The authors' results also suggest that teams that are successful over time are likely to be both proactive in anticipating the need for conflict resolution and pluralistic in developing conflict resolution strategies that apply to all group members. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of drug use in a conceptual model of intimate partner violence in men and women arrested for domestic violence.

In a previous study, alcohol problems in perpetrators and their partners contributed directly and indirectly to intimate partner violence (IPV), even after including other correlates of violence in the model (G. L. Stuart et al., 2006). The present study extends these findings by examining the role of illicit drug use. We recruited 271 men and 135 women arrested for IPV and used structural equation modeling to examine the data. Results showed that drug use, as reported by the perpetrators, was a stronger predictor of IPV than were alcohol problems in perpetrators and their partners. Arrested males' marijuana use and stimulant use (i.e., cocaine and amphetamines) were associated with perpetration of IPV, and their report of their female partners' stimulant use was associated with her violence perpetration. In arrested women, specific substances used did not predict violence perpetration beyond other model variables; however, female perpetrators' report of male partners' stimulant use predicted male psychological and physical aggression, after controlling for other variables. These results provide further evidence that drug problems by both partners may be important in the evolution of aggression. Implications for batterer intervention programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)