Femininity and Dominance Across the Lifespan: Longitudinal Findings from Two Cohorts of Women

The Intergenerational Studies (IGS) began in 1929 designed with the overarching goal of describing and predicting normal human development. Here we focus on original IGS participant women and daughters of original participants, with respect to development in femininity and dominance, as measured by the CPI. Three-level HLM indicates older cohort women are higher in femininity than younger cohort women in early adulthood; both cohorts show an equivalent linear decrease with age. In contrast, the two cohorts show equivalent levels of dominance in early adulthood, but the younger cohort women show a greater increase with age than the older cohort women. Results illustrate both cohort and developmental movement toward less femininity and more dominance in women.     

Self-cognitions,stressful events,and the prediction of depression in children of depressed mothers

In a preliminary effort to integrate cognitive, life stress, and interpersonal approaches to vulnerability to depression, children's cognitions about themselves, their stressful life events, and the interaction of self-cognitions and life events were tested as predictors of depression. Children of normal, medically ill, and bipolar and unipolar depressed mothers were assessed initially and 6 months later for diagnostic status using the Kiddie-SADS interview. As predicted, Piers-Harris self-concept scores and interview-assessed children's stressful life events significantly predicted changes in depression status over the 6-month follow-up. Stressors and the interaction of stressors and self-concept also predicted changes in diagnosis of nonaffective disorders. A self-schema measure of accessibility of negative self-cognitions, known to be mood-dependent, failed to add to the prediction of depression severity. The results are consistent with a model of depression vulnerability that emphasizes cognition about self-worth and self-efficacy as mediators of the impact of stressful events, and we speculate that such self-schemas are acquired in part in the context of parent-child relationships. Recommendations are given for further studies of the acquisition and the mechanisms of self-schemas.This research was supported by an award from the William T. Grant Foundation. The assistance of Cheri Adrian, Dorli Burge, David Gordon, Donald Hiroto, Carol Jaenicke, our research staff, and cooperating agencies is gratefully acknowledged.     

“Why am I so stuck?”: A Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment Case Discussion

Assessors from 3 continents worked together on a single multimethod case study. Their goal was to hold the client at the center and forefront of their attitudes and thinking as each assessor focused on a specific measure or group of measures. The adult client requested a neuropsychological assessment and completed a full battery of cognitive measures as well as the MMPI–2, the Rorschach, and the Wartegg. A basic tenet of collaborative/therapeutic assessment holds that the client is a full partner in the assessment process; he or she is also seen as the final arbiter of the usefulness of the ideas derived. With that in mind, the client worked with the lead assessor to create 6 questions she wished answered by the assessment. Feedback and discussion occurred in a number of ways: through discussion sessions with the lead assessor that included extended inquiry; individualized letters from the other assessors, each addressing her 6 questions; a summary letter from the lead assessor; and a metaphorical, therapeutic story that stressed key findings from the assessment. Results converged powerfully, with similar findings from each assessor. The client stated that she felt heard and understood in the process, even by individuals who she had never met personally.