The grandparent–grandchild relationship in childhood and adulthood: A matter of continuation?

This study examined whether grandparents perceive adult grandchildren as frequent and important contacts by analyzing network membership. It additionally examined whether this network membership is related to relationship intensity during childhood. Network membership was assessed in 1992 (397 grandparents, 1,594 adult grandchildren) and at the 2005–2006 follow‐up (155 grandparents, 429 adult grandchildren) from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Relationship intensity during childhood was assessed in 1992. One out of 4 grandparents identified at least 1 adult grandchild in their personal network. Adult grandchildren who had an intense relationship with their grandparents during childhood were more often in grandparents' network than others. An intense relationship during childhood promotes continuation of the relationship into adulthood and might contribute to grandparent's support potential.     

The actor–partner interdependence model for categorical dyadic data: A user‐friendly guide to GEE

The actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) has been widely used for the analysis of pairs of individuals who interact with each other. The goal of this article is to detail in a nontechnical way how the APIM for binary or count outcomes can be implemented and how actor and partner effects can be estimated using generalized estimating equations (GEE) methodology. Both SPSS‐ and SAS‐syntax needed to estimate the model and the interpretation of the output are illustrated using data from a study exploring the effect of satisfaction with the relationship before the breakup on unwanted pursuit behavior after the breakup in formerly married partners. The use of this GEE method will allow researchers to test a wide array of research hypotheses.     

Families with Physically Handicapped Children: Social Ecology and Family Systems

This paper reviews research on families with physically handicapped children, and integrates this work within a social ecological perspective. Methodological difficulties in past research that contribute to a lack of consensus in the area are discussed. Research on stresses experienced by various subsystems within families with handicapped children is presented, with recommendations for future family-oriented research and intervention. The interactions of families with handicapped children with their social support networks are reviewed, underscoring the importance of these processes for coping and adaptation.     

The Relationship of Purpose in Life to Coping Strategies and Time Since the Death of a Significant Other

The authors investigated the relationship of experienced purpose in life to strategies used to cope with a loss resulting from death and the amount of time since the loss. Forty undergraduates who had suffered the death of a significant other completed an information sheet, the Purpose in Life Test, and the revised Ways of Coping Checklist. People who experienced low purpose in life reported using more emotion-focused coping strategies than did individuals with high purpose. These results are linked to the literature on emotion-focused coping and depression and are discussed in terms of the assessment and preventive treatment of bereaved clients.     

The Moral Significance of Birth

Does birth make a difference to the moral rights of the fetus /infant? Should it make a difference to its legal rights? Most contemporary philosophers believe that birth cannot make a difference to moral rights. If this is true, then it becomes difficult to justify either a moral or a legal distinction between late abortion and infanticide. I argue that the view that birth is irrelevant to moral rights rests upon two highly questionable assumptions about the theoretical foundations of moral rights. If we reject these assumptions, then we are free to take account of the contrasting biological and social relationships that make even relatively late abortion morally different from infanticide.     

The Growing Feminist Debate over the New Reproductive Technologies

A critical review of four recent works that reflect current conflicts and tensions among feminists regarding new reproductive technologies: In Search of Parenthood by Judith Lasker and Susan Borg; Ethics and Human Reproduction by Christine Overall; Made to Order, Patricia Spallone and Deborah Steinberg, eds. and Reproductive Technologies: Gender, Motherhood and Medicine, Michelle Stanworth, ed. Their positions are evaluated against the background of growing feminist dialogue about the future of reproduction and the bearing of reproductive innovations on such related issues as racism, sexuality, motherhood and abortion.     

Women,Work, and Life Transitions

Work is a positive force in helping women manage the issues and problems caused by separation and loss. The role of the employment counselor can be crucial during the process of transition.     

The Excitation-Adaptation Model of Pediatric Chronic Illness

This article examines the value of the psychosomatic family model for the study of chronically ill children. Four conceptual problems arise in the discussion of this model: the unidirectional causality of the model; the function of the sick child for the family system; the pathology of the family characteristics; and the disease type. In the present study, we propose (a) that a distinction be made between uncontrolled and controlled forms of disease, and (b) that the family characteristics of "cohesion" and "adaptation" be examined in relation to the parental capacity for problem solving and the acceptance or rejection of the child by the parents. This is shown by means of empirical research. In this empirical study, 20 families with a child suffering from controlled asthma are compared with 20 families with a child suffering from uncontrolled asthma. Contrary to the assumptions derived from the psychosomatic family model, the results show significantly more cohesion and structure in the group with a child suffering from controlled asthma. The findings from this study are integrated in a new model for the study of chronic childhood illness —"the excitation-adaptation model." In this model, two circular processes are emphasized involving (a) the progress of the illness and the way in which parents and child deal with medication and medical advice (therapy compliance), and (b) the factors influencing the therapy compliance on the part of the parents, the family, and the child. By studying these factors in connection with the management of the illness, it should become clear whether family characteristics are adaptive or pathological.     

Relational Control Patterns and Expressed Emotion in Families of Persons with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

The process of relational control, that is, the negotiation of “who's in charge,” was examined in 40 families of persons with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Verbal interaction recorded during problem-solving tasks was coded with the Relational Control Coding System (RCCS). Patterning of message and response sequences was compared by diagnosis of the patient and level of expressed emotion (EE) of the family. Results indicated that patients with either diagnosis assert control more than their parents, that high-EE families compete for control more than low-EE families, and that families of bipolar patients compete for control whatever their EE status. The most dramatic differences in control patterns were in the dual-parent, high-EE families of persons with schizophrenia, in which the patients successfully challenged parents for control, and parents often yielded. It was concluded that EE reflects transactional processes in families that vary by diagnosis of the patient.