Cultural socialization and ethnic pride among Mexican-origin adolescents during the transition to middle school

The relation between cultural socialization and ethnic pride during the transition to middle school was examined for 674 fifth-grade students (50% boys; Mage = 10.4 years) of Mexican origin. The theoretical model guiding the study proposes that parent-child relationship quality is a resource in the transmission of cultural values from parent to child and that parental warmth promotes the child's positive response to cultural socialization. Results showed that mother and father cultural socialization predicted youth ethnic pride and that this relation was stronger when parents were high in warmth. The findings highlight the positive role parent cultural socialization may play in the development of adolescent ethnic pride. Furthermore, findings reveal the role of parent-child relationship quality in this process.

Continuity and change in self-esteem during emerging adulthood

The present study examined the development of self-esteem in a sample of emerging adults (N = 295) followed longitudinally over 4 years of college. Six waves of self-esteem data were available. Participants also rated, at the end of their 4th year, the degree to which they thought their self-esteem had changed during college. Rank-order stability was high across all waves of data (Mdn disattenuated correlation = .87). On average, self-esteem levels dropped substantially during the 1st semester (d = -.68), rebounded by the end of the 1st year (d = .73), and then gradually increased over the next 3 years, producing a small (d = .16) but significant mean-level increase in self-esteem from the beginning to the end of college. Individuals who received good grades in college tended to show larger increases in self-esteem. In contrast, individuals who entered college with unrealistically high expectations about their academic achievement tended to show smaller increases in self-esteem, despite beginning college with relatively high self-esteem. With regard to perceived change, 67% reported that their self-esteem increased during college, whereas 12% reported that it declined; these perceptions tended to correspond with actual increases and decreases in their self-esteem scale scores (β = .56). Overall, the findings support the perspective that self-esteem, like other personality characteristics, can change in systematic ways while exhibiting continuity over time.

Confirmatory and competitive evaluation of alternative gene-environment interaction hypotheses

BACKGROUND

Most gene-environment interaction (GXE) research, though based on clear, vulnerability-oriented hypotheses, is carried out using exploratory rather than hypothesis-informed statistical tests, limiting power and making formal evaluation of competing GXE propositions difficult.

METHOD

We present and illustrate a new regression technique which affords direct testing of theory-derived predictions, as well as competitive evaluation of alternative diathesis-stress and differential-susceptibility propositions, using data on the moderating effect of DRD4 with regard to the effect of childcare quality on children's social functioning.

RESULTS

Results show that (a) the new approach detects interactions that the traditional one does not; (b) the discerned GXE fit the differential-susceptibility model better than the diathesis-stress one; and (c) a strong rather than weak version of differential susceptibility is empirically supported.

CONCLUSION

The new method better fits the theoretical 'glove' to the empirical 'hand,' raising the prospect that some failures to replicate GXE results may derive from standard statistical approaches being less than ideal.

Is low self-esteem a risk factor for depression? Findings from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth

We examined the relation between low self-esteem and depression using longitudinal data from a sample of 674 Mexican-origin early adolescents who were assessed at age 10 and 12 years. Results supported the vulnerability model, which states that low self-esteem is a prospective risk factor for depression. Moreover, results suggested that the vulnerability effect of low self-esteem is driven, for the most part, by general evaluations of worth (i.e., global self-esteem), rather than by domain-specific evaluations of academic competence, physical appearance, and competence in peer relationships. The only domain-specific self-evaluation that showed a prospective effect on depression was honesty-trustworthiness. The vulnerability effect of low self-esteem held for male and female adolescents, for adolescents born in the United States versus Mexico, and across different levels of pubertal status. Finally, the vulnerability effect held when we controlled for several theoretically relevant 3rd variables (i.e., social support, maternal depression, stressful events, and relational victimization) and for interactive effects between self-esteem and the 3rd variables. The present study contributes to an emerging understanding of the link between self-esteem and depression and provides much needed data on the antecedents of depression in ethnic minority populations.

Longitudinal relations of intrusive parenting and effortful control to ego-resiliency during early childhood

Longitudinal relations among ego-resiliency (ER), effortful control (EC), and observed intrusive parenting were examined at 18, 30, and 42 months of age (Ns = 256, 230, and 210) using structural equation modeling. Intrusive parenting at 18 and 30 months negatively predicted EC a year later, over and above earlier levels. EC at 30 months mediated the negative relation between 18-month intrusive parenting and ER at 42 months when controlling for stability of the variables. ER did not predict EC. The findings suggest that intrusive parenting may have a negative effect on children's ego-resiliency through its effects on children's abilities to regulate attention and behavior.

Investigating Factorial Invariance of Latent Variables Across Populations When Manifest Variables Are Missing Completely

Difficulties arise in multiple-group evaluations of factorial invariance if particular manifest variables are missing completely in certain groups. Ad hoc analytic alternatives can be used in such situations (e.g., deleting manifest variables), but some common approaches, such as multiple imputation, are not viable. At least 3 solutions to this problem are viable: analyzing differing sets of variables across groups, using pattern mixture approaches, and a new method using random number generation. The latter solution, proposed in this article, is to generate pseudo-random normal deviates for all observations for manifest variables that are missing completely in a given sample and then to specify multiple-group models in a way that respects the random nature of these values. An empirical example is presented in detail comparing the 3 approaches. The proposed solution can enable quantitative comparisons at the latent variable level between groups using programs that require the same number of manifest variables in each group.

Parents' Optimism, Positive Parenting, and Child Peer Competence in Mexican-Origin Families

OBJECTIVE

This study examined how parents' optimism influences positive parenting and child peer competence in Mexican-origin families.

DESIGN

A sample of 521 families (521 mothers, 438 fathers, and 521 11-year-olds) participated in the cross-sectional study. We used structural equation modeling to assess whether effective parenting would mediate the effect of parents' optimism on child peer competence and whether mothers' and fathers' optimism would moderate the relation between positive parenting and child social competence.

RESULTS

Mothers' and fathers' optimism were associated with effective parenting, which in turn was related to children's peer competence. Mothers' and fathers' optimism also moderated the effect of parenting on child peer competence. High levels of parental optimism buffered children against poor parenting; at low levels of parental optimism, positive parenting was more strongly related to child peer competence.

CONCLUSIONS

Results are consistent with the hypothesis that positive parenting is promoted by parents' optimism and is a proximal driver of child social competence. Parental optimism moderates effects of parenting on child outcomes.

Demographic predictors of cognitive change in ethnically diverse older persons

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how demographic variables relate to cognitive change and address whether cross-sectional demographic effects on cognitive tests are mirrored in differences in longitudinal trajectories of cognitive decline. We hypothesized that race and ethnicity, education, and language of test administration would relate to cross-sectional status and that the rate of cognitive decline would differ among African Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasians, across levels of educational attainment, and according to linguistic background. Participants were 404 educationally, ethnically, and cognitively diverse older adults enrolled in an ongoing longitudinal study of cognition. Mixed-effects regression analysis was used to measure baseline status and longitudinal change in episodic memory, executive functioning, and semantic memory. Results showed that ethnicity and education were strongly associated with baseline scores, but were, at most, weakly associated with change in cognition over time after accounting for confounding variables. There was evidence that the episodic-memory scores of Spanish-speaking Hispanic participants with limited education underestimated their true abilities in the initial evaluation, which may reflect lack of familiarity with the testing environment. These results--consistent with other reports in the literature--suggest that cross-sectional effects of demographic variables on cognitive-test scores result from differences in life experiences that directly influence test performance and do not indicate greater disease effects on cognition in minorities and those with limited education.

The Relation Between Maternal and Child Depression in Mexican American Families

In an effort to better understand possible pathways that lead to a relatively high incidence of depressive symptoms among Mexican American youth, an interpersonal stress model of depression was tested using a community sample of 674 Mexican American mothers and their 5th grade children. Structural equation analyses revealed that maternal depression was positively related to mothers' interpersonal stress in their relationships. Additionally, maternal poor parenting quality was associated with three child outcomes: lower social competence, higher interpersonal stress, and higher depressive symptoms. Child difficulties with peers, however, were not related to child depression. Overall, evidence suggests that familial factors, rather than peer factors, were related to child depression for these study participants.

Psychometric study of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist in Fragile X Syndrome and implications for targeted treatment

Animal studies elucidating the neurobiology of fragile X syndrome (FXS) have led to multiple controlled trials in humans, with the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC-C) commonly adopted as a primary outcome measure. A multi-site collaboration examined the psychometric properties of the ABC-C in 630 individuals (ages 3-25) with FXS using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Results support a six-factor structure, with one factor unchanged (Inappropriate Speech), four modified (Irritability, Hyperactivity, Lethargy/Withdrawal, and Stereotypy), and a new Social Avoidance factor. A comparison with ABC-C data from individuals with general intellectual disability and a list of commonly endorsed items are also reported. Reformulated ABC-C scores based on this FXS-specific factor structure may provide added outcome measure specificity and sensitivity in FXS clinical trials.

Distinguishing ordinal and disordinal interactions

Re-parameterized regression models may enable tests of crucial theoretical predictions involving interactive effects of predictors that cannot be tested directly using standard approaches. First, we present a re-parameterized regression model for the Linear × Linear interaction of 2 quantitative predictors that yields point and interval estimates of 1 key parameter-the crossover point of predicted values-and leaves certain other parameters unchanged. We explain how resulting parameter estimates provide direct evidence for distinguishing ordinal from disordinal interactions. We generalize the re-parameterized model to Linear × Qualitative interactions, where the qualitative variable may have 2 or 3 categories, and then describe how to modify the re-parameterized model to test moderating effects. To illustrate our new approach, we fit alternate models to social skills data on 438 participants in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. The re-parameterized regression model had point and interval estimates of the crossover point that fell near the mean on the continuous environment measure. The disordinal form of the interaction supported 1 theoretical model-differential-susceptibility-over a competing model that predicted an ordinal interaction.

The construct of adaptive behavior: its conceptualization, measurement, and use in the field of intellectual disability

This article updates the current conceptualization, measurement, and use of the adaptive behavior construct. Major sections of the article address an understanding of the construct, the current approaches to its measurement, four assessment issues and challenges related to the use of adaptive behavior information for the diagnosis of intellectual disability, and two future issues regarding the relations of adaptive behavior to multidimensional models of personal competence and the distribution of adaptive behavior scores. An understanding of the construct of adaptive behavior and its measurement is critical to clinicians and practitioners in the field because of its role in understanding the phenomenon of intellectual disability, diagnosing a person with intellectual disability, providing a framework for person-referenced education and habilitation goals, and focusing on an essential dimension of human functioning.

Familism, Interparental Conflict, and Parenting in Mexican-Origin Families: A Cultural-Contextual Framework

The present investigation examined the relations between the cultural belief of familism and various aspects of family functioning and child adjustment, including interparental conflict, parenting, and children's attachment to school, in a sample of 549 two-parent Mexican-origin families. The results indicated that parents' familistic values were negatively associated with interparental conflict for both mothers and fathers. Parents' familistic values were also indirectly associated with parenting through the marital relationship. Interparental conflict was negatively associated with nurturant-involved parenting for both parents, but particularly for fathers. Interparental conflict had an indirect negative effect on children's attachment to school via mothers' and fathers' nurturant-involved parenting. Both paternal and maternal nurturant-involved parenting behaviors were positively associated with children's attachment to school across two time points. Child gender differences are also discussed.

Dispositional optimism: a psychological resource for Mexican-origin mothers experiencing economic stress

Dispositional optimism is believed to be an important psychological resource that buffers families against the deleterious consequences of economic adversity. Using data from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin families (N = 674), we tested a family stress model specifying that maternal dispositional optimism and economic pressure affect maternal internalizing symptoms, which, in turn, affects parenting behaviors and children's social adjustment. As predicted, maternal optimism and economic pressure had both independent and interactive effects on maternal internalizing symptoms, and the effects of these variables on changes over time in child social adjustment were mediated by nurturant and involved parenting. The findings replicate and extend previous research on single-parent African American families (Taylor, Larsen-Rife, Conger, Widaman, & Cutrona, 2010), and demonstrate the generalizability of the positive benefits of dispositional optimism in another ethnic group and type of family structure.

Parent Personality and Positive Parenting as Predictors of Positive Adolescent Personality Development Over Time

We investigated the degree to which parent positive personality characteristics in terms of conscientiousness, agreeableness and emotional stability predict similar adolescent personality traits over time as well as the role played by positive parenting in this process. Mothers and fathers of 451 White adolescents (52% female, mean age = 13.59 years) were assessed on three occasions, with 2-year lags between each assessment. Parent personality and observed positive parenting both predicted 12(th) graders personality. Additionally, we found evidence for an indirect link between parent personality and later adolescent personality through positive parenting. The results suggest that parents may play a significant role in the development of adolescent personality traits that promote competence and personal well-being across the life course.

Cultural influences on positive father involvement in two-parent Mexican-origin families

A growing body of research documents the importance of positive father involvement in children's development. However, research on fathers in Latino families is sparse, and research contextualizing the father-child relationship within a cultural framework is needed. The present study examined how fathers' cultural practices and values predicted their fifth-grade children's report of positive father involvement in a sample of 450 two-parent Mexican-origin families. Predictors included Spanish- and English-language use, Mexican and American cultural values, and positive machismo (i.e., culturally related attitudes about the father's role within the family). Positive father involvement was measured by the child's report of his or her father's monitoring, educational involvement, and warmth. Latent variable regression analyses showed that fathers' machismo attitudes were positively related to children's report of positive father involvement and that this association was similar across boys and girls. The results of this study suggest an important association between fathers' cultural values about men's roles and responsibilities within a family and their children's perception of positive fathering.

Life-span development of self-esteem and its effects on important life outcomes

We examined the life-span development of self-esteem and tested whether self-esteem influences the development of important life outcomes, including relationship satisfaction, job satisfaction, occupational status, salary, positive and negative affect, depression, and physical health. Data came from the Longitudinal Study of Generations. Analyses were based on 5 assessments across a 12-year period of a sample of 1,824 individuals ages 16 to 97 years. First, growth curve analyses indicated that self-esteem increases from adolescence to middle adulthood, reaches a peak at about age 50 years, and then decreases in old age. Second, cross-lagged regression analyses indicated that self-esteem is best modeled as a cause rather than a consequence of life outcomes. Third, growth curve analyses, with self-esteem as a time-varying covariate, suggested that self-esteem has medium-sized effects on life-span trajectories of affect and depression, small to medium-sized effects on trajectories of relationship and job satisfaction, a very small effect on the trajectory of health, and no effect on the trajectory of occupational status. These findings replicated across 4 generations of participants--children, parents, grandparents, and their great-grandparents. Together, the results suggest that self-esteem has a significant prospective impact on real-world life experiences and that high and low self-esteem are not mere epiphenomena of success and failure in important life domains.

Measurement invariance of neuropsychological tests in diverse older persons

OBJECTIVE

Comparability of meaning of neuropsychological test results across ethnic, linguistic, and cultural groups is important for clinicians challenged with assessing increasing numbers of older ethnic minorities. We examined the dimensional structure of a neuropsychological test battery in linguistically and demographically diverse older adults.

METHOD

The Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales (SENAS), developed to provide psychometrically sound measures of cognition for multiethnic and multilingual applications, was administered to a community dwelling sample of 760 Whites, 443 African Americans, 451 English-speaking Hispanics, and 882 Spanish-speaking Hispanics. Cognitive function spanned a broad range from normal to mildly impaired to demented. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine equivalence of the dimensional structure for the SENAS across the groups defined by language and ethnicity.

RESULTS

Covariance among 16 SENAS tests was best explained by five cognitive dimensions corresponding to episodic memory, semantic memory/language, spatial ability, attention/working memory, and verbal fluency. Multiple Group confirmatory factor analysis supported a common dimensional structure in the diverse groups. Measures of episodic memory showed the most compelling evidence of measurement equivalence across groups. Measurement equivalence was observed for most but not all measures of semantic memory/language and spatial ability. Measures of attention/working memory defined a common dimension in the different groups, but results suggest that scores are not strictly comparable across groups.

CONCLUSIONS

These results support the applicability of the SENAS for use with multiethnic and bilingual older adults, and more broadly, provide evidence of similar dimensions of cognition in the groups represented in the study.

A national study of Chinese youths' attitudes towards students with intellectual disabilities

BACKGROUND

In recent years, there has been a global effort to support the inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities (ID) in schools and classrooms. China in particular has recently enacted laws that provide for inclusive educational opportunities for students with ID. There are many barriers, however, to successfully including students with ID in regular education schools and classrooms, one of which is negative attitudes. Over the past decade, much research has focused on documenting the attitudes of the adult public; however, adults only represent one segment of society as it is youth who play a critical role in the successful inclusion and acceptance of students with ID in schools and classrooms. The aim of this study was to replicate a previous study of middle school-aged youths' attitudes towards the inclusion of peers with ID conducted with youth in the USA with similar aged youth in China.

METHODS

A survey was conducted with a random sample of 4059 middle school-aged youth in China on their attitudes towards students with ID. Students' attitudes were measured in terms of their perceptions of the capabilities of students with ID, their beliefs about and expectations regarding the inclusion of students with ID and their willingness to interact with students with ID both in and out of school.

RESULTS

The findings indicated that youth in China (1) perceive students with ID as moderately, rather than mildly, impaired; (2) believe that students with ID can not participate in their academic classes; (3) view inclusion as having both positive and negative effects on them personally; and (4) do not want to interact with a peer with ID in school, particularly on academic tasks. Structural equation modelling showed that youths' perceptions of the competence of students with ID significantly influenced their willingness to interact with these students and their support of inclusion.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings replicated previous research conducted with middle school-aged youth in the USA and are discussed from a cultural perspective and in terms of the current special education policies and practices in China.

Developmental relations and patterns of change between alcohol use and number of sexual partners from adolescence through adulthood

We explored two unanswered questions about the role of alcohol use in sexual behavior. First, we considered whether alcohol use temporally precedes and predicts changes in sexual behavior assessed as the number of sexual partners, whether the reverse pattern holds, or whether the association reflects a common, external cause. Second, we assessed whether associations between these behaviors change as adolescents transition to adulthood. These questions were addressed with a bivariate dual change latent difference score model. Drinking frequency and number of yearly sex partners were assessed 8 times across a 13-year period in a sample of 553 individuals. Assessment began when participants were in the 9th grade (age: M = 15.11 years, SD = 0.43). In addition to an association between the individual growth trajectories of these behaviors, alcohol use was a leading indicator of changes in number of sex partners throughout adolescence, but the reverse pattern was not supported. Of importance, the predictive association could not be explained by individual differences in impulsivity, excitement seeking, conduct problems, hostility/aggression, conventional attitudes, gender, or divorce. Finally, in a developmentally meaningful pattern, alcohol use ceased to significantly predict changes in the number of sexual partners as adolescents transitioned to adulthood.

Complexity, usefulness, and optimality: a response to Foster (2010)

In his commentary, Foster (2010) made arguments at 2 levels, offering a broad critique of statistical or methodological approaches in developmental psychology in general together with critical comments that applied only to our recent article (Dogan, Stockdale, Widaman, & Conger, 2010). Certain criticisms by Foster aimed at the field as a whole appear to be justified, whereas others seem overly broad and of dubious validity. In addition, Foster ignored the full range of methodologies used by both developmental psychologists and economists to pursue the identification of causal processes. Other critical remarks by Foster were directed specifically at our article, and many of these are simply incorrect, reflecting Foster's failure to recognize the standards in developmental psychology or his failure to note specific comments or descriptions we provided in our article. Future exchanges regarding methodological innovations and priorities in developmental psychology and economics should enrich and inform one another, rather than taking the form of one field dictating to the other the correct way to pursue science.

Life stress, maternal optimism, and adolescent competence in single mother, African American families

Although research demonstrates many negative family outcomes associated with single-parent households, little is known about processes that lead to positive outcomes for these families. Using 3 waves of longitudinal data, we examined how maternal dispositional optimism and life stressors are associated with parenting and child outcomes in 394 single mother African American families. Confirming prior research, we found that mothers' childhood adversities, current economic pressure, and internalizing problems were associated with lower levels of maternal warmth and child management and with lower child school competence. Extending previous studies, we found that maternal optimism was a positive resource, predicting lower levels of maternal internalizing symptoms and higher levels of effective child management and moderating the impact of economic stress on maternal internalizing problems. These findings highlight the need for further investigation of processes and resources that promote positive outcomes for African American mother-headed families and single mother families in general.

Differential stability of temperament and personality from toddlerhood to middle childhood

This prospective, longitudinal investigation examined differential consistency of three core dimensions of individuality from toddlerhood through middle childhood. Data came from 273 families who participated with their child at least once during three developmental periods: toddlerhood (2 years), early childhood (3 to 5 years), and middle childhood (6 to 10 years). Both mothers and fathers reported on attributes of their child using subscales from the Toddler Behavior Assessment Questionnaire, the Child Behavior Questionnaire, and the Iowa Personality Questionnaire. Reports were used as indicators of the latent "Big Three" dimensions of positive emotionality, negative emotionality, and constraint at each of the three developmental periods. Results pointed to consistency in these broad dimensions of temperament and personality from toddlerhood to middle childhood.

Factorial Invariance within Longitudinal Structural Equation Models: Measuring the Same Construct across Time

Charting change in behavior as a function of age and investigating longitudinal relations among constructs are primary goals of developmental research. Traditionally, researchers rely on a single measure (e.g., scale score) for a given construct for each person at each occasion of measurement, assuming that measure reflects the same construct at each occasion. With multiple indicators of a latent construct at each time of measurement, the researcher can evaluate whether factorial invariance holds. If factorial invariance constraints are satisfied, latent variable scores at each time of measurement are on the same metric and stronger conclusions are warranted. In this paper we discuss factorial invariance in longitudinal studies, contrasting analytic approaches and highlighting strengths of the multiple-indicator approach to modeling developmental processes.

Social perception in children with intellectual disabilities: the interpretation of benign and hostile intentions

A key aspect of social perception is the interpretation of others' intentions. Children with intellectual disabilities (IDs) have difficulty interpreting benign intentions when a negative event occurs. From a cognitive processing perspective, interpreting benign intentions can be challenging because it requires integration of conflicting information, as the social cues accompanying the negative event convey non-hostile intentions. The present study examined how children with ID process conflicting social information in a more diverse set of situational circumstances than was investigated previously, including situations involving hostile intentions. We hypothesised that when conflicting information in a social situation consists of mixed social cues that convey insincere benign intentions (a type of hostile intentions), children with ID would have difficulty arriving at an accurate interpretation, just as they do when a negative event is accompanied by cues that convey benign intentions. We also hypothesised that when a negative event is accompanied by cues that convey benign intentions, the presence of a highly salient negative event would pose added interpretation difficulty for these children. Methods Participants (58 children with ID and 189 children without ID in grades 2-6) viewed 13 videotaped vignettes. In each vignette, social cues that accompanied a negative event provided information about the intentions of the character that caused the event. After presenting each vignette, we asked the child questions designed to assess aspects of social perception, including his/her interpretation of intentions. Vignettes represented three types of situations that pose conflicting information: (1) a conflict between a negative event and social cues, which conveyed benign intentions (five items); (2) the presence of conflicting social cues that conveyed insincere benign intentions (four items); and (3) additional items designed to examine the effect of the salience of negative event and cues on accurate interpretation of benign intentions (four items). Teachers completed rating scales of social behaviour, enabling us to examine whether the ability to interpret intentions when conflicting information is present is related to children's social behaviour. Results Children with ID had lower interpretation accuracy than children without ID for all three social situations that presented conflicting information. Children with ID appeared to have particular difficulty interpreting benign intentions when a negative event (but not the social cue) was made salient. For children with ID, interpretation accuracy and teacher-rated social behaviour were related. Conclusions Results demonstrated that the presence of conflicting information poses cognitive processing challenges in a variety of social situations, making it difficult for children with ID to arrive at accurate interpretations. Children with ID were less likely than children without ID to interpret intentions accurately, not just when the social cues conveyed benign intentions, but also when mixed social cues conveyed hostile intentions. In addition, when social cues accompanying a negative event convey benign intentions, the relative salience of the negative event and the cues can affect interpretation accuracy for children with ID. Discussion focuses on implications for understanding the cognitive component of the social domain of adaptive behaviour, for explaining gullibility in children with ID and for instructional practices.

Reciprocity in parenting of adolescents within the context of marital negativity

The authors investigated the degree to which parents become more similar to each other over time in their childrearing behaviors. Mothers and fathers of 451 adolescents were assessed at 3 points in time, with 2-year lags between each assessment. Data on parent warmth, harshness, and monitoring were collected by parent self-report, adolescent report, and observer ratings of family interactions. After controlling for earlier levels of parenting, parent education, and adolescent deviancy, spouse's parenting and marital negativity were significant predictors of later parenting. Marital negativity tended to be a stronger predictor of fathering than mothering. For fathers, associations between spouse's parenting and later fathering were strongest in marriages characterized by low negativity.

On the factor structure of standardized educational achievement tests

This research analyzed the factor structure at both the item- and subtest-level of California's norm- and criterion-referenced standardized educational achievement tests (SEAT) used in that state's high-stakes educational accountability assessments. It was shown through full information factor analysis and multidimensional IRT models (e.g., TESTFACT and NOHARM) that, at the item-level, SEATs are invariably highly unidimensional (i.e., they appear to tap a unidimensional theta scale) even when items representing such diverse content areas such as English, science, mathematics, and history are analyzed simultaneously as a single measure. These item-level factors also accounted for a relatively small proportion (1/4 to 1/3) of the variance. It was also shown that, when these tests are analyzed using more reliable indicators such as subtests, a much richer factor structure emerged that accounted for a larger portion (about 2/3) of the total common variance. As expected, these factor structure configurations (and underlying dimensionality) were preserved across the item- and subtest-levels. However, the factors emerging from both the item- and subtest-level analyses were highly correlated and produced strong second-order and general factors. The meaning underlying these results was examined, along with their implications with respect to the assumptions underlying modern approaches to test calibration, scaling, and score interpretation.

Evaluating the link between self-esteem and temperament in Mexican origin early adolescents

The present study examined the relation between self-esteem and temperament in a sample of 646 Mexican-American early adolescents (mean age=10.4). Findings show that (a) early adolescents with high self-esteem exhibit higher levels of Effortful Control but, contrary to findings in adult samples, do not differ from low self-esteem adolescents in Negative Affectivity; (b) low self-esteem is associated with Depression; and (c) low self-esteem is associated with Aggression. These findings replicated for boys and girls, two measures of self-esteem, and child and mother reports of temperament. The present study contributes to an emerging understanding of the link between self-esteem and temperament, and provides much needed data on the nature of self-esteem in ethnic minority populations.

Differential Item Functioning on Antisocial Behavior Scale Items for Adolescents and Young Adults from Single-Parent and Two-Parent Families

We investigated measurement equivalence in two antisocial behavior scales (i.e., one scale for adolescents and a second scale for young adults) by examining differential item functioning (DIF) for respondents from single-parent (n = 109) and two-parent families (n = 447). Even though one item in the scale for adolescents and two items in the scale for young adults showed significant DIF, the two scales exhibited non-significant differential test functioning (DTF). Both uniform and nonuniform DIF were investigated and examples of each type were identified. Specifically, uniform DIF was exhibited in the adolescent scale whereas nonuniform DIF was shown in the young adult scale. Implications of DIF results for assessment of antisocial behavior, along with strengths and limitations of the study, are discussed.

Iron deficiency anemia and affective response in rhesus monkey infants

Infant iron deficiency anemia (IDA) occurs spontaneously in monkey populations as it does in humans, providing a model for understanding effects on brain and behavior. A set of 34 monkey infants identified as IDA (hemoglobin <11 g/dl) over a 5-year period at the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC) was compared to a set of 57 controls (hemoglobin >12 g/dl) matched for age and caging location. The infants had participated in a Biobehavioral Assessment conducted at 3-4 months of age at CNPRC that included measures of behavioral and adrenocortical response to a novel environment. IDA males differed from control males in two factors ("activity," "emotionality") derived from observational data taken on the first and second day of the exposure to the novel environment. In the male infants, IDA was associated with less restriction of activity in the novel environment on both days and less emotionality on the second day (p < .05). IDA males also displayed less response to approach by a human (human intruder test) than did control males. IDA females did not differ from controls. Adrenocortical response was not significantly affected. These findings may be relevant to functional deficits in human infants with IDA that influence later behavior.

Phenylketonuria in Children and Mothers: Genes, Environments, Behavior

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an inborn metabolic error in which metabolism of phenylalanine into tyrosine is disrupted. If the diet of an infant with PKU is not restricted, blood phenylalanine levels are elevated, leading to irremediable brain damage and severe mental retardation. Children with PKU who are placed early and continuously on a low-phenylalanine diet develop normal levels of intelligence, and brain damage is largely prevented. However, if the diet of a mother with PKU is unrestricted during her pregnancy, high phenylalanine levels in her blood can cross the placental barrier and damage the developing fetus in multiple ways. These results demonstrate how genes and environmental factors combine to create prenatal environments that can have profound effects on the growth and development of offspring during infancy and childhood.

Invariance, or Noninvariance: That Is the Question

Nesselroade et al. developed a new, interesting way to enforce invariance at the second-order level in P-technique models, while letting first-order structure to stray from invariance. We discuss our concerns with this approach under the headings of falsifiability, the nature of manifest variables included in models, and differential emphasis on generators of behavior versus output behavior. We supply a modified idiographic model for P-technique analyses and discuss the utility of this new approach in comparison to the Nesselroade et al. procedure.

Influence of family of origin and adult romantic partners on romantic attachment security

According to attachment theory, attachment style derives from social experiences throughout the life span. The authors tested this expectation by examining associations between the quality of observed interaction patterns in the family of origin during adolescence and self-reported romantic attachment style and observed romantic relationship behaviors in adulthood (ages 25 and 27). Family and romantic relationship interactions were rated by trained observers from video recordings of structured conversation tasks. Attachment style was assessed with items from D. W. Griffin and K. Bartholomew's (1994a) Relationship Scales Questionnaire. Observational ratings of warmth and sensitivity in family interactions were positively related to similar behaviors by romantic partners and to attachment security. In addition, romantic interactions characterized by high warmth and low hostility at age 25 predicted greater attachment security at 27, after controlling for attachment security at age 25. However, attachment security at age 25 did not predict later romantic relationship interactions after controlling for earlier interactions. These findings underscore the importance of close relationships in the development of romantic attachment security but do not indicate that attachment security predicts the quality of interactions in romantic relationships.

Factorial Invariance and The Specification of Second-Order Latent Growth Models

Latent growth modeling has been a topic of intense interest during the past two decades. Most theoretical and applied work has employed first-order growth models, in which a single manifest variable serves as indicator of trait level at each time of measurement. In the current paper, we concentrate on issues regarding second-order growth models, which have multiple indicators at each time of measurement. With multiple indicators, tests of factorial invariance of parameters across times of measurement can be tested. We conduct such tests using two sets of data, which differ in the extent to which factorial invariance holds, and evaluate longitudinal confirmatory factor, latent growth curve, and latent difference score models. We demonstrate that, if factorial invariance fails to hold, choice of indicator used to identify the latent variable can have substantial influences on the characterization of patterns of growth, strong enough to alter conclusions about growth. We also discuss matters related to the scaling of growth factors and conclude with recommendations for practice and for future research.

Reciprocal links among differential parenting, perceived partiality, and self-worth: a three-wave longitudinal study

This study examined reciprocal links between parental differential treatment, siblings' perception of partiality, and self-worth with 3 waves of data from 384 adolescent sibling dyads. Results suggest that birth-order status was significantly associated with self-worth and perception of maternal and paternal differential treatment. There was a consistent across-time effect of self-worth on perception of parental partiality for later born siblings, but not earlier born siblings, and a consistent effect of differential treatment on perception of partiality for earlier born but not later born siblings. The results contribute new insight into the associations between perception of differential parenting and adolescents' adjustment and the role of birth order.

Confirmatory factor analysis of personality structure in adult male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta)

Reports from different laboratories have suggested that nonhuman primates have somewhat similar dimensions of personality. To date, however, no attempts have been made to statistically replicate a specific factor structure. In the present report, two independent observers recorded the behavior of 58 adult male rhesus monkeys, and then rated the animals with the use of a 50-item personality instrument. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the ratings resulted in the replication of a previously described four-factor personality structure [Maninger et al., American Journal of Primatology 61:73-83, 2003]. The first two dimensions-Sociability and Confidence-showed strong loadings and are similar to Affiliation and Agency dimensions in humans. The remaining dimensions-Equability and Irritability-were less clear, and it is possible that additional traits will have to be identified before a more robust structure can be established for these dimensions.

Economic stress, parenting, and child adjustment in Mexican American and European American families

To assess the impact of economic hardship on 111 European American and 167 Mexican American families and their 5th-grade (M age=11.4 years) children, a family stress model was evaluated. Structural equation analyses revealed that economic hardship was linked to indexes of economic pressure that were related to depressive symptoms for mothers and fathers of both ethnicities. Depressive symptoms were linked to marital problems and hostile parenting. Paternal hostile parenting was related to child adjustment problems for European Americans, whereas marital problems were linked to child adjustment problems for Mexican Americans. Maternal acculturation was associated with both higher marital problems and lower hostile parenting. The utility of the model for describing the effects of economic hardship in Mexican Americans is noted.

Mild hypoxia disrupts recollection, not familiarity

Yonelinas et al. (2002) found that hypoxic patients exhibited deficits in recollection that left familiarity relatively unaffected. In contrast, Manns, Hopkins, Reed, Kitchener, and Squire (2003) studied a group of hypoxic patients who suffered severe and equivalent deficits in recollection and familiarity. We reexamine those studies and argue that the discrepancy in results is likely due to differences in the hypoxic groups that were tested (i.e., differences in amnestic severity, subject sampling methods, and patient etiology). Yonelinas et al. examined memory in 56 cardiac arrest patients who suffered a brief hypoxic event, whereas Manns et al. examined a group of severely amnesic patients that consisted of 2 cardiac arrest patients, 2 heroin overdose patients, 1 carbon monoxide poisoning patient, and 2 patients with unknown etiologies. We also consider an alternative explanation proposed by Wixted and Squire (2004), who argued that the two patient groups suffered similar deficits, but that statistical or methodological artifacts distorted the results of each of Yonelinas et al.'s experiments. A consideration of those results, however, indicates that such an explanation does not account for the existing data. All of the existing evidence indicates that recollection, but not familiarity, is disrupted in mild hypoxic patients. In more severe cases of hypoxia, or those with more complex etiologies such as heroin overdose, more profound deficits may be observed.

Stigma, social risk, and health policy: public attitudes toward HIV surveillance policies and the social construction of illness

Data from a 1999 national telephone survey with a probability sample of English-speaking US adults (N=1,335) were used to assess how support for HIV surveillance policies is related to AIDS stigma and negative attitudes toward groups disproportionately affected by the epidemic. Anonymous reporting of HIV results to the government was supported by a margin of approximately 2-to-l, but name-based reporting was opposed 3-to-l. Compared with other respondents, supporters of name-based surveillance expressed significantly more negative feelings toward people with AIDS, gay men, lesbians, and injecting drug users. More than one third of all respondents reported that concerns about AIDS stigma would affect their own decision to be tested for HIV in the future. Implications for understanding the social construction of illness and for implementing effective HIV surveillance programs are discussed.

Recall and recognition in mild hypoxia: using covariance structural modeling to test competing theories of explicit memory

To test theories of explicit memory in amnesia, we examined the effect of hypoxia on memory performance in a group of 56 survivors of sudden cardiac arrest. Structural equation modeling revealed that a single-factor explanation of recall and recognition was insufficient to account for performance, thus contradicting single-process models of explicit memory. A dual-process model of recall in which two processes (e.g., declarative memory and controlled search) contribute to recall performance, whereas only one process (e.g., declarative memory) underlies recognition performance, also failed to explain the results adequately. In contrast, a dual-process model of recognition provided an acceptable account of the data. In this model, two processes--recollection and familiarity--underlie recognition memory, whereas only the recollection process contributes to free recall. The best-fitting model was one in which hypoxia and aging led to deficits in recollection, but left familiarity unaffected. Moreover, a controlled search process was correlated with recollection, but was not associated with familiarity or the severity of hypoxia. The results support models of explicit memory in which recollection depends on the hippocampus and frontal lobes, whereas familiarity-based recognition relies on other brain regions.

Relation of prenatal phenylalanine exposure to infant and childhood cognitive outcomes: results from the International Maternal PKU Collaborative Study

OBJECTIVE

The primary aims of this study were to model the form of the relation between prenatal exposure to phenylalanine (Phe) and measures of offspring intellectual development and to estimate the developmental relations of maternal demographic, pregnancy-related, and perinatal variables on offspring intelligence during infancy and childhood.

METHODS

The participants were the 413 children and their mothers from the International Maternal PKU Collaborative Study.

RESULTS

Results supported a nonlinear relation between prenatal Phe exposure and offspring cognitive outcomes, with damage to the developing fetus if average Phe levels are above approximately 360 micromol/L. Moreover, prenatal Phe exposure had a strong effect on offspring outcomes at 1 year of age and was the only one of the background, pregnancy-related, or perinatal variables to influence directly offspring outcomes at 2, 4, and 7 years of age.

CONCLUSION

The present study was able to document the importance of prenatal exposure to Phe for predicting offspring cognitive outcomes in the presence of other predictors of these outcomes.

The difference engine: a model of diversity in speeded cognition

A theory of diversity in speeded cognition, the difference engine, is proposed, in which information processing is represented as a series of generic computational steps. Some individuals tend to perform all of these computations relatively quickly and other individuals tend to perform them all relatively slowly, reflecting the existence of a general cognitive speed factor, but the time required for response selection and execution is assumed to be independent of cognitive speed. The difference engine correctly predicts the positively accelerated form of the relation between diversity of performance, as measured by the standard deviation for the group, and task difficulty, as indexed by the mean response time (RT) for the group. In addition, the difference engine correctly predicts approximately linear relations between the RTs of any individual and average performance for the group, with the regression lines for fast individuals having slopes less than 1.0 (and positive intercepts) and the regression lines for slow individuals having slopes greater than 1.0 (and negative intercepts). Similar predictions are made for comparisons of slow, average, and fast subgroups, regardless of whether those subgroups are formed on the basis of differences in ability, age, or health status. These predictions are consistent with evidence from studies of healthy young and older adults as well as from studies of depressed and age-matched control groups.

On specifying the null model for incremental fit indices in structural equation modeling

In structural equation modeling, incremental fit indices are based on the comparison of the fit of a substantive model to that of a null model. The standard null model yields unconstrained estimates of the variance (and mean, if included) of each manifest variable. For many models, however, the standard null model is an improper comparison model. In these cases, incremental fit index values reported automatically by structural modeling software have no interpretation and should be disregarded. The authors explain how to formulate an acceptable, modified null model, predict changes in fit index values accompanying its use, provide examples illustrating effects on fit index values when using such a model, and discuss implications for theory and practice of structural equation modeling.

Effects of extensive temporal lobe damage or mild hypoxia on recollection and familiarity

Memory for past events can be based on recollection or on assessments of familiarity. These two forms of human memory have been studied extensively by philosophers and psychologists, but their neuroanatomical substrates are largely unknown. Here we examined the brain regions that are involved in these two forms of memory by studying patients with damage to different temporal lobe regions. Our results come from (i) structural covariance modeling of recall and recognition, (ii) introspective reports during recognition and (iii) analysis of receiver operating characteristics. In sum, we found that the regions disrupted in mild hypoxia, such as the hippocampus, are centrally involved in conscious recollection, whereas the surrounding temporal lobe supports familiarity-based memory discrimination.