A cross-cultural study of family and peer correlates of adolescent misconduct

Participants were 4 groups of early adolescents from middle-class backgrounds (European and Chinese Americans in southern California and Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan, and Beijing, China). The 591 adolescents (M age = 13.8 years) completed questionnaires about their involvement in misconduct and about family and peer characteristics. Mothers of a subsample of adolescents (n = 405) also completed a questionnaire about their relationships with their adolescents. The 4 groups of adolescents reported significantly different mean levels of family and peer correlates but showed strikingly similar levels and patterns of self-reported misconduct. Structural equation models revealed that 2 latent variables (family relationships and peer sanctions) accounted for more variance in misconduct among European and Chinese American adolescents (51%-62%) than among the 2 Chinese groups (15%-24%), mainly because of a greater contribution of peer factors in the former groups.     

Patterns of inheritance of ovarian cancer. An analysis from an ovarian cancer screening program

BACKGROUND: A variety of inheritance patterns for familial ovarian cancer have been proposed including an autosomal dominant inheritance, a breast-ovary cancer syndrome and Lynch Cancer Family Syndrome (involving breast, bowel, ovary, and endometrial cancers). METHODS: Women participating in an ovarian cancer screening study completed a questionnaire concerning their family history of ovarian and other malignancies (in particular breast, bowel, and endometrial cancer). Confirmation of the diagnosis was sought when there was uncertainty. RESULTS: Two hundred forty women with a first-degree relative with ovarian cancer participated in the study. Nine percent of these women (representing 13 families) gave a definite history of two or more affected first-degree relatives. Two families had a pedigree consistent with an autosomal dominant inheritance. A breast-ovary cancer family and a Lynch cancer family syndrome were suspected in one family each, although 34% of all women gave a history of at least one other first-degree relative with either breast, bowel, or endometrial cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Only a small number of women with a family history of ovarian cancer fit into the recognized hereditary patterns. Difficulty in recognizing the inheritance patterns and the lack of definitive genetic markers poses problems in providing adequate counseling regarding screening and prophylactic oophorectomy.     

Aging and the family: Intergenerational psychodynamics.

Despite widely held views to the contrary, recent evidence suggests that the extended family system is intact and growing in size. While contact between family members has changed with the advent of work-related mobility and rural-to-urban migration patterns, the extended family remains a strong, extant social unit. Four- and 5-generation families are common and the increasing complexity of intergenerational relationships challenges family therapy systems. New elements must be incorporated into an understanding of the family structure: Age factors can generate multiple, interacting crises for older family members. Middle-generation family members may experience stresses associated with being the organizational center of the multigenerational network and with supporting 2 or more other generations. Psychodynamic patterns of the multigenerational family, such as the elderly's attempts to maintain their accustomed power in the family, are discussed, and therapeutic interventions for these patterns are outlined. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family routines and rituals--The importance of family functioning: Comment on the special section.

This diverse collection of papers highlights routines and rituals in family life. Just as individual family members bring unique styles and perspectives to the family table, to be incorporated into a family framework, so do each of these papers present rich and varied research questions, designs, and measurement strategies that enrich our understanding of family routine behavior patterns and ritual meanings. This series adds to our conceptualization of family routines and rituals within a systems perspective highlighting: 1) families are comprised of multiple levels that operate individually; interact with each other; and as a whole, reveal properties distinct from separate parts; 2) families tend toward stability in meaningful patterns of functioning; and 3) family functioning has meaning for individual outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coparenting and triadic interactions during infancy: The roles of marital distress and child gender.

The interaction patterns of 47 intact couples at play with infant sons and daughters were examined. Play in the triad was characterized along dimensions of hostility-competitiveness, family harmony, and parenting discrepancy, and correlates of these 3 patterns were investigated. Though family patterns were generally not related to self-reported distress, they were associated with observed marital distress, with marital–family links differing as a function of child gender. Maritally distressed parents of boys more commonly displayed hostile-competitive coparenting behavior in the triad, whereas distressed parents of girls were more likely to show discrepant levels of parenting involvement. Two systemic hypotheses suggested by family theory (linking marital conflict to hostile-competitive coparenting and marital power to parenting discrepancies) were also supported. These findings indicate the importance of conceptualizing coparenting as a construct separable from marital distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Companionable sleep: Social regulation of sleep and cosleeping in egyptian families.

This exploratory study examined family sleep patterns and quality in a setting of normative napping and cosleeping. Participants were 78 members of 16 families from 2 locales in Egypt (Cairo and a village). Each family member provided a history of sleeping arrangements, 1 week of continuous activity records, and details of each sleep event. Sleep records documented late-onset and dispersed sleep patterns with extensive cosleeping. Of recorded sleep events, 69% involved cosleeping, 24% included more than 1 cosleeper, and only 21% were solitary. Mid-late afternoon napping occurred on 31% of days, and night sleep onsets averaged after midnight. Age and gender structured sleep arrangements and, together with locale, extensively explained sleep behavior (onset, duration, total) and quality. Cosleepers had fewer night arousals, shorter and less variable night sleep duration, and less total sleep. Increased solitary sleep in adolescents and young adults was associated with increased sleep dysregulation, including exaggerated phase shifts in males and more nighttime arousals in females. Where normative, cosleeping may provide psychosensory stimuli that moderate arousal and stabilize sleep. Such moderating features may address important self-regulatory developmental needs during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of work and family involvement among single- and dual-earner couples.

Proposes a general typology of dual- and single-earner couples based on each spouse's involvement in work and family roles. The present study investigated the prevalence of the various theoretical patterns and types in a sample of 136 dual-earner and 103 single-earner couples and the relationships between 4 patterns of couples (symmetric all roles, asymmetric all roles, symmetric family-asymmetric work, and symmetric work-family) and attitudes toward and behavior in work and family roles. Ss completed measures of work involvement, family involvement, role behavior, and role attitude. Canonical analyses showed 6 significant dimensions (2 behavioral and 4 attitudinal) among dual-earner couples and 3 significant attitudinal dimensions among single-earner couples. The dual-earner couples' dimensions corresponded to patterns in the typology; the single-earner couples' dimensions did not. Role-symmetric couples were more prevalent among both dual- and single-earner couples than were role-asymmetric couples. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective associations from family-of-origin interactions to adult marital interactions and relationship adjustment.

To test the social learning-based hypothesis that marital conflict resolution patterns are learned in the family of origin, longitudinal, observational data were used to assess prospective associations between family conflict interaction patterns during adolescence and offspring's later marital conflict interaction patterns. At age 14 years, 47 participants completed an observed family conflict resolution task with their parents. In a subsequent assessment 17 years later, the participants completed measures of marital adjustment and an observed marital conflict interaction task with their spouse. As predicted, levels of hostility and positive engagement expressed by parents and adolescents during family interactions were prospectively linked with levels of hostility and positive engagement expressed by offspring and their spouses during marital interactions. Family-of-origin hostility was a particularly robust predictor of marital interaction behaviors; it predicted later marital hostility and negatively predicted positive engagement, controlling for psychopathology and family-of-origin positive engagement. For men, family-of-origin hostility also predicted poorer marital adjustment, an effect that was mediated through hostility in marital interactions. These findings suggest a long-lasting influence of family communication patterns, particularly hostility, on offspring's intimate communication and relationship functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reconstructions of family relationships: Parent–child alliances, personal distress, and self-esteem.

The aim of this study was to operationalize the structure of family relationships and examine how women's reconstructions of various family patterns during childhood and adulthood relate to their levels of depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Using a sample of 93 women, ages 19 to 22, two family patterns emerged: (a) father-daughter alliance (FDA), whereby fathers seek intimacy and affection from their daughters instead of their wives and have emotionally distant marriages; and (b) mother-daughter triangulation (MDT), characterized by conflicted marriages whereby daughters are caught between their battling parents and mothers seek intimacy from their daughters instead of their husbands. Regression estimates suggest that childhood FDA significantly contributes to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem even after controlling for the effects of childhood physical abuse and current FDA. Current MDT contributes to anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repair of pulp defect of thumb by free palmaris brevis musculocutaneous flap

An investigation was carried out among 6,000 persons aged 15-70 to explore the prevalence of cigarette smoking and its risk factors in urban and suburban areas of Beijing. Results showed that 39.07% of Beijing residents were smokers (58.95% male, 17.42% female) who started smoking at an average age of 19.52% and over 2/3 of them admitted their initiafion of smoking was mainly due to curiosity and pressure from social intercourse. Results of polychotomas regression analysis demonstrated that the risk factors of smoking were related to sex, poor education, unhappy marriage, and lacking of knowledge on the negative health outcome of smoking. It is suggested that the program on smoking of control should be strengthened in Beijing.     

Xiaojia Ge (1954–2009).

Xiaojia Ge (“Ge”) died peacefully on August 26, 2009, following a battle with lung cancer. He was born in Beijing, China, on October 24, 1954. Ge made seminal contributions to the study of adolescence and developmental psychopathology, including work on the psychosocial correlates of early puberty, the development of depression, and linkages between genetic factors and family dynamics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A spatial view of the interpersonal structure of family interviews: Similarities and differences across counselors.

Compared the interpersonal structure in interviews conducted by 4 founders of the family therapy movement—N. Ackerman, M. Bowen, D. Jackson, and C. Whitaker—with the same family to determine the extent of similarity and identify common features across counselors. Multidimensional scaling provided a spatial representation of the hidden structure in the communication patterns of these interviews. Each of the 4 analyses showed 2 dimensions that explained most of the variance, 72–85%. Correlations among the 4 2-dimensional solutions were high, especially between Ackerman and Whitaker (.75) and Bowen and Jackson (.99), indicating that these counselors' interactions with the family were remarkably similar. The therapists' postinterview impressions of the family suggested a basis for understanding the similarities and variability in the 4 spatial configurations. Interpretation suggested that all the counselors joined the family from a position of power, respecting the parents' distress and the established hierarchy by interacting more with them than with the children. Bowen and Jackson aligned themselves closely with the parents, whereas Ackerman and Whitaker were at the edge of the family. Discussion focuses on common features in counselors' work with families and how multidimensional scaling can chart changes in family structure over the course of counseling. (51 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of adjustment among siblings exposed to intimate partner violence.

This research explored and compared patterns of adjustment in siblings exposed to intimate partner violence. The quality of family relationships were investigated as potential mechanisms that accounted for heterogeneity in these patterns. Participants included 47 sibling pairs and their mothers recruited from the community. Mothers and children reported on child adjustment measures and the quality of family relationships. Five cluster patterns were identified for both younger and older siblings, replicating three identified in previous research: primarily internalizing symptoms, a combination of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and an asymptomatic cluster. There was little overlap in cluster membership within families; most siblings differed in terms of their pattern of adjustment. The quality of family relationships varied significantly across clusters. Overall, asymptomatic siblings reported the most positive family relationships. Maternal warmth differed across clusters for both older and younger siblings, while maternal hostility varied across clusters for older but not younger siblings. The quality of sibling relationships also differed across clusters for older but not younger siblings. These findings underscore the importance of examining differential sibling experiences within violent families, and demonstrate the significance of family relationships as a mediating mechanism influencing heterogeneous child adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family structure, psychological separation, and college adjustment: A canonical analysis and cross-validation.

554 undergraduates from intact families completed relevant instruments. A canonical correlation of family-structure and psychological-separation scores extracted 2 significant and stable roots, representing conflictually overinvolved and differentiated family patterns, respectively. Intercorrelations of each variate with original variables indicate that these dimensions were also associated with different separation patterns across subject sex. The canonical correlation of psychological-separation and college-adjustment measures uncovered a single significant and stable root that underscored the relation of conflictual independence and personal adjustment within both male and female groups. The results are interpreted as supporting assumptions of structural family theory and as suggesting that the psychological separation patterns of college men and women are differentially affected by inappropriate family structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Opportunity for interaction? A naturalistic observation study of dual-earner families after work and school.

Everyday patterns of interaction can strengthen or undermine bonds between family members. This naturalistic observation study focused on an understudied facet of family life: opportunities for interaction among dual-earner family members after work and family members’ responses to these opportunities. Thirty dual-earner couples and their children were observed and video-recorded in their homes throughout two weekday afternoons and evenings. Two interaction opportunities were analyzed: (1) the behavior of family members toward a parent returning home from work and (2) the physical proximity of family members throughout the evening. Three main findings emerged. Women, who tended to return home before men, were greeted with positive behavior and reports of the day’s information from family members. Men, in contrast, returned home later in the day and received positive behavior or no acknowledgment from family members distracted by other activities. Throughout the evening, mothers spent more time with children whereas fathers spent more time alone. Couples were seldom together without their children. The implications of observed interaction patterns and the contribution of naturalistic observation methods to the study of family relationships are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chaos game representation of proteins

The present report proposes a new method for the chaos game representation (CGR) of different families of proteins. Using concatenated amino acid sequences of proteins belonging to a particular family and a 12-sided regular polygon, each vertex of which represents a group of amino acid residues leading to conservative substitutions, the method can generate the CGR of the family and allows pictorial representation of the pattern characterizing the family. An estimation of the percentages of points plotted in different segments of the CGR (grid points) allows quantification of the nonrandomness of the CGR patterns generated. The CGRs of different protein families exhibited distinct visually identifiable patterns. This implies that different functional classes of proteins follow specific statistical biases in the distribution of different mono-, di-, tri-, or higher order peptides along their primary sequences. The potential of grid counts as the discriminative and diagnostic signature of a family of proteins is discussed.     

DNA restriction fragments length polymorphism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in Pisa, Italy

A total of 60 Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated in the area of Pisa, Italy, over a period from April 1993 to December 1995, were analyzed for the IS6110-based restriction fragments length polymorphism (RFLP). Isolates were found to show a great heterogeneity and only few isolates shared identical DNA banding patterns. In particular, 55 distinct IS6110 patterns were found (average number of isolates per pattern: 1.09) and only 9 strains (15%) occurred in 4 clusters of 2-3 identical clones. Computer analysis of genetic similarities among the strains revealed a family of 17 isolates including the clustered clones implicated in recently acquired infections. No correlation was found between the RFLP DNA patterns of the isolates and drug susceptibility. Of the 5 isolates from immigrants only one showed abnormal DNA fingerprinting. Our data indicate that the patterns of M. tuberculosis isolates in Pisa area are comparable to those of countries with low-prevalence TB and that a low level of TB transmission occurs in this area.     

Temporal profiles of physical health in family members of heart transplant recipients: Predictors of health change during caregiving.

Examined patterns of change in the physical health and well-being of 133 family caregivers to heart transplant recipients during the 1st yr after transplant. Ss were assessed at 2, 7, and 12 mo after transplant. Cluster analysis was used to identify temporal profiles reflecting unique patterns of change in the direction and nature of Ss' physical health; their temporal profiles showed either (a) a worsening of general medical condition (MC), with weight gain (14% of Ss); (b) worsening MC with weight loss (15%); (c) weight gain with stable MC (41%); (d) weight loss with slightly improving MC (21%); or (e) worsening health perceptions with relatively little objective evidence of MC change or weight (8%). Subsequent multivariate analyses indicated that Ss' characteristics measured at baseline and reflecting caregiving burden, coping styles, demographics, and health history reliably predicted membership in the pattern-of-health-change groups. Among the findings, Ss who showed a pattern of MC decline with weight loss had a poorer health history and weaker coping styles (lower mastery and higher use of avoidance coping) than other Ss. Ss who experienced MC decline with weight gain had the greatest levels of caregiver burden. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)