The social and academic competence of children vulnerable to schizophrenia and other behavior pathologies.

Presents the rationale behind and the initial findings from a research project investigating the competence of children vulnerable to psychopathology. 4 target groups were studied: (a) children with schizophrenic mothers, (b) children with internalizing mothers, (c) externalizing children, and (d) internalizing children. R. Achenbach's internalizing-externalizing classification system was used. Each of the 120 target children (mean age = 10) was placed in an experimental trial with 120 matched and 116 randomly-selected controls. Judgments of social and intellectual competence were made by peers and teachers in 113 classrooms in 37 elementary schools. Results are presented for each sex separately at the trial and target-group levels. Overall, externalizers were judged least competent, followed in order of increasing competence by children of schizophrenic mothers, internalizers, childern of internalizing mothers, and controls. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizophrenia: Effects of inheritance and rearing on reaction time.

Studied both manual and verbal reaction time in 4 selected groups of adult Ss (N = 258) in an attempt to uncover hereditary and environmental influences on the reaction time of Ss whose parents do or do not have schizophrenic disorders. The groups included (a) adoptive offspring of schizophrenic parents (adoptive index); (b) adoptive offspring of nonschizophrenic parents, but whose adoptive parents had a psychiatric record of schizophrenic disorder (cross-foster); (c) adoptive offspring of nonschizophrenic parents (adoptive control); and (d) offspring of schizophrenic parents who were reared by their biological parents (nonadoptees). Analysis of variance was used to assess the effects of rearing by a schizophrenic parent, a genetic background for schizophrenia, and interaction between rearing and genetic background. Groups opposed for genetic background for schizophrenia were not different in reaction time performance, while groups opposed for rearing by a schizophrenic parent were significantly so. Mean reaction time was slower in groups reared by a schizophrenic parent than in those reared by a nonschizophrenic parent. There was no significant interaction between rearing and genetic background for reaction time performance. (French summary) (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of maternal psychopathology in male and female schizophrenics.

Selecting from records of a child guidance clinic, the psychopathology of 165 mothers of male and female children and adolescents was studied in order to investigate sex differences in the degree of relationship between mother's mental status and the child's later hospitalization for schizophrenia. Of the children, 108 were later hospitalized for schizophrenia, while 57 achieved an adequate adjustment in areas of work and interpersonal relationships. For the girls, those who became schizophrenic had severely disturbed mothers significantly more often than did those who achieved an adequate adjustment (p     

Schizophrenia in high-risk subjects: Prognostic maternal characteristics.

A Danish prospective, longitudinal study of 207 children (average age 15 yrs) at high risk for schizophrenia (they have schizophrenic mothers), begun in 1962, involved assessment of mothers on a number of variables. In 1972 it was found that 17 of the children of these mothers became schizophrenic. The present study sought to identify predictors of schizophrenia among antecedent maternal variables. The mothers (15 Ss) of the children who became schizophrenic (a) had psychosis precipitated by childbirth and (b) exhibited instability in their relations with men as well as antisocial behaviors. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Breakdown in high-risk subjects: Familial and early environmental factors.

Studied 40 children with schizophrenic mothers, selected from a larger study. 20 suffered breakdown; the others were matched controls. The mothers of Ss in the breakdown group experienced more emotional stress during their pregnancies than did the mothers of the improved group. Ss in the breakdown group suffered loss of mother at an earlier age and tended significantly not to acquire a substitute mother. The breakdown group tended to have mentally ill fathers as well as schizophrenic mothers. There were no fathers hospitalized for mental illness in the improved group. Results are discussed in terms of the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Signal detection in vigilance tasks and behavioral attributes among offspring of schizophrenic mothers and among hyperactive children.

24 children of schizophrenic mothers, 20 children of mothers with nonpsychotic psychiatric disorders falling outside the schizophrenia spectrum, and 14 hyperactive children were examined relative to groups of individually matched comparison children and to a representatively stratified group of 67 normal children. Ss were 9–16 yrs of age. Children of schizophrenic mothers showed lower mean perceptual sensitivity (PS) than matched and stratified normal children and included an excessive number of extremely poor scorers. Neither children of mothers with nonpsychotic disorders outside the schizophrenia spectrum nor hyperactive children displayed a significant deficit in PS. Hyperactive children scored lower on a beta response criterion factor across vigilance tasks and were rated as higher on an Emotionality factor and lower on a Fearful Inhibition factor than their normal peers. The perceptual sensitivity deficit among children of schizophrenic mothers was found across motivational feedback conditions and was evident throughout the vigilance period. (3? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Registered criminality in families with children at high risk for schizophrenia.

Describes a project in which 207 Danish children (mean age 15.1 yrs in 1962) with schizophrenic mothers have been periodically assessed and followed since 1962. 104 children matched in age, whose parents and grandparents had never been psychiatrically hospitalized, served as controls. The number of registered criminal offenses in the Ss, their schizophrenic mothers, and their fathers was found to be higher than for controls. Implications for high-risk research and hypotheses on the relation of schizophrenia and criminality are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inheritance of general intelligence.

Describes the author's extensive research of the relative influence of hereditary factors on general cognitive ability. Analysis of measures of intelligence for family members related by varying degrees of kinship identified 4 types of factors: common and specific genetic and environmental influences. A model was then developed to represent the mode of mental inheritance, based on the theory of polygenic inheritance of bodily characteristics. The total phenotypic variance was divided into 4 mathematical components, represented by correlations between (a) monozygotic twins reared apart (genetic factor), (b) children and 1 of their parents (dominance factor), (c) fathers and mothers (assortative mating factor), and (d) monozygotic twins reared together and those reared apart (environmental factor). Application of the equation to actual data indicates that intelligence and bodily characteristics are influenced to much the same extent by very similar genetic characteristics. It is concluded that there is a general factor which enters into every type of cognitive process and differs according to the individual's genetic constitution. (40 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The association between psychopathology in fathers versus mothers and children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems: A meta-analysis.

In light of the selective focus on maternal (vs. paternal) psychopathology as a risk factor for child development, this meta-analysis examines the relative strength of the association between psychopathology in mothers versus fathers and the presence of internalizing and externalizing disorders in children. Associations were stronger between maternal than paternal psychopathology and the presence of internalizing (but not externalizing) problems in children, with all average effect sizes being small in magnitude. Relations were moderated by variables that highlight theoretically relevant differences between psychopathology in mothers versus fathers (e.g., age of children studied, type of parental psychopathology) and by variables related to methodological differences across studies (e.g., method of assessing psychopathology in parents and children, type of sample recruited, familial composition). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental psychopathology in children of depressed mothers.

It is suggested that the tripartite model by R. D. Parke et al (1988) of the ways that parents influence their child's social development might be used to organize the study of abnormal development in children of depressed mothers. Parents influence their child through dyadic interaction, coaching and teaching practices, and managing their child's social environment. Disruption in each of these areas has been associated with parental psychopathology and has been implicated in the development of deviant child outcomes. The components of a theoretical model of developmental psychopathology are outlined, as well as theoretical and methodological problems that have yet to be resolved. Issues of concern include the heterogeneity of maternal diagnoses; distinguishing among genetic, parenting, and environmental effects; matching the level of behavioral analysis with the question being answered; the heterogeneity of child outcomes; age-related effects; bidirectional influences; and the role of paternal psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concept of "pathogenesis" in parents of schizophrenic and normal children.

Administered the TAT to 5 pairs of parents of normal and schizophrenic children in a cross-validation study. Parents by diagnostic category were matched on age, education, and social class. Each story was judged pathogenic, benign, or unscorable and a pathogenic score was tabulated for each S from the formula: pathogenic/pathogenic plus benign. Mothers of the normal children told significantly fewer pathogenic stories than mothers of the schizophrenic children. Although fathers did not differ significantly, their mean pathogenic scores were distributed according to the hypotheses of the study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of maternal depression in perceptions of child maladjustment.

We investigated (a) the relation of maternal depression to perceptions of externalizing and internalizing disorders in children and (b) quality of communication in a mother–child interaction task as a function of maternal depression and perceptions of the child. 64 children of unipolar or bipolar mothers, chronic medically ill or normal mothers were studied; clinical diagnoses, children's reports, and teachers' ratings served as objective criteria of children's maladjustment. Maternal depression defined by current symptomatology on the Beck Depression Inventory and by psychiatric status was not associated with misperceptions of psychopathology. Maternal depression interacted with children's actual behaviors to predict mothers' perceptions: nondepressed mothers were less accurate reporters of problems in children than were depressed mothers. Depressed mothers who perceived maladjustment in their disturbed children made more negative comments in interactions than did nondepressed mothers of disturbed children. The apparent mutual impact of mothers' and children's maladjustment requires fuller exploration in offspring studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality resemblances between unwed mothers and their adopted-away offspring.

In a sample of 300 Texas adoptive families, there was a tendency for adopted children to be more extraverted and emotionally stable than biological children (3–18 yrs of age). For extraversion there was a low but significant resemblance between unwed mothers and their adopted-away children; mothers had been administered the 16 PF, children the High School or Children's Personality Questionnaire. Paradoxically, however, children of mothers with elevated MMPI scores tended to be rated as more emotionally stable than children of mothers with better adjustment on the MMPI. This latter finding is interpreted as suggesting an interaction between emotional sensitivity and the early environment. According to this hypothesis, individuals with genotypes making them vulnerable to their environments could thrive in the warm climate of the adoptive families, but turn out relatively badly in the presumably less benign families in which the unwed mothers were reared. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of fathers in child and adolescent psychopathology: Make room for daddy.

Summarizes research concerning the relation between paternal factors and child and adolescent psychopathology. When compared with mothers, fathers continue to be dramatically underrepresented in developmental research on psychopathology. However, findings from studies of children of clinically referred fathers and nonreferred samples of children and their fathers indicate that there is substantial association between paternal characteristics and child and adolescent psychopathology. Findings from studies of fathers of clinically referred children are stronger for fathers' effects on children's externalizing than internalizing problems. In most cases the degree of risk associated with paternal psychopathology is comparable to that associated with maternal psychopathology. Evidence indicates that the presence of paternal psychopathology is a sufficient but not necessary condition for child or adolescent psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An analysis of the schizophrenogenic mother concept by means of the Thematic Apperception Test.

Administered the TAT to 20 mothers of schizophrenic and 20 mothers of normal children. Children were matched on the basis of sex, age, level of education, number of siblings, and the child's position among his siblings. Mothers were matched on the basis of age, level of education, and social class. Each story was judged pathogenic, benign, or unscorable by 2 clinicians. A pathogenic score was tabulated for each mother and for each TAT card from the following formula: pathogenic/pathogenic plus benign. It was found that mothers of schizophrenic children could be differentiated significantly from those of normal children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevention services in primary care: taking time, setting priorities

Standard family history and family study methods were used with 650 first- and 1174 second-degree biological relatives of 133 adolescents who were studied initially 6 to 8 years ago. They included 69 prepubertal children considered at risk for suicidal behavior and 64 prepubertal children selected from the community. This study aimed to identify relationships between family psychopathology and adolescents' lifetime history of suicidal states. Family discord, suicide attempts of mother, and substance abuse of mothers and fathers were significantly more prevalent among adolescents with lifetime history of a suicide attempt. Mothers' and fathers' substance abuse was associated with adolescents' lifetime history of suicidal ideation. Results highlight importance of evaluating and treating family psychopathology to reduce risk for youth suicidal states.     

Characteristics of families of children who refuse post-divorce visits

Compared to 88 non-refusers, 12 children who refused post-divorce visits with their noncustodial parents were significantly more likely to be female, to be the oldest child at home, to be in special education, and to have at least one parent with evidence of psychopathology, particularly substance abuse, violence toward spouse, suicidal behavior, or psychosis. Most children in both groups lived primarily with their mothers.     

Predictors of child psychological changes during family-based treatment for obesity

OBJECTIVE: To explore the influence of 1-year changes in child obesity and maternal psychopathology on changes in child psychological problems. DESIGN: Hierarchical regression models were used to predict child psychological change, with demographic variables, maternal psychological change, and child percentage overweight change as predictors. SETTING: Pediatric obesity research clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Clinic sample of 116 obese 8- to 12-year-old children and their mothers. INTERVENTIONS: Family-based behavioral weight-control program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Child psychopathology was assessed via mother-reported Child Behavior Checklists and maternal psychopathology was determined by standardizing scores on the Cornell Medical Index and the Symptoms Checklist-90-Revised. RESULTS: Significant improvements were observed in child percentage overweight (-20.1% overweight), and child and maternal psychopathology. Improved maternal psychopathology accounted for a significant amount of variance in improvements in the Child Behavior Checklist total Problems Scale and internalizing and externalizing problems subscales. Decreased obesity accounted for a significant amount of variance in improvements in the Total Competence scale and, somatic complaints, social problems and social competence subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist. Significant interactions of child obesity change by sex were found for Total Problems and externalizing scores. The interactions were due to girls with greater obesity reduction showing greater improvement in Total Problems, whereas boys with greater obesity reduction showed less improvement in externalizing problems. CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight the multidimensional nature of psychosocial functioning in obese children and call attention to multiple avenues for intervention to improve their psychosocial functioning.     

Dissecting daily distress in mothers of children with ADHD: An electronic diary study.

It is well known that parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience elevated levels of caregiver stress, but little is known about the ebb and flow of parental distress as it happens, or the degree of synchrony between short-term oscillations in child behaviors and maternal distress. Electronic diaries (eDiaries) were used to dissect daily distress in natural settings. Across 7 days during nonschool hours, half-hourly eDiaries were completed independently by mothers and their 8- to 12-year-old children (51 receiving medication for ADHD and 58 comparison peers). Diary items tapped behaviors, moods, and contexts, with children reporting their own behaviors and mothers reporting on themselves and their children. Maternal distress and child ADHD-type behaviors exhibited moderate to strong associations “in the moment,” whether child behaviors were reported by mothers or children. This mother-child synchrony emerged for the comparison as well as the ADHD group, although the associations were stronger when the dyad included a child with ADHD. Because fixed-effects analyses were conducted, these patterns are not attributable to levels of psychopathology or other stable individual differences in mothers or children. Further moderation analyses revealed that the links between child behaviors and maternal distress were strengthened by maternal risk and attenuated by child behavioral self-esteem; these effects were modest but detectable. These findings can help guide not only interventions targeted on improving quality of life in families of children with ADHD, but also programs designed to help all parents identify and manage their own parenting stressors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in vocal interaction with mother and stranger in Greek infants: Some cognitive implications.

Studies in the US rarely find differences in the social–vocal behaviors of male and female infants, and when such differences are found, they favor females. The present study examined whether this pattern would hold true in Greece, where the parental preference for boys over girls could differentially affect rearing behavior. Ss were normal 3-mo-olds, 39 reared by their parents and 25 reared in an institution. Ss' vocal interaction pattern was assessed by differential vocal responsiveness (DVR) to mother/caretaker or a stranger during 3-min social–vocal interactions. Home-reared males had higher DVR scores than home-reared females, whereas no such sex difference was obtained for the institution-reared infants. Also, the affective voice quality rating of mothers talking to their sons was higher than that of mothers talking to their daughters, whereas no such difference existed in the way caretakers talked to the institution-reared infants. Results suggest that early differences in vocal-interactional patterns, and possibly cognitive processing, may be attributable to differences in parental behavior. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)