Children's Coping with Marital Conflict: The Role of Conflict Expression and Gender

This study compared boys’ and girls’ coping responses to videotaped representations of marital conflict that varied in conflict content, tactic, and the gender of the parent engaging in conflict behaviour. Participants were 398 children (208 boys, 190 girls) aged 12–13 years old living in the United Kingdom. Child‐related conflict exchanges characterized by hostile behaviour (e.g., physical aggression) elicited greater mediation efforts by children. Children were more likely to mediate father‐enacted conflict. Girls, relative to boys, endorsed more mediation to fathers’ physical aggression and mothers’ pursuit of an issue and were more avoiding of mothers’ physical aggression and threats to intactness of the family. Findings underscore the importance of considering parent and child gender in determining children’s coping efforts in the context of interparental conflict.     

The Well‐Being of Children Born to Teen Mothers

Children born to early child bearers are more likely than other children to display problem behaviors or poor academic performance, but it is unclear whether early childbearing plays a causal role in these outcomes. Using multiple techniques to control for background factors, we analyze 2,908 young children and 1,736 adolescents and young adults in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) and the NLSY79 Children and Young Adults (CNLSY79) data sets to examine whether early childbearing causes children’s outcomes. We find evidence that teen childbearing plays no causal role in children’s test scores and in some behavioral outcomes of adolescents. For other behavioral outcomes, we find that different methodologies produce differing results. We thus suggest caution in drawing conclusions about early parenthood’s overarching effect.     

Behavioral activation and rehabilitation

Rehabilitation from a mental or physical disorder can become complicated when patients feel overwhelmed by symptoms and unable to make progress. Newer behavioral approaches have been developed that can help these patients. This article describes behavioral activation techniques designed to address depression.     

Women,crimes, and judicial dispositions: A comparative examination of the female offender

Utilizing records from the Seattle Police Department, we explored questions of a new “masculinized” female offender and a “chivalrous” criminal justice system. Crime‐specific arrest statistics provided a means to study both questions. Arrest statistics were recoded three separate ways: according to traditional views of the “masculinity” of an offense; legalistic crime categories; and seriousness ratings. These three categories were compared by sex across a four‐year period. Comparisons of final dispositions provided the basis of a final look at the “chivalry” issue. The findings suggest that females are not making great inroads into either traditionally masculine crimes or crime in general, and while there is little in the data to suggest prejudicial treatment based on sex, chivalry is supported by certain arrest and disposition rates.     

Beyond contradiction and consistency: A design for a dialectical policy system

It is only within the last ten years that the necessary technical machinery has been developed that enables us to construct models that even begin to approach the complexity of dialectical reasoning. This paper shows both the diversity and the complexity of the concepts that must be woven together in order to construct a dialectic ‘process logic’, i.e., a logic that unfolds over time. It utilizes such concepts as Rescher's and Manor's plausibility calculus, Toulmin's framework for argumentation, and Markov chains. The result is the essence of a design for a computer based dialectical policy system.     

Depression and Missed Work among Informal Caregivers of Older Individuals with Dementia

Although providing informal care can negatively affect caregiver emotional health and lead to depression, the association between caregiver depression and missed work is unknown. We use data from the National Longitudinal Caregiver Survey to examine the relationship between caregiver depression and missed work among informal caregivers for older veterans with Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia. Two-part models are used to estimate the expected hours of work missed among working caregivers. Caregiver depression is statistically significantly associated with the likelihood and amount of time missed at work, resulting in an average of an extra half-day of work missed per month. While the effect of caregiver depression on work missed is modest, it represents another possible benefit from interventions to support caregivers.