Children's response to the medical visit for allegations of sexual abuse: maternal perceptions and predicting variables

This study examined maternal perceptions of their child's response to the medical evaluation for alleged sexual abuse. A total of 50 mothers were interviewed 6 months after a visit to a Child Protection Clinic for a medical evaluation of alleged sexual abuse. The mothers answered a questionnaire on their child's reactions to the medical visit. More than 60% of children were perceived as being reassured about physical integrity. The degree of psychological distress was independent of perpetrator's identity and severity of the abuse. Mothers considered that a hypothetical second visit would generate in their child a level of anxiety that increased with perceived intensity of fear of the examination and decreased with perceived kindness of the physician. These results suggest that the physician's behaviour during the medical evaluation for alleged sexual abuse has an influence on the child's degree of distress that is independent of type and severity of abuse. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deconstructing maternal sensitivity: Predictive relations to mother‐child attachment in home and laboratory settings

Despite the well‐documented importance of parental sensitivity for child development, there is a lack of consensus regarding how best to assess it. We investigated the factor structure of maternal caregiving behavior as assessed at 12 months by the Maternal Behavior Q‐Sort (Pederson & Moran) with 274 mother‐infant dyads. Subsequently, we examined associations between these empirically‐derived dimensions and child attachment, assessed in the home and laboratory (final N = 157). Three dimensions of maternal behavior were identified, corresponding fairly closely to Ainsworth's original scales. They were labeled Cooperation/Attunement, Positivity, and Accessibility/Availability. Only Cooperation/Attunement consistently predicted home‐based attachment at 15 months and 2 years, and at comparable strength to the overall sensitivity score, suggesting that this construct may be central to sensitivity. At 18 months, compared to their primarily secure counterparts, different types of laboratory‐assessed insecure attachment were associated with different patterns of maternal behavior. Mothers in avoidant relationships (n = 18) were low on Cooperation/Attunement and Accessibility/Availability, but fairly high on Positivity. Mothers of disorganized infants (n = 11) were Cooperative/Attuned but somewhat less Positive toward, and less Accessible/Available to, their infants. A multidimensional approach to parental behavior may facilitate the identification of parenting precursors of insecure parent‐child relationships.     

Efficacy of a Group Therapy for Sexually Abused Adolescent Girls

ABSTRACT

The effects of a group therapy program for teenage girls reporting child sexual abuse were evaluated by means of a pretest/post-test design with a control group. The psycho-educational intervention consisted of an average of 20 weekly two-hour meetings. Results of the repeated analyses of variance (ANOVA) revealed a sig-nificant improvement in youth participating in the therapy when compared with the control group on measures of post-traumatic stress, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, coping strategies, relation- ship with the mother, and sense of empowerment. The findings suggest that the group therapy offered by the Centre d'Intervention en Abus Sexuels pour la Famille (CIASF) was effective in reducing symptoms for sexually abused teenagers.     

The efficacy and safety of short-acting testosterone ointment (Glowmin) for late-onset hypogonadism in accordance with testosterone circadian rhythm

Introduction: It is well known that there is a reduction of circadian rhythm in blood testosterone levels with aging. Our previous report revealed that 3?mg of short-acting testosterone ointment (Glowmin: GL) elevated serum testosterone levels to within the physiological range for 4–6?h. The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical efficacy and safety of GL used topically once every morning, to enhance the circadian rhythm of testosterone, for late-onset hypogonadism (LOH).

Methods: A total of 61 LOH patients received 3?mg of GL topically once a day in the morning on scrotal skin for 24 weeks. The clinical efficacy of GL was evaluated by the aging males symptoms (AMS) scale, and blood sampling tests were measured before and after GL treatment.

Results: Mean patients age was 55.3?±?9.2 years old. Total AMS scores at 4, 12, and 24 weeks after GL treatments significantly decreased. The results of sub-analysis of AMS, including psychological, physical, and sexual factors also significantly improved after GL treatments. No severe adverse reactions or abnormal laboratory data were reported.

Conclusions: This study shows that TRT for LOH with once daily GL treatment supports testosterone circadian rhythm and should be considered to be an effective and safe therapy for LOH.     

母性：杜拉斯笔下的一方圣土

母爱的缺失和找寻循环贯穿于杜拉斯的一生，由此形成的“母性情结”反映在写作中，使得其文本中的母亲形象表现出偏执、扭曲、神圣、慈善等多面性的母性特征。杜拉斯的母性情结及其文本中的母性书写体现了作家对父权文化的矛盾态度。     

“母性思维”与当代中国家庭教育中的关怀叙事

关怀伦理学主张从母性实践出发，在与子女建立亲密关系的过程中给予子女保护性的爱，对子女进行精神上的教养，帮助子女形成社会化人格等，文章以关怀伦理学中的母性思维为视角，以池莉等作家依据自身母性实践创作的关怀叙事作品为例，与柏杨、余华等人作品中父职角色在家庭中充当道德权威的书写对比，探讨了"母性思维"观念对于当代中国家庭教育的积极意义，即促进家庭中亲密关系和信赖关系的产生，同时父职身份也应该受到"母性思维"观念的影响相应地进行转化，从道德权威转变为道德关怀。     

呼唤自然母性情怀——论铁凝小说的母性意识

女作家铁凝在小说中塑造了形形色色的母亲形象，表达了对自然母性情怀的强烈呼唤，在当代女性文学中凸显了独特、厚重、深刻的母性意识的特质。即对传统母亲形象的理性审视、对现实母亲的“审丑”意识以及歌颂自然母性的伟力。     

"唐山流寓话巢痕"--杨若萍《台湾与大陆文学关系简史》评述

简要评述杨若萍博士<台湾与大陆文学关系简史>一书,指出:杨著以详实的史料勾勒两岸文学发展的互动关系,并将大陆文学看作是台湾文学的母体,以批驳强行将两岸文学分割开来的"本土文学论"者的错误论调,其立论之平实,论证之谨严,足为细辨"巢痕"之力作,也使我们这些置身岛外的人们对台湾文学的发展与走向有了相当清晰的了解.     

Life stress, social support, coping and depressive symptoms: a comparison between the general population and family caregivers

Major depression is one of the four most prevalent psychiatric diseases in Taiwan. Furthermore, a study showed that 45 per cent of the family caregivers of persons with persistent psychiatric disability were at risk of depression. The present study aimed at examining if caregivers experienced more depressive symptoms than the general population while controlling for other variables (direct effect), and if the constellation of correlates of depressive symptoms was different between the general population and caregivers (interaction effect). Data from 1979 subjects were gathered in a national survey, using stratified random sampling. The results revealed that the caregivers experienced significantly more depressive symptoms than the general population. However, the effect disappeared when other variables were taken into account. Life stress appeared to be more important than coping and social support. The other two common correlates of depressive symptoms were age and being unmarried. Relational stress mattered especially for caregivers. Lastly, social support variables were significant only for the general population; satisfaction with support could buffer the negative effect of survival stress on depressive symptoms.     

Relational problems and psychiatric symptoms in couple therapy

This article describes couples attending family counselling in Sweden. The study group is compared with clinical groups and non-clinical groups. Self-rating instruments were com-pleted by 317 women and 312 men to evaluate the following: marital satisfaction (DAS), expressed emotion (QAFM), family climate (FC), psychiatric symptoms (SCL-90) and sense of coherence (SOC). This group had several problems: marital relationships, disrupted family functioning, dyadic interactions characterised by criticism and open arguments, and multiple psychological symptoms. The women were espe-cially discontent in the relationship, and they exhibited higher symptom strain and lower sense of coherence than the men did. Compared with non-clinical populations, this group was severely distressed and was similar to in-patient families in child psychiatric clinics. The low sense of coherence of the individuals in the group under study means that their sense of having a meaningful life and their ability to comprehend and manage problems were severely compromised. Adequate and comprehensive treatment within the framework of social pro-grammes should be made available to these couples and others in a similar situation.