The Complexity of Support: The Impact of Family Structure and Provisional Support on African American and White Adolescent Mothers' Well-Being

The importance of social support to the well-being of adolescent parents is a frequently discussed topic in the teen parenting literature. However, the meaning and conceptualization of social support varies across study and the heterogeneity within the teen parent population is often overlooked. In an effort to understand its role more precisely, the present study defined support both in terms of its structural and provision components, and examined the association of these components with both perceived psychological and behavioral measures of maternal well-being for a sample of white and African American teen mothers. Specifically, the relative contribution of household structure and provisional social support to the well-being of a sample of 107 African American and 146 white teen mothers was measured respectively. Results indicate great variability in the structural and provisional support adolescent mothers receive, regardless of race. Independent of other effects, provisional supports are more strongly associated with maternal well-being than is family structure. Further, the impact of these different types of support varies by race.     

Psychopathology Following Interpersonal Violence: A Comparison of Risk Factors in Older and Younger Adults

A randomly selected sample of 549 women age 55 years and older and 2,669 women age 18–34 years was interviewed via telephone to determine prevalences of physical and sexual assault, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology, and depression. Prevalences of sexual and physical assaults were lower in older compared to younger women. In addition, given a trauma, prevalences and proportionate risk of posttraumatic psychopathology and depression were also lower for older, relative to younger women. Specifically, multivariate analyses revealed that sexual assault predicted only PTSD avoidance in older adults, but all forms of PTSD symptomatology and depression in younger adult women. Similarly, physical assault predicted only PTSD re-experiencing symptoms in older women, but all forms of PTSD symptoms and depression in younger women. Self-reported health status was not associated with any increased risk of psychopathology, and low income predicted increased avoidance and depression only in younger women.     

降低剖宫产率 维护母婴利益

剖宫产作为一种生产方式,其比率居高不下,已经引起医学界和卫生管理部门的重视。分析其原因,开展相应的对策研究,已成为当务之急。通过健康教育使产妇走出认识误区;加强医务人员职业道德建设;加强医疗卫生法制建设;完善医疗卫生管理体制;建立和谐的医患关系是降低剖宫产比率,维护母婴利益的重要保证。     

Depressed mothers’ infants show less negative affect during non-contingent interactions

Infants of depressed and non-depressed mothers were videotaped interacting with their mothers in the [Nadel, J., Carchon, I., Kervella, C., Marcelli, D., & Reserbat-Plantey, D. (1999). Report: Expectancies for social contingency in 2-month-olds. Developmental Science, 2, 164–173] paradigm which consists of three segments including: (1) a free play, contingent interaction, (2) a non-contingent replay of the mothers’ behavior that had been videotaped during the first segment, and (3) a return to a free play, contingent interaction. As compared to infants of non-depressed mothers, infants of depressed mothers showed less negative change (less increase in frowning) in their behavior during the non-contingent replay segment. This finding was interpreted as the infants of depressed mothers being more accustomed to non-contingent behavior in their mothers, thus experiencing less violation of expectancy in this situation.     

老年抑郁症的症状、诊断及测量

对老年抑郁症的症状、诊断和测量的探讨有利于寻找更有效的治疗方法。文章在简要讨论老年抑郁症主要症状以及诊断特点的基础上,重点介绍老年抑郁症的测量工具。文章指出,开展老年抑郁症研究的多学科研究,运用认知神经科学方法深入研究老年抑郁症,制订相对独立的老年抑郁症的分类标准,结合老年抑郁症患者身心特点开发更简便可靠的老年抑郁症量表,将有利于老年抑郁症的进一步研究。     

老年人夫妻冲突一般特点及其与依恋的关系

采用开放式与封闭式问卷相结合的方式对27对60～84岁(M=69.93±5.89)的老年夫妻测查了老年人夫妻依恋风格及夫妻冲突的特点。结果表明,老年人夫妻冲突具有低频率、低强度、较低的威胁性、较高的建设性及易解决的特点;不同依恋风格的老年人夫妻冲突的强度、频率、冲突解决程度均不存在显著差异;在冲突性质上,安全型依恋风格老年人感知到的冲突建设性显著高于不安全型依恋风格个体,但其感知到的冲突威胁性无显著差异;老年夫妻对冲突的感知存在冲突知觉一致性效应。     

Both maternal sensitivity and atypical maternal behavior independently predict attachment security and disorganization in adolescent mother-infant relationships

Extant theory holds that variation in attachment security is largely determined by caregiver sensitivity whereas disorganization has its roots in atypical interactions that frighten the infant. These hypotheses were confirmed in the current study of a high-risk sample but, contrary to current theory, both atypical maternal behavior and maternal sensitivity were also significant independent predictors of attachment disorganization and security.     

Developmentally delayed children's influence attempts with mothers predict interactions with peers over time

We examined whether influence attempts of 4–6 year-old children with mild developmental delays occurring when interacting with their mothers predicted children's interactions with peers two years later. Hierarchical regressions controlling for relevant child characteristics and a measure of direct parental actions to influence their children's peer interactions revealed a consistent association between influence attempts with mothers and four important aspects of children's peer relationships: successful social bids to peers, initiations to peers, extent of involvement with peers, and overall level of peer interactions. Results were consistent with social communicative processes likely to emerge during children's influence attempts with mothers, which are relevant to peer relationships. The fact that influence attempts with mothers were associated with peer interactions over a time period when peers occupy a more dominant role in children's social relationships supports the role of indirect family influences as a potential intervention strategy to further the peer competence of children with delays.     

Examining the Link Between Infant Attachment and Child Conduct Problems in Grade 1

Abtract  We examined the extent to which infant attachment status is directly related to child conduct problems 6 years later, and assessed the potential mediating roles of hostile parenting and maternal depression. The sample included 84 adolescent mothers and their children (45 girls, 39 boys). Infant attachment status was assessed using the Strange Situation when the study children were 1-year-old. Hostile parenting was coded during a parent–child interaction task when the study children were 4.5-years-old. Maternal depression was self-rated, also when the study children were 4.5-years-old, using the Beck Depression Inventory. Mothers reported child conduct problems at Grade 1 on the Child Behavior Checklist. Infant attachment status at 1 year of age was directly related to child conduct problems but not to hostile parenting or maternal depression. Neither hostile parenting nor maternal depression mediated the relationship between infant attachment status and child conduct problems. However, the pattern of relations differed by attachment security. For securely attached children, maternal depression, but not hostile parenting, was directly related to conduct problems. For insecurely attached children, hostile parenting, but not maternal depression, was directly related to child conduct problems. Implications for intervention and future research are discussed.