Child sexual abuse, early family risk, and childhood parentification: pathways to current psychosocial adjustment.

In this study, the authors examined the role of parentification (children assuming adult-like roles in the family) as it relates to family risk (parental psychopathology, parental illness, and domestic violence), child sexual abuse (CSA), and psychosocial adjustment in 499 college women. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model of direct, indirect, and mediational pathways through which CSA, family risk, and parentification contributed to later psychosocial maladjustment. Results indicate that CSA and family risk independently and directly predicted higher levels of maladjustment, but only family risk positively predicted parentification in childhood. Parentification was unexpectedly related to less maladjustment. Parentification failed to mediate the relation between early family risk and maladjustment. Findings suggest that family risk factors may contribute to parentification and that parentification is not always related to poorer psychosocial outcomes. Future research should examine the impact of parentification on other aspects of functioning and should assess how individual, familial, and cultural variables (e.g., age, gender, duration, perceived fairness, ethnicity, and family support) moderate the impact of parentification on long-term adjustment.     

Mothers' responses to infant physical appearance

Mothers' responses to slides of infants were assessed. During individual presentations of the slides they showed increases in smiling to infant photographs in general, but showed large skin conductance responses only to pictures of their own infant. They did not look differentially at the photographs. During paired presentations, mothers looked longer at their own infant's photograph. Moreover, they looked longer at unfamiliar infants who they perceived to be high in cuteness. These findings are discussed with reference to the role of infant physical appearance in infant-adult social relations.     

Sexual Harassment: A Preliminary Test of an Integrative Model1

Despite the recent increase in research on sexual harassment, most studies have examined the relevant variables in isolation, and little is known concerning the ways in which they may interact or the relative importance of their effects for individuals or organizations. Fitzgerald and her colleagues (Fitzgerald, Hulin, & Drasgow. 1995; Fitzgerald & Ormerod, 1993) proposed a model of the antecedents and outcomes of sexual harassment in organizations. The present study examines a modified version of this model using path analysis with a sample of women employed by the federal government in the late 1980s. These analyses support the basic form of the model, suggesting that sexual harassment is a joint function of the gender context of the victim's job, her relative vulnerability, and the tolerance of the organization for sexual harassment. In turn, harassment was shown to have a negative impact on work and health-related outcomes, exacerbated by assertive coping responses. The implications for organizations are discussed along with recommendations for more stringent tests of the model.     

Predicting College Student Satisfaction, Commitment, and Attrition from Investment Model Constructs

In a medium-sized college, 174 undergraduates evaluated the rewards, costs, alternatives, and investments associated with their enrollment. These investment model variables (Rusbult, 1980a) were significantly related to the students'satisfaction with the college, their commitment to remain enrolled, and their subsequent enrollment behavior. Linear and logistic regression results supported many, but not all, investment model predictions concerning the relationships between model constructs. Investment model variables were found to have greater validity than integration model variables (Tinto, 1975) in predicting institutional commitment and enrollment behavior. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Group instruction with profoundly retarded persons: acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of a remunerative work skill.

We evaluated a group instruction program for teaching a vocational skill to profoundly retarded adults. The program involved designated trainer roles and both individual student-directed and total group-directed procedures. Results indicated that, following the program, participants acquired the skill of stamping addresses on envelopes, the skill generalized across an untrained type of envelope, and the skill maintained over time. The group activity was incorporated into the regular classroom without increased disruption and the participants earned a wage for their productivity. Implications for the development of a group instruction technology for severely handicapped persons are discussed.     

Reactions to blindness: a four-year follow-up study

A previously studied group of newly blind adults was followed up after four years. There was only a slight increase in the acquisition of blind skills, while there was a surprising continuing pervasiveness of depression and poor health. A number of variables from the original study and from the follow-up data predicted outcome measures. Significant predictors of depression and distress were poor health, being married, being nonProtestant in this predominantly Protestant London population, and lacking ability to be more independent. Higher social class and an absence of a family history of blindness predicted greater distress. Earlier acceptance of blindness, early learning of blind skills, and better preillness adjustment predicted better coping and greater use of blind skills at follow-up. The extent of the depression and poor health are discussed, and recommendations are made for caregivers.