Potential Positive and Negative Consequences of Coresidence for Teen Mothers and their Children in Adult-Supervised Households

In 1996, part of the creation of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) required minor teen parents to live in an adult-supervised household in order to receive cash assistance. This literature review discusses the positive and negative consequences of coresidence. Research has suggested that coresidence may be beneficial for the educational and financial success of teen mothers. However, there is some evidence that coresiding teen mothers have poorer parenting skills than teen mothers who do not coreside. Implications for policy implementation are discussed. Case managers should be aware of the possible risks of coresidence and weigh these risks against potential benefits. In addition, families of teen mothers, especially grandmothers, should be included in programming and interventions in order to provide positive living environments for teen mothers and their children.     

Perceptions of Family Relationship Factors and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents: What Roles Do Parents and Gender Play?

The association of adolescents’ perceptions of family relationships and adolescent depressive symptoms was investigated using a sample of 2,918 youth participating in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Boys showed fewer depressive symptoms than girls, as hypothesized. In general, adolescents’ perceptions of family relationships were negatively related to depressive symptoms. Mother support of father predicted depressive symptoms for girls only, whereas father support of mother predicted depressive symptoms for boys only. These findings contradict previous research that suggested family functioning is more related to outcomes of adolescent girls than boys. Suggestions for future research and implications for marital and family therapists are discussed.     

User modeling via stereotypes

This paper addresses the problems that must be considered if computers are going to treat their users as individuals with distinct personalities, goals, and so forth. It first outlines the issues, and then proposes stereotypes as a useful mechanism for building models of individual users on the basis of a small amount of information about them. In order to build user models quickly, a large amount of uncertain knowledge must be incorporated into the models. The issue of how to resolve the conflicts; hot will arise along such inferences is discussed. A system, Grundy, is described that builds models of its users, with the aid of stereotypes, and then exploits those models to guide it in its task, suggesting novels that people may find interesting. If stereotypes are to be useful to Grundy, they must accurately characterize the users of the system. Some techniques to modify stereotypes on the basis of experience are discussed. An analysis of Grundy's performance shows that its user models are effective in guiding its performance.     

The Experience of Leader-Led Peer Supervision: Genetic Counselors' Perspectives

As we proceed through our professional lives, it is essential that we challengeourselves in order to continue to develop our genetic counseling skills. Conferences, workshops,post-graduate courses, journal clubs, and involvement in professional organizations havebecome the traditional methods of continuing education for post-graduate geneticcounselors. While these forums address the need to stay updated on scientific orinformation-based topics, there is little available to counselors to promote growth incounseling skills. A group of Boston-based genetic counselors describe how their leader-ledsupervision group has established a setting to meet the needs of its members both forsupport and continued counseling training. We outline here the evolution of this group andhow it has become a valued part of our professional lives. We feel that the model of leader-ledpeer supervision holds great value in helping genetic counselors continue to enhancetheir interpersonal skills in a supportive, safe, and challenging environment. It is our hopethat others will elect to form similar groups in their own communities, thereby creating newopportunities for growth within the genetic counseling profession.