Negative family environment as a predictor of boys' future status on measures of hostile attitudes, interview behavior, and anger expression

From family social support to problematic internet use: a serial mediation model of hostility and depression

Internet usage has become an inevitable part of daily life. Adolescents who are developmentally vulnerable due to family dynamics or who suffer psychological distress are at greater risk of problematic Internet use. This study aims to reveal the intricate psychological pathways linking family social support to problematic Internet use among adolescents and the mediating roles of hostility and depression. The study uses serial mediation analyses and Hayes PROCESS macro to examine a large sample of 2,047 adolescents (1,182 females and 865 males). Results revealed a significant negative association between family social support and problematic Internet use. Both hostility and depression were found to be critical mediators, functioning independently and sequentially in the relationship between family social support and problematic Internet use. The findings highlight the protective role of family social support against problematic Internet use among adolescents by reducing hostility and depressive symptoms. This investigation contributes to the extant literature by elucidating the psychological mechanisms underlying problematic Internet use. It suggests that interventions targeting family support systems, feelings of hostility, and depression may effectively mitigate problematic Internet use among adolescent populations.

Emotional competence, attachment, and parenting styles in children and parents

The goal of this study was to examine whether a subject’s emotional competence correlates to attachment styles and parenting styles in children and their parents. The study was conducted with fifty children (9–11 years old) and their parents, both of whose emotional competence (EKF) and parenting style (PAQ) were measured. The attachment styles of parents and children were measured with the Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) and the Bochumer Bindungstest (BoBiTe), respectively. The findings provide initial support to the assumption that attachment is related to emotional competence in parents. This relationship, however, was not significantly correlated in children. In addition, authoritative parenting and permissive parenting were significantly associated with emotional competence in parents. Emotional competence in children showed to be associated with an authoritative parenting style.

Why do you treat me in such ways? An attachment examination on supervisors’ early family environment and subordinates’ responses

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to fill important gaps by using the attachment theory and examining the effects of supervisors’ early family environment on their behaviors toward subordinates and subordinates’ responses.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used samples of 334 supervisor–subordinate pairs from a manufacturing company.

Findings

The study finds that supervisors’ harmonious family environment has a positive influence on subordinates’ responses (job satisfaction, work-to-family enrichment and task performance) through the effect of supervisors’ positive working model and caregiving behavior. On the contrast, supervisors’ conflicting family environment has a negative influence on subordinates’ responses through the effect of supervisors’ negative working model and aggressive behavior.

Originality/value

Existing studies mainly explore the influence of organizational environment on supervisors’ treatment of their subordinates. However, few have examined the relationship between supervisors’ early family environment and their treatment of their subordinates.

Mediators of the Association Between Childhood Emotional Maltreatment and Young Adult Men's Life Satisfaction

Childhood emotional maltreatment has been linked to a wide range of deleterious physical and psychological adult health outcomes. The present study extends past research by examining the effects of childhood emotional maltreatment on young adult men's life satisfaction through its effects on hostility and perceptions of social relationships. Participants were 423 single men who completed two interviews 1 year apart. As hypothesized, the association between self-reported childhood emotional maltreatment and adult life satisfaction was mediated through general hostility, rejection sensitivity in romantic relationships, and perceptions of male friends' social support. These findings suggest that interventions which address distorted perceptions of romantic partners and friends might reduce the negative impact of childhood emotional maltreatment.

Family hostility and depressive symptoms in middle-aged couples: Moderating effect of marital integration

This study examined (a) the associations between family hostility (husband-wife marital hostility and child hostility) and middle-aged husbands' and wives' depressive symptoms over an 11-year time period and (b) the moderating influence of couples' marital integration on these associations as measured by their joint activity. Higher order family-level latent constructs captured chronic husband-wife (marital) hostility using husbands' and wives' reports of chronic hostile interactions from 1990 to 1992, while a higher order latent construct of chronic child hostility toward parents was measured using parental reports of children's hostile behaviors from 1990 to 1992. Structural equation modeling with data from 370 families depicted the longitudinal impact of family hostility on depressive symptoms of both husbands and wives in 2001 after accounting for earlier levels of depressive symptoms in 1991. Separate models were fit for couples with high and low levels of marital integration. For couples who experienced low levels of marital integration, chronic marital hostility and child hostility were related to depressive symptoms in husbands and wives. However, for those with high marital integration, these influences were largely diminished. (PsycINFO Database Record

Effects of Environmental Predictability and Personal Mastery on Self-Regulatory and Physiological Processes

College student participants high and low in personal mastery were exposed to an experimental priming manipulation that made salient the unpredictable aspects of college, the predictable aspects of college, or neutral features of the college environment. They then completed a thought-listing task regarding thoughts about college and measures of self-regulatory processes. Blood pressure and pulse data were collected every 2 minutes. Participants exposed to the predictable manipulation made more references to the future and more references to personal goals and had lower systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure reactivity compared with those in the neutral condition and to those in the unpredictable condition. Participants high (vs. low) in mastery showed more evidence of active self-regulation. Implications for the study of stress are discussed.

Psychosocial Antecedents of Hostility in Persons with Coronary Heart Disease

Although it is known that hostility precedes coronary heart disease (CHD), little is known about factors that influence the development and progression of hostile characteristics. The relations among hostility, self-esteem, self-concept, and psychosocial residual were conceptualized within the modeling and role-modeling theoretical framework and examined in a sample of 85 persons with CHD. There were significant associations between all variables. Regression analyses revealed that self-esteem, mistrust residual, isolation residual, and self-concept contributed significantly, accounting for 31% of the variation in hostility scores. These findings provide support for the belief that the development of hostility in persons with CHD is related to beliefs and attitudes about the self and others. Persons with self-esteem need deficits, and a subsequent build up of negative psychosocial residual, have poor self-concepts. This poor self-concept is hostile in nature and reflects a mistrust of others and a deep sense of isolation.

Childhood family factors predict developmental trajectories of hostility and anger: a prospective study from childhood into middle adulthood

BACKGROUND

Low socio-economic status (SES), and a conflictive, cold and unsupportive family environment in childhood have been associated with early adulthood hostility. However, it is unknown whether this association changes in magnitude with age from childhood to adulthood. We investigated whether childhood family factors (SES and parental child-rearing style) predicted differential development of offspring hostility and anger from early to middle adulthood.

METHOD

Between 2041 and 2316 participants (age range 3-18 years at baseline) were selected from the longitudinal Young Finns study. The participants were followed for 27 years between 1980 and 2007. Childhood SES and parent's self-reported child-rearing style were measured twice: at baseline and 3 years after baseline. Hostility and anger were assessed with self-report questionnaires at 12, 17, 21 and 27 years after baseline.

RESULTS

Low parental SES and hostile child-rearing style at baseline predicted higher mean levels of offspring anger and hostility. Low parental SES and one of the hostile child-rearing style components (strict disciplinary style) became more strongly associated with offspring hostility with age, suggesting an accumulating effect.

CONCLUSIONS

Childhood family factors predict the development of hostility and anger over 27 years and some of these family factors have a long-term accumulating effect on the development of hostility.

Harsh parenting and adolescent health: a longitudinal analysis with genetic moderation

OBJECTIVE

This study was designed to examine the prospective relations of harsh parenting during preadolescence, anger across adolescence, and a health phenotype at late adolescence among African American youths living in the rural South. A second purpose was to determine whether, for genetic reasons, some youths will be more sensitive than others to a harsh parenting to anger to poor health pathway.

METHOD

Participants were 368 youths (age 11.2 at the first assessment) who provided data on receipt of harsh parenting during preadolescence (ages 11 to 13), anger across adolescence (ages 16 to 18), and a health phenotype consisting of C Reactive Protein, depressive symptoms, and health problems at age 19. Youths were genotyped at the 5-HTTLPR at age 16.

RESULTS

The data analysis revealed that (a) harsher parenting was associated positively across time with anger and poor health, (b) anger across adolescence also was associated positively across time with poor health, (c) anger served as a mediator connecting harsh parenting and poor health, and (d) the harsh parenting to anger to poor health pathway was significant only for youths carrying one or two copies of a short allele at the 5-HTTLPR.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that harsh parent-child interactions presage health through effects on emotion regulation, particularly anger. This mediational pathway pertained only to youths carrying a gene that confers sensitivity and reactivity to harsh family processes and the negative emotional states they occasion.

Serotonin receptor 1B genotype and hostility, anger and aggressive behavior through the lifespan: the Young Finns study

The serotonin system has been shown to be involved in the regulation of hostility, anger, and aggressive behavior. Previous molecular genetic studies suggest that the serotonin receptor 1B (HTR1B) rs6296 genotype might have a particular role in these types of behaviors. We examined whether HTR1B is related to hostility, anger, and aggressive behavior phenotypes over a lifespan and whether it modifies the connection between childhood aggressive behavior and adulthood hostility and anger. The participants were 967 women and men from a large population based sample (The Young Finns Study) with a 27-year follow-up. Childhood aggressive behavior was reported by the mother twice when the participants were 3 to 12 years of age. Adulthood hostility and anger were self-reported by the participants between ages 24 and 36. Childhood aggressive behavior predicted adulthood hostility over 27 years. HTR1B SNP rs6296 was associated with childhood aggressive behavior but not with adulthood anger or hostility. The HTR1B SNP rs6296 modified the association between childhood aggressive behavior and adulthood hostility. Aggressive behavior and hostility might form a life course pattern, and the HTR1B might contribute to a development of this pattern.

Hostile behavior links negative childhood family relationships to heart rate reactivity and recovery in young adulthood

Prior research has demonstrated that vulnerability to stress is influenced by early life experiences. This study evaluates the impact of negative childhood family relationships on cardiovascular stress reactivity in young adulthood. Participants (age 18-22) from families characterized by negative (n=39) or positive relationships (n=36) engaged in a role-play conflict task. Hostile/aggressive verbal behaviors during the task were observed, and blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) responses were measured before, during, and after the task. Participants from negative families engaged in more hostile/aggressive verbal behavior during the task and showed attenuated HR reactivity. Hostile/aggressive verbal behavior predicted attenuated HR reactivity and recovery. Path analyses linked negative family relationships to more hostile verbal behavior during the task, and attenuated HR reactivity and recovery. These results support the development of hostile/aggressive behavior in social situations as a pathway linking childhood adversity to stress vulnerability across the lifespan.

Early adversity and adult health outcomes

Adversity in childhood has effects on mental and physical health, not only in childhood but across the lifespan. A chief task of our research has been to define the pathways by which childhood experience has these surprising health outcomes, often decades later. The concept of allostatic load, which refers to dysregulations across major biological regulatory systems that have cumulative interacting adverse effects over time, provides a mechanism for understanding these relations and defining specific pathways. To chart these pathways, we examine early childhood socioeconomic status, family environment, and genetic predispositions as antecedents to socioemotional functioning/psychological distress; and neural responses to threat that have downstream effects on major stress regulatory systems, ultimately culminating in risks to mental and physical health outcomes. This integrative approach to investigating the impact of childhood experience on adult health outcomes illustrates the significance of multilevel integrative approaches to understanding developmental psychopathology more generally.

A influência da profissão no estilo parental materno percebido pelos filhos

A inserção da mulher no mercado de trabalho acrescentou à sua tradicional função de cuidadora dos filhos e da casa um novo papel, o de provedora. Essas tarefas, às vezes compartilhadas com seus companheiros, outras não, merecem uma avaliação sobre sua influência na educação dos filhos. Esta pesquisa buscou avaliar a percepção dos filhos sobre suas mães, mulheres profissionais, como educadoras. Foi aplicado o Inventário de Estilos Parentais em 160 jovens, de 12 a 24 anos, 88 do sexo feminino e 72 do masculino, filhos de 40 engenheiras, 40 médicas, 40 advogadas e 40 psicólogas. Os resultados mostraram que as mães, independentemente da profissão, utilizam pobremente as práticas educativas positivas (monitoria positiva e comportamento moral) e recorrem, com muita frequência, às práticas negativas (abuso físico e supervisão estressante) para tentar obter controle sobre seus filhos. Apresentam, em média, altos índices de negligência, pois seus filhos não sentem que estão sendo cuidados. Mulheres profissionais aparentemente não estão sendo capazes de conciliar adequadamente suas funções profissionais com as maternais, pois não integraram satisfatoriamente aos seus repertórios de conhecimentos as orientações disponíveis em livros dirigidos para pais.

Serotonin receptor genes 5HT1A and 5HT2A modify the relation between childhood temperament and adulthood hostility

We examined a modifying role of 5HT1A and 5HT2A receptors in the relation between childhood difficult temperament and adulthood hostility in 729 subjects derived from a population-based sample. Subjects were 3-12 years when their childhood temperaments consisting of hyperactivity, low sociability and negative emotionality (i.e. the difficult temperament), were assessed by their mothers. Their adulthood hostility comprising anger, cynicism and paranoia, was measured twice, 17 and 21 years later. It was found that the 5HT1A and 5HT2A receptors were not related to childhood temperament or to adult hostility, but they modified the association between childhood hyperactivity and adult hostility in men. Male carriers of T/T genotype of 5HTR2A who were rated hyperactive by their mothers expressed a high level of hostility, especially that of cynicism, in adulthood. For men with other genetic variants, such an association was not seen. This finding was consistent across the two follow-ups 4 years apart. Further research is needed to clarify whether mother-related hyperactivity adequately describes the temperament of the child or is a reflection of mother's hostile child-rearing attitudes.

Relationship of early life stress and psychological functioning to adult C-reactive protein in the coronary artery risk development in young adults study

BACKGROUND

Low socioeconomic status (SES) and a harsh family environment in childhood have been linked to mental and physical health disorders in adulthood. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate a developmental model of pathways that may help explain these links and to relate them to C-reactive protein (CRP) in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) dataset.

METHODS

Participants (n = 3248) in the CARDIA study, age 32 to 47 years, completed measures of childhood SES (CSES), early family environment (risky families [RF]), adult psychosocial functioning (PsyF, a latent factor measured by depression, mastery, and positive and negative social contacts), body mass index (BMI), and C-reactive protein.

RESULTS

Structural equation modeling indicated that CSES and RF are associated with C-reactive protein via their association with PsyF (standardized path coefficients: CSES to RF, RF to PsyF, PsyF to CRP, CSES to CRP, all p < .05), with good overall model fit. The association between PsyF and CRP was partially mediated by BMI (PsyF to BMI, BMI to CRP, both p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Low childhood SES and a harsh early family environment appear to be related to elevated C-reactive protein in adulthood through pathways involving psychosocial dysfunction and high body mass index.

Interpersonal rejection as a determinant of anger and aggression

This article reviews the literature on the relationship between interpersonal rejection and aggression. Four bodies of research are summarized: laboratory experiments that manipulate rejection, rejection among adults in everyday life, rejection in childhood, and individual differences that may moderate the relationship. The theoretical mechanisms behind the effect are then explored. Possible explanations for why rejection leads to anger and aggression include: rejection as a source of pain, rejection as a source of frustration, rejection as a threat to self-esteem, mood improvement following aggression, aggression as social influence, aggression as a means of reestablishing control, retribution, disinhibition, and loss of self-control.

Cynical hostility as a determinant of toothbrushing frequency and oral hygiene

AIM

Our aim was to investigate whether cynical hostility, self-reported toothbrushing frequency and objectively assessed levels of oral hygiene were associated.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The present study sample consisted of 4156 30-64-year-old dentate Finns. The questionnaire and the home interview included information about socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors and behavioural variables, such as toothbrushing frequency, dental attendance, smoking and cynical hostility. The level of oral hygiene was assessed during a clinical oral examination. The chi(2) test and ordinal logistic regression analyses were used.

RESULTS

After controlling for sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors, smoking habits and reported dental attendance, the subjects belonging to the lowest cynical hostility level were found to brush their teeth significantly more often and to have better oral hygiene compared with those belonging the highest cynical hostility level. Toothbrushing frequency was adjusted when oral hygiene was used as the outcome variable. The association of cynical hostility with toothbrushing frequency and the oral hygiene seems to be partly dependent on the level of education.

CONCLUSIONS

Cynical hostility is a psychosocial risk marker for the frequency and quality of toothbrushing and it could be a connecting trait between general health behaviour and oral health behaviour.

Correlação entre práticas educativas, depressão, estresse e habilidades sociais

O modelo de Estilo Parental de Gomide é composto por sete práticas educativas, sendo cinco relacionadas ao desenvolvimento de comportamentos anti-sociais (o abuso físico, a punição inconsistente, a disciplina relaxada, a monitoria negativa e a negligência) e duas favoráveis ao desenvolvimento de comportamentos pró-sociais (a monitoria positiva e o comportamento moral). O Inventário de Estilos Parentais de Gomide - IEP fornece um índice final, que reflete a força das sete variáveis no modo de educar dos pais. O objetivo deste trabalho foi correlacionar o IEP com inventários de depressão, estresse e habilidades sociais. Participaram desta pesquisa oito casais e seus filhos, sendo metade das famílias identificadas como de risco e a outra metade como de não-risco por meio do IEP. Obteve-se pelo teste não-paramétrico de Mann-Whitney correlação positiva entre o IEP e o fator 2 (auto-afirmação na expressão de sentimentos positivos) do Inventário de Habilidades Sociais de Del Prette e Del Prette (U=8 e p=0,01), e correlação negativa entre o IEP e Inventário de Stress de Lipp (U=7; p=0,005) e de Depressão de Beck (U=6,5 e p=0,007). A literatura aponta que famílias de risco têm práticas parentais negativas, estresse e depressão elevados e habilidades sociais rebaixadas. Os dados encontrados indicam que o IEP é um instrumento que tem indicadores de comportamento de risco e de não-risco que está em consonância com os outros instrumentos utilizados pela literatura pesquisada.

Práticas educativas como forma de predição de problemas de comportamento e competência social

O modelo de Estilo Parental de Gomide é composto por sete práticas educativas avaliadas através de um Inventário de Estilos Parentais: cinco relacionadas ao desenvolvimento de comportamentos anti-sociais (abuso físico, punição inconsistente, disciplina relaxada, monitoria negativa e negligência) e duas favoráveis ao desenvolvimento de comportamentos pró-sociais (monitoria positiva e comportamento moral). O Child Behavior Check List é composto de duas partes, sendo que a primeira se destina à avaliação de competência social e a segunda à de problemas de comportamento. O objetivo deste trabalho foi levantar quais práticas educativas poderiam ser preditoras de comportamentos listados pelo Child Behavior Check List. Participaram deste estudo trinta crianças, com idades entre onze e treze anos, da rede pública de ensino, e um de seus pais. Obteve-se por meio de regressão estatística que monitoria positiva e comportamento moral são variáveis preditoras de comportamentos pró-sociais, e sua falta aliada às práticas negativas são preditoras de distúrbios do comportamento.

Anger and hostility in adolescents: relationships with self-reported attachment style and perceived parental rearing styles

OBJECTIVE

To examine relationships between self-reported attachment style and parental rearing behaviors, on the one hand, and anger/hostility, on the other hand, in a sample of nonclinical adolescents (N=441).

METHOD

Participants completed (a) a single-item measure of attachment style; (b) a questionnaire measuring perceptions of parental rearing behaviors; and (c) two scales assessing anger and hostility.

RESULTS

Self-reported attachment style was related to anger/hostility. That is, adolescents who defined themselves as avoidantly or ambivalently attached displayed higher levels of anger/hostility than adolescents who classified themselves as securely attached. Furthermore, perceived parental rearing was also related to anger/hostility. More specifically, low levels of emotional warmth and high levels of rejection, control, and inconsistency were accompanied by high levels of anger/hostility. Finally, regression analyses showed that both attachment status and parental rearing behaviors accounted for a unique and significant proportion of the variance in anger/hostility.

CONCLUSION

These findings are in keeping with the notion that family environment factors such as attachment style and parental rearing are involved in the development of anger/hostility in youths.

Physical health vulnerability in adult children from divorced and intact families

OBJECTIVES

The current study evaluated family process variables associated with markers of physical health vulnerability.

METHODS

Retrospective reports of parental caring, conflict, and divorce-specific factors were examined in reference to hostility, somatic symptoms, and illness reports in young adults from divorced (n=253) and intact (n=552) families.

RESULTS

Contrary to expectations, participants from divorced and intact families were equivalent on all health-related measures. Within the intact group, parental conflict and low parental caring were associated with hostility, somatic symptoms, and illness reports. Within the divorce group, negative feelings about the divorce were associated with higher hostility, somatic complaints, and illness reports.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that parental divorce in itself does not increase long-term vulnerability to physical illness; rather it is the negativity of the experience that is associated with vulnerability. Although overall health markers did not differ, the family process variables associated with physical health risk differed for individuals from divorced versus intact families.

Relocation of children after divorce and children's best interests: new evidence and legal considerations

Relocation cases, in which a divorced parent seeks to move away with the child, are among the knottiest problems facing family courts. The recent trend is to permit such moves, largely because of Wallerstein's (1995) controversial amica curiae brief, which a recent court (Baures v. Lewis, 2001) interpreted as supporting the conclusion that "in general, what is good for the custodial parent is good for the child" (p. 222). The current study provides the first direct evidence on relocation by dividing college students into groups on the basis of their divorced parents' move-away status. On most child outcomes, the ones whose parents moved are significantly disadvantaged. This suggests courts should give greater weight to the child's separate interests in deciding such cases.

Longitudinal relations among parental emotional expressivity, children's regulation, and quality of socioemotional functioning

The role of regulation as a mediator of the relations between maternal emotional expressivity and children's adjustment and social competence was examined when children (N = 208) were 4.5 to just 8 years old (Time 1, T1) and 2 years later (Time 2, T2). At T2, as at T1, regulation mediated the relation between positive maternal emotional expressivity and children's functioning. When T1 relations and the stability of variables over time were controlled for in a structural equation model, T2 relations generally were nonsignificant, although parents' dominant negative expressivity predicted high regulation. In contrast, in regressions, the findings for parent positive expressivity, but not negative expressivity, held at T2 when T1 variables were controlled. Thus, relations for negative expressivity, but not positive expressivity, changed with age.

Child-rearing attitudes and cardiovascular risk among children: moderating influence of parental socioeconomic status

BACKGROUND

We examined associations of parental socioeconomic status (SES) and hostile maternal child-rearing attitudes with the insulin resistance syndrome (IRS) precursors in children.

METHODS

The participants were 210 randomly selected healthy boys and girls who participated in the epidemiological Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study and who were 3, 6, and 9 years of age at the three study phases. Hostile maternal child-rearing attitudes were self-rated by the mothers. SES consisted of the years of education of the parents and family income. The IRS comprised serum insulin, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, and body mass index.

RESULTS

Among boys, low parental SES and strict maternal discipline were associated with heightened somatic risk. Among girls, parental SES moderated the association between maternal child-rearing attitudes and somatic risk so that belonging to a high-SES family seemed to protect the girls against the adverse health effects of hostile mothering.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicate that the psychosocial environment is differentially related to girls' and boys' somatic risk. It is concluded that belonging to high social class may buffer against childhood stress, while belonging to low social class may enhance vulnerability to stressors in childhood.

Anger in adolescents: sex, ethnicity, age differences, and psychometric properties

BACKGROUND

The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), a self-report questionnaire, is designed to measure the experience and expression of anger. Reliability and validity of the STAXI have been well established among African and European Americans aged 13 years and older. However, little is known of the use of this instrument among adolescents younger than 13 years and Hispanic American adolescents.

OBJECTIVES

Objectives were (a) to test ethnic, sex, and age group differences in STAXI scores in a sample of 11-to-16-year-old African, Hispanic, and European American adolescents; and (b) to assess the psychometric properties of the STAXI among these same adolescents with special emphasis on Hispanic youths, for whom no data are available.

METHODS

A cross-sectional design was used with stratified quota sampling techniques. Participants (N = 394) were African, Hispanic, and European Americans aged 11-16 years and were drawn from one public middle school and two public high schools in Houston, Texas.

RESULTS

Internal consistency reliability for the anger scales (STAXI) ranged from 0.61 (anger-in) to 0.91 (state-anger) for the younger group (aged 11-13 years), and 0.68 (anger-in) to 0.88 (state-anger) for the older Hispanic Americans (aged 14-16). No notable differences were seen among the three ethnic groups in regards to internal consistency. Results of factor analyses of the five anger scales were similar to those reported originally by the scale author. Ethnicity and age had statistically significant main effects on the anger scales, and there was only one interaction.

DISCUSSION

The use of the STAXI among a tri-ethnic adolescent population is warranted. The anger-in scale may be less reliable, especially among younger adolescents.

Covariation of psychosocial characteristics associated with cardiovascular disease: genetic and environmental influences

OBJECTIVE

Three psychosocial characteristics associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD)-depression, hostility, and social support-tend to correlate with one another. However, the causes of each characteristic and why they tend to co-occur are not completely understood. Therefore, the current study used a twin design to examine the relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences to the variation and covariation of these three psychosocial characteristics.

METHODS

The sources of variation and covariation among the Beck Depression Inventory, the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale, and the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List were examined in a young adult community sample of 157 monozygotic and 75 dizygotic twin pairs.

RESULTS

Phenotypic confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a single latent factor could account for their moderate intercorrelations. Twin analyses indicated that the Beck Depression Inventory and Interpersonal Support Evaluation List were each influenced by genetic and nonshared environmental factors, whereas the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale was influenced by familial (genetic and/or shared environmental) and nonshared environmental factors. Bivariate associations between these scales were largely determined by common genetic effects and, to a lesser degree, common nonshared environmental effects. Covariation among the three scales could be explained by a single common genetic factor and a common nonshared environmental factor. Environmental factors shared within families did not contribute to covariation among the psychosocial characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

The results challenge the conventional approach of examining these psychosocial variables as independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease and argue for the importance of investigating specific causes for their covariation.

Mothers' emotional expressivity and children's behavior problems and social competence: mediation through children's regulation

The relations between mothers' expressed positive and negative emotion and 55-79-month-olds' (76% European American) regulation, social competence, and adjustment were examined. Structural equation modeling was used to test the plausibility of the hypothesis that the effects of maternal expression of emotion on children's adjustment and social competence are mediated through children's dispositional regulation. Mothers' expressed emotions were assessed during interactions with their children and with maternal reports of emotions expressed in the family. Children's regulation, externalizing and internalizing problems. and social competence were rated by parents and teachers, and children's persistence was surreptitiously observed. There were unique effects of positive and negative maternal expressed emotion on children's regulation. and the relations of maternal expressed emotion to children's externalizing problem behaviors and social competence were mediated through children's regulation. Alternative models of causation were tested; a child-directed model in which maternal expressivity mediated the effects of child regulation on child outcomes did not fit the data as well.

The relations of parental emotional expressivity with quality of Indonesian children's social functioning

In Western societies, parental expression of positive emotion has been positively related to the quality of children's social functioning, whereas their expression of negative emotion has been negatively or inconsistently related. The relations of parental expressivity to 3rd-grade Indonesian children's dispositional regulation, socially appropriate behavior, popularity, and sympathy were examined. Parents, teachers, and peers reported on children's social functioning and regulation, and parents (mostly mothers) reported on their own expression of emotion in the family. Generally, parental expression of negative emotion was negatively related to the quality of children's social functioning, and regression analyses indicated that the relations of parental negative expressivity to children's popularity and externalizing behaviors might be indirect through their effects on children's regulation. Unexpectedly, parental expression of positive emotion was unrelated to children's social functioning.

Attachment and loss experiences during childhood are associated with adult hostility, depression, and social support

OBJECTIVES

This study examined developmental antecedents to psychosocial traits in adulthood that have been linked in prior studies to increased risk of heart disease. The hypothesis was tested that early parental loss coupled with poor-quality family relationships (FR) during childhood would be associated with increased hostility and depression, and lower social support in adulthood.

METHODS

Participants included 30 university students who experienced the death of one parent before the age of 16, and 31 control participants. Questionnaires were completed measuring current social support, hostility, depression, and the quality of FR.

RESULTS

Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) supported the hypothesis of maladaptive psychosocial characteristics in loss participants reporting poorer-quality FR. Significant interactions of loss and FR were found for individual variables of depressive symptoms, social support, and hostility.

CONCLUSION

These results provide evidence that parental loss in childhood is associated with health-damaging psychosocial characteristics in adulthood only if the quality of the surviving FR is poor.

Parental history of hypertension and hostility moderate cardiovascular responses to interpersonal conflict

A parental history of hypertension has been implicated in the development of hypertension, perhaps by virtue of an elevated cardiovascular response to stress. Similarly, hostility has been hypothesized to be linked to cardiovascular disease through cardiovascular hyperreactivity. The interaction of parental history and hostility in moderating cardiovascular response has been infrequently examined, though research suggests the two may be linked through familial factors. The present study examined the cardiovascular response of 98 healthy young adult males categorized as offspring of hypertensive subjects (PH+) or offspring of normotensive subjects (PH-) and as high or low hostile, based on Cook-Medley Hostility scores (HiHo vs. LoHo). Subjects were exposed to either an harassment or non-harassment stressor. Results indicated elevated cardiac output and forearm blood flow responses in PH+/HiHo subjects who were harassed as compared to any other harassed subject and all non-harassed individuals. This hemodynamic response pattern of elevated blood flow suggests a mechanism of hypertensive disease development.

Parental Socialization of Emotion

Recently, there has been a resurgence of research on emotion, including the socialization of emotion. In this article, a heuristic model of factors contributing to the socialization of emotion is presented. Then literature relevant to the socialization of children's emotion and emotion-related behavior by parents is reviewed, including (a) parental reactions to children's emotions, (b) socializers' discussion of emotion, and (c) socializers' expression of emotion. The relevant literature is not conclusive and most of the research is correlational. However, the existing body of data provides initial support for the view that parental socialization practices have effects on children's emotional and social competence and that the socialization process is bidirectional. In particular, parental negative emotionality and negative reactions to children's expression of emotion are associated with children's negative emotionality and low social competence. In addition, possible moderators of effects such as level of emotional arousal are discussed.

Does background stress heighten or dampen children's cardiovascular responses to acute stress?

OBJECTIVE

Does background stress heighten or dampen children's cardiovascular responses to acute stress?

METHOD

To address this question, the cardiovascular responses to four acute laboratory stressors of 150 children and adolescents were evaluated according to their self-reported background stress level. Background stress was determined during a standardized interview and was a priori classified according to its importance, frequency, and whether it was ongoing or resolved.

RESULTS

Results showed that children and adolescents who reported important stressors or stressors that were ongoing and frequent exhibited a larger increase in diastolic blood pressure and total peripheral resistance during all four laboratory stressors than their low stress counterparts. Additional analysis showed that the results could not be accounted for by sociodemographic variables or by the personality traits measured in this study.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest the importance of measuring background stress in understanding an individual's acute stress response.

Health psychology: what is an unhealthy environment and how does it get under the skin?

This review explores the role of environments in creating chronic and acute health disorders. A general framework for studying the nesting of social environments and the multiple pathways by which environmental factors may adversely affect health is offered. Treating socioeconomic status (SES) and race as contextual factors, we examine characteristics of the environments of community, work, family, and peer interaction for predictors of positive and adverse health outcomes across the lifespan. We consider chronic stress/allostatic load, mental distress, coping skills and resources, and health habits and behaviors as classes of mechanisms that address how unhealthy environments get "under the skin," to create health disorders. Across multiple environments, unhealthy environments are those that threaten safety, that undermine the creation of social ties, and that are conflictual, abusive, or violent. A healthy environment, in contrast, provides safety, opportunities for social integration, and the ability to predict and/or control aspects of that environment.