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Division of labor in wedding planning varies for first-time marriages, with three types of couples—traditional, transitional, and egalitarian—identified, but nothing is known about wedding planning for remarrying individuals. Using semistructured interviews, the author interviewed 14 couples in which at least one person had remarried and used directed content analysis to investigate the extent to which the aforementioned typology could be transferred to this different context. In this paper she describes how a triangulation of analytic techniques provided validation for couple classifications and also helped with moving beyond "blind spots" in data analysis. Analytic approaches were the constant comparative technique, rank order comparison, and visual representation of coding, using MAXQDA 2007's tool called TextPortraits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people are adversely affected by negative family experiences, but there is a gap in knowledge when the commonly co-existing issues of parental alcohol misuse and parental domestic abuse are considered. Research which talks directly to the young people living in such circumstances is therefore needed. As part of a Europe-wide research study, eight young people aged 12-18 years from five families in England were interviewed about their experiences of living with parental alcohol misuse and violence. Strong links emerged between parental drinking and domestic abuse, with verbal aggression common, and frequent and physical violence less frequent, but of equal concern. The young people had tried and were trying a range of strategies to try and cope with their home environments, and faced an ongoing battle in working out what to do for the best. Support from family, friends, and professionals was discussed, but the young people generally had mixed views about what help they had received and the support that they would have liked. The paper discusses what the findings might mean in terms of the practice and policy response to children living in risky family environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies by economists have focused on cultural transmission from the origin country rather than the origin family. Our paper extends this research by investigating how family-specific‘cultural transmission’ can affect fertility rates. Following Machado and Santos Silva [ Journal of the American Statistical Association (2005) Vol. 100, p. 1226] and Miranda [ Journal of Population Economics (2008) Vol. 21, p. 67], we estimate count data quantile regression models using the British Household Panel Survey. We find that a woman's origin-family size is positively associated with completed fertility in her destination family. A woman's country of birth also matters for her fertility. For a sub-sample of continuously partnered men and women, both partners’ origin-family sizes significantly affect destination-family fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining data collected from different sources is a cost-effective and time-efficient approach for enhancing the statistical efficiency in estimating weak-to-modest genetic effects or gene-gene or gene-environment interactions. However, combining data across studies becomes complicated when data are collected under different study designs, such as family-based and unrelated individual-based (e.g., population-based case-control design). In this paper, we describe a general method that permits the joint estimation of effects on disease risk of genes, environmental factors, and gene-gene/gene-environment interactions under a hybrid design that includes cases, parents of cases, and unrelated individuals. We provide both asymptotic theory and statistical inference. Extensive simulation experiments demonstrate that the proposed estimation and inferential methods perform well in realistic settings. We illustrate the method by an application to a study of testicular cancer. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the authors' ideas about parenting adult children, describes some of the results of a larger qualitative research study and explores possible implications for practice. The study is based on in-depth analyses of narratives from interviews of a non-clinical population of parents of adult children. It represents part of an ongoing study to develop an understanding of an under-researched area of family life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marriage in Taiwan in the early twentieth century was a very diverse phenomenon. Marriages could be in the "minor"fashion, in which the bride was adopted at an early age by her parents-in-law. They could also be of the virilocal "major" type, in which young adults married and lived in the household of the husband's parents. Finally, they could be "uxorilocal," in which the husband came to live with his in-laws. The diversity of types reflects a complex mixture of motives on behalf of parents, who aimed to secure the patrilineage, but in the meantime were motivated to save on wedding expenses, safeguard their hold on the younger generation, forge alliances between clans, and bring in additional labor. In our paper, we assess the relative importance of these parental motives by applying a competing risks analysis on household registry data from nine Taiwanese communities. By combining data on the levels of the individuals, the composition of their households, the characteristics of their communities, and economic fluctuations, we demonstrate the remarkable flexibility and adaptability of Taiwanese marriage within the overriding constraint of producing male offspring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurs have been traditionally epitomized as rugged individuals garnering creative forces of innovation and technology. Applying this traditional, limited, and narrow view of entrepreneurship to ethnic firm creation and growth is to ignore or discount core cultural values of the ethnic contexts in which these firms operate. It is no longer possible to depend solely on human capital theory and household characteristic descriptions to understand the complex and interdependent relationships between the ethnic-owning family, its firm, and the community context in which the firm operates. This paper addresses the complex dynamic of ethnic firms with three purposes: (a) to provide a cultural context for the three ethnic groups composing the National Minority Business Owner Study; (b) to extend the Sustainable Family Business Theory, a dynamic, behaviorally-based, multi-dimensional family firm theory, by clarifying how it accommodates ethnic firm complexities within their cultural context, and (c) to derive implications for research, education and consulting with worldwide applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social Change has transformed societies globally through the spread of education, the evolution of formal labor markets and the new roles individuals now play in the development of their societies. Just as economic institutions have been affected so have social institutions like the family, been transformed. Urbanization has led to the disintegration of the joint family to the independent, small, nuclear family. With residential autonomy and lack of control from the joint family elders, divorce rates have been rising universally. This paper studies the trend of Divorce in Kuwaiti Society. Kuwait is an oil rich Gulf state where rapid economic development has been witnessed for over four decades. Urbanization and the Governments' Welfare policies have helped young married couples to move to new areas and establish their homes. While social allowances for wife, children, etc were intended to help the Kuwaiti family, cope with the rising cost of living, divorce rates did not decline. Through Vital Statistics, data from the court of Justice and past research, the paper tries to examine the characteristics of those getting divorced. What factors have had an effect on this trend -- education, age at marriage, women's labor force participation? How has the State attempted to help divorced women to readjust? Modernization has led to contradictions and challenges -- weakening of the family support systems, legal reforms and a new awareness of rights and duties among the two sexes. How can these changes shed light on the problem of divorce? This study attempts to explain why divorce is a problem in Kuwait and some possible solutions to reduce the negative impact of divorce on future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents reasons why Darwinism should be of use to family research. I argue: (1) that most social scientists are Darwinians; (2) that Darwinism is a theory of nepotism and conjugal relations; (3) that Darwinism cannot subsume other fields of inquiry because it is not monolithic; (4) that Darwinism needs psychological and sociological depictions of current environments; and (5) that the popularity of Darwinian ideas may lead to the formation of social constructions and representations of family and conjugal relations within families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational contexts can be both enriched and impoverished by our relationship with learning and our ‘identity stories’ as learners influence how we construct contexts for learning. Keenoy et al. (2007) describe identity as a ‘transient bridging concept’ between the individual and society which is constructed through ‘reflexive processes of naming, labelling, classifying and associating symbolic artefacts and social actors in a dialogical process of social definition and redefinition’. Can methods of assessment be constructed to afford reflexive, dialogical learning opportunities? This paper outlines the design and methodology of a reflexive framework for the summative assessment of abilities used on the Intermediate Level course at Northumbria University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Educación y Educadores is the property of Universidad de la Sabana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper examines results of the study of the phenomenon of contemporary fatherhood from the viewpoint of the transformation of men's family roles. The modernization of marriage and family in Russia has led to an increasing dominance of individual values: broader freedom of choice for the woman and the man both in the family and in social fields, the equality of spouses or partners, as well as higher opportunities for self-realization. The Russian husband-wife 'equality' in exercising the role of 'breadwinner' seems to further diminish the man's role in the family and leads to a weakening of the function of social fatherhood; in consequence, fathers take less responsibility for the rearing and socialization of their offspring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Community, Work & Family is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper we hypothesize that farmers with a stronger valuation of family farming will be more resistant to converting farmland to tree plantations. Our survey data analysis from 106 farmers in northern Alberta reveals that general opposition to trees on farmland is the strongest predictor of farmers' resistance to the establishment of poplar tree plantations on privately-owned land. Valuation of family farming is the strongest determinant of resistance to trees on farmland. Among the potential intervening variables influencing support for tree plantations, including county, age, gender, number of children, and percent of income from farming, number of children and percent of income from farming had significant direct effects on valuation of family farming. This study suggests that economic incentives alone are unlikely to influence farmers' willingness to convert their land to non-traditional uses, and that intergenerational transfer of land, and its relationship to valuation of family farming, deserves further attention in rural sociological scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grandmothers often play an important role in low-income minority families through providing support to their adult children as well as care to their grandchildren. However, little is known about how varying types of grandmother involvement may influence their grandchildren's functioning. This paper uses data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study, a longitudinal study sampling low-income minority youth from high-poverty neighborhoods, to explore how young adolescents (age 10–14 years at Time 1) function over time based on grandmothers' residential status and their level of caretaking responsibility. Analyses find that young adolescents with a custodial grandmother displayed greater levels of externalizing problem behaviors over time while young adolescents with a co-residing grandmother reported fewer depressive symptoms over time as compared with their peers. The importance of considering the influence of grandmothers who are more involved, especially among low-income, minority families, in research and practice will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family therapy models often do not reflect the realities and desires of many gay and lesbian couples. Therapists working with this population are left to decide whether to apply these models as they are, to discard them, or to attempt to modify them as they assist their clients. Using research findings and case examples that describe the intergenerational boundaries for gay and lesbian couples as well as the nonmonogamous relationships of gay men, this paper illustrates how therapists can adapt family therapy models to suit the needs and preferences of this client population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Mediacoes is the property of Universidade Estadual de Londrina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper uses data from the Milwaukee TANF Applicant Study to examine what a sample of 1,075 TANF applicants from Milwaukee County knew about Wisconsin's TANF program and its relationship to other programs for low-income families. The data suggest that there were significant gaps in knowledge about the program both at the time of application and approximately 18 months later. Although there was a positive relationship between knowledge about the program and participation, even those who participated in the program were frequently confused. This confusion could also account for some of the discrepancies we found when we compared applicant self-reports to state administrative data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Pediatric bipolar disorder (BPD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) co-occur more frequently than expected by chance. In this review, we examine 4 potential explanations for the high rate of this common co-occurrence: (i) BPD symptom expression leads to overdiagnosis of ADHD in BPD youth; (ii) ADHD is a prodromal or early manifestation of pediatric-onset BPD; (iii) ADHD and associated factors (e.g., psychostimulants) lead to the onset of pediatric BPD; and (iv) ADHD and BPD share an underlying biological etiology (i.e., a common familial or genetic risk or underlying neurophysiology). Methods: Peer-reviewed publications of studies of children and adolescents with comorbid BPD and ADHD were reviewed. Results: There is a bidirectional overlap between BPD and ADHD in youth, with high rates of ADHD present in children with BPD (up to 85%), and elevated rates of BPD in children with ADHD (up to 22%). Phenomenologic, genetic, family, neuroimaging, and treatment studies revealed that BPD and ADHD have both common and distinct characteristics. While there are data to support all 4 explanations postulated in this paper, the literature most strongly suggests that ADHD symptoms represent a prodromal or early manifestation of pediatric-onset BPD in certain at-risk individuals. Bipolar disorder with comorbid ADHD may thus represent a developmentally specific phenotype of early-onset BPD. Conclusions: The etiology of comorbid BPD and ADHD is likely multifactorial. Additional longitudinal and biological studies are warranted to clarify the relationships between BPD and ADHD since they may have important diagnostic and treatment implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose- This paper aims to explore international training and development policies and practices in Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs). The issues examined in this study include pre-departure and post-arrival training for expatriates and their spouse and families, training for host-country nationals (HCNs), reasons for Chinese MNEs not providing adequate training and the approaches of Chinese MNEs to international management development. Design/methodology/approach- This paper used a semi-structured, interview-based survey for collecting data from ten Chinese MNEs. The case companies consist of a range of industries and economic ownership types. A total of 30 in-depth interviews involving general managers, HR managers at headquarters and executive managers in subsidiaries were carried out. Findings- The paper reveals that Chinese MNEs provide only limited training to expatriates and other nationals, and lack a systematic international management development system. They adopt usually an ethnocentric approach to international training and development, and provide different levels of international training and management development for HCNs and PCNs. Research limitations/implications- The paper has many issues, especially those relating to the organizational determinates of international training and management development, their impact on organizational performance, and the effect of different approaches to training and development on different nationals; these require further investigation. Originality/value- the paper shows that HRM in Chinese MNEs has not been much considered. This study has examined a selection of international training and management development issues in Chinese MNEs that have not been reported in the literature to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intergenerational transfers in families are increasingly a topic of interest in the context of reductions in the welfare state and increased longevity. This paper draws upon data from a study of four-generation families which afforded an opportunity to examine the transfer of material and care resources across family generations. It explores ways in which family members from different generations talked about family obligations and the relevance of the concept ‘cultures of transmission’ in classifying these discourses. It addresses the questions: How far are cultures of transmission familial in the sense of typifying particular families? And how far are they shaped by life course phase and by historical context? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the change of generational relations in Germany based on demographic development. It is said that demographic index numbers have significant meanings for explaining structure and development of generational relations in families. Birth, marriage, separation and divorce are factors which substantially determine family and partnership structures. During the second half of the twentieth century, the change of timing of childbirth in the life-course, the lengthened life expectancy, and the increased numbers of separations and divorces are three important factors affecting intergenerational family structure significantly. In this paper, it is shown that these demographic factors changed the structure of generations. Specifically, the changing role of grandparents in the family as well as the changing nature of contact between generations are delineated.

This article discusses the theme of the research papers presented in the Autumn 2004 issue of the "Journal of Comparative Family Studies." The journal issue comprises seven papers which discuss the intergenerational relations between youth and their families. The papers present issues such as intergenerational transmission, conflict and interaction patterns between generations, and structural and cultural variations of youth decisions. All papers are based on empirical data of large sample sizes, and quantitative analysis is the common method used to delineate the intergenerational interaction pattern among youth families. Policy implications are also discussed, with relevant research findings to substantiate the stated proposals.

This paper examines the departure from parental home in two European countries: Italy and West Germany. A common trend toward longer education and marriage delay has had, in the two societies, different residential outcomes. Cohort comparisons indicate that two different pathways out of the parental home emerged: Italians wait for marriage, while Germans increasingly depart for premarital independence. In this paper, the author argues that the timing of and the reasons for leaving home differ according to the resources available, but relate also to the existing cultural values and institutional contexts. Moreover, this paper also points out some important within-country differences, above all gender and regional variation.

This paper examines intergenerational value transmission between Taiwanese parents and their teenage children. Child rearing values, revised from Kohn's scale with cultural concerns considered, are used to test the expected relationship. An attempt is also made to test the Western work socialization hypothesis in shaping parental child rearing values in Taiwan. It is argued in this paper that besides the manifest effect of parent's occupation, the social norms imbedded may serve a more powerful explanation and should be taken into account. The paper further intends to delineate an indigenous classification of social class in a society like Taiwan, to incorporate cultural elements such as traditional social values and sex-role attitudes in the analysis, and to present comparative research results in line with previous efforts on the value transmission in the family.

The article presents information about the 2004 Family Conference, held in Singapore. The Australian Institute of family Studies participated in the conference that was held to mark the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family (IYF). The IYF celebrations culminated in a two-day Family Conference followed by a Family Festival. The Family Conference was organized by Singapore's Committee on the Family, the IYF taskforce, and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. The conference comprised two parts: a Regional Family Policy Forum and Family Matters Seminar. Speakers from various countries were nominated to present papers and to join in panel discussions which involved considerable audience participation. The article discusses various issues raised in the papers presented at the Regional Family Policy Forum. In total, nine papers were presented during the Forum. Considerable consistency in findings or conclusions emerged not only within the three sessions but also across these sessions.

After summarising current knowledge on homosexuality as a framework for discussion, the paper by Gonzlez, Morcillo, Snchez, Chacn, and Gmez (also in this issue) is analysed. The paper is of great relevance since it is the first time this subject has been studied in our country. However, the authors have managed to study a type of family of which we do not know the population, and therefore cannot take a good sampling of it. Indeed, the lack of representativeness and the impossibility of knowing if the families in the study have or not common characteristics with these types of families is one of the study's main drawbacks . The results, in any case, are interesting and are a good starting point for discussion. The most relevant aspect is that, as other studies have shown, the development of children raised in homosexual households (with single parents or not) may be similar to that of other children (in heterosexual households). We also underline various discrepancies observed in the study, primarily related to how the conclusions and general conclusions are presented. Finally, our view on this controversial issue is stated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the conception of liberal education as fundamentally about connection, this paper describes an undergraduate Child and Family Studies Program that is both a liberal studies major and a program to prepare students for professional roles. Program development was faculty-driven and derived from understandings of what it means to have connected learning in a liberal studies major as well as what it means to be a professional. The program was initially designed using a multidisciplinary model where students took courses in liberal studies that were coupled but not necessarily integrated with professional course and service work. Only as we examined student outcomes over time did the program become truly interdisciplinary using mechanisms such as a practicum seminar and a professional portfolio to help students make connections between the various parts of the curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The family unit is the primary source of transmission of basic social, cultural, genetic, and biological factors that may underlie individual differences in smoking. Existing information on the role of familial factors in tobacco use is characterized by two separate, but somewhat overlapping, lines of research: genetic epidemiological studies and risk-factor research. The present paper summarizes and evaluates studies assessing the association between adolescent smoking and parent and sibling smoking behaviors. A review of 87 studies reveals that methods are limited by a lack of standardized instruments, failure to measure important confounding and mediating factors, reliance on cross-sectional designs and the use of inconsistent definitions of tobacco-related behavior and assessment procedures. Moreover, there are no systematic family studies of the acquisition and continuation of smoking that have employed contemporary methodological standards for examining familial aggregation of tobacco behaviors among adolescents. Findings across studies show weak and inconsistent associations between parent and adolescent smoking; inconsistent findings may be attributed to methodological issues or associated factors that may complicate the relation between parent and adolescent smoking. Sibling and peer smoking show greater associations with adolescent smoking. Suggestions for future research include contemporary family studies that delineate meaningful phenotypes of tobacco use and prospective work on the later stages of tobacco use and the timing of the influence and valence of parent and family factors. Integration of the risk factor approach within the family study design may enrich both approaches to elucidate familial influences on smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a qualitative and quantitative study of the circumstances of 20 Pakistani and Bangladeshi families with one or more severely disabled children living in Birmingham, England. Parents and other adult carers were interviewed using a combination of structured questionnaires and a semi-structured interview schedule focusing on the families' material circumstances, their use of formal services, informal care arrangements, and aspects of the parents' social and psychological well-being. The study suggests that previous national surveys of disabled families may have under-estimated the extent of material disadvantage, while it confirms that health and social care professionals should not assume that Pakistani and Bangladeshi parents have recourse to high levels of extended family support. The combination of disadvantaged circumstances and difficulties in securing access to appropriate services, which are found for the majority of families with a disabled child, was particularly acute for these ethnic minority families, suggesting the additional dimension of institutional racism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents the process of integrating and institutionalizing academic service-learning into university, department, and program curriculum. First, we briefly define academic service-learning. Second, we discuss how academic service-learning is being institutionalized into our university community. Third, we discuss how we have integrated service-learning into our Family and Consumer Sciences curriculum. We conclude by illustrating how academic service-learning has been integrated into our Family Studies program by using a parent education course, our Family Studies club, and a human sexuality course as examples. The successes and difficulties of integrating academic service-learning into course curriculum are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Family life educators are likely to work with or develop programs for people who are bereaved. Family life educators, themselves, also likely will be bereaved at some point. Therefore, there is a need for bereavement education to be incorporated into the family life education curriculum. The main purpose of this paper was to discuss bereavement as it relates to family life education. A secondary goal was to determine the perceived preparedness of family life education students for working with the bereaved. A sample of 239 family life education students were surveyed about their preparedness using a questionnaire that was developed for the present study. The results indicated most of the students expected to come into contact with the bereaved; yet, they did not feel prepared to work with this population. Practical suggestions for incorporating bereavement education and skills training into the curriculum are offered for teachers of future family life educators and current family life educators. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After a divorce, the former partners have to form new relationships between themselves as parents, and with their children. What does this reconstruction involve? What are the tasks facing the parents? What are the areas of conflict? This paper attempts to answer these questions. Eight initial sessions of parental mediation were chosen for the analysis. The analysis indicates that statements about the ways in which parents are entitled to their children, and vice versa, are common denominators for the transition from nuclear family parenting to post-nuclear family parenting. In the sessions, parents dealt with this duty by fighting a battle for a place in the children’s lives. The battles were expressed in negotiations about time and place. The analysis revealed two different solutions to the problem of the parents’ entitlements. One was the creation of the homogeneous family, with one parent and the children living together in a close relationship, giving the other parent visiting rights. The other was to form a heterogeneous family, based on the idea that it is possible to build a childhood on differences and dissimilarities. Most of the conflicts originated from parents’ efforts to create homogeneous families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broadly, this article details the imbrication of a Black feminist qualitative researcher's onto-epistemology and data (meta-) analysis process. I theorize Black feminist memory work, then apply this method by returning to data I collected for a completed research project and meshing those data with a curated selection of thematically connected family photographs. By revisiting and reviewing textual and visual data, I demonstrate the function of Black feminist memory work as a visual research method with which to not only describe, analyze, and interpret evocative photographs, but also excavate and make meaning of the sometimes repressed and oftentimes emotion-laden episodic and autobiographical memories that inevitably surface when conducting qualitative research. I conclude by underscoring how this tool creates opportunities for qualitative researchers to address the ontological concerns that connect qualitative inquiry to Black feminists' humanistic hopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "childless" is highly problematic. Attempts to split it into "voluntary" and "involuntary" may appear to give more detail on context, but the differentiation can be misleading. The condition of "-less" has negative connotations and implies "missing" something; possibly something which is "natural." The term "childfree" has been employed as an alternative expression which denotes active choice, freedom, and emancipation. Few studies, however, have explored how individuals refer to themselves, or how they interpret—or even care—about these distinctions. Such existing studies only explore the use of these English expressions among speakers of English as their primary language. This exploratory qualitative study explores how women without children define themselves in their native language in an Asian setting—Cantonese in Hong Kong. It also explores how such women interpret the various terms developed in English to describe their circumstances. Respondents refer to themselves in neutral, factual terms—literally "without children." Others make an explicit link between being unmarried and childless status. While respondents find the English expression of "childfree" positive, they do not express a strong need to either deploy it in English, nor "develop" a Cantonese equivalent. The study provides further evidence that "labels" generated and applied by academics in one context and in one language may not be universally applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the Australian Institute on Family Studies' Housing Across the Life Course project. This paper set out to illustrate how the key concepts of a risk society might become manifest in contemporary Australian housing careers. This led to a consideration of whether entry to home purchase shows signs of increased differentiation and disconnectedness. Analysis reveals no evidence of increased differentiation; on the contrary, the age-related norm of entry to home ownership appears to be strengthening. That is, entry to home ownership by later cohorts is increasingly likely to have been attained within a narrower span of years than earlier cohorts. The data suggest that if individuals have not entered home ownership by their early thirties, they are increasingly unlikely to do so. With regard to disconnectedness, analysis found that entry to home ownership is becoming increasingly disconnected from other life course events. The paper has provided brief illustrations of the manifestation of risk society concepts and what they might mean for our understanding of family life.

Familial clustering of a disease is defined as the occurrence of the disease within some families in excess of what would be expected from the occurrence in the population. It has been demonstrated for several cancer types, ranging from rare cancers as the adenomatosis-coli-associated colon cancer or the Li-Fraumeni syndrome to more common cancers as breast cancer and colon cancer. Familial clustering, however, is merely an epidemiological pattern, and it does not tell whether genetic or environmental causes or both in combination are responsible for the familial clustering. Familial clustering may be due to genetic predisposition to the disease, but exposure to environmental factors - shared by members of some families, but not by members of other families - may also cause familial clustering and hence mimic genetic inheritance in the study of nuclear families. Based on assumptions regarding the individual steps in the biological process starting with exposure to carcinogens and ending with death from disseminated cancer we suggest that genetic and environmental factors may both be involved in most of these steps. The present paper focuses on research methodologies necessary to discriminate between the effect of genes and family environment in the development of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the potential role of family socioeconomic factors in school achievement outcomes at two separate periods in the life course-early in childhood and during late adolescence. Using data from an 18-year longitudinal study of families and their children which provides measures of parental socioeconomic characteristics across this entire period, we examine several issues related to the influence of early and late family factors on achievement outcomes assessed during the period of the completion of secondary schooling. We examine the extent to which differing conclusions are reached through the use of parental socioeconomic variables assessed during these two periods, and we explore the question of the relative impact of these two sets of influences. Our results indicate that in part due to the inter temporal consistency of some socioeconomic variables, most relationships are quite similar using either the early or later variables. While these patterns make it very difficult in some instances to ascertain the relative effects of early and late socioeconomic factors, our analytic results point to a potentially stronger role of early socioeconomic factors in cognitive development and school learning. In a single instance-the case of family size-we find independent effects on school achievement from both early and late socioeconomic experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both depressive disorders and eating disorders are multidimensional and heterogeneous disorders. This paper examines the nature of their relationship by reviewing clinical descriptive, family-genetic, treatment, and biological studies that relate to the issue. The studies confirm the prominence of depressive symptoms and depressive disorders in eating disorders. Other psychiatric syndromes which occur with less frequency, such as anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders in anorexia nervosa, or personality disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse in bulimia nervosa, also play an important role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Since few studies have controlled for starvation-induced physical, endocrine, or psychological changes which mimic the symptoms considered diagnostic for depression, further research will be needed. The evidence for a shared etiology is not compelling for anorexia nervosa and is at most suggestive for bulimia nervosa. Since in contemporary cases dieting-induced weight loss is the principal trigger, women with self-critical or depressive features will be disproportionately recruited into eating disorders. The model that fits the data best would accommodate a relationship between eating disorders and the full spectrum of depressive disorders from no depression to severe depression, with somewhat higher rates of depression in bulimic anorectic and bulimia nervosa patients than in restricting anorexia nervosa patients, but the model would admit a specific pathophysiology and psychopathology in each eating disorder. Depression and Anxiety, Volume 8, Supplement 1:96–104, 1998.© 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a brief introduction about repertory grid technique in the study of families, with the author's comment on the paper "A comparative study of repertory grid and clinical methods for assessing family structure," by A. Karastergiou-Katsika and J. P. Watson. A simplified description of the repertory grid approach is offered, and some of its applications and uses in family work is discussed. The author notes that the paper of Karastergiou-Katsika and Watson has presented an interesting and potentially useful application of grid techniques in the field of family work.

In this paper growth rates, marriage patterns, fertility, mortality, population composition and urbanization in England and her American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are compared. The purpose is to see whether the colonists perpetuated English demographic patterns in the New World, or whether new environments led to new behaviour. The results are derived from numerous local studies, often based on family reconstitution. Taking into account regional variations in America, colonial demographic patterns were quite different from those in the mother country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minuchin, Rosman and Baker's (1978) Psychosomatic Families: Anorexia Nervosa in Context, is a work that does demonstrate that physiological disturbance of some, very specifically defined, diabetic patients serves a function in their families. Statistical analyses of the original data are reported which strongly support the original conclusions; Coyne and Anderson's (1988) presentation of the methodology and findings of the original study is shown to substantially misrepresent information actually presented in the book. Review of the literature they cite was informative about some aspects of poorly controlled diabetes for a variety of populations but not relevant for psychosomatic patients; however, some of it supported our findings. Responsibility for ‘constraining’ and/or ‘providing momentum’ for the field is rejected and precise and rigorous thinking encouraged in developing both studies and critiques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper effects of censored variables on estimates of genetic and environmental influences were studied. Analytic results showed that with 50% censoring, about 15–20% of the variance may be attributed to the wrong source and that this amount increases rapidly with more than 70% censoring. Censoring effects on comparisons between different genetic studies, subgroups within a study (e.g., sex or age groups), or different behaviors (e.g., the heritabilities of delinquency and depression) were also examined. Results indicated that censoring may be quite influential for these kinds of comparisons. For instance, it was demonstrated that, especially for unstandardized solutions, small initial group differences in means can lead to seriously biased conclusions concerning the resemblance in biometric parameters. Finally, a simulation study supported the applicability of the general analytical results and showed that summed scores of censored Likert-type items may be seriously affected by censoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews evidence from clinical, epidemiologic, and family studies regarding the association between social phobia and other syndromes. Social phobia is strongly associated with other anxiety disorders, substance abuse, and affective disorders in both clinical and community samples. An average of 80% of social phobics identified in community samples meet diagnostic criteria for another lifetime condition. Social phobia is most strongly associated with other subtypes of anxiety disorders, with an average of 50% of social phobics in the community reporting a concomitant anxiety disorder including another phobic disorder, generalized anciety, or panic disorder. Approximately 20% of subjects in the community meet lifetime criteria for a major depressive disorder. The onset of social phobia generally precedes that of all other disorders, with the exception of simple phobia. Both clinical severity and treated prevalence are consistently greater among social phobics with comorbid disorders The results of family and twin studies reveal that shared etiologic factors explain a substantial proportion of the comorbidity between social phobia and depression, whereas the association between social phobia and alcoholism derives from a nonfamilial causal relationship between the two conditions. Clinical and phenomenologic implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies a buried dynamic in psychopathology as it arises in family process: the child's loss of self through caring before being cared for. This role reversal which places childhood at the disposal of family need is conceptualized, and the related material, integrated, in terms of the myth of Cronus, who swallowed his children. Some tentative clinical probings of this subject are discussed as well as the resistive sources which have placed this subject, for the most part, beyond reach of research and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic epidemiology is the study of inherited factors involved in the etiology of a disease or disorder and uses the methods of both medical genetics and clinical epidemiology. In general, genetic epidemiology tries to answer the following four questions: Is the disorder inherited; What phenotype is inherited; How is it inherited or what is the mode of transmission; and What is the nature of the genetic mutation, if any, that gives rise to the disorder? The hope is that by identifying the gene or genes involved in pathophysiology, a much better understanding of the steps from gene product to phenotype will be possible, leading to improvements in diagnosis, an opportunity for thoughtful family planning, and perhaps, most important, to the development of treatments based on an understanding of the biochemistry of the disorder. We review the current knowledge of the genetic epidemiology of autism and the other pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) and highlight promising new directions. There seems to be widespread agreement that the PDDs are caused, at least in part, by genetic factors. There is also some agreement on the phenotypic boundaries associated with these same genetic factors. However, many points of uncertainty remain, and several methodologic issues need to be resolved before further progress in mapping susceptibility genes is possible. We do not specifically review molecular studies, medical conditions associated with autism, or the broader autism phenotype, as these topics are covered in other papers in this special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on various studies related to dyslexia and their comparisons. Jean M. Healy and Dorothy M. Aram use family histories in their study of hyperlexia and its relation to dyslexia. Based on their investigation of twelve children with hyperlexia, they conclude that, like dyslexia, hyperlexia has familial and sex-related elements, although the link between the two remains speculative. They suggest that further research into this rare condition, clearly related to autism, may prove useful in extending the knowledge of the genetic and neurological factors affecting language ability. The effect of learning disabilities on psychological growth is the focus of Jonathon Cohen's paper. Bobbie H. Jones focuses on the educational and emotional needs of gifted dyslexics. The effect of training based on subtypes is the topic of Christina A. M. Fiedorowicz's paper. Training in this study, including computer-assisted instruction, emphasized accuracy and speed of response and was designed to address specific subtype skill deficits. Fiedoro-wicz found this training to be effective in improving component reading skills and suggests that further research in this area may prove fruitful in determining the most effective and efficient training methods for children with specific disability subtypes.

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The author reflects on family issues, family studies as part of university curricula and the topics covered in the October 2005 issue. The topics include: skill-building strategies, advocacy techniques and policy issues; family dynamics; importance of creating a cross-cultural perspective when teaching about families; and the importance of family resource management as a subject field and not only argue for its inclusion in the curriculum.