Gender preferences of pregnant women and emotional reaction to information regarding fetal gender and postpartum: An examination of freud's view about motivation for motherhood

Freud (1933) suggested that women enter motherhood with a motivation to compensate for anatomical and psychological inferiority. This motivation is reflected in the desire to bear a son. Freud's idea was investigated by examining pregnant women's preferences regarding fetal gender and their emotional reactions (anxiety and depression) to information about fetal gender following an ultrasound examination and postpartum. Subjects were first-time and third-time pregnant women. In the third-time pregnant group only women who had two previous children of the same gender were investigated. First-time pregnant women did not express a predominant preference for any gender, third-time pregnant women preferred a child of a gender they did not have. In the first pregnancy, after the examination, subjects experienced a significant decrease in depression, and postpartum a significant elevation in both emotions. Preference and information about fetal gender affected depression only when they interacted with the time of measurement. In the third pregnancy, anxiety and depression were highest after the examination and the strongest elevation in both emotions was reported by women who had two sons, preferred a daughter and were informed they will deliver a son. The findings in both pregnancies put doubt on Freud's ideas about the motivation for motherhood, and suggest that social factors may also play a part in determining mother's attitude and emotional reactions towards fetal and neonate's gender.     

Cognitive complexity of social images revealed by Jewish Israeli adolescents relating to drawings of Jews and Arabs

The present study examined age‐related differences among Israeli youth regarding the complexity of their mental images of Jews and Arabs, two groups that are adversaries in the Middle East conflict. The participants, 494 Jewish children and adolescents ranging from 8–16 years old each, drew two human figures, one Jewish and one Arab, and then attributed a forename and a profession to each drawn image. Four complexity variables were scored as follows: image complexity (number of items included in the figure), embellishments (number of items added to the drawing and in the space around the figure), image name, and image profession. Overall, participants depicted members of their in‐group as more complex. However, early adolescence was found to be a critical age at which differences emerged. The findings suggest that introducing complexity to social representations in early adolescence may facilitate prevention of negative associations related to outgroups and enhance intervention to reduce stereotypes, prejudice, and racism.     

Emotional arousal and affiliation

Schachter's 1959 emotional comparison theory was criticized by Sarnoff and Zimbardo 1961, who demonstrated that there are certain kinds of emotional arousal in which isolation is preferred. The generality of the theory was restricted and the direction of affiliative behaviors in different emotional-arousal conditions was questioned. In an attempt to reconcile the opposing findings, affiliative reactions to general and specific emotional arousal were compared. General arousal, anxiety state, was experimentally induced by confronting subjects with unspecified and cognitively unclear threat which allowed undetermined modes of personal interpretations. Specific arousal was induced by replicating Sarnoff and Zimbardo's experimental procedures. As predicted, general arousal increased affiliation while specific arousal decreased it. Birth order failed to interact significantly with any variables, and did not affect affiliation.Based on present and previous findings, some generalizations about emotional comparison and affiliation were offered, and problems of studying underlying motivations for affiliation were discussed.     

The Brief Family Distress Scale: A Measure of Crisis in Caregivers of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Parents of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often experience stressors associated with caring for their child. These stressors can cause considerable distress for families, which at times can develop into full blown crisis, and it is important that professionals be able to quickly identify when families are approaching or are in crisis to respond appropriately. The current study presents an initial attempt at measuring the subjective experience of crisis in 164 caregivers of people with ASD through a single item instrument, the Brief Family Distress Scale. The BFDS was negatively correlated with helpful coping mechanisms (family hardiness, and parent empowerment), and positive adjustment (caregiver quality of life and positive parenting experiences), and positively correlated with known stressors (severity of aggressive behavior, negative life events) and problematic coping and outcomes (caregiver burden, worry, mental health problems). As expected, caregivers at Marked levels of distress (approaching or in crisis) were significantly different from caregivers at lower levels of distress in nearly all of the dependent variables. Having a quick way of measuring where families are in terms of distress and crisis can be helpful for researchers and clinicians alike.     

Classification and validation of family climate subtypes in Kibbutz fathers of disabled and nondisabled children

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of disabled children on their fathers. Perceptions of family climate, sense of coherence, and satisfaction from family life were measured among 66 fathers of disabled children and among 74 fathers with nondisabled children in an Israeli kibbutz. The fathers of disabled children showed lower sense of coherence, derived less satisfaction from family life, and viewed their families as less encouraging of personal growth among family members. Four subtypes of family climate patterns, perceived by fathers of disabled children, were identified by cluster analysis and validated by the sense of coherence and global family satisfaction measures. Cluster analysis for the fathers of nondisabled children replicated the subtypes identified. The four subtypes were conceptualized as families with a (a) personal growth orientation, (b) conflict orientation, (c) conflict avoidance orientation, and (d) recreation avoidance orientation. Significant differences were found between the subtypes with regard to the family climate variables and satisfaction and coherence measures. Results demonstrated that different patterns of family climate characterized the two groups of fathers: In almost every cluster the measures of personal growth were lower for the fathers of disabled children.The authors would like to acknowledge the editorial assistance of Dee M. Bargteil.Special Education, Kibbutzim Movement, Tel Aviv, Israel 61400.     

Overt and fantasized aggression toward parents by enuretic and nonenuretic children

This study compared the amount and direction of overt and fantasized aggression of enuretic and nonenuretic children. Following the dynamic approach, it was hypothesized that enuretic children would differ from nonenuretics in having more difficulty in expressing overt aggression toward their mothers than toward a neutral figure. In fantasy, enuretic children were expected to express more aggression feelings toward their parents than control subjects. Twenty-eight enuretic subjects and a matched group of control subjects were induced to aggress toward their mothers and toward a neutral figure. The experimental situation was a variation of the Buss (1961) technique for eliciting and measuring aggression. Aggressive fantasies were assessed, using Bene and Anthony's Family Relation Test (1957). A significant interaction was obtained between enuresis/nonenuresis and target figures. Enuretic subjects expressed more aggression toward a neutral figure than toward the mother (p=.05) and differed from the control group in expressing less aggression toward the mother (p=.10). On the fantasy level, a significantly opposite trend to the predicted one emerged: Enuretic subjects showed less aggression toward both parents. The results were discussed with respect to the dynamic and the behavioristic approach to enuresis, and further research directions were suggested.This study is based in part on an M.A. thesis submitted by the second author to the Department of Psychology, Tel-Aviv University,     

The Experience of Crisis in Families of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder Across the Lifespan

It is well-established that parents of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience significant stress in their caregiving role, and research findings indicate that chronic stressors can act as a precipitant to crisis. In the present study, we examined the experience of crisis in families of individuals with ASD from early childhood to adulthood. One hundred and fifty-seven comments provided by family members in response to an online survey were coded using grounded theory methods. We explored three components of crisis drawn from the comments: antecedents (precipitating events and the context of crisis), behaviors (the nature of crisis), and consequences (outcomes and reactions to crisis). Similarities and differences in the crisis experiences among varying age groups are discussed, as well as implications for practice and future research.     

Parents of Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and Compound Caregiving Responsibilities

In some cases, parents caring for an adult child with an intellectual and/or developmental disability (IDD) must balance this with caregiving for another family member. This dual responsibility, referred to as “compound caregiving”, may contribute to increased feelings of distress, or change their perceived ability to care for their child. The current study examined how compound caregivers differ from other parents of adults with IDD, and whether compound caregiving is significantly associated with family distress. Data was available for 199 parents aged 38 to 91 years who were seeking adult services for their son or daughter with IDD. Parents completed a mailed questionnaire and telephone interview in which they indicated compound caregiver responsibilities. Parents identified as compound caregivers were then compared to those who were not in terms of family characteristics, as well as parental perceptions of burden and mastery, and family distress as measured by the Revised Caregiver Appraisal Scale and the Brief Family Distress Scale, respectively. Nearly half of the parents reported being compound caregivers. The demographic profile of these parents was no different from that of the other parents but their children were slightly younger. Compound caregiving was significantly associated with parental perceptions of burden and mastery and family distress. Demands outside of caring for an adult child with IDD can negatively influence family functioning and must be included as part of caregiving assessments.     

Trunk posture affects upper extremity function of adults

This study examined the effects of various seated trunk postures on upper extremity function. 59 adults were tested using the Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test while in three different trunk postures. Significant mean differences between the neutral versus the flexed and laterally flexed trunk postures were noted during selected tasks. Specifically, dominant hand performance during the tasks of feeding and lifting heavy cans was significantly slower while the trunk was flexed and laterally flexed than when performed in the neutral trunk position. Performance of the nondomi nant hand during the tasks of picking up small objects, page turning, as well as the total score was slower while the trunk was flexed compared to performance in the neutral trunk position. These findings support the assumption that neutral trunk posture improves upper extremity performance during daily activities although the effect is not consistent across tasks. Findings are discussed along with limitations and recommendations for research.