Enhancing parent-child interaction during foster care visits: experimental assessment of an intervention

Mothers of young children recently placed in foster care participated in an intervention to enhance parent-child interaction during visits. The mothers all reported substantial loss and trauma histories. Immediately prior to the visits, the mothers were coached on strategies for separating from their children at the visit's end. The mothers displayed more behavioral strategies for supporting their children when the visit was over, but were less engaged with their children during the leave-taking sequence and displayed fewer ways of maintaining the child's involvement in mother-child interaction during leave-taking than those in a comparison group. This article discusses consideration of parents' trauma history in designing interventions to enhance parent-child interaction.     

Accuracy of parents' perceptions of their college student children's health and health risk behaviors

The authors compared parents' perceptions of their college student children's health and health risk behaviors with the college students' own reports. One hundred sixty-four parent-college student child dyads completed questionnaires regarding the students' health, illness status, and health risk behaviors. Parents tended to be overoptimistic about their children's health and health risk behaviors, underestimating the frequency of their children's alcohol, smoking, marijuana, and sex-related behaviors, and overestimating the students' self-reports of general health. Such misperceptions may inhibit parent-student conversations about health and risky health behavior, ultimately putting the student at greater health risk.     

Structural Determinants of Infant Mortality in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan America1

Abstract A conceptual model of the impact of structural advantage and disadvantage on infant mortality rates is developed and fitted to countylevel data. This model includes mediating endogenous constructs representing medical care availability, the incidence of teenage childbearing, and low birthweight rates and is estimated for three residence categories. Both direct and indirect effects of social structure and teenage childbearing on infant mortality vary significantly across the categories. Structural advantage exerts a significant and negative direct effect on infant mortality rates in urban areas, but in rural areas this effect is indirect, operating through teenage childbearing and low birthweight. Structural disadvantage significantly increases infant mortality in both rural and urban settings, but the effects operate directly in metropolitan areas and indirectly in rural areas. These results underscore the central role that social structure continues to play in determining infant mortality rates in the United States.     

Human Sexuality: Past,Present and Future*

The historical impact of times, people, and events on the foundation and development of the human sexuality profession is presented. The present status of the field and the efforts of some of today's leading contributors are also surveyed. Some recent research findings and trends in the direction sex research is taking are briefly discussed.     

A model of nonverbal exchange in physician-patient expectations for patient involvement

This paper reviews the literature on the nonverbal aspects of physician-patient interaction, focusing on how expectations about patient involvement are conveyed and negotiated by physicians and patients. Important outcomes of this process, such as satisfaction, adherence, and patient health, are examined. A model of physician-patient negotiation involving four interaction styles is presented to examine the negotiation process and the effects of patient involvement on outcomes.We would like to thank Valerian Derlega and the two reviewers, Debra L. Roter and Richard L. Street, for their helpful comments.