Patients’ illness schemata of hypertension: The role of beliefs for the choice of treatment

It has long been believed that adult somatic complaints are associated with early family dysfunction. Yet, few studies have examined this hypothesis in community samples, where medically unexplained symptom complaints are estimated to be very common. Given the potential population-wide impact of subthreshold symptom complaints as well as questions about the extent to which findings with patient populations generalize to broader samples of community adults, the present study examines the influence of distal family factors on current adult somatic complaints relative to demographic and other psychosocial predictors. Results based on multiple linear regression analysis indicated that, after controlling for the other variables, family-of-origin functioning did not predict adult somatic complaints. However, self-reported symptoms of current depressed mood and low internal locus of control were significantly linked to somatic complaints (p?=0.001). These results lend support to questions about the generalizability of findings based on psychiatric groups to broader community samples, highlight the robust relationship between contemporaneous attributions of lower internal control, depressed mood, and somatic complaints, and suggest that early family environment may not be the most important focus of attention for health professionals providing care to adults in the community.     

The effects of group daycare in the context of paid maternal leave and high-quality provision

Social benefits and quality of group daycare vary greatly across countries; the effects on children may depend on the social context. This study used the prospective Norwegian cohort of 24,259 (MoBa; Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study) to examine predictors of group daycare, and the effects of family risk and group daycare on child behaviour at 36 months. The results showed that virtually all 9-month-olds remained in maternal care; while at 18 months over two-thirds attended some form of group daycare. High maternal education and family income very strongly predicted children's attendance in group daycare—a social selection opposite to that found in North America. Group daycare had a statistically significant effect on both distress and aggression, but the effect was very weak. Family risk was associated with both distress and aggression, but this did not differ according to type of care. The findings show a marked difference from those in North America, suggesting that social selection worked in the opposite direction. This was probably due to Norway's generous paid maternal leave and high-quality daycare.     

Is overall similarity classification less effortful than single-dimension classification?

It is sometimes argued that the implementation of an overall similarity classification is less effortful than the implementation of a single-dimension classification. In the current article, we argue that the evidence securely in support of this view is limited, and report additional evidence in support of the opposite proposition—overall similarity classification is more effortful than single-dimension classification. Using a match-to-standards procedure, Experiments 1A, 1B and 2 demonstrate that concurrent load reduces the prevalence of overall similarity classification, and that this effect is robust to changes in the concurrent load task employed, the level of time pressure experienced, and the short-term memory requirements of the classification task. Experiment 3 demonstrates that participants who produced overall similarity classifications from the outset have larger working memory capacities than those who produced single-dimension classifications initially, and Experiment 4 demonstrates that instructions to respond meticulously increase the prevalence of overall similarity classification.     

The efficacy of conjoint behavioral consultation on parents and children in the home setting: Results of a randomized controlled trial

The present study is a large-scale randomized trial testing the effects of a family–school partnership model (i.e., Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, CBC) for promoting behavioral competence and decreasing problem behaviors of children identified by their teachers as disruptive. CBC is a structured approach to problem-solving that involves consultants, parents, and teachers. The effects of CBC on family variables that are commonly associated with important outcomes among school-aged children (i.e., family involvement and parent competence in problem solving), as well as child outcomes at home, were evaluated. Participants were 207 children with disruptive behaviors from 91 classrooms in 21 schools in kindergarten through grade 3 and their parents and teachers. Results indicated that there were significantly different increases in home–school communication and parent competence in problem solving for participants in the CBC relative to control group. Likewise, compared to children in the control group, children in the CBC group showed significantly greater decreases in arguing, defiance, noncompliance, and tantrums. The degree of family risk moderated parents' competence in problem solving and children's total problem behaviors, teasing, and tantrums.     

A Place at the Table: Integrating Diet and Nutrition into Family Therapy Practice

Most schools of family therapy directly or indirectly recognize that personal qualities of the therapist influence therapy process. If personal qualities of therapists are associated with therapy process, it seems plausible that there would be some interaction between their personal relationships and therapy process. The present study examines the relationship between emotion management at home and emotion management at work to job satisfaction and marital satisfaction of marriage and family therapists. Results suggest that men and women experience a different interaction between emotion management, relationship satisfaction, and job satisfaction.     

Order in the home: Family routines moderate the impact of financial hardship

The study examined whether frequency of adolescent reported family routines moderated the relation between caregivers' perceptions of financial resources and adolescents' behavioral and academic outcomes among a sample of inner-city African American families. The sample consisted of 115 adolescents (average age = 15.95) and their female caregivers participating in a large scale study on African American family life. The results revealed a significant main effect of financial resources and family routine on adolescent outcomes, such that an increase in both was related to less delinquency and more favorable academic outcomes. Family routines moderated the relation between financial resources and adolescent outcomes. Specifically, the study revealed that the link between lack of financial resources and negative adolescent outcomes was diminished for youth in high-routine homes. Alternatively, family routines did not have a significant impact on youth from high-resource homes. Results highlight the importance of organization and predictability for economically disadvantaged youth and families.     

Mathematics instruction in Head Start: Nature,extent, and contributions to children's learning

This study employed the most recent (2006) cohort of the nationally representative Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) to explore the nature of mathematics instruction in Head Start and the child, family, and teacher factors that contribute to children's mathematics learning over the preschool year. In total, 2501 preschoolers and their families, as well as their teachers (n = 335), participated in the study from fall 2006 to spring 2007. Results showed that teachers reported frequent mathematics instruction, although direct observations did not entirely confirm this frequency. A variety of factors predicted children's mathematics knowledge at Head Start entry, and several – including instructional quality – were linked to learning over time. No thresholds in instructional quality emerged. Overall, this study provides new information about classroom mathematics instruction and child learning among the nation's most vulnerable early learners.     

Early family context and development of adolescent ruminative style: Moderation by temperament

We know very little about the development of rumination, the tendency to passively brood about negative feelings. Because rumination is a risk factor for many forms of psychopathology, especially depression, such knowledge could prove important for preventing negative mental health outcomes in youth. This study examined developmental origins of rumination in a longitudinal sample (N=337; 51% girls) studied in preschool (ages 3½ and 4½ years) and early adolescence (ages 13 and 15 years). Results indicated that family context and child temperament, assessed during the preschool period, were risk factors for a ruminative style in adolescence. Specifically, early family contexts characterised by over-controlling parenting and a family style of negative-submissive expressivity predicted higher levels of later rumination. These associations were moderated by children's temperamental characteristics of negative affect and effortful control. Further, the interaction of these temperament factors exerted an additional influence on later rumination. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.     

The educational therapy contribution to a family systems approach

This article draws on the experience of one specialist education unit to demonstrate the usefulness of engaging families directly in the treatment of children showing difficulty in managing tasks and relationships in school. It will look at the overlap of psychoanalytic and systemic ideas and show how theory and practice from both 'schools of thought' allow for a fuller understanding of blocks to school success and also support the family and child in their efforts to 'defeat' a difficulty. I look in particular at the way a psychodynamic focus on a child's inner world can work alongside the systemic focus on family structure, hierarchy and history.