Family characteristics and behavior problems of suicidal and non-suicidal children and adolescents

Development of methods for gene transfer into specific cell types or tissues is important for experimental research as well as clinical therapeutical approaches. We report here the cloning and characterization of the envelope (env) gene and the U3 region of a retrovirus from an infected human Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) cell line. The replication of this murine retrovirus is also fully supported by other lung cancer cell lines of different histological origin. We present evidence that a long terminal repeat (LTR)-beta-galactosidase (beta-Gal) reporter construct performed as well as an analogous cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter beta-Gal construct in the human lung epithelial cell line A549 and in the human larynx carcinoma cell line HEp2.     

The relationship between parental anger and behavior problems in children and adolescents.

Two studies examined the relationship between parental trait anger, parental symptomatology, and children's and adolescents' emotional/behavioral problems. Results of Study 1 suggested that parental trait anger did not serve as a mediator between parental symptoms and children's emotional/behavioral problems. Study 2, however, suggested that parental trait anger did serve as a mediator between parental depression and adolescents' emotional/behavioral problems. For internalizing behaviors, inward anger expression and trait anger were mediators in father–son dyads, and outward anger expression was a mediator in mother–daughter dyads. For externalizing behavior, inward anger expression was a mediator in father–son dyads, and outward anger expression was a mediator in mother–son dyads. These results suggest the importance of examining parental dispositions toward anger in relation to the psychological symptoms family members may experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mild closed-head injury in children and adolescents: behavior problems and academic outcomes

The issue of whether mild head injuries (HIs) in children cause behavior problems and poor scholastic performance is controversial. This study included 119 children (range = 8-16 years old) with HI, 114 with other injuries, and 106 with no injury (NI). Behavioral functioning was assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist; academic functioning, with school grades and standardized testing. Higher T scores were found for both injury groups versus NI participants on preinjury behavioral status. All 3 groups' behavioral scores decreased relative to baseline at 1 year. HI and NI groups did not differ in school grades or achievement testing either pre- or postinjury. These results are consistent with the conclusion that head injury of the mildest type does not increase the probability of new overt behavioral or academic problems.     

Stress-coping factors in adolescent substance use: test of ethnic and gender differences in samples of urban adolescents

Investigated group differences in the relationship between stress-coping variables and substance (cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana) use with samples of inner-city students in sixth through eighth grades (N = 1,289) and metropolitan-area students in seventh through ninth grades (N = 1,702). Measures included affect, life events, parental support, and coping patterns. African-American adolescents had the lowest rate of substance use, Hispanics were intermediate, and Whites had the highest rate; there was no gender difference in overall substance use. Multiple regression analysis showed the strength of predictive relationships for stress-coping variables was lower for African Americans and was greatest for Whites; four methodological tests showed these differences were not attributable to statistical artifacts. Hispanic adolescents showed greater vulnerability than Whites at younger ages but this effect reversed at later ages. Implications for prevention research are discussed.     

Longitudinal effects of adaptability on behavior problems and maternal depression in families of adolescents with autism.

Research on families of individuals with autism has tended to focus on child-driven effects utilizing models of stress and coping. The current study used a family systems perspective to examine whether family level adaptability promoted beneficial outcomes for mothers and their adolescents with autism over time. Participants were 149 families of children diagnosed with autism who were between the ages of 10 and 22 years during the 3-year period examined. Mothers reported on family adaptability, the mother–child relationship, their own depressive symptoms, and the behavior problems of their children at Wave 1, and these factors were used to predict maternal depression and child behavior problems 3 years later. Family level adaptability predicted change in both maternal depression and child behavior problems over the study period, above and beyond the contribution of the dyadic mother–child relationship. These associations did not appear to depend upon the intellectual disability status of the individual with autism. Implications for autism, parent mental health, family systems theory, and intervention with this population are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial factors and high-risk sexual behavior: race differences among urban adolescents

Adolescence is a period of sexual experimentation. We examined psychosocial predictors of high-risk sexual behavior and condom use. The sample included 824 ninth-graders, most of whom are African American. We conducted separate analyses for whites and African Americans. Predictors included alcohol and substance use, delinquency, prosocial behaviors, and family and peer influences. We found that problem behaviors predicted high-risk sexual behavior, but the effects were stronger for white youth. We also found that friends' behaviors were more predictive than family influences, except for family conflict. In general, the models explained more variance for white youths than for African-American youths. The results suggest that problem behavior theory and social interactions theory may be most relevant for white youth and that other models may be necessary to explain high-risk sexual behavior among African-American youths.     

Neuroendocrine reactivity, internalizing behavior problems, and control-related cognitions in clinic-referred children and adolescents.

Literature on neuroendocrine-behavior relations suggests that cortisol reactivity to social challenge may be associated with children's internalizing problem behavior. To explore this possibility, and the role of control-related beliefs, 102 7–17 yr-old clinic-referred children were studied. Measures of problem behavior, depression and anxiety, and control-related beliefs were collected, and Ss' saliva was sampled before and after a parent–child conflict task. Neuroendocrine activation (i.e., cortisol increase) in response to the interaction task was associated with Ss' (1) social withdrawal, social anxiety, and social problems; (2) socially inhibited behavior during the task; and (3) low levels of perceived social contingency and high levels of external attributions for personal successes and failures. Our findings are among the first to link children's behavioral response to social challenge, neuroendocrine activation, cognitions, and psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

含水率和腐蚀因素对钢筋混凝土柱抗震性能的影响

通过分析混凝土试块浸泡在水中和不同浓度腐蚀溶液中力学性能变化的试验结果,回归出混凝土抗压强度和弹性模量随含水率或腐蚀时间变化的计算模型,并通过纤维模型有限元程序OpenSees,对不同含水率或不同腐蚀程度的钢筋混凝土模型柱在低周往复荷载作用下的受力性能进行了模拟.结果表明:随着含水率的增加,两种养护条件下,构件抗震性能降低的程度较小,但随着腐蚀程度的增大,构件耗能能力和延性的降低及承载力和刚度的衰减比较显著.     

Influence of industrial factors on the behavior of mechanisms of unspecific immunity and immunoglobulins in saliva

Within the recent 7 years in the clinic 400 operations of trunk vagotomy with drainage of the stomach were performed for complicated ulcers of the duodenum, 110 of them - in perforating ulcer. The postoperative mortality was 1.8%. The immediate and late results were studied within the terms from 6 months to 6 years. Good results were obtained in 79.9%, satisfactory - in 17.6%. Poor issues were noted in 1 patient, who was reoperated upon gastric resection being performed.     

Review of alcohol problems in ethnic minority groups.

This article reviews recent research on alcohol use and alcohol problems among Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and American Indians. Strengths and weaknesses of conventional research methods and lacunae in current information are examined. To date, no studies have systematically documented variations in drinking styles and factors that promote or maintain alcohol abuse. Each minority group is heterogeneous in its drinking patterns; drinking problems; and psychological, medical, and social consequences of alcohol abuse. Collectively, these factors have important implications for evaluating programs to treat minority persons. The author suggests that future research adopt multidisciplinary approaches to more fully characterize ethnopharmacological profiles of alcohol use and abuse among these ethnic minorities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Change in maternal criticism and behavior problems in adolescents and adults with autism across a 7-year period.

In a previous study, high levels of maternal criticism predicted increased behavior problems in adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) over an 18-month period (Greenberg, Seltzer, Hong, & Orsmond, 2006). The current investigation followed these families over a period of 7 years to examine the longitudinal course of criticism and behavior problems, to assess the association between their trajectories, and to determine the degree to which change in each of these factors predicted levels of criticism and behavior problems at the end of the study period. A sample of 118 mothers coresiding with their adolescent and adult children with ASD provided open-ended narratives about their children and reported on the children's behavior problems at 4 waves. Maternal criticism was derived from expressed emotion ratings of the narratives. Criticism exhibited low but significant stability over the 7-year period, and behavior problems exhibited high stability. Through latent growth curve modeling, (a) criticism was found to have increased over time, but only for the group of families in which the sons or daughters transitioned from high school services during the study period; (b) individual changes in criticism and behavior problems were positively correlated over the 7-year period; and (c) changes in criticism predicted levels of behavior problems at the conclusion of the study. Changes in behavior problems were not predictive of end levels of criticism. Implications for intervention and prevention efforts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple risk factors in the development of externalizing behavior problems: group and individual differences

The aim of this study was to test whether individual risk factors as well as the number of risk factors (cumulative risk) predicted children's externalizing behaviors over middle childhood. A sample of 466 European American and 100 African American boys and girls from a broad range of socioeconomic levels was followed from age 5 to 10 years. Twenty risk variables from four domains (child, sociocultural, parenting, and peer-related) were measured using in-home interviews at the beginning of the study, and annual assessments of externalizing behaviors were conducted. Consistent with past research, individual differences in externalizing behavior problems were stable over time and were related to individual risk factors as well as the number of risk factors present. Particular risks accounted for 36% to 45% of the variance, and the number of risks present (cumulative risk status) accounted for 19% to 32% of the variance, in externalizing outcomes. Cumulative risk was related to subsequent externalizing even after initial levels of externalizing had been statistically controlled. All four domains of risk variables made significant unique contributions to this statistical prediction, and there were multiple clusters of risks that led to similar outcomes. There was also evidence that this prediction was moderated by ethnic group status, most of the prediction of externalizing being found for European American children. However, this moderation effect varied depending on the predictor and outcome variables included in the model.     

Content and predictors of the ethnic identity of Russian-speaking immigrant adolescents in Finland

Even though osteodistraction has been well established in the extremities, the parameters used in craniofacial distraction have been essentially borrowed from orthopaedic experience. Latency is widely practised but its relevance has not been fully investigated. The purpose of this study was to establish the role of latency in mandibular distraction osteogenesis. Twenty-two growing Wethers sheep were allocated to four experimental groups. Six animals were allocated to each of Groups A, B and C and underwent bilateral mandibular corticotomies and attachment of an external lengthening device. Latent periods of 0, 4 and 7 days respectively were observed prior to beginning distraction. The distraction protocol consisted of a rate of 0.5 mm twice daily for 20 days, followed by a consolidation phase of 20 days after which the sheep were killed. Histology, bone densitometry and 3-point mechanical testing were performed on the harvested mandibles. Group D formed the control group (n = 4). Histologically, the distracted bone exhibited bone formation primarily via intramembranous ossification with scattered islands of cartilage. The regenerated bone had mechanical properties significantly weaker than the undistracted control group (P < 0.05), but between the experimental groups no statistically significant differences were demonstrable either in mechanical strength or DEXA density. These data indicate that a change in latency does not alter the properties of the regenerated bone in mandibular distraction osteogenesis and indeed no latent interval may be necessary at all in craniofacial distraction. This has implications for the duration of device fixation in distraction procedures.     

Influence of preadolescent experiential factors on the development of sexual behavior in albino rats.

Weaned 48 male Charles River rat pups at 14 days of age and then maintained them in groups or isolation within either restricted or play-enriched environments. At approximately 120 days of age, Ss were given 4 mating tests, 7 days apart. Isolation resulted in a marked reduction of Ss exhibiting appropriate sexual behavior. Play-enriched environments significantly decreased aberrant sexual behaviors such as climbing but also tended to reduce rather than enhance the level of sexual responding, as had been predicted. It is suggested that social grooming is likely to be a more critical factor than play in the development of normal sexual behavior in rat pups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of client sex and ethnic group on counselor judgments.

Asked 198 secondary school counselors to predict the academic success and choose an appropriate career for 4 hypothetical cases in which the sex and ethnic group designation were varied systematically. Results show that variation in sex and ethnic group designation did not produce variations in counselor evaluations. Counselor sex was not related to systematic variance in evaluations. Several reliable sources of variability were identified, including the target situation the client was projected into and counselor response style. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure and dynamics of the ethnic attitudes of Jewish adolescents.

A factorial analysis was carried out on a variety of measures obtained from 100 Jewish high school students in Montreal. A general factor composed of negative attitudes to Jews and to gentiles, a hostile disposition to people, and verbal aggression against nonconformists was isolated. This factor, reflecting a generally negative social orientation, is independent of 2 other factors representing attitudes to parents and attitudes to self. The factorial structure suggests that manifest hostiliity is a possible mediating variable linking all 3 factors. (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental factors in the treatment on adolescents.

Most empirically supported interventions for adolescent mental health problems are either downward adaptations of adult treatments or upward adaptations of child treatments. Although these treatments show respectable effects with teens, a review of the outcome research reveals significant gaps, both in coverage of adolescent conditions and problems (e.g., eating disorders, suicidality) and in attention to the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of adolescent development. The authors critique the field, propose a biopsychosocial framework for the development of dysfunction and intervention, and discuss ways the developmental literature can and cannot inform intervention and research. A long-term goal is an array of developmentally tailored treatments that are effective with clinically referred teens and an enriched understanding of when, how, and why the treatments work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)