Infants' behavior with their mothers and grandmothers

Grandparents are a relatively neglected part of children's social network. In order to look at attachment behavior of young children toward their grandmothers, the present study examined infants' behavior in a play-separation situation with their mothers and maternal grandmothers. In a series of 13 3-min segments, mothers, grandmothers, and strangers were signaled in turn to leave the room and to return. The infants' (N=30) playroom behavior was examined by measuring duration of play, cry, proximity to each adult, hold by each adult, and proximity to the door. In this situation, mothers and grandmothers were treated almost interchangeably, while strangers were treated as strangers. These findings did not vary by amount of contact (from daily to twice a month), age of infant (12 to 24 months), or “birth order” of the grandchild. The findings may be specific to middle-class, stable families in which the grandmother lives nearby and has frequent contact with the grandchild. From these data, grandmother is seen as one who can serve some of the same functions as an attachment figure and who is able to play an important role in the young child's social development.     

Caregiving stress and adjustment problems of Kenyan orphans raised by grandmothers

The present study compared levels of caregiving stress among 115 biological mothers and 134 grandmothers raising their orphaned grandchildren. The associations between parenting stress and adjustment difficulties exhibited by children raised by these two groups of caregivers were also assessed. Full‐time caregiving grandmothers reported elevated levels of stress more than did the biological mothers. A significant negative association was found between child maladjustment and caregiving stress. Caregivers' experienced stress was linked to advanced age and extensive, new adoptive roles now occupied by grandmothers. There was no evidence suggesting that these orphaned children were less well adjusted when compared to children still living with their own birth parents. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A 1-year follow-up study of children's divorce adjustment,custodial mothers' divorce adjustment,and postdivorce parenting

This study examined stability of and change in divorce adjustment in a sample of 20 white custodial mothers and their children (8 boys, 12 girls; mean age = 10.45 years) who were examined an average of 12.85 months after separation and again one year later. Pearson correlations generally revealed moderate stability in children's adjustment, mothers' adjustment, and parenting dimensions. Significant changes over the one-year period were found only with respect to children's beliefs about the divorce: problematic beliefs regarding peer ridicule and avoidance, fear of abandonment, and self-blame decreased over the 1-year period. Children's adjustment at Time 2 was related to the following variables assessed at Time 1: low rhythmic and low reactive child temperaments; children's mature understanding of conflict resolution; high social support for children and for mothers; low maternal stress; high maternal adjustment; cooperative parenting; high paternal involvement; and frequent visitation by and phone contact from the fathers. Children with few problematic beliefs at Time 2 regarding fear of abandonment and hope of reconciliation had mothers who functioned poorly at Time 1. Although the small sample size necessitates that the findings be viewed with caution, they support the view that children's divorce adjustment is related to children's own competencies, intrafamilial processes, and extrafamilial conditions.     

Examining the structural validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in a U.S. sample of custodial grandmothers

The authors examined the structural validity of the parent informant version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) with a sample of 733 custodial grandparents. Three models of the SDQ's factor structure were evaluated with confirmatory factor analysis based on the item covariance matrix. Although indices of fit were good across all 3 models, a model that included a newly hypothesized positive construal method factor in addition to the 4 symptom factors (Emotional Symptoms, Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity-Inattention, Peer Problems) and the single Prosocial Behavior factor originally intended for the SDQ provided the best representation of this instrument's latent structure. Structural validity was further evidenced by measurement invariance across grandparent race and grandchild gender and age, a conceptually meaningful pattern of cross-scale correlations, and the acceptable internal reliability estimates found for each subscale. Measurement and clinical implications of the results are discussed.     

Personal characteristics,relationship quality,and social support perceptions and behavior in young adult romantic relationships

This study investigated three questions: (1) Do both personal characteristics and perceived qualities of romantic relationships contribute to partners’perceptions of support? (2) Do these variables predict supportive behavior in partner interactions that can be observed by others? (3) How do situational characteristics affect the predictors of observed supportive behavior? Eighty-six university undergraduates and their romantic partners completed a questionnaire packet and participated in a structured videotaped interaction that included a stress-inducing intervention. Participants’perceived support from the relationship was predicted by participants’own personal characteristics and view of the relationship, as well as by partners’personal characteristics. Observed supportive behavior in a somewhat familiar task was related to personal characteristics of both partners and their views of the relationship. Supportive behavior after an experimenter-administered stressor was predicted only by the couple's personal characteristics. Results demonstrate how study of social support in close relationships can advance understanding of relations between support perception and support receipt.     

Adolescent perceptions of friendship and their associations with individual adjustment

This study of 282 dyads examines early- and mid-adolescents' perceptions of friendship quality and their association with daily disagreements, self- and mother reports of behaviour problems, and school grades. Actor and partner analyses identify unique associations between perceptions of friendship quality and perceptions of daily conflict. Actor effects reveal links between friendship negativity and self-perceptions of conflict affective intensity, relationship impact, post-conflict interaction, and post-conflict separation, and between friendship positivity and self-perceptions of relationship impact. Partner effects reveal links between friendship negativity and partner perceptions of conflict outcomes. Perceptions of relationship quality were also associated with self- and mother reports of behaviour problems and with school grades, such that individual and dyadic views of friendship negativity were linked to detrimental outcomes. The worst outcomes tended to be reserved for dyads in which one or both friends reported high levels of relationship negativity.     

Parental role participation and perceptions of responsibility for children's school adjustment

This research examined the effects of parental participation in work and family roles on perceptions of responsibility for their children's school adjustment. We hypothesized that mothers would be perceived as being more responsible than fathers, and that participation in nontraditional work and family roles would influence perceived responsibility. Contrary to the first hypothesis, college student subjects perceived fathers as being more responsible than mothers for good adjustment, but not for poor adjustment. Consistent with hypotheses, role participation influenced perceptions of responsibility, but only for mothers. Divorced mothers were credited less and blamed more for school adjustment than married mothers, especially when they worked outside the home. Implications of the findings for future research on role participation are discussed.     

Prosocial behavior increases perceptions of meaning in life

Finding meaning in life is a fundamental personal need, and motivating prosocial behavior is a fundamental societal need. The present research tests whether the two are connected – whether helping other people can increase helpers’ perceptions of meaning in life. Evidence from a nationally representative data-set and two experiments support this hypothesis. Participants who engaged in prosocial behaviors – volunteering and spending money to benefit others – reported experiencing greater meaning in their lives (Studies 1–3). Study 3 also identifies increased self-worth as the mechanism – participants who spent money to benefit other people felt higher personal worth and self-esteem, and this mediated the effect of prosocial behavior on meaningfulness. The present results join other findings in suggesting that the incentives for helping others do not necessarily depend on the prospect of others’ reciprocity. Prosocial behavior can be incentivized through the psychological benefits it creates for prosocial actors.     

Female perceptions of female and male managerial behavior

Nine branches of a large bank were investigated in a study designed to measure female subordinate reactions to male and female managers. Eighty percent of the female subordinates in the sample showed a preference for male managers. This result was not confounded by organizationally determined manager-subordinate relationships since subordinates were not assigned to a particular manager. Further analyses suggest that this preference for male managers was caused by situational variables rather than by sex differences. Although male and female managers did not differ with respect to age, education, career orientation, and organizational commitment, male managers had significantly more experience and reported having more influence than did the female managers.The author gratefully acknowledges the helpful comments of Charlie Summer, Tom Taber, and Nancy Napier, and the research assistance of Steve Green, Mike Novak, Kathie Verderber, and Bob Sinclair. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Academy of Management Meetings in New York, August 1982.     

Siblings in dyads: relationships among perceptions and behavior

The ways in which middle-childhood siblings perceive themselves as similar or different was assessed with a sample of 40 pairs of 9- to 11-year-old (younger) and 12- to 14-year-old (older) siblings. Each child was interviewed and completed a card sort procedure and a measure of self-competence. Sibling pairs participated in three behavioral tasks coded for cooperation and conflict. Self-ratings, self-perceptions, and sibling behavior were analyzed for their association with the perceived similarity construct. Siblings perceived themselves as being more like one another than did their mothers. Forty-one percent of the variance in their perceived similarity was accounted for by paired self-cooperation ratings, social competence, and behavioral task scores.     

Students' perceptions of their future professional behavior

Doctoral students from university-based clinical, counseling, and school psychology programs responded to items that asked how willing they would be to engage in various professional activities and the reasons for their choices. The data were factor analyzed; five subscales resulted that were analyzed in a one-way MANOVA. Results indicated similarities between clinical and counseling for therapy and medically related disorders (Subscale 1) and specialized assessments and techniques (Subscale 4); and similarities among all three specialties on academic activities (Subscale 5). Traditional differences were also found: school students were more likely to endorse activities related to children and schools (Subscale 2); whereas counseling students were more likely to endorse activities related to consultation, educational—vocational counseling, and evaluation (Subscale 3). The results support current similarities and historical differences among the specialties and raise questions regarding education of and future career opportunities for psychologists.