Effects of Parental Monitoring and Peer Deviance on Substance Use and Delinquency

From socialization theory, it was hypothesized that parental support and monitoring as well as peer deviance would influence individual trajectories of alcohol misuse, other substance use, and delinquency. Six waves of data were analyzed using interviews with 506 adolescents in a general population sample. Results from multilevel modeling showed that monitoring significantly predicted adolescents’ initial levels (intercepts) of alcohol misuse and delinquency. Parental monitoring strongly predicted the rates of increase (slope) in all 3 problem behaviors. Peer deviance significantly predicted initial levels of all problem behaviors and the rates of increase in them. This study provides evidence that both effective parenting and avoidance of associations with delinquent peers are important factors in preventing adolescent problem behaviors.     

A survival-adjusted quantal response test for comparing tumour incidence rates

Summary.  The paper presents a case-study of skin fibromas among male rats in the 2-year cancer bioassay of methyleugenol that was conducted by the US National Toxicology Program (NTP). In animal carcinogenicity experiments such as this one, tumour rates are often compared with the Cochran–Armitage (CA) trend test. The operating characteristics of the CA test, however, can be adversely affected by survival differences across groups and by the assumed dose metric. Survival-adjusted generalizations of the CA test have been proposed, but they are still sensitive to the choice of scores that are assigned to the dose groups. We present an alternative test, which outperforms the survival-adjusted CA test which is currently used by the NTP to compare incidence rates. Simulated data from a wide range of realistic situations show that the operating characteristics of the test proposed are superior to those of the NTP's survival-adjusted CA test, especially for rare tumours and wide logarithmic spacings of the dose metric.     

Preserving white comfort and safety: the politics of race erasure in academe

ABSTRACT

In this paper four critical scholars/ activists reflect on the complex institutional and public responses to recent white supremacist events on Canadian campuses and the equity discussions they have affected. Specifically, we interrogate practices, which reify and reinsure positions of dominance and human/social hierarchy in four ways. To begin, (1) we interrogate freedom of speech and freedom of expression positions, as well as the reliance on critique of neoliberalism to supplant analyses of racism and colonial logics, to identify their role in preserving white fragility. Next, (2) we provide a local media analysis of academe’s responses to white supremacy on campus to trace the discursive moves that obscure institutional racism. Following these contextual scaffoldings, (3) we explore the ways equity projects within institutions remain projects protecting and preserving whiteness while exploiting the politics of identity. Finally, (4) we carefully reflect on the various modes of inclusion in the academy, which produce racialized scholars(hip) to be complicit in the reproduction of racial thinking, alongside and occluded by institutional narratives of equity and progress. Critical questions are raised regarding the possibilities, complicities and complexities of achieving equity and transformation in the academy, as well as the role of racialized scholars(hip) in this work.     

Differentiation and Healthy Family Functioning of Koreans in South Korea,South Koreans in the United States,and White Americans

Inconsistent results have been found in prior research on the Bowen Family Systems Theory concept of differentiation of self and its application to individuals, couples, and families of different cultural backgrounds. In this regard, this study examined the impact of differentiation of self on healthy family functioning, family communication, and family satisfaction with 277 participants including South Koreans living in South Korea, South Korean‐born citizens living in the United States, and White Americans living in the United States. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis identified the measurement invariance of a differentiation scale (DSI‐R) used for the three study groups. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) found significant differences between White Americans and South Koreans with regard to the level of differentiation. Results of multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses found a significant association between differentiation of self and healthy family functioning across the three groups with the American group having significantly higher differentiation than the two South Korean groups.” Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.     

Undermining Adolescent Autonomy With Parents and Peers: The Enduring Implications of Psychologically Controlling Parenting

This study used a longitudinal, multimethod design to examine whether teens' perceptions of maternal psychological control predicted lower levels of adolescent autonomy displayed with their mothers and peers over time. Significant predictions from teens' perceptions of maternal psychological control to teens' displays of autonomy in maternal and peer relationships were found at age 16 after accounting for adolescent displays of autonomy with mothers and peers at age 13, indicating relative changes in teens' autonomy displayed with their mother and a close peer over time. Results suggest that the ability to assert one's autonomy in mid‐adolescence may be influenced by maternal behavior early in adolescence, highlighting the importance of parents minimizing psychological control to facilitate autonomy development for teens.     

Self‐Perceived Competence in Mainland China: A Multiwave Longitudinal Examination of Internalizing Symptoms in Chinese Adolescents

The present 9‐wave, 2‐year study examined whether Cole's (1991) theory of self‐perceived competence could help explain vulnerability to depressive and anxiety symptoms in a sample of adolescents from mainland China. Participants included 624 adolescents (319 females and 305 males) from an urban school in Changsha (n = 308) and from a rural school in Liuyang (n = 316). Findings showed that self‐perceived academic competence was negatively associated with prospective depressive and anxiety symptoms. Meanwhile, adolescents with low levels of self‐perceived social competence were at heightened risk for depressive symptoms during times of increased stressors (supporting a vulnerability‐stress model). These findings advance past research by highlighting new developmental pathways for depressive and anxiety symptoms in Chinese adolescents.