Normativity and Desirability in Observational Assessments of Family Interaction

Issues of normativity (responding in a typical or average fashion) and desirability (the tendency for raters to endorse positive characteristics rather than neutral or more negative ones) are common in areas of the social sciences that frequently utilize profile correlations to measure dyadic similarity. They have implications for family scholars as well. In the present study, a pre‐existing data set was used to make an initial, though limited, investigation into potential confounds of normativity and desirability for macrolevel observational assessments of family interaction. An empirical example is presented using q‐sort ratings of family interaction, with variance in observational assessments decomposed into component parts. High levels of both normativity and desirability were found, indicating possible problems in terms of both reliability and validity of assessment. While the results provide an interesting beginning, they are limited due to the use of a q‐sort methodology as well as an instrument with limited background and use. These limitations are discussed, as well as alternative interpretations for normativity and desirability and implications for future research.     

Neuroticism and Marital Satisfaction During the Early Years of Chinese Marriage: The Mediating Roles of Marital Attribution and Aggression

On the basis of three annual waves of data obtained from 268 Chinese couples, we tested an actor–partner interdependence mediation model in which spouses’ neuroticism was linked to their own and partners’ marital satisfaction through both intrapersonal processes (i.e., marital attribution) and interpersonal processes (i.e., marital aggression). Considering intra‐ and interpersonal processes simultaneously, four indirect, mediating pathways were identified: Time 1 Wives’ Neuroticism → Time 2 Wives’ Attribution or Aggression, while controlling for Time 1 Wives’ Attribution or Aggression → Time 3 Wives’ or Husbands’ Marital Satisfaction, while controlling for Time 1 Wives’ or Husbands’ Marital Satisfaction. This study not only adds to a limited body of research examining why neuroticism is associated with conjugal well‐being, but also extends prior research by focusing on Chinese couples and utilizing a longitudinal, dyadic mediation model. Such findings have important practical implications. Couples involving neurotic partners may benefit from interventions based on cognitive‐behavioral approaches. When working with couples challenged by neuroticism, practitioners need to help them address dysfunctional interactive patterns as well as distorted cognitive styles.     

Parental Perceptions of Individual and Dyadic Adjustment as Predictors of Observed Coparenting Cohesion: A Cross‐National Study

Over the past 20 years, systemically guided approaches to understanding early family processes have helped to provide greater clarity concerning the interplay among individual, dyadic, and family level processes. Parental depression, marital functioning, and child adjustment in particular appear to be reliable predictors of coparental and family level functioning. Indeed, cohesion at the level of the family group covaries in theoretically meaningful ways with these indicators of individual and dyadic adjustment. In this study, two collaborating research groups (one in Switzerland, the second in the United States) partnered to examine whether similar patterns of relationships exist among individual and marital adjustment and coparenting processes in families of 4‐year‐old children. Using similar constructs but disparate and occasionally dissimilar measures, both groups measured parent‐reported depression, marital satisfaction, and child behavior problems. Coparenting cooperation and warmth were observed during family interactions. Despite differences between samples and evaluation tools, similar results were found for the Swiss and U.S. samples. A model with depression, marital satisfaction, and child symptoms as predictors of a latent factor of observed coparenting cooperation and warmth showed good fit to data in both samples, suggesting the model was relevant for each. Parameter estimation showed that higher coparenting cooperation and warmth was predicted by lower maternal depression and higher child internalizing symptoms. The common significant effects despite differences in assessment paradigms and instrumentation are of substantive interest. Future directions pertinent to the coparenting questions addressed in this research are discussed.     

Treatment‐as‐Usual for Couples: Trajectories Before and After Beginning Couple Therapy

Couple therapy has been shown to be a meaningful way to improve couples’ relationships. However, less information is known about couples’ functioning prior to entering treatment in community settings, as well as how their relationship functioning changes from initiating therapy onward. This study examined 87 couples who began community‐based couple therapy during a longitudinal study of couples in the military. The couples were assessed six times over the course of 3 years, including time points before and after starting couple therapy. Using an interrupted‐time series design, we examined trajectories across the start of couple therapy in relationship satisfaction, divorce proneness, and negative communication. The results demonstrated that couples’ relationship satisfaction was declining and both divorce proneness and negative communication were increasing prior to entering couple therapy. After starting couple therapy, couples’ functioning on all three variables leveled off but did not show further change, but previous experience in relationship education moderated these effects. Specifically, those who were assigned to the relationship education program (vs. control) demonstrated greater reductions in divorce proneness and greater increases marital satisfaction after starting therapy; however, they also started more distressed.     

Parental illness intrusiveness and youth glycaemic control in type 1 diabetes: intergenerational associations and processes

Objective: This study examined associations between the functioning of youth with type 1 diabetes and their parents, including parenting dimensions as intervening mechanisms. The study adds to the existing literature by focusing on (1) the concept of parental illness intrusiveness; (2) the (understudied) periods of adolescence and emerging adulthood; and (3) maternal and paternal functioning. Design: Questionnaires were completed by 317 patient-mother dyads and 277 patient-father dyads. All patients (aged 14–25) had type 1 diabetes. The hypothesised model was compared to an alternative model using structural equation modelling. Main Outcome Measures: Youth reported on depressive symptoms and treatment adherence; Physicians provided HbA_1c-values. Parents reported on illness intrusiveness, depressive symptoms, and their child’s treatment adherence. Patients and parents reported on psychological control and overprotection. Results: The hypothesised path model had a good fit to the data. Parental illness intrusiveness was positively associated with depressive symptoms and both were positively related to overprotection and psychological control. Psychological control was positively related to patients’ depressive symptoms and negatively to treatment adherence. Poorer treatment adherence was associated with worse HbA_1c-values. Conclusion: These findings underscore the relevance of parental illness intrusiveness and emphasise the importance of mothers’ and fathers’ roles throughout adolescence and emerging adulthood.     

Digit ratio (2D:4D) and Cattell's personality traits

The ratio between second and fourth finger (2D:4D) is sexually dimorphic; it is lower in men than in women. Studies using broad personality domains yielded correlations of 2D:4D with neuroticism, extraversion or agreeableness, but the obtained results have been inconsistent. We correlated 2D:4D of 184 women and 101 men with their scores in Cattell's 16 Personality Factor (16PF) Questionnaire. We found women with a higher (more ‘feminine’) right hand 2D:4D to score lower in emotional stability and social boldness and higher in privateness. Mediator analysis showed emotional stability to be probably primarily correlated with 2D:4D and to act as a mediator between 2D:4D and social boldness. Privateness appears to be mediated by an even more complex path. We discuss the usefulness of primary‐level personality questionnaires and mediator analyses in the investigation of psycho‐morphological associations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ICT4D: Internet Adoption and Usage among Rural Users in China

Despite its low penetration in the vast rural areas of China, the Internet is generally perceived as a new engine for rural empowerment and quite a number of experimental projects have been initiated in recent years to test this view. This study explores the effects of Internet use on various aspects of rural development, including economic conditions and education. A qualitative approach was adopted in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the diffusion process of the Internet and its implications for rural development. The data-collection methods included in-depth interviews, participant observations, and documentation reviews. The findings suggest that the rural areas included in the study have not witnessed dramatic social and economic changes resulting from the introduction of the Internet. Though the scope and depth of the changes are not significant enough to lend support to the romanticized arguments about information and communication technologies for development, the empirical findings show that the Internet has had some positive effects on the livelihood and education of the rural people. This study examines how social structures exert their influence on Internet diffusion, adoption, and use. The findings provide strong empirical evidence in support of the view that society shapes the adoption of technology. The Internet serves as an agent of change, but the extent, duration, and intensity of its impact are primarily determined by the existing socio-economic contexts of the rural settings.

Three kinds of rhymes: An ERP study

In a simple prime-target visual rhyming paradigm, pairs of words, nonwords, and single letters elicited similar event-related potential (ERP) rhyming effects in young adults. Within each condition, primes elicited contingent negative variation (CNV) while nonrhyming targets elicited more negative waveforms than rhyming targets within the 320-500ms (N400/N450) time window. The target rhyming effect, apparently primarily an index of phonological processing, was similar across conditions but tended to be smaller in mean amplitude for letters. One of the first reports of such a letter rhyming effect in the ERP literature, these findings could be important developmentally because letter rhyme tasks simultaneously index the two best predictors of ease of learning to read: letter name knowledge and phonological awareness.     

骨髓造血干细胞移植治疗自身免疫性疾病的进展

自身免疫疾病发病机制复杂,目前尚缺少有效的治疗方法。近年来发现造血干细胞移植可以通过免疫重建显著缓解甚至治愈自身免疫病。笔者对近年来造血干细胞移植治疗自身免疫病进行了介绍和综述,就其在1型糖尿病这一领域的研究进展进行了述评,探讨造血干细胞移植用于治疗自身免疫病的前景和待解决的问题。