Adolescent Sibling Relationship Quality and Adjustment: Sibling Trustworthiness and Modeling,as Factors Directly and Indirectly Influencing These Associations

The main goal of this study was to examine the direct and moderating effects of trustworthiness and modeling on adolescent siblings' adjustment. Data were collected from 438 families including a mother, a younger sibling in fifth, sixth, or seventh grade (M = 11.6 years), and an older sibling (M = 14.3 years). Respondents completed Web‐based surveys describing sibling conflict and warmth. Siblings reported on trustworthiness and modeling, and mothers described adjustment. Sibling conflict was directly associated with internalizing and externalizing behaviors for both siblings. The older siblings' reports of trustworthiness were directly associated with the outcome measures. The younger siblings' reports of trustworthiness were less directly associated, but a possible salutary effect was most evident under the highest levels of sibling conflict or warmth. Higher sibling modeling was a risk factor for adjustment problems in relations characterized by high conflict. Results support exploring trustworthiness as a key dimension of sibling relations.     

Knowledge and Perceptions of Child-Care Social Workers about ADHD

Correspondence to David Pentecost, Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Finchley Memorial Hospital, Granville Road, London, N12 0JE. E-mail: david.pentecost{at}lineone.net Summary Four hundred and forty social work practitioners for children,including those of Guardian ad Litem status, were surveyed regardingtheir knowledge and perceptions concerning attention deficithyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Questionnaires were distributedto the social workers via managers in seven boroughs in thesouth-east of England. The majority of practitioners in thesample were able to correctly identify the key diagnostic criteriaclosely associated with the condition. Over a third of respondentswere unsure of the appropriateness of treatment with stimulantmedication while the large majority felt that psychosocial interventionsinvolving the families were appropriate. Length of post-qualifyingexperience was found to be a crucial variable influencing bothknowledge about ADHD and the preferences for interventions forthe condition. Less than three out of ten practitioners regardedit as important to involve the Children with Disabilities Teams(CDTs) in such cases and a similar proportion were unaware oflocal resources that may support these children and their families.The results are discussed in relation to previous studies, implicationsfor social work practice and training and the role of CDTs inthe field.     

Childhood behavioral and emotional disorders

We reviewed the literature on family treatment for childhood behavioral and emotional disorders and found an increase in the number of studies since 1995; however there was significant variation by disorder and therapy model. There is substantially more research on externalizing disorders (i.e., conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder) then internalizing disorders, depression and anxiety disorders. The data support the conclusion that family-based interventions produce results comparable to individually oriented interventions, and in some cases family-based interventions are superior to individual treatments. To date, cognitive behavioral family therapy and parent management have been the two models studied, almost exclusively. Implications for family therapy and future research are considered.     

The influence of religious and ethnic differences on marital intimacy: intermarriage versus intramarriage

The influence of religious and ethnic differences on marital intimacy was examined by administering the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships and a demographic/attitudinal questionnaire to 25 Jewish couples (intramarried) and 25 couples with one Jewish partner (intermarried). All couples were childless and in the first 5 years of their first marriage. Results indicated that the groups did not differ regarding couple level of intimacy, similarity of intimate experience, or mutual understanding. However, in-depth interviews revealed differences in the pathways by which these two groups arrived at a similar level of intimacy. Intramarried couples appear to experience greater personal similarity and mutual understanding rooted in their ethnic bond, which aids the development of intimacy. Intermarried couples appear to find that the very process of negotiating ethnic differences leads to greater mutual understanding and intimacy. These findings indicate that clinicians and religious leaders should not assume that intermarriage constrains levels of intimacy. Nor should it be assumed that intramarriage assures high intimacy.     

Reconnecting Past,Present and Future Lives: Therapy with a Young Person who Experienced Severe Childhood Privation

This case study describes therapy over a three year period with a young adopted person who presented as highly suicidal, with a childhood background characterised by severe privation and abuse. The paper describes the use of a visual Life line, designed to assist the young person in reconnecting and honouring different parts of her life. A flexible and client centred therapeutic approach is also described.     

Mixture structure analysis using the Akaike Information Criterion and the bootstrap

Given i.i.d. observations x1,x2,x3,...,xn drawn from a mixture of normal terms, one is often interested in determining the number of terms in the mixture and their defining parameters. Although the problem of determining the number of terms is intractable under the most general assumptions, there is hope of elucidating the mixture structure given appropriate caveats on the underlying mixture. This paper examines a new approach to this problem based on the use of Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) based pruning of data driven mixture models which are obtained from resampled data sets. Results of the application of this procedure to artificially generated data sets and a real world data set are provided.     

Long range planning in large United States banks

This study indicated that there is considerable interest in formal strategic long range corporate planning among large U.S. banks. Officers in a total of 97 large U.S. banks provided information on their bank's efforts in the area of long range planning for this study. The data indicated that the percentage of large U.S. banks with fully developed and operational long range planning systems is rapidly increasing. Information on the organization for long range bank planning and the administrative procedures being utilized are presented and discussed. In addition, information on problems that the bankers are experiencing in implementing and operating their long range planning systems are presented.     

Evaluating Application Service Provisioning Using System Dynamics Methodology

Despite the hype surrounding the value‐added potential of e‐business for contemporary firms, the recent technology downturn was marked by poor customer satisfaction from investment in e‐business initiatives. An apparent mismatch between customer expectations and vendor offerings suggested a lack of appropriate methods and techniques for evaluating e‐business. This article draws from a longitudinal research study on the deployment, hosting and integration of application service provisioning (ASP), an e‐business model targeted mainly at small and medium‐sized businesses (SMBs). Using system dynamics as a methodology that addresses the inherent complexity of the ASP model, the article demonstrates how a series of complex inter‐relationships between key performance indicators (KPIs) will impact the business value for customers from ASP vendor products and services. The lessons from this research will be particularly relevant for existing and future ASP vendors and customers.