On the Relation of Personal Experience to Early Adolescents' Reasoning About Best Friendship Deterioration

The primary goal of this study was to investigate the association between early adolescents' generalized beliefs about the causes of best friendship deterioration and dissolution and conflict experiences in their own best friendships. An additional goal was to assess whether early adolescents' self-esteem moderated this association. Participants listed their beliefs about the causes of best friendship deterioration and dissolution, indicated whether conflicts described in a series of vignettes had occurred in one of their best friendships, and described two conflicts they had experienced in their best friendships. They also judged the seriousness of the vignette and personally experienced conflicts. As predicted, early adolescents included conflict issues they had experienced personally more frequently in their causal inventories than conflict issues that they had not experienced personally. However, contrary to predictions, the perceived seriousness of the conflicts did not influence their inclusion in participants' causal inventories. While high and low self-esteem adolescents had similar beliefs about the causes of best friendship deterioration and dissolution, low self-esteem adolescents perceived their conflicts as more serious and their friendships as more fragile.     

U txt WHEN? College students’ social contexts of text messaging

Despite an explosion in the popularity of text messaging (short message service, or SMS texting), little research has documented the prevalence of its use in various dimensions of the social landscape of young adults. We examined text messaging patterns in various social situations in a sample of college students. Unsurprisingly, participants placed a good deal of importance on texting and reported using texts frequently to stay in touch with friends and loved ones. However, a good number of participants reported texting in seemingly inopportune situations, such as while in the shower, while at work, during religious services, and while having sex. Further, most participants reported texting in situations that may be considered by some as social breaches, such as while on a date, while socializing in person with others, and to break up with and cheat on a romantic partner. Results suggest that drawbacks of this convenient, fast, and faceless mode of communication include disinhibition and inattention to one's immediate social environment.     

The Effect of Changing Sexual, Marital and Contraceptive Behaviour on Conceptions, Abortions, and Births

A model is proposed to estimate the number of conceptions during a single year using scarce survey data, official data on births and abortions for the two years following the survey, and some parameters on contraception failure. The model is fitted for 1979, 1989, 1994 to Puglia, a Southern Italian region with a population of 4 millions. Simulations are also produced.The decrease in births is caused mainly by the decline in wanted births, whereas the decline in abortions is caused by diffusion of the pill, IUD, and condom. The rapid increase in the proportion of never-married women explains the slow decrease in unwanted births and conceptions, compared to the fast decline in wanted ones. This situation is different compared to other Western countries (e.g. France, UK, and USA) where the decline in TFR during the 1960s and 1970s was largely caused by the decline in unwanted fertility, thanks to improved modern contraception and sterilisation.     

The Relevance of Interactional and Institutional Contexts for the Study of Gender Differences: A Demonstrative Case Study

Previous studies of gender differences in language and interaction have made inadequate use of the context of the language behavior being studied. In this paper, I use a single-case method to demonstrate how a conversation analytic approach to the interactional and institutional context of a mediation hearing can be informative in the search for gender differences. In the mediation hearing studied, an apparent gender difference in the mediator's address of disputants is first identified and then shown to disappear when the interactional and institutional context of the utterances are taken into account.     

The Waterbirth Project: São Bernardo Hospital experience

Introduction

The following quantitative observational study aimed to analyse the maternal and neonatal outcomes of 90 low-risk pregnant women who gave birth in water at São Bernardo Hospital.

Dimensions of ethnic identity as protective factors for substance use and sexual risk behaviors in African American college students

Objective: To examine ethnic identity and ethnic socialization as potential protective factors for risk behaviors among US college students. Participants: Participants were 398 African American and Afro-Caribbean students recruited from 30 colleges and universities during September 2008–October 2009. Methods: Data on hazardous alcohol use, substance use, sexual behaviors, ethnic identity, and ethnic/racial socialization were collected. Hierarchical linear and negative binomial regression analyses were conducted to determine the degree to which ethnic identity and ethnic/racial socialization predicted the risk behaviors. Results: Ethnic Identity affirmation, belonging, and commitment (EI-ABC) significantly predicted lower substance use and hazardous alcohol use. Ethnic/racial socialization was not a significant predictor of substance use or sexual risk behaviors. Conclusions: Components of ethnic identity are potentially protective against alcohol and substance use behaviors. Additional research is recommended to determine effective intervention strategies.     

The Association between the Parent–Child Relationship and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression: The Roles of Attachment and Perceived Spouse Attachment Behaviors

Research shows that the parent–child relationship affects attachment security, which correlates with anxiety and depression in adulthood. Additional research shows that romantic attachment behaviors may supersede individual attachment security and buffer against negative processes. Using data from 680 married couples in the general population, we examined whether attachment mediates the link between the parent–child relationship and depressive and anxiety symptoms in adulthood. In addition, we tested whether perceived spouse attachment behaviors moderate the effects of attachment insecurity. There was an indirect effect of poor parent–child relationships on symptoms via insecure attachment. Perception of spouse's attachment behaviors was related to depression for both spouses, and they moderated the effect of attachment insecurity on depressive symptoms for husbands. Clinical implications are discussed.     

The Marriage and Family Therapy Practice Research Network (MFT‐PRN): Creating a More Perfect Union Between Practice and Research

This article describes the Marriage and Family Therapy Practice Research Network (MFT‐PRN). The MFT‐PRN is designed to build a professional community based on practice‐informed research and research‐informed practice, increase the diversity of participants in MFT research, and unify researchers and clinicians. Clinics choose measures from a list that best represent their clinic needs. Clients' outcomes are assessed regularly, and therapists receive immediate graphical feedback on how clients are progressing or digressing. Data are pooled to create a large and diverse database, while improving client outcomes. We will discuss advantages of the MFT‐PRN for researchers, therapists, clients, and agencies, and provide one model that we hope will inform other collaborative clinical‐research models in the field of marriage and family therapy. Video Abstract is found in the online version of the article .