Abusive parents' perceptions of child problem behaviors: An example of parental bias

The behavior of children in 21 child abusive and 21 nonabusive matched comparison families were compared using home observations performed by professional independent observers and parental report measures (Becker Bipolar Adjective Checklist, Child Behavior Checklist, Parent Daily Report). Parental report measures of child conduct problems differed significantly between the two groups, independent observations showed few significant differences in rates of either child or parental behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of the validity of parental perceptions and reports of child problem behaviors, the informativeness of differing reports for diagnosis and clinical treatment, and the need to gather corroboration across various sources and settings before clinical decisions are made that may irrevocably alter a child's future development.     

Muslim anti‐secularist discourse in the context of Muslim‐Christian relations

This article observes and critically evaluates some of the main components of Muslim anti‐secularist discourse: the assumption that there is ‘no separation between religion and politics’, that the Shari^c a represents the antithesis of secularism, that secularism is a specifically Western or Christian phenomenon, and that secularism is causally related to a crisis of values in contemporary Western civilization. After observing some recent attempts to justify secularism on Islamic grounds, the article draws conclusions not just with respect to the discourse but also with regard to the underlying issues. The relevance of this topic to Muslim‐Christian relations emerges in two ways. Firstly, attention is paid to the way in which Christianity, or the West (the two are sometimes conflated), provides a significant Other for the purposes of self‐definition; and secondly, a comparative perspective on certain issues reflects shared concerns between Muslims and Christians on the role of religion in the modem nation‐state.     

Socialization of teenage girls through teen-magazine fiction: The making of a new woman or an old lady?

A content analysis of the fiction in Seventeen and 'Teen revealed that few of the stories offered anything but traditional socialization messages for teenage girls. In more than half, the main character did not actively solve her own problems but depended on someone else to do it for her. Almost half of the conflicts were about relationships with boys. Excluding the 10 rated by coders as neutral, all but 2 of the 44 occupations mentioned in the stories were stereotypically portrayed.     

Ways of coping with excessive drug use in the family: A provisional typology based on the accounts of 50 close relatives

This paper outlines an eight-fold typology of coping actions based upon a qualitative analysis of the accounts provided by 50 close relatives of people with drug problems. In a number of different ways relatives draw attention to the contrasts between these distinguishable ways of coping. Emphasis is placed upon the provisional nature of this typology and upon the compromises between, and combinations of, ways of coping that are often used by relatives in practice. Different ways of coping represent alternative choices for relatives, often explicitly expressed by them as difficult dilemmas. Links are suggested between the ways of coping identified here and those discussed in the literature on coping with other disorders and disabilities in the family, with ways of coping described in the general literature on coping with stress, and with types of social action appearing in general models of interpersonal behaviour. Implications for counselling close relatives of people with drug problems are also outlined.     

The importance of the individual in the ‘causal’ relationship between attractiveness and self-esteem

This paper argues that many psychological explanations underlying health and social behaviour stress the importance of the relationship between attractiveness and self-esteem. The nature of this relationship is not well understood, yet can have important implications for the individual in areas of medical intervention which involve treatment on aesthetic grounds. A survey of psychosocial factors among 1018 children aged 11-12 years is reported. The study examined the association between perception of physical attractiveness and self-esteem in order to clarify the relationship between self-esteem and self versus others' perception of attractiveness. Self-ratings of attractiveness were linked to judges' ratings to determine whether subjects underrated, over-rated, or accurately perceived their own physical attractiveness. The results showed that although ratings of general facial attractiveness by others were associated with self-perceived attractiveness, in the specific area of dental health, attractiveness (as judged by others) was not. There were no significant relationships between ratings of attractiveness by others and self-esteem. Self-perception of attractiveness, however, was significantly associated with self-esteem. Further analyses showed that children who under-rated their own facial attractiveness had a lower mean score for self-esteem than over-raters or accurate perceivers (who did not differ significantly). In contrast, under-raters of dental attractiveness had a lower mean score for self-esteem than over-raters, but did not differ significantly from accurate perceivers. Over-raters of dental attractiveness had a higher mean score for self-esteem than accurate perceivers. These finding suggest that if an over-rater were to receive treatment on aesthetic grounds it is unlikely, given that they have high self-esteem already, that such intervention will have a profound psychological impact. These data indicate the importance of determining the way in which individuals evaluate their appearance compared to others, and may help to clarify previously equivocal findings concerning the relationship between self-esteem and attractiveness.     

Evidence for developmentally based diagnoses of oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder

This paper compares the validity of DSM-III-R diagnoses of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) and an alternative option which is subdivided into three levels according to developmental sequence and severity: modified oppositional disorder (MODD), intermediate CD (ICD), and advanced CD (ACD). Using a sample of 177 boys followed over 3 years, both the DSM-III-R and the alternative diagnostic constructs are evaluated on three criteria: symptom discriminative validity, and diagnostic external and predictive validity. Most DSM-III-R ODD and CD symptoms discriminated between ODD and CD, but exceptions are noted. Additional analyses demonstrated considerable overlap among DSM-III-R oppositional symptoms. The majority of the symptoms proposed for the alternative option could be assigned to a specific level based on acceptable symptom discrimination. External validity lent support to the distinctions between DSM-III-R ODD and CD, and between MODD, ICD, and ACD. MODD was a better predictor than ODD of which boys received a later diagnosis of CD. Suggestions are made for the inclusion and exclusion of symptoms for developmentally based diagnoses of oppositional and conduct disorders.This research was supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine R. MacArthur Foundation to the American Psychiatric Association, and grant 1-RO1-MH42529-04 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors are indebted to Paul Frick for his advice with some of the statistical analyses, and particularly to Ms. Judith Navratil for her expert help in data collection.