Couples expecting their first child were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 28) and comparison groups (n = 38) to assess the efficacy of a couples intervention and examine marital satisfaction trajectories across the transition to parenthood. The primarily European American sample (M age = 30 years) completed assessments of marital…

Discusses familial influences in anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Reviews descriptions of family interaction, familial correlates of course and phenomenology of symptoms, and studies of familial transmission. Concludes that certain personality factors, possibly genetically determined, predispose the individual to greater sensitivity and vulnerability…

Recollection of faulty parent child interaction were found to differ among groups with varieties of illness behavior. Normal Ss decribed the most healthy parent child relationship and neurotic Ss the most disturbed. (Author)

The results indicated that (a) there is more conflict in the clinic families and (b) the normal family is characterized by a father dominance which appears to be accepted by the other members of the family; the clinic family is characterized by a mother dominance which is unacceptable to other family members. (Author)

Examined first year postdivorce functioning of young adolescents, assessing social and social withdrawal behavior, cognitive functioning, and externalizing problems. Interparental conflict exerted significant main effect on social and social withdrawal behavior and, for cognitive functioning, interacted with marital status. Parental marital status…

Responds to Fauber and Long's (1991) overview of research on family therapy with children. Notes several concerns that apply to inferences drawn from risk research. Sees as questionable assertion that various sources of family distress have effects that are mediated primarily through parenting and suggestion that parenting, therefore, is…

Study results indicate the mean depression levels in a group of Chinese children was similar to those found for children in the West. Positively associated depression with aggressive-disruptive behavior and negatively associated it with social competence. School social and academic difficulties were concurrently and positively correlated with…

In sample of 177 clinic-referred children aged 7-13, association was found between diagnosis of conduct disorder and several aspects of family functioning: maternal parenting (supervision and persistence in discipline) and parent adjustment (paternal antisocial personality disorder and paternal substance abuse). Children with oppositional defiant…

One hundred fifteen depressed inpatients with a history of attempted suicide were matched by age and sex with 115 nonsuicidal depressed patients and 285 normal subjects. The results indicated that the early separation of parent from child does not, in itself, predispose the child to attempted suicide. (Author)

Compared family interactions of intact families with clinically depressed mothers with those of normal families. Analyzed nonverbal affective behavior. Depressed mothers emitted significantly higher rates of dysphoric affect and lower rates of happy affect than did normal mothers. Interactions between mother's dysphoric affect and family's…

Study investigated the impact of two types of potential crisis-producing experiences on the referral patterns of maladapting primary grade school children: parental separation and divorce and parental death. Association between specific crisis history and specific school maladjustment patterns is seen to have implications for early detection and…

Assessed marital conflict and endocrine function in 90 newlywed couples. Blood samples were examined to provide composite and daytime values for three stress hormones and three related hormones. Data provided a window on endocrine function in couples for whom the day included conflicts. Discusses findings in the context of gender models of marital…

Examined whether spouses' attributions for partner behavior are related to their behavior by assessing their attributions and observing the problem-solving discussions of cohabitating couples (n=52) in which neither spouse was depressed or distressed, the wife was depressed and both spouses were distressed, and the wife was not depressed and both…

Investigated family and social cognitive characteristics as mediators of social adjustment among college women. Indicated decreased cohesion and adaptability in the family of origin, increased perception of social isolation, and poorer social adjustment among subjects abused as children. Family characteristics and especially increased perceptions…