Pathways to suicidal behaviors in childhood

Path analyses were applied to test a model that includes internalizing and externalizing behavior problems as predictors of suicidal behaviors in children. Parents of an inpatient sample of boys (N=87; M age=9.81 years) rated the frequency of suicidal ideation and completed standardized measures of behavior problems. Blind raters rated the severity of the children's suicidal behaviors. Results revealed a significant direct effect for suicidal ideation on suicide attempt and for depressive symptoms on suicidal ideation. There was also a significant indirect path from impulsivity to suicidal ideation through aggressive and depressive symptoms. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Identification and the development of competence: a 44-year longitudinal study from late adolescence to late middle age

The role of defense mechanisms in the development of planful competence (J. A. Clausen, 1993) was studied over a period of 44 years in participants from the Oakland Growth Study, who are part of the Intergenerational Studies of the Institute of Human Development. Planful competence was assessed on 4 occasions, from late adolescence (ages 15-18) to late middle age (age 62). The use of the defense mechanisms of denial, projection, and identification was assessed in late adolescence, based on Thematic Apperception Test (H. A. Murray, 1943) stories coded with the Defense Mechanism Manual (P. Cramer, 1991b). In late adolescence, the defense mechanism of identification was found to be positively related to competence, whereas the less mature defense of projection was related to lower levels of competence. For the group as a whole, hierarchical linear modeling (Bryk & Raudenbush, 1992) indicated that competence increased across the adult years, with a modest decline at late middle age. Individual differences for intraindividual change in competence were related to the use of identification: high use of identification in late adolescence was associated with relative stability in adult competence, whereas low use of identification in adolescence predicted changes in adult competence.     

How a supportive partner may increase relationship satisfaction

The way in which satisfaction with a romantic relationship may be affected by how supportive a partner is and how constructively they deal with conflict in that relationship was examined in young adults. Both greater support and less conflict were found to be independently associated with relationship satisfaction, implying that both are necessary for a satisfactory relationship. While support did not mitigate the possible effects of conflict on satisfaction, it may lead to more constructive conflict which in turn may enhance satisfaction. Support seen as being available as well as support that was received were independently associated with relationship satisfaction. Of the different forms of available support measured, only support reflecting being cared for was independently associated with relationship satisfaction. These results suggest that encouraging couples to be emotionally supportive to each other may improve the effectiveness of relationship counselling as well as relationship enhancement and problem prevention programmes.     

Socio-demographic conditions, subjective somatic health, Axis I disorders and personality disorders in the common population: the relationship to quality of life

Quality of life (QOL) was studied in a population of 2,065 subjects in Norway. A broad concept of QOL was applied, including subjective well-being, self-realization, negative life events, and a number of interpersonal relationships. The assessment of QOL, based on interview, was related to a number of socio-demographic variables, subjectively experienced somatic health, the most common Axis I disorders, and all Axis II personality disorders (PDs). The results of multivariate analyses showed that being female and living with a partner in the outskirts of a city and having good physical health are important positive correlates of QOL. Controlling for all these variables, major depression, dysthymic disorder, and somatoform disorders were the Axis I disorders that have a negative statistical effect on global QOL. Specific anxiety disorders did not add to the effects. Among the PDs, avoidant, schizotypal, paranoid, and schizoid PD traits were the most important statistical negative determinants of QOL, followed by borderline, dependent, antisocial, and also self-defeating and narcissistic PDs, restricted to some specific sub-indexes of QOL. The study also showed that our results vary and are sometimes the opposite, depending on the sub-index of QOL examined. The study showed that it is necessary to apply a broad concept of QOL to disclose the real nature or the relationship between mental disorders and QOL. Furthermore, demographic variables, subjectively experienced somatic health, Axis I disorders, and PD traits appeared to be independently associated with QOL.     

Subjective Distress to Violations of Trust in Mexican American Close Relationships Conforms to Evolutionary Principles

Sex differences in subjective distress to violations of trust in a close relationship were observed among Mexican American men and women. Imagining a partner’s emotional infidelity and other female-linked violations (for example, a partner who no longer desires to work) distressed a larger percentage of women than men. In contrast, imagining a partner’s sexual infidelity and other male-linked violations (for example, a partner who no longer makes an effort to look physically attractive) distressed a larger percentage of men than women. The results from two studies provided compelling evidence against a social–cognitive explanation of the sex differences and for an evolutionary psychology explanation based on men and women responding to threats to their sex-linked mating strategies.     

Evidence for Change in Children's Use of Defense Mechanisms

ABSTRACT Using a cohort-longitudinal design, children's use of the defeneses of denial. projection, and identification was assessed at four points over a 2-year time span, covering the age period from 6 years, 6 months to 9 years, 5 months. The results showed a clear decrease in the use of denial from early to middle childhood, a sharp increase in the use of projection, and an increase in the use of identification. These findings, predicted by a theory of defense mechanism development, are consistent with cross-sectional results reported previously.     

Nature of romantic love in female adolescents.

In the present study, I intended to determine the similarity between Rubin's (1970) Love Scale components and five of Lee's (1976) six lovestyles in a relatively homogenous sample of 301 16- and 17-year-old British females. Items describing loving behaviors toward a particular individual were formulated to measure these lovestyles together with that of Ludus. The six orthogonal factors extracted from the correlation matrix of these and Rubin's items were called Love, Mutual Love, Respect, Similarity, Physical Attraction and Hostility. The results suggested that Rubin's Love Scale contained elements of Mania and Agape but none of Ludus, which could not be further differentiated. Rubin's (1970) Liking Scale, however, could be further subdivided into Respect (Pragma) and Similarity (Storge).     

Disclosure of Personal Problems, Self-Esteem, and the Facilitativeness of Friends and Lovers

The relationship between disclosure of personal problems, self-esteem, and Rogers' facilitative qualities of unconditional acceptance, empathy, and congruence in a casual friend, the closest friend of the same and opposite sex, and the romantic partner, was investigated in 104 females and 19 males (pooled together). They completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, a shortened Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory, and a two-item index of disclosure of personal problems. Self-esteem was most strongly positively correlated with the facilitative qualities in the romantic partner, followed by the casual friend. Disclosure of personal problems was also positively related to these facilitative qualities. When the facilitativeness of the romantic relationship was controlled through partial correlation, the positive correlation between self-esteem and disclosure of personal problems was reduced to near zero, while that between self-esteem and the facilitativeness of the casual friend was little affected.     

Assessing phonological awareness in kindergarten children: Issues of task comparability

Ten different phonological awareness tasks were administered to a group of kindergarten children whose reading ability was assessed 1 year later. The extraneous cognitive requirements inherent in the tasks varied widely. The children's performance on three tasks that involved a rhyming response was at ceiling, and these tasks did not correlate with subsequent reading progress. The other seven measures were all moderately related to later reading ability and, employed in sets, were very strong predictors. The relative predictive accuracy of the phonological tasks was equal to or better than more global measures of cognitive skills such as an intelligence test and a reading readiness test. The phonological tasks had a large amount of common variance. Factor analysis revealed only one factor on which all the nonrhyming phonological tasks loaded highly. The results bolster the construct validity of phonological awareness, indicate considerable comparability and interchangeability among the tasks used to measure the construct, and are encouraging as regards the possible use of such tasks in predictive test batteries.     

Evidence for a developmental shift in the basis for memory organization

Using a false recognition procedure, either with or without instructions to facilitate Synonym or Antonym encoding, 128 second- and sixth-grade boys and girls were tested. The results indicated that there were no grade or sex differences in generalization errors to synonyms or antonyms under neurtral learning instructions, but that facilitative instructions interacted with grade level. Under instructions to facilitate synonym encoding, second graders showed a marked increase in synonym errors. On the other hand, under instructions to facilitate antonym encoding, sixth graders showed an increase in antonym errors. In addition, association strength was directly related to the magnitude of the generalization errors in both grades. The results are discussed in terms of age-related shifts in the basis underlying the organization of verbal memories.