Parent-rated socio-emotional development in children with language impairment in comparison with typically developed children

Children with language impairment (LI) and children with typical development (TD) were assessed by their respective parents using The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (Swedish version SECDI) and Greenspan Socio Emotional Growth Chart (GSEGC). The aim was to investigate socio-emotional and language development in children with LI and TD with respect to possible differential patterns and relations between the groups. The results highlight a clear association between language and socio-emotional development. Children with LI were rated similar to young language-matched children with TD, but significantly lower relative to age-matched TD children, particularly concerning symbolic stages of development: the use of linguistic symbols as well as related areas such as symbol play and symbolic mental ability. The results are discussed in light of presumable background factors and possible consequences for children or sub-groups of children with LI.     

Building a composite factorial score for the assessment of quality of parent–child relationships in adolescence

The quality of parent–child relationships has important implications for adolescent development and well-being. However, whereas numerous measures of specific dimensions contributing to quality of parent–child relationships are available, scales that provide a global assessment of this content are scarce. Consequently, the assessment of quality of parent–child relationships poses a challenge to the researcher, especially when the need exists to consider its main aspects but long instruments can not be used due to diverse circumstances. This paper presents a composite factorial score on quality of parent–child relationships developed from four short measures of affection, communication, parental knowledge and family satisfaction that can contribute to solving some of those difficulties. This composite score can be a useful tool to assess quality of parent–child relationships, especially for studies devoted to the study of the relationships between experiences within the family and the adolescent's well-being.     

The capacity to be an analyst: A contribution from attachment research to the study of candidate selection

In this paper the author discusses how the study of candidate selection, once a topic of vibrant research, has unfortunately languished. Certain qualities were thought to characterize the successful candidate. However, they were never successfully operationalized nor empirically tested. Possibly because of this lack of empirical data, selectors today have difficulty articulating their criteria and are relying on intuition. In order to provide a more rational basis for contemporary selection, the author looks to the attachment literature. This makes sense because attachment theory shares some basic assumptions of contemporary psychoanalysis. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is a research tool that predicts the ability of a parent to convey attachment security. It is scored by attending to how a person speaks about his early attachment experiences. The AAI appears to tap into similar qualities to those selection researchers have sought in their candidates. Further, the scoring method of the AAI appears to be similar to the last attempt by selection researchers to operationalize them. Given these similarities, the author recommends an empirical study using the AAI to operationalize these qualities in analytic candidates. The study would test their importance for success in the training program, thus offering selectors some empirical grounding for their choices.     

Children's Adjustment to Parental Physical Illness

We review recent empirical literature examining the impact of parent physical illness on child functioning. We review studies of illness characteristics (n = 16), individual characteristics (n = 6), and family characteristics (n = 6). Although children's self-reports indicate heightened distress, parental reports do not suggest more problematic functioning. Child adjustment appears to be more closely related to perceptions of stressfulness rather than to objective illness severity indices. Adolescent girls seem to represent a group at heightened risk. Preliminary results suggest that family variables such as cohesion, conflict, and individual and family coping styles are important predictors of child adjustment.     

Symposium Introduction: Reflexivity in Life Designing Interventions

This article introduces the Symposium on Reflexivity in Life Design Interventions. Eight articles report studies of counseling processes and client operations during life design interventions as well as client feedback during subsequent Interpersonal Process Recall interviews. The Symposium concludes with comments on and discussion of the studies.     

Une comparaison des apports des modèles de la construction de la carrière et de la construction de soi au life designing counseling

Recent developments in Western societies and transformations in work organizations have made the vocational issues that people face more frequent, complex, and puzzling. With the individualization of the life course, people now more than ever before need to reflect and deliberate as they design their lives. To assist individuals cope with difficult issues in life-designing, counselors have devised a new approach to counselling dialogues that differs from traditional information and guidance interventions. This article briefly presents the theoretical model for life designing counseling and then compares two distinct life-designing intervention approaches. Both of them share the epistemology of social constructivism and concentrate on the client and counselor's co-construction of meaning. Each approach provides a rigorous and systematic foundation for counselling interviews yet they differ in the ways they tackle meaning-making. The major difference is that the first approach presents a highly-structured form of life-designing interview that highlights the counselor's role in reconstructing a client's meanings, identity, and intentions. In contrast, the second approach presents a form of life-designing interview that highlights the client's role in self-construction of meaning, identities, and future prospects.     

La fausse couche : du côté des hommes

ObjectiveThe experience and psychological consequences of a miscarriage have been widely studied but mainly among women. This qualitative study aims to examine the experience of men whose woman has had a spontaneous abortion.MethodThirteen men who have lost an early pregnancy during the five past years participated to a semi-directive interview. The interview was based on the analytical framework previously established and took into account various themes such as psychological experience, marital relationship, guilt, coping strategies, social support given to the spouse, and significance of the loss. All the interviews have been transcribed and studied with a thematic analyse.ResultsResults underline the difficulties linked to the experience of miscarriage among men. Many of them were shocked and have had a sustainable significant distress expressed by sadness, tears or depressive symptoms. In addition to their own difficulties, men have to confront women's distress and want to be a support. Guilt was expressed more or less directly, concerning the miscarriage but also concerning men's reactions toward women. Some of them who encountered psychological problems found very difficult not to be able to support their wife. A miscarriage is a difficult event for a couple and two men interviewed separated shortly after. Several coping strategies were used by men, the most common were seeking social support and avoidance. As in women, significance of the loss was different among men, some of them have lost a child, others an embryo or a life project.ConclusionResults show the variety of feelings and reactions of men that highlight the need to consider their psychological distress. While all men are not equally involved in miscarriage, difficulties encountered by some of them can last several months. Given this results, support interventions for males seems interesting.     

Effects of emotion regulation strategies on anxiety during job interviews in Chinese college students

Background and objectives: Few studies related to the impact of different emotion regulation strategies on anxiety have used externally and ecologically valid emotion-eliciting stimuli or Eastern populations. The present study compares the effects of reappraisal, suppression, and acceptance on anxiety induced by a simulated job interview in a Chinese sample. Methods: Eighty-two subjects were randomly assigned to one of four instructions: reappraisal, suppression, acceptance, or no-regulation strategies during a simulated job interview. Anxiety was assessed with an observer-based behavior rating scale during the interview and the State Anxiety Inventory before, during, and after the interview. Results: A repeated-measures MANOVA indicated a significantly greater reduction in anxiety in the reappraisal and acceptance groups compared to the control group during the interview (reappraisal: d = 1.42; acceptance: d = 1.30; each p < .001), but not during the recovery stage. The suppression and control group did not differ in any stage. Suppression led to a higher (p_max < .04) anxiety than reappraisal/acceptance in the anticipation (d = 0.65/0.68), interview (d = 0.87/0.79), and recovery stages (d = 0.94/1.03). No significant differences were found between reappraisal and acceptance. Conclusions: In Chinese students reappraisal and acceptance seem to be more effective anxiety regulation strategies than suppression.     

Individual,relationship, and context factors associated with parent support and pressure in organized youth sport

ObjectivesWe examined the association of multiple process, person, and context factors (Bronfenbrenner, 2005) with parents’ involvement (support and pressure) in sport. Specifically, we examined (a) the concordance among self, partner, and child reports of fathers and mothers for key study variables, and (b) prediction of parent support and pressure in youth sport by warmth and conflict in the parent–child relationship, parent positive and negative affect, and mastery and ego dimensions of the coach-created motivational climate.DesignCross-sectional survey.MethodSelf-reports of study variables were collected from athletes (ages 11–13 years) and parents from participating families (final N = 201). Multitrait-multimethod analysis was used to address the first study aim and multivariate multiple regression analysis for the second aim.ResultsValues for concordance among reporters were largely significant and in hypothesized directions, yet were of modest magnitude and suggested low reporter agreement (Cohen's κ range = −.07–.35). Multivariate relationships were significant and were of low to moderate magnitude (R_d range = .04–.22). Canonical loadings showed that warmth, positive affect, and mastery climate positively associate with support, whereas conflict, negative affect, and ego climate positively associate with pressure from fathers and mothers. Conflict and positive affect positively associated with support and pressure in some functions, suggesting complexity in interpretations of parent involvement.ConclusionFindings support the adaptive role of parent-child warmth, positive parent affect, and coach-created mastery motivational climate in youth sport; however, low concordance of reporter perceptions must be considered when pursuing family-related questions in sport.     

Using Community Partnerships to Better Understand the Barriers to Using an Evidence‐Based,Parent‐Mediated Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Medicaid System

Service use disparities have been noted to impede under‐resourced families' ability to access high‐quality services for their child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These disparities are particularly relevant for parent‐mediated interventions and may suggest a lack of fit between these interventions and the needs of under‐resourced community settings. This study used Roger's Diffusion of Innovations theory to guide community partnerships aimed at understanding the perceived compatibility, complexity, and relative advantage of using an evidence‐based, parent‐mediated intervention (Project ImPACT) within a Medicaid system. Three focus groups were conducted with 16 Medicaid‐eligible parents, and three focus groups were conducted with 16 ASD providers operating within a Medicaid system. Across all groups, parents and providers reported general interest in using Project ImPACT. However, primary themes emerged regarding the need to (a) reduce the complexity of written materials; (b) allow for a more flexible program delivery; (c) ensure a strong parent–therapist alliance; (d) involve the extended family; and (e) help families practice the intervention within their preexisting routines. Results are discussed as they relate to the design and fit of evidence‐based, parent‐mediated interventions for under‐resourced community settings.