Adolescent Adjustment to Parental Divorce: An Investigation from the Perspective of Basic Dimensions of Structural Family Therapy Theory

This study, conducted within the framework of concepts of structural family therapy, examined the relationship of four family-based, clinical dimensions to the adjustment of 45 adolescents during the first 18 months of parental separation. There were two samples of mother-custody families: an Aided group that applied for treatment, and an Unaided group of paid volunteers. The inclusion of this variable addressed a major methodological deficit of previous studies. There was a significant association between perceived postseparation family structure and adolescent adjustment, demonstrating that individual adolescent adjustment is contingent on structural features of the contemporary postseparation family. Further, Aided families were perceived as more chaotic, disengaged, and enmeshed than Unaided families, while Aided adolescents were characterized by more behavior problems than Unaided adolescents. This suggests that divorce, as an unscheduled transition, might be within the realm of adaptation for many families and adolescents and is not necessarily "disastrous."     

Doctor Communication Style and Patient Outcomes: Gender and Age as Moderators

Past research has demonstrated that physicians' communication styles influence patient satisfaction, loyalty, recall of medical advice, and adherence to this advice. However, the research has failed to identify coherent interactional styles that produce favorable outcomes along all dimensions. The present study used a videotape analogue method to compare the efficacy of two communication styles that vary in terms of the power relations between the parties. Community members adopted the role of the patient and rated a male or female "doctor" using either an authoritative or a consultative communication style. Results indicate that the consultative style yielded superior satisfaction ratings, but not greater recall or adherence. The effects for style were moderated by significant interactions with physician gender and patient age.     

PHILOSOPHY AS TRAGEDY OR WHAT WORDS WON'T GIVE

This article examines Cavell's problematic understanding of scepticism and the knowledge of other minds with respect to his long preoccupation with tragedy. I point to the meta‐philosophical questions Cavell continually raises but fails to address such that a philosophy as tragedy is frequently announced. Taking the same meta‐philosophical questions raised by the inability of words to give us access to certain knowledge, I then rethink this problematic theologically. I show the way Cavell hints at a Christology and a doctrine of analogy neither of which he develops. In developing these two theologoumenon I make some observations on the relationship between theology, philosophy and the endemic potential of the tragic.