Parents attributions of blame for the birth of a child with down syndrome: A pilot study

Abstract

Attributing blame to others for negative events is consistently associated with poor adjustment. We report here a study assessing whether failure to detect a problem on screening, in this case Down syndrome not detected during prenatal screening, is associated with blame and poor adjustment in parents. Twenty eight mothers and 23 fathers of children with Down syndrome were interviewed. Although no parent blamed themselves or their partner, eight fathers and five mothers blamed health professionals or the health care system in general for not preventing the birth of their children with Down syndrome prenatally. None of the parents who declined testing were blaming. Six of the 11 parents who received a negative test and seven of the 34 not offered a test blamed others. Both mothers and fathers who blamed others reported significantly higher parenting stress. Mothers, but not fathers, who blamed others were significantly more angry and depressed than those who did not.     

The Influence of Participation, Gender and Organizational Sense of Community on Psychological Empowerment: The Moderating Effects of Income

This study explored the influence of participation, gender and organizational sense of community (SOC) on both the intrapersonal and interactional components of psychological empowerment (PE). Participants were residents (n = 562) involved in community organizing efforts in five U.S. communities. Measures of participation and SOC were tailored to community organization contexts. SOC assessed three dimensions: (1) connection of members to the organization; (2) perceptions about the organization as a bridge to other groups and organizations in the broader community; and (3) bond or attachment to the community at large. Income (low, middle and high-income) was tested as a moderator of these relationships. Results showed significant moderating effects of income on the relationship between participation, gender and SOC on both components of PE. Participation was positively related with intrapersonal empowerment across income levels, but positively related with interactional empowerment only for low-income individuals. Gender was only associated with intrapersonal empowerment, and only for low-income individuals. SOC, as expressed through bridging to the broader community, was positively related with interactional PE for all income levels, but with intrapersonal PE for only low and middle-income individuals. In contrast, member connection to the organization was not related to interactional empowerment and significantly related to intrapersonal empowerment only for individuals with higher income. The importance of participation, gender and SOC for different types of empowerment and the impact of income on the SOC-empowerment relationship are discussed.     

Evaluating the Pilot of Strong Girls: A Life Skills/Physical Activity Program for Third and Fourth Grade Girls

The purpose of this investigation was to report on a pilot study of a physical activity/positive life skills program called Strong Girls. The program was framed within the theoretical tenets of achievement goal perspective theory. Evaluation consisted of the participants’ perceptions of the climate (i.e., caring, task- and ego-involving), and pre-post scores for their self-perceptions and goal orientations. Results revealed participants perceived the environment to be high caring and task-involving and low ego-involving. Participants also reported a positive increase in task-orientation. Results suggest that Strong Girls is a feasible, effective youth development program, ready for larger-scale evaluation or dissemination.     

Codependency,Perceived Interparental Conflict,and Substance Abuse in the Family of Origin

Codependency has been found to originate in many different environments, namely the family of origin. The most popularly researched environment is the family of origin that exhibits substance abuse. However, little research has clearly demonstrated that codependency is most prevalent in children of substance abusers. Previous research has not examined how codependency is correlated with perceived interparental conflict. This study examined the relationships among codependency, interparental conflict, and substance abuse in the family of origin. Results of this study found that codependency in adulthood was related to perceived interparental conflict in the family of origin, but was not related to the family of origin that exhibited substance abuse.     

On derived embodiment: a response to Collins

In derived embodiment, intangible phenomena become as-if tangible as a result of their almost promiscuous borrowing of corporeality from experiences of real objects.     

Family Values and Antipathy Toward Gay Men

The role of family values in promoting prejudice toward gay men was examined. Participants high and low in support for family values were primed with family-relevant or neutral cues and were exposed to either a gay or a straight father who was described as a good or a bad parent. Both individual differences in family value support and situational primes of family values produced derogation of the gay father. Sympathy for the father in a child custody loss was also markedly low when family values were both endorsed and primed, and when the gay father was explicitly depicted as a bad parent. The findings have implications for Rokeach's (1972) belief congruence perspective, and for models that depict values as part of a mental associative network (Biernat, Vescio, & Theno, 1996; Feather, 1990).     

Oral Motor Abilities Are Task Dependent: A Factor Analytic Approach to Performance Rate

Measures of performance rates in speech-like or volitional nonspeech oral motor tasks are frequently used to draw inferences about articulation rate abnormalities in patients with neurologic movement disorders. The study objective was to investigate the structural relationship between rate measures of speech and of oral motor behaviors different from speech. A total of 130 patients with neurologic movement disorders and 130 healthy subjects participated in the study. Rate data was collected for oral reading (speech), rapid syllable repetition (speech-like), and rapid single articulator movements (nonspeech). The authors used factor analysis to determine whether the different rate variables reflect the same or distinct constructs. The behavioral data were most appropriately captured by a measurement model in which the different task types loaded onto separate latent variables. The data on oral motor performance rates show that speech tasks and oral motor tasks such as rapid syllable repetition or repetitive single articulator movements measure separate traits.     

Advancing a Richer View of Identity at Work: The Role‐Based Identity Scale

Identity has been studied extensively in several fields including organizational behavior, sociology, and psychology. Even though there have been significant advances, 2 areas of work deserve more attention. First, most empirical investigations have looked only at 1 or 2 identities at a time despite theoretical perspectives that indicate a need to address multiple identities simultaneously. Second, limited work using identity theory has been done in the human resource management (HRM) domain. The purpose of our research is to serve as a catalyst for future work by identifying 5 work‐relevant role‐based identities and creating a parsimonious measure for each. These metrics were tested, and initial evidence of their validity is provided using 6 independent samples. The empirical results suggest that the new measures in the role‐based identity scale can be useful in representing a more realistic and richer view of identity at work by simultaneously assessing 5 distinct role‐based identities.     

Development and Refinement of a Targeted Sexual Risk Reduction Intervention for Women With a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with sexual risk behavior in adulthood. Traditional sexual risk reduction interventions do not meet the unique needs of women who have been sexually abused. In the current paper, we describe the four-stage process we followed to develop and refine a targeted sexual risk reduction intervention for this population. First, initial quantitative work revealed that the intervention should address how maladaptive thoughts related to traumatic sexualization, trust, powerlessness, and guilt/shame (traumagenic dynamics constructs) influence current sexual behavior. Second, qualitative interviews with 10 women who reported a history of CSA (M age = 34 years; 90% African American) as well as current sexual risk behavior provided support for targeting maladaptive thoughts associated with these traumagenic dynamics constructs. Third, based on the qualitative and quantitative results, we developed a 5-session, group-delivered intervention to address the maladaptive thoughts that occurred as a result of CSA, as well as the cognitive-behavioral determinants of sexual risk behavior. This intervention drew heavily on cognitive behavioral techniques to address cognitions associated with CSA and the links between these cognitions and current sexual risk behavior. Techniques from trauma-based therapies, as well as motivational techniques, were also incorporated into the intervention. Finally, we refined the intervention with 24 women (M age = 33 years; 79% African American), and assessed feasibility and acceptability. These women reported high levels of satisfaction with the intervention. The resultant intervention is currently being evaluated in a small, randomized controlled trial.     

Social entrepreneurship: understanding consumer motives for buying The Big Issue

This paper examines consumer response to a particular social entrepreneurship initiative, The Big Issue. Focusing on consumer motivation, the research explores the utilitarian value of the product as compared to the desire to help the homeless as the primary motivation for purchase. The research found that, although the utilitarian value partly motivated purchase, consumers widely perceived there to be a helping dimension to the exchange. Consumers valued the empowerment goals espoused by The Big Issue and found it rewarding to play a part in the empowerment process. The appearance and manner of The Big Issue vendors influenced consumer reactions to the initiative, indicating a need for careful management of ‘beneficiary portrayal’ in this context.