Learned social hopelessness: the role of explanatory style in predicting social support during adolescence

Background: Almost no research has examined the impact of explanatory style on social adjustment. We hypothesised that adolescents with a pessimistic style would be less likely to develop and maintain social support networks. Methods: Seven hundred and nineteen students (351 males and 366 females; 2 unknown; M_AGE = 12.28, SD = .49) completed an anonymous survey in Grades 7 through 10. Explanatory style was assessed in Grades 7 and 9, sadness was assessed in Grades 7 through 10, and quantity and quality of social support was assessed in Grades 8, 9, and 10. Results: Structural equation modelling was used to conduct cross‐lagged panel analyses of the four waves of data. Pessimistic explanatory style predicted lower levels of social support, and lower social support from the family predicted higher levels of pessimistic explanatory style. Additional analyses suggested that the effects could not be explained by sadness or by assuming that pessimistic adolescents where less liked by their peers. Conclusions: Pessimistic adolescents feel unable to influence their social worlds in positive ways and consequently may not take actions to develop and maintain social support networks.     

婴幼儿社会性情绪和气质特点的关系研究

目的探讨婴幼儿社会性情绪发展和气质特点之间的联系。方法采用《婴幼儿社会性和情绪评估简表》（BITSEA）和《幼儿气质问卷》（TTQ）对657名1~3岁婴幼儿进行社会性情绪和气质特点评估。结果婴幼儿气质的各维度与各行为因子、能力之间存在一定相关性。在难养型气质类型的婴幼儿中,可能发生行为问题和能力缺乏/延迟的婴幼儿多于易养型的婴幼儿,差异具有统计学意义（χ2=26.49、10.48,P<0.01）。结论气质倾向消极的婴幼儿容易发生行为问题且社会情绪能力较弱,在预防和干预情绪问题时需考虑气质因素。     

Gender-specific development of nonverbal behaviours and mild depression in adolescence

BACKGROUND: Individual differences in depressive symptoms have been linked with social skill deficits in adults and children, yet empirical studies on adolescents are lacking. The present research examines age and gender differences in nonverbal behaviour between mildly depressed and nondepressed (pre-) adolescents during conversations with an adult (study 1) and a same-aged peer (study 2). Both studies also examine whether conversation partners respond differently to mildly depressed versus nondepressed (pre)adolescents. METHODS: Study 1 reports on observations of conversations of 9-15-year-old children (n = 122) with a female adult partner. Study 2 reports findings of observations of 12-17-year-old adolescents (n = 154) in conversation with same-age, same-sex peers. RESULTS: Both studies show gender and/or age effects in gazing, smiling and backchannel behaviours that indicate that as adolescents mature they increasingly behave according to gender-specific display rules. While talking to an adult, depressed (pre-)adolescents and the adult partner differed in backchannel behaviours. While talking to peers, only depressed adolescent girls showed less gazing towards the partner during listening. Moreover, adolescents smiled less often towards depressed than nondepressed partners. CONCLUSIONS: Gender-specific development of nonverbal behaviour may help to understand the development of gender differences in depression in adolescence. Females who fail to exhibit other-oriented social skills may be particularly at risk for depressive symptoms.     

Attachment in adolescence: overlap with parenting and unique prediction of behavioural adjustment

Background: Attachment theory was conceptualized by Bowlby as relevant across the life span, from ‘cradle to grave’. The research literature on attachment in infants and preschool‐aged children is extensive, but it is limited in adolescence. In particular, it is unclear whether or not attachment security is distinguishable from other qualities of the parent–adolescent relationship and predicts adjustment independently of alternate measures of it. Methods: Data from three parallel studies of adolescents, representing normal‐ to high‐risk status, were combined, n = 248. Attachment was assessed using the Child Attachment Interview, a recently constructed measure designed for older children and adolescents. Parent–adolescent relationship quality was assessed in detail through questionnaires, interviews and observation of a standard problem‐solving interaction. Adolescent adjustment was assessed through parental psychiatric interview, teacher questionnaire and adolescent self‐report. Results: Bivariate analyses showed that secure attachment representations were modestly associated with diverse measures of the current parent–adolescent relationship such as monitoring, negative expressed emotion, and directly observed parental warmth and anger. In addition, attachment representations were reliably associated with key indicators of psychological adjustment in adolescence, including parent‐rated oppositional‐defiant disorder symptoms and teacher‐reported emotional and behavioural difficulties. Regression analyses revealed that secure attachment representations explained unique variance in these indicators of adjustment, independent of alternative measures of the parent–adolescent relationship. Conclusion: Adolescents’ representational models of attachment are related to but distinct from current parenting quality and provide unique insight into the understanding of behavioural adjustment. The findings support a distinct conceptual role of attachment representations in adolescence. Clinical assessment and treatment models should include attachment patterns in this age group.     

Assessing children's appraisals of security in the family system: the development of the Security in the Family System (SIFS) scales

BACKGROUND: Although delineating the processes by which children appraise the family as a source of security from their collective experiences in the family subsystem has assumed center stage in many conceptualizations of child development, the dearth of measures of child adaptation in the family system has hindered empirical advances. Therefore, this study introduced and tested the psychometric properties of the Security in the Family System (SIFS) scales, a new measure designed to assess children's appraisals of security in their family as a whole. METHODS: The SIFS was administered to 853 10-15-year-old schoolchildren and readministered to a smaller subsample two weeks later. Additional data was gathered from children, caregivers and teachers using a variety of instruments tapping family instability, cohesion, and conflict; parenting warmth and psychological control; child externalizing and internalizing symptoms; parent-child and interparental insecurity; and children's reactions to conflict simulations. RESULTS: Consistent with models of emotional security in the family, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded three reliable (i.e., good internal consistency, test-retest reliability) dimensions of family security: Preoccupation, Security, and Disengagement. Concurrent and prospective associations between the SIFS scales and measures of family functioning, children's psychological problems, and insecurity in specific family relationships supported the validity of the SIFS. Support for the discriminant validity of the SIFS was evidenced by its specific patterns of relations with children's psychological problems and ability to predict psychological problems after controlling for insecurity in specific family subsystems. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that the SIFS is a psychometrically sound tool capable of advancing family process models, and that family security is a viable construct whose factors parallel already-identified patterns of children's security in other family relationships.     

Foetal testosterone, social relationships, and restricted interests in children

BACKGROUND: Sex-differences exist in some areas of human social behaviour. In animals, foetal testosterone (fT) plays a central role in organising the brain and in later social behaviour. fT has also been implicated in language development, eye-contact, and spatial ability in humans. METHODS: Fifty-eight children (35 male and 23 female), whose fT was analysed in amniotic fluid, were followed up at age 4. Their mothers completed the Children's Communication Checklist, a questionnaire assessing language, quality of social relationships and restricted interests. RESULTS: fT was negatively correlated to quality of social relationships, taking sex-differences into account. fT was also positively correlated with restricted interests in boys. CONCLUSIONS: These findings implicate fT in both social development and attentional focus. They may also have implications for understanding the sex ratio in autism.     

Primary hyperparathyroidism in childhood and adolescence

Objective : The aim of this study was to determine the nature of the presentation and pathology of primary hyperparathyroidism in children and adolescents and to compare these findings with adults.
Methodology : Data were obtained from the Thyroid Surgery Database at Royal North Shore Hospital on all children and adolescents undergoing parathyroid surgery. These results were then compared to data obtained from the last 100 consecutive adult parathyroidectomies.
Results : A total of eight younger patients underwent parathyroidectomy including three children (0–12 years) and five adolescents (13–18 years). A common presentation in the younger age group was hypercalcaemic crisis (50%) with a serum calcium >3.5 mmol/L and clinical signs of calcium intoxication. This compared to the adult age group where only 8% presented with crisis ( P <0.05). Eighty-eight per cent of the younger patients complained of abdominal symptoms compared to only 1% of adults. Seven of eight young patients had sporadic hyperparathyroidism.
Conclusions : Primary hyperparathyroidism, although uncommon in the younger age group, is still most commonly associated with sporadic tumours. Familial syndromes do not constitute a large percentage of patients. Younger patients are more prone to present late with abdominal symptoms, toxicity and hypercalcaemic crisis, presumably due to delayed diagnosis of an uncommon condition in this age group.     

A Genetic Study of the Family Environment in the Transition to Early Adolescence

The aim of this longitudinal sibling adoption study was to estimate genetic and environmental components of variance in parent- and child-reported measures of the family environment (parental negative affect, negative control, and achievement orientation). Participants included 85 adoptive and 106 nonadoptive sibling pairs from the Colorado Adoption Project. Parents and children completed annual assessments of the family environment when the children were 10, 11, and 12 years old, and genetic and environmental parameter estimates were derived. Genetic influences were found for parent-reported negativity and warmth and child-reported achievement orientation, suggesting child genetic effects on these measures of the family environment. Shared environmental influences were found for parent-reported negativity, inconsistent discipline, warmth, and child-reported positivity. Nonshared environmental variance was substantial for children's ratings, but modest for parents' ratings.     

Parents' and partners' life course and family experiences: links with parent-child relationships in different family settings

Life course and current family factors associated with individual differences in parent-child relationships were investigated in a sample of 467 children from 192 families, including stepfather, single-parent, stepmother, and complex stepfamilies; informants were fathers, mothers, and children. Both positive and negative dimensions of father-child and mother-child relationships were linked to earlier life course experiences of parent and of partner, to current family factors, and to the quality of partner's relationship with the child. The pattern of associations between the adults' life course experiences meant that children were at risk for a "double dose" of less affectionate relationships in families in which parents had experienced early adversities. The significance of biological relatedness, family setting, and child partner relationships was highlighted.     

Psoriasis in childhood and adolescence: evaluation of demographic and clinical features

BACKGROUND: The present study was aimed to define the gender ratio, familial occurrence, age of onset, precipitating factors, clinical types, nail and joint involvement of psoriasis in childhood and adolescence in Turkey. METHODS: A total of 61 children with psoriasis under 18 years old were evaluated retrospectively, for age, gender, age of disease onset, family history, concomitant disease, the clinical type of psoriasis, clinical localization, nail and joint involvement and treatment modalities. RESULTS: Of the patients, 23 (37.70%) were boys and 38 (62.30%) were girls. Mean age was 9.28 +/- 4.02 years in girls and 11.18 +/- 3.85 years in boys (9.96 +/- 4.03 years in all children). Mean age at the onset of the disease was 6.81 +/- 4.11 years in girls and 7.03 +/- 4.28 years in boys (6.89 +/- 4.14 years in all patients). In 14 (23%) cases, a positive family history was detected. The most frequent probable triggering factors were upper respiratory tract infections (14.8%) and positive throat culture for A group ss-hemolytic streptococcus (21.3%). Frequency of emotional stress and psychiatric morbidity were 54% and 9.8%, respectively. The most frequent localizations at onset were trunk (44.3%), extremities (54.0%), and scalp (36.0%). Three children (4.9%) had a history of dissemination from psoriatic diaper rash. In total, 51 (83.6%) patients presented with psoriasis vulgaris, eight (13.1%) with generalized pustular psoriasis, and the remaining two (3.3%) with erythrodermic psoriasis. CONCLUSION: The incidence of psoriasis among dermatological patients in childhood and adolescence was 3.8%. The disease tends to appear earlier in girls than boys. The authors suggested that stress and upper respiratory infections are the most important triggering factors in childhood and adolescence psoriasis.     

Adult psychosocial functioning following childhood cancer: the different roles of sons' and daughters' relationships with their fathers and mothers

BACKGROUND: Adult survivors of childhood cancer have impaired psychosocial functioning, but not much is known about the causes. In this study we examined the role of relationships with parents as a possible mediating factor. METHOD: One hundred and two adult survivors (82% of those eligible, 35 female and 57 male) of childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and Wilms' Tumour, and 102 matched controls (74% of those eligible) aged 19-30 were interviewed. Interpersonal and social role functioning, and current relationships with each parent were assessed in standardised investigator-based interviews with subjects. RESULTS: Adult survivors were more likely than controls to have impaired close relationships (love relationships and friendships), and poorer day-to-day coping. Lower encouragement from fathers and greater involvement with mothers were each independently associated with impaired close relationships outside the family. This association was evident across the sample and in the cancer survivor group. It was much stronger in young adult females. Lower paternal encouragement was also associated with poor day-to-day coping, and this association was stronger in young men. There was, however, little evidence that quality of relationships with parents mediated the link between childhood cancer and adult psychosocial functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Within this cross-sectional design we could not determine the direction of influence, nor exclude third variable effects. However, the findings indicate that mothers and fathers have different roles in the transition to adult life, and understanding these may assist the development of interventions designed to improve adult psychosocial functioning.     

Temperament and the environment in the etiology of childhood anxiety

Anxiety disorders are prevalent throughout childhood and adolescence. As such, identifying the factors and mechanisms that precede, maintain, or exacerbate anxiety disorders is essential for the development of empirically based prevention and intervention programs. The current review focuses on child temperament (i.e., behavioral inhibition) and the child’s environment, including parenting, childcare, and peer relationships, as these factors have been linked to internalizing problems and anxiety diagnoses. Research programs are needed that examine the associations between the environment and anxiety in temperamentally at‐risk populations. In order to be successful, early intervention and prevention programs require a more detailed analysis of the interplay between various environmental contexts, both distal and proximal to the child, and the child’s temperamental reactivity to novelty and threat. Furthermore, conducting these investigations across multiple levels of analysis in large‐scale, longitudinal samples would be an important addition to the literature on the developmental psychopathology of anxiety.     

Marijuana use in adolescence

The prevalence of marijuana use by adolescents has fluctuated in recent decades, but, overall, has increased significantly. In a study of adolescent health status and risk behaviours among students in grades 7 to 12 in British Columbia, it was found that the patterns of marijuana use had changed, especially among early adolescents. An earlier age of onset of use and an increased frequency of use were noted. The present paper examines the clinical and psychosocial implications of early age of onset of marijuana use, and reports important differences in risky behaviours between users and nonusers. The prevailing attitude that marijuana is a ‘safe, recreational’ drug is challenged.