Intimate partner violence and PTSD: the moderating role of emotion-focused coping

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects millions of women every year, often resulting in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The strength of the relationship between IPV and PTSD has been shown to be affected by factors such as the amount of violence exposure and the style of coping in which the individual engages. For example, emotion-focused coping has been shown to be strongly related to IPV exposure and the expression of PTSD symptoms. This topic was explored in IPV survivors, with the finding that more frequent use of emotion-focused coping was associated with both higher violence exposure and heightened PTSD symptoms. Regression analyses revealed that emotion-focused coping moderated the relationship between IPV exposure and PTSD symptoms. More specifically, the results suggest that while individuals low on emotion-focused coping had fewer PTSD symptoms than women who frequently used emotion-focused coping, these individuals reported higher PTSD symptoms in the presence of frequent violence exposure. For individuals who frequently engaged in emotion-focused coping, violence exposure was less strongly associated with symptoms of PTSD.     

Infant Symbolic Play as an Early Indicator of Fetal Alcohol‐Related Deficit

Infant symbolic play was examined in relation to prenatal alcohol exposure and socioenvironmental background and to predict which infants met criteria for fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) at 5 years. A total of 107 Cape‐Colored, South African infants born to heavy drinking mothers and abstainers/light drinkers were recruited prenatally. Complexity of play, sociodemographic and psychological correlates of maternal alcohol use, and quality of parenting were assessed at 13 months, and intelligence quotient and FAS diagnosis at 5 years. The effect of drinking on spontaneous play was not significant after control for social environment. In contrast, prenatal alcohol and quality of parenting related independently to elicited play. Elicited play predicted 5‐year Digit Span and was poorer in infants subsequently diagnosed with FAS/partial FAS and in nonsyndromal heavily exposed infants, compared with abstainers/light drinkers. Thus, symbolic play may provide an early indicator of risk for alcohol‐related deficits. The independent effects of prenatal alcohol and quality of parenting suggest that infants whose symbolic play is adversely affected by alcohol exposure may benefit from stimulation from a responsive caregiver.     

Birth-interval dynamics in rural Bangladesh and maternal weight

This article reports on the results of a study conducted in rural Bangladesh on the influence of maternal weight on the components of birth intervals, including gestation and intrauterine mortality, the duration of postpartum amenorrhea, and the duration of waiting time to conception (the menstrual interval). When biological factors (including maternal age, parity, and supplementation practices) and behavioral variables, including religion, education, and occupation, were controlled, maternal weight was found to be related to the risk of intrauterine mortality and to the probability of resuming menses in the postpartum period. The implications of these findings for policies and programs in developing countries are discussed.     

Hispanic Adolescent Girls’ Attitudes Toward School

Hispanic adolescent girls are at elevated risk for dropping out of school. The authors interviewed 54 Hispanic adolescent girls who were attending after-school programs in the New York metropolitan area. The study investigated how the multiple factors of mother–daughter and friend mutuality, coping, acculturation, self-esteem, depression and family environment influenced the way these girls felt about school. The final logistical regression analysis appeared to support our hypothesis that girls who have a higher degree of mutuality with their mothers will be more likely to like school a lot. In addition, girls who liked school a lot were significantly more likely to have higher overall grades and to be somewhat religious. Findings are discussed within the context of the empirical and theoretical literature and implications for prevention of school drop-out are considered.     

Are All Dads Equal? Biology Versus Marriage as a Basis for Paternal Investment

The stepfather relationship provides a source of potential conflict in remarriage families, because the mother and partner may have different interests in the well‐being of children from a prior union. Using three different theoretical perspectives—biology, sociology, and selection—this paper examines the engagement, availability, participation, and warmth of residential fathers in married biological parent, unmarried biological parent, married stepparent, and cohabiting father families. The data come from 2,531 children and their parents who were interviewed during the 1997 wave of the Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Biology explains less of father involvement than anticipated once differences between fathers are controlled. Marriage continues to differentiate paternal investment levels, as do age of child and financial responsibility to nonresidential children.     

Contesting meaning: Newfie and the politics of ethnic labelling

The ethnic label Newfie is a site of ideological dispute: for some, it is simply an informal term for residents and expatriates of the Canadian province of Newfoundland, for others it may function as an in–group term of solidarity which takes on negative connotations when used by non–Newfoundlanders, and for still others it is the equivalent of a racial slur. In this study we first trace the history of the term, a fairly recent innovation. We then examine present–day attitudes as expressed in (provincial and national) media discourse and in self–report data. We argue that debate over Newfie is part of a larger ideological struggle concerning the commodification of an ‘invented’ Newfoundland culture, which itself must be understood in terms of Newfoundland’s socioeconomic position as Canada’s poorest province. Finally, we compare the Newfie case to other instances of contested group labelling.     

How American Children Spend Their Time

The purpose of this article is to examine how American children under age 13 spend their time, sources of variation in time use, and associations with achievement and behavior. Data come from the 1997 Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The results suggest that parents' characteristics and decisions regarding marriage, family size, and employment affect the time children spend in educational, structured, and family activities, which may affect their school achievement. Learning activities such as reading for pleasure are associated with higher achievement, as is structured time spent playing sports and in social activities. Family time spent at meals and time spent sleeping are linked to fewer behavior problems, as measured by the child's score on the Behavior Problems Index. The results support common language and myth about the optimal use of time for child development.