Filial therapy: An intervention for parents of children with chronic illness.

Describes the use of filial therapy as an intervention with families of chronically ill children. Filial therapy is an extension of play therapy which uses the behaviors of the client-centered play therapist in a family skills training program. Ss were 5 29–36 yr old mothers of 4.5–8.0 yr old children with chronic illnesses. Parents completed the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory and Parental Acceptance Scale (B. R. Porter, 1952) before and after participating in filial therapy sessions. Children completed the Child Anxiety Scale. Results show that filial therapy can have a positive impact on parents of children with chronic illness. Parents were better able to accurately judge their child's level of anxiety and reported differentiation between themselves and their children. Qualitative reports of outcomes indicate that the parents believed that the course had a positive impact on their relationships with their children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of filial therapy for Korean parents.

Explored the effectiveness of filial therapy in enhancing the parent–child relationship of Korean parents (aged 30–42 yrs) of kindergartners (aged 4–8 yrs). The experimental design of the study was a pretest–posttest, control group design in which all of the parents (32 Ss) completed 3 instruments, the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale, the Parenting Stress Index, and the Filial Problem Checklist. The parents were also videotaped playing with their child before and after the training as a means of measuring empathic behavior in parent–child interactions. Results of quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate that Korean parents can learn basic skills of play therapy and improve the relationship with their children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social, emotional, and intellectual behavior at school among children at high risk for schizophrenia.

Four classroom teachers rated the school behavior of 44 12–17 yr olds of schizophrenic parents and 70 Ss of normal parents as part of an ongoing high-risk study. The ratings were made by teachers using the Pupil Rating Form and the Hahnemann High School Behavior Rating Scale. Ss of schizophrenic parents showed greater interpersonal disharmony, less scholastic motivation, more emotional instability, and lower intelligence than the control Ss, but the difference in introversion was not significant. Two of the 4 Ss with 2 schizophrenic parents had extremely low ratings for scholastic motivation, harmony, emotional stability, and intelligence and a 3rd was rated extremely low on emotional stability, but none of them was extremely introverted. On the basis of the results and a preliminary examination of intermediate outcomes (early hospitalization or psychological treatment after the initial school assessments), it is concluded that disharmony, emotional instability, and low intelligence are the early markers for vulnerability to schizophrenia worthy of most attention. The surprising absence of introverted behavior among Ss of schizophrenic parents indicates that introversion—when it is observed—may best be construed not as a static typology of preschizophrenic character but as a dynamic phase in a process of coping and retreat that precedes schizophrenic breakdown, sometimes by many years. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Father and mother physical abuse and child aggressive behaviour in two generations.

Research in developmental psychopathology has not adequately examined the role of fathers in abuse, nor has it adequately examined the effects of abuse on girls. This study was an investigation of physical child abuse from fathers and mothers in the prediction of aggressive behavior among boys as well as girls. The participants consisted of 1,536 parents and their 983 college-age children. A parallel 2-generation, cross-sectional design was utilized. Results indicated that physical abuse from fathers and from mothers emerged as significant and additive predictors of aggressive behavior among boys as well as girls. The results point to the important role fathers appear to play in the adaptive and maladaptive functioning of their children. The results also suggest that child maltreatment should be examined within the context of the family unit or microsystem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior in children, adolescents, and their parents.

This study examines the relations of Type A scores of parents to Type A scores of their children. Parents' Type A behavior was measured by the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS; Jenkins, Zyzanski, & Rosenman, 1979) and the Framingham scale (FS; Haynes, Levine, Scotch, Feinleib, & Kannel, 1978). Children completed the Hunter-Wolf (HW; Wolf, Sklov, Wenzl, Hunter, & Berenson, 1982) Type A behavior scale. Parent–child correlations were found for father–son pairs only: Fathers' FS scores and overall JAS scores as well as the speed and impatience and the hard-driving competitiveness factors were all found to be related to sons' overall HW Type A scores and the restlessness/aggression factor. These results indicate that fathers may play an important role in the development of Type A behavior in their sons. Parental influences on the development of Type A behavior in daughters remain unclear. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social maladjustment and problem solving in school-aged children.

Examined the relationship between social adjustment and the cognitive skills of solving interpersonal problems. 68 popular, aggressive, or isolated boys at 2 grade levels (2nd–3rd and 4th–5th) were presented with 6 hypothetical problem situations and asked to generate alternative solutions to the problems. Ss were subsequently asked to evaluate the effectiveness of solutions presented to them by the experimenter. It was found that the popular Ss generated more solutions than either the aggressive or isolated groups, which did not differ. The initial solutions of all groups were rated as "effective," in most cases, by independent coders. Subsequent solutions, however, varied as a function of S status. Popular Ss continued to generate effective solutions, whereas deviant Ss generated aggressive and ineffective solutions. No differences among S groups were found in the evaluations of the effectiveness of given solutions. Data support the notion that deviant boys are deficient in the cognitive problem-solving skills of generating alternative solutions but are not deficient in the evaluation of presented solutions. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parents' acceptance of control needs and preschoolers' social behaviour: A longitudinal study.

Examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between parents' acceptance of their preschoolers' control needs and the preschoolers' social behavior (SB) vis-à-vis their parents. 30 videotapes of mother–child and father–child interaction in the child's home at age 2 yrs were scored, using the Rothbaum and Schneider-Rosen Parental Acceptance Measure (F. Rothbaum; see record 1988-26069-001). Child SB was assessed at ages 2 and 5 yrs using global ratings of Social Adaptation (SA; F. K. Grossman et al, 1980). There were no significant correlations between Parental Acceptance scores and concurrent SA. There was a significant correlation between maternal acceptance (MA) of control needs assessed when children were age 2 yrs and SA at age 5 yrs. The correlation of MA and children's SA was of greater longitudinal than concurrent significance. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reciprocity in parenting of adolescents within the context of marital negativity.

The authors investigated the degree to which parents become more similar to each other over time in their childrearing behaviors. Mothers and fathers of 451 adolescents were assessed at 3 points in time, with 2-year lags between each assessment. Data on parent warmth, harshness, and monitoring were collected by parent self-report, adolescent report, and observer ratings of family interactions. After controlling for earlier levels of parenting, parent education, and adolescent deviancy, spouse’s parenting and marital negativity were significant predictors of later parenting. Marital negativity tended to be a stronger predictor of fathering than mothering. For fathers, associations between spouse’s parenting and later fathering were strongest in marriages characterized by low negativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child-Related Disagreements, Verbal Aggression, and Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems.

Dual-income parents (N = 122 couples) with an oldest child 18-60 months of age completed the Child-Rearing Disagreements Scale (E. N. Jouriles et al., 1991), the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach & L. A. Rescorla, 2000), and the Verbal Aggression subscale of the Conflicts and Problem-Solving Scale (P. K. Kerig, 1996). Replicating the results of E. N. Jouriles et al. (1991) and extending these findings to daughters and fathers, the authors found links between child-related disagreements and parental ratings of child behavior problems in this low-risk sample. There were no links between fathers' reports of verbal aggression and child behavior problems. Among mothers, however, use of verbal aggression mediated the link between child-related disagreements and ratings of sons' internalizing problems. Verbal aggression did not moderate the link between child-related disagreements and child behavior problems for either mothers or for fathers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment, family dysfunction, parental alcoholism, and interpersonal distress in late adolescence: A structural model.

Parental attachment was hypothesized as a mediational variable, explaining the relationship between parental alcoholism, family dysfunction, and the expression of interpersonal distress. Undergraduate students (N?=?152) were administered questionnaires to assess parental attachment, parental alcoholism, family dysfunction, and interpersonal distress; structural analysis was used to specify the relations among measured constructs. Parental alcoholism was not a significant predictor of attachment to parents or interpersonal distress; however, the mediating role of parental attachment was evident when family dysfunction was examined. As the level of family dysfunction increased, participants reported less parental attachment and more interpersonal distress. Viewing parental attachment as a mediator has important implications for theory and clinical practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent behavior correlates of personality traits related to creativity in sons and daughters.

Hypothesized that certain personality traits typically found in creative individuals would indicate creative potential in young people. A study was made of the association of basic dimensions of parent-child relationships and the creative potential of the child. Of 144 male and 274 female undergraduates, those with personality traits frequently associated with creativity tended to describe both parents as more rejecting than loving while they were growing up. The potentially less creative Ss more often described their parents as loving. Casual vs. demanding parent behavior was not related to creativity potential, and protecting fathers were recalled only by females with low creative potential. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paternal stimulation during infancy: Effects upon aggression and open-field performance of mice.

Studied aggression in random-bred albino Tuck TT strain male mice from 1st matings, reared by both parents (n = 13) and from 2nd matings, reared only by the mother (n = 15). Prolonged isolation from weaning induced more aggression in Ss from 1st matings than in Ss from a 2nd mating. In a 2nd experiment, fathers of 40 Ss were removed (a) shortly after mating, (b) at the litters' birth, or (c) at weaning. In offspring isolated from weaning, Ss in condition c were significantly more aggressive than those in a, while those in b showed an intermediate response. These differences did not occur when the period of isolation was broken by 50 days of communal housing before aggression testing, although Ss in c defecated more in the open field. It is suggested that young mice "imprint" toward the same odors of adult males which in later life elicit intermale aggression. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aggression and cardiovascular reactions related to parental control over behavior.

"The type of cardiovascular reaction of Ss during experimentally induced stress was related to questions about childhood discipline and control by parents. The Ss describing their fathers as strict and dominant disciplinarians experienced a norepinephrine cardiovascular reaction during experimentally induced stress whereas Ss describing their fathers as mild and nondominant disciplinarians experienced an epinephrine-like reaction." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Father, mother, and stranger as elicitors of attachment behaviors in infancy.

Compared fathers with mothers and strangers as elicitors of attachment behaviors in 10 male and 10 female infants from each of 3 age groups (10, 13, and 16 mo). Differential proximity-seeking behavior, distress vocalization, and stranger eye contact from a "secure base" were used to index attachment. Fathers were superior to strangers as elicitors of attachment behaviors but 2nd to mothers at all age levels. When both parents were present, Ss approached mothers twice as often as fathers. Tested with each parent separately, they traveled to the mother in a shorter time than they traveled the same distance to the father and spent more time near the mother. The amount of eye contact with strangers was greater when Ss were near mothers as compared to fathers. Distress vocalization during separation from the parents was one of the few measures which did not discriminate between mothers and fathers. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal stability and cross-situational consistency of affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses.

Examined consistency and stability of feelings in reports that were completed on 3,512 occasions randomly sampled from the lives of 42 undergraduates. Over a 6-wk period, Ss completed a mood inventory at times indicated by an alarm watch. The stability and consistency of responses depended on the situations, individuals, and responses involved. High degrees of consistency were unusual for single responses, although mean levels of responding tended to be both highly stable and consistent. The consistency and stability of variables covaried, suggesting a connection between the two. Ss who were more consistent across one pair of situations tended to be more consistent across other situational pairs. Results indicate that the question of whether personality consistency exists does not have a simple answer and requires knowledge of the persons, situations, responses, and level of analysis involved. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction between childhood temperament and parental discipline practices on behavioral adjustment in preadolescent sons of substance abuse and normal fathers

We conducted this study with a sample of sons of fathers having a Psychoactive Substance Use Disorder (PSUD+, n = 55) and sons of fathers who did not qualify for a PSUD (PSUD-, n = 97). Parental discipline practice from the child's perspective was investigated in relation to the child's difficult temperament to determine their association with sons' externalizing and internalizing behavior problems reported by mothers. PSUD+ status, difficult temperament in the boys, and their ratings of parental discipline practices accounted for a significant proportion of variance with respect to their externalizing behavior (11%), but only PSUD+ status had a main effect on internalizing behavior. However, the main finding of this study was that the interaction of parental discipline and difficult temperament in the child moderated both externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, accounting for an additional 5% of an explained variance. Thus, this study illustrates the importance of the conjoint influence of children's temperament characteristics and parental discipline practices on the children's adjustment. These results support the findings from previous studies showing that a difficult temperament disposition places the child at risk for maltreatment by parents and for development of a disruptive behavior disorder. Both outcomes have been found in many investigations to presage alcohol and drug abuse in adolescence. The findings also underscore the importance of both individual and contextual variables for understanding the development of psychopathology. In this regard, the results show the need for prevention and treatment to encompass strategies directed at disaggregating the basis of maladaptive family interaction patterns.     

Personal space in nursery school children.

Examined personal space in 34 nursery school children by 2 methods. In one, unobtrusive observations of actual interpersonal distance choices in 4 different social situations were made. In the other, the same Ss chose interpersonal distances in 4 similar social situations represented symbolically by drawings. Results demonstrate that Ss already show regular variations in personal space based on acquaintance (acquaintances closer than strangers), sex (boys greater than girls), and social context (informal greater than formal). Three interactions were also significant. Projective and naturalistic observation measurement methods produced similar results, contrary to the conclusions of recent reviews. Conceptually, however, there may be 2 types of personal space—perceived and objective interpersonal distance. (French summary) (18 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)