CAREGIVING HISTORY AND PRENATAL DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN LOW-INCOME ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT WOMEN: MODERATING AND MEDIATING EFFECTS

Prenatal depressive symptoms have been linked to negative outcomes for mothers and children. Using attachment theory as a framework, this study examined developmental differences in the interpersonal context of prenatal depressive symptoms among adolescents (age 14 to 19 years; n = 352) and young adults (age 20 to 24 years; n = 348). Participants included low-income, single, predominantly African American and Latina women. Moderating and mediating factors were found in the relation between caregiving history (perceived unavailability and inconsistency of maternal and paternal figures during childhood) and depressive symptoms. For pregnant adolescents, maternal unavailability predicted depressive symptoms whereas maternal inconsistency did not. In contrast, for pregnant young women, only maternal inconsistency predicted depressive symptoms; and this association was mediated by perceptions of prenatal support. For both groups, paternal caregiving history had a small yet independent association with depressive symptoms. Results highlight the need to consider developmental differences in the interpersonal context of prenatal depressive symptoms in delivering mental health interventions to young women of color.     

Personality disorder not otherwise specified: searching for an empirically based diagnostic threshold

The purpose of this paper is to propose a method for empirically investigating diagnostic criteria for personality disorder not otherwise specified (PDNOS). From a large, nonclinical sample of military recruits and undergraduate students who were screened for personality disorders (PDs), 572 completed the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality. Data from the interviewed group were used to identify a diagnostic threshold for PDNOS by comparing those who did (n = 88) and did not (n = 484) qualify for a PD diagnosis. For both groups, subjective distress increased and measures of social and occupational functioning decreased as a function of the number of PD criteria met. A classification and regression tree modeling procedure was applied using self-report scores on measures of mood, anxiety, and personality traits to arrive at probabilities for predicting the presence of a PD diagnosis based on the pattern of reported traits present. These probabilities were then used to derive an empirically based diagnostic threshold for PDNOS. In this sample, the most appropriate threshold for a PDNOS diagnosis appears to be the presence of 10 PD criteria for a person who does not qualify for a diagnosis of any other specific form of PD. This definition identified 5.5% of the young adults who were interviewed in this study.     

Type 2 tasks in the theory of signal detectability: Discrimination between correct and incorrect decisions

It has been known for over 40 years that there are two fundamentally different kinds of detection tasks in the theory of signal detectability. The Type 1 task is to distinguish between events defined independently of the observer; the Type 2 task is to distinguish between one’s own correct and incorrect decisions about those Type 1 events. For the Type 1 task, the behavior of the detector can be summarized by the traditional receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. This curve can be compared with a theoretical ROC curve, which can be generated from overlapping probability functions conditional on the Type 1 events on an appropriate decision axis. We show how to derive the probability functions underlying Type 2 decisions from those for the Type 1 task. ROC curves and the usual measures of performance are readily obtained from those Type 2 functions, and some relationships among various Type 1 and Type 2 performance measures are presented. We discuss the relationshiPbetween Type 1 and Type 2 confidence ratings and caution against the practice of presenting transformed Type 2 ratings as empirical Type 1 ratings.     

Should subjects be forewarned of the possible psychological consequences of filling out a PTSD questionnaire?

In 1993 Albach investigated the long-term consequences of sexual abuse on psychological health. A group of abused women a a control group of nonabused women were asked to fill in a questionnaire assessing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For ethical reasons, the abused women were warned that filling in the questionnaire might be emotionally stressful. The control group did not receive this warning. The abused women scored higher on the questionnaire than the nonabused women. The warning they received may have influenced their reports. Our experiment investigated this. 101 psychology students were divided into two groups, one who received a warning and a control group who did not. The hypothesis was that people who had been previously warned would score higher on a PTSD questionaire than people who had not. There were, however, no significant differences in mean PTSD scores and no known initial differences between groups.     

Social identities and intergroup bias in immigrant and nonimmigrant children

Ethnic and American identity, as well as positivity and negativity toward multiple social groups, were assessed in 392 children attending 2nd or 4th grade in various New York City neighborhoods. Children from 5 ethnic groups were recruited, including White and Black Americans, as well as recent immigrants from China, the Dominican Republic, and the former Soviet Union. For ethnic minority children, greater positivity bias (evaluating one's ingroup more positively than outgroups) was predicted by immigrant status and ethnic identity, whereas negativity bias (evaluating outgroups more negatively than one's ingroup) was associated with increased age, immigrant status, and (among 4th graders only) ethnic identity. In addition, a more central American identity was associated with less intergroup bias among ethnic minority children.     

Future Expectations Among Adolescents: A Latent Class Analysis

Future expectations have been important predictors of adolescent development and behavior. Its measurement, however, has largely focused on single dimensions and misses potentially important components. This analysis investigates whether an empirically-driven, multidimensional approach to conceptualizing future expectations can substantively contribute to our understanding of adolescent risk behavior. We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to derive subpopulations of adolescents based on their future expectations with latent class analysis. Multinomial regression then determines which covariates from Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory are associated with class membership. After modeling these covariates, we examine whether future expectations is associated with delinquency, substance use, and sexual experience. Our analysis suggests the emergence of four distinct classes labeled the Student Expectations, Student/Drinking Expectations, Victim Expectations, and Drinking/Arrest Expectations classes according to their indicator profiles. These classes differ with respect to covariates associated with membership; furthermore, they are all statistically and differentially associated with at least one adolescent risk behavior. This analysis demonstrates the additional benefit derived from using this multidimensional approach for studying future expectations. Further research is needed to investigate its stability and role in predicting adolescent risk behavior over time.