Ticking fast or ticking slow, through Shc must you go?

Circumstantial evidence places the p66 isoform of the adapter protein Shc in a position to mediate the accelerated aging phenotype displayed by mice expressing shortened forms of the tumor suppressor protein p53. We present a model in which p66(shc) may be responsible for integrating signals from the p53 pathway with signals from the insulin-like growth factor-1/Daf pathway in mammals. A full understanding of how interactions between p53 and p66(shc) affect longevity will require the production of animals with mutations in the genes encoding both proteins.     

Parent-child connections: the essential component for positive youth development and mental health, safe communities, and academic achievement

A continuing parent-youth bond throughout adolescence and young adulthood is the foundation for genuine emotional health, academic achievement, and healthy developmental trajectories and the antidote to youth violence.     

Processes of adjustment in organized out-of-school activities: opportunities and risks

Participation in organized out-of-school activities leads to long-term psychosocial and educational benefits for young people. Now we're learning which features of these activities best support individual children.     

When spacing out brings clarity. Mental lapses serve as diagnostic clue for type of dementia

NEW YORK CITY--Everyone has slow-witted moments: entering a room only to forget why, putting ice cream into the fridge, or blanking out on how to use the microwave. Some clinicians think that periodic mental lapses might help diagnose dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), a scourge that kills brain cells (see DLB Case Study), although not all experts agree. Now, scientists have found that some cognitive blunders crop up more frequently in patients with DLB than in those with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or in healthy elderly individuals, according to work presented here on 15 January 2004 at an American Medical Association briefing for media.     

LEGISLATING LOVE: The Effect of Child Support and Welfare Policies on Father–child Contact

Reducing non-marital childbearing and making nonresidential fathers take greater responsibility for their children were identified as goals of numerous policy changes since the 1980s. Child-support award rates for children born to unmarried parents have been quite low historically, leading lawmakers to focus on increasing both award and payment rates for this group. Nonmarital fathers are also much less likely to have contact with their children. Although evidence suggests that policy efforts increase child support awards and receipt, the link between child support policies, child support outcomes, and father-child contact has received less attention. This paper uses data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation on children born between 1985–1997 to investigate the relationship between child-support award and receipt and the amount of contact that fathers have with their non-residential children. Since it is likely that both of these behaviors are, in part, determined by unobservable characteristics of the father, we estimate an instrumental variables Tobit model. The model is identified by our assumption that child support policy variables can impact child support awards and payments, but father-child contact cannot be directly legislated. Our results suggest that there are unintended, but desirable effects of child support establishment and collection. Policies to collect child support not only increase financial resources to families, but through their impact on payments increase visitation and contact between these children and their fathers. The estimated impact of receiving child support on contact is more than 27 days per year.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Economic Association, Washington DC, January 2003 and the Annual Meetings of the Association of Public Policy and Management, November 2003. Support from NICHD Grant # HD30944 is gratefully acknowledged. We would like to thank Suzann Eshleman for excellent computer programming and James Scully for providing us with data on genetic testing laws.     

Dying in jail: The phenomenon of adolescent suicide in correctional facilities

Adolescent suicide is increasing in the United States and the incidence of suicide gestures and attempts in juvenile correctional facilities is high. The attitudes of correctional staff toward adolescents and toward suicidal behavior may contribute to the increase. Suicide is often the outcome of a progression of problems that have isolated the adolescent from meaningful social relationships. Correctional staff must be aware of the phenomenon of adolescent suicide and be given training to deal with it effectively within the institution. Institutional staff have commonly seen suicide gestures or attempts as acting out behavior rather than a symptom of low self-esteem or inability to cope with institutional placement. This discussion examines the phenomenon of adolescent suicide and the impact the juvenile justice system has on its occurrence. It will also include an examination of interdisciplinary interventive strategies which can be used in an institutional setting.     

REGULATORY COMMISSION BEHAVIOR: MYOPIC VERSUS FORWARD LOOKING

The regulatory environment is assumed to be characterized by changing labor costs and productivity, and by the existence of set-up costs for rate reviews. If the commission behaves myopically, price changes are shown to occur only when a threshold deviation of actual from target return is reached. During periods where productivity (wage) increases predominate, the actual return is thus consistently higher (lower) than the target level. If, however, the commission incorporates dynamic trends into its decision-making process, there are intervals where actual return both exceeds and falls short of target levels; on average, the firm earns over time a return that is approximately equal to the target level.     

The McMaster Model of Family Functioning

The model of family functioning being presented is the product of over twenty years of research in clinical work with family units. A method of family therapy has been developed based upon this model and will be described in a future issue. The model utilizes a general systems theory approach in an attempt to describe the structure, organization, and transactional patterns of the family unit. It allows examination of families along the total spectrum ranging from healthy to severely pathological in their functioning. It is based upon a Judaeo-Christian value set, and allows attention to be paid to cultural differences and other issues of cultural relativity .     

The Characteristics of Two Samples of Women Seeking Abortion in Queensland

The legalization of abortion is still a live issue in Queensland. The numbers and characteristics of women seeking abortion through the Children by Choice Association in 1973–74 and in 1980 were studied since no official statistics on abortion are available. From 1974 to 1980 there was a threefold growth in demand and a threefold rise in the proportion seeking their second or subsequent abortion. Both samples closely reflect the Queensland population as measured by place of birth and religious affiliation. Contraceptive knowledge was found to be associated with education while the proportion who stated they had formal lessons at school rose from 3% to 16% between the samples. In both samples two-thirds of the pregnancies resulted when no physical contraceptive was in use. Social characteristics of the women and men involved were investigated, as well as factors in the abortion decision.