Rhythmic motor behavior of preambulatory motor impaired,down syndrome and nondisabled children: A comparative analysis

The developmental course of rhythmic motor behavior was followed longitudinally for three groups of preambulatory children — normally developing, Down syndrome, and those with profound motor impairment. The groups differed in chronological age but were comparable with respect to motor age. The motor impaired subjects displayed significantly less rhythmic motor behavior than the nondisabled and Down syndrome groups. In comparing particular subtypes of rhythmic motor behavior, differences were found in both the average number of bouts and duration of subtypes among the groups. Longitudinal analyses of the data over the entire observation period revealed that the rhythmic motor behavior of the children with Down syndrome was more similar to that exhibited by the nondisabled children than was the rhythmic motor behavior of the children with motor impairment. However, there was considerable variability among the groups in several particular subtypes.This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD 17650 and HD 07226).The authors acknowledge the assistance of Robert E. Arendt, Grant Youngquist, Michael Hohn, and Charles Lowitzer in obtaining the observational data and thank the families of the subjects for their enthusiasm and dedication to the project.This study was presented at the 23rd Annual Gatlinburg Conference on Research and Theory in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, April 21, 1990.     

Sex-role identity and male and female homosexuality

The incidences of sex-role outcome within homosexual and heterosexual male and female young adult samples were compared using a fourfold typology (both masculine and feminine, masculine, feminine, neither masculine nor feminine). Sex-role identity disparities between the female groups were more clear-cut; the most striking difference was the high incidence of masculinity (60%) within the homosexual female group. No significant differences for males were found, although a trend was noted toward higher incidence of femininity and lower incidence of masculinity in homosexuals. The second purpose of the study was to search for possible developmental antecedents to heterosexual deficit in unselected college samples. The same key pattern of psychometric indices was identified for males and females. Low heterosexuality and the closest approximation to the modal sex-role identity among homosexuals of their sex were found in females primarily identified with masculine fathers and low in role consistency and in males primarily identified with feminine mothers and low in role consistency.     

PACHIQ-R: the Parent-Child Interaction Questionnaire--revised

The PACHIQ (Parent-Child Interaction Questionnaire) is designed to help clinicians and researchers assess how parents view relationship with their children (PACHIQ-Parent version), and how children evaluate their relationship with their parents (PACHIQ-Child version). The items in this questionnaire refer to both interpersonal behavior and feelings. Conceptually, the PACHIQ is based on learning theory and structural systems theory. The development of the PACHIQ was described by Lange, Blonk and Wiers (1998). The present article reports additional psychometric data obtained in the development and validation of a revised, shorter version of the questionnaire (PACHIQ-R). We present norm tables for families with children who are referred for psychological treatment, and norm tables for families in the normal Dutch population. The PACHIQ-R displays a two-factor structure with factors interpreted as Conflict Resolution and Acceptance. The parent version of the PACHIQ-R contains 21 items, the child version 25 items.     

Empathy theory and practice: a survey of psychologists and counselors

Psychologists and counselors completed a questionnaire devised by the authors to explore the relationships between their extent of endorsement of empathy definitions, their use and views of empathy, and their identification with theories of psychotherapy. Results from 565 respondents suggested that those who identified with humanistic/experiential and psychodynamic theories seemed to have similar views of how empathy is defined and viewed and reported that they use empathy more than those with other theoretical inclinations. These findings suggest that there is some consistency between theoretical identification and definition, as well as reported use and views of empathy.     

Mothers' affect in the homework context: the importance of staying positive

This research investigated mothers' affect in the context of children's homework. Mothers (N = 109) of children 8 to 12 years old were interviewed daily about their affect while interacting with children, their assistance with children's homework, and children's behavior while completing homework. At this time and 6 months later, children's motivational and emotional functioning was assessed. Although mothers' negative affect was lower than their positive affect, it was elevated on days their assistance with homework was high. This was accounted for by mothers' perceptions of children as helpless on days they provided heightened assistance. Mothers' positive affect in the homework context buffered children's motivational and emotional functioning against mothers' negative affect as well as children's helplessness.