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Issues of normativity (responding in a typical or average fashion) and desirability (the tendency for raters to endorse positive characteristics rather than neutral or more negative ones) are common in areas of the social sciences that frequently utilize profile correlations to measure dyadic similarity. They have implications for family scholars as well. In the present study, a pre-existing data set was used to make an initial, though limited, investigation into potential confounds of normativity and desirability for macrolevel observational assessments of family interaction. An empirical example is presented using q-sort ratings of family interaction, with variance in observational assessments decomposed into component parts. High levels of both normativity and desirability were found, indicating possible problems in terms of both reliability and validity of assessment. While the results provide an interesting beginning, they are limited due to the use of a q-sort methodology as well as an instrument with limited background and use. These limitations are discussed, as well as alternative interpretations for normativity and desirability and implications for future research.Las cuestiones de normatividad (responder de una forma típica o promedio) y de deseabilidad (la tendencia de los calificadores a avalar características positivas en lugar de neutras o más negativas) son comunes en las áreas de las ciencias sociales que con frecuencia utilizan las correlaciones de los perfiles para medir la similitud diádica. Pero estas también tienen consecuencias para los investigadores de las familias. En el presente estudio se utilizó un conjunto preexistente de datos para llevar a cabo una investigación inicial, aunque limitada, sobre posibles factores de confusión de la normatividad y la deseabilidad en las evaluaciones observacionales a nivel macro de la interacción familiar. Se presenta un ejemplo práctico utilizando las calificaciones de la técnica de Q-sort de la interacción familiar, con la varianza de las evaluaciones observacionales dividida en componentes. Se encontraron niveles altos tanto de normatividad como de deseabilidad, lo cual indica posibles problemas en relación con la fiabilidad y la validez de la evaluación. Si bien los resultados ofrecen un comienzo interesante, son limitados debido al uso de una metodología Q-sort así como de un instrumento con pocos antecedentes y uso. Se debaten estas limitaciones así como interpretaciones alternativas de la normatividad y la deseabilidad, y las consecuencias para futuras investigaciones.常态(以典型或一般方式回应)以及可取性(评估者认同正面而不是中性或负面特点的 倾向)是经常运用刨面相关性来测量二元相似性的社会科学领域中普遍存在的问题。这些问题对于家庭问题学者也有影响。该研究中,我们使用既存数据来对常态以及可取性对于家庭互动宏观层面观测的潜在影响进行初步,有限的考察。我们提出了一个实证案例,该案例使用家庭互动q-sort 评估并将观测评估中差异分解为不同部分。我们发现较高水平的常态以及可取性,表明评估中可能存在的可靠性以及有效性。虽然结果提出了一个有意思的开始,但由于使用q-sort方法以及实验工具有限的背景和应用,这些研究结果有局限性。我们讨论了这些局限性以及对于常态和可取性的其他解释还有对未来研究的意义。.

Context: Ingesting high-sodium drinks pre-exercise can improve thermoregulation and performance. Athletic trainers (19%) give athletes pickle juice (PJ) prophylactically for cramping. No data exist on whether this practice affects aerobic performance or thermoregulation. Objective: To determine if drinking 2 mL/kg body mass of PJ, hypertonic saline, or deionized water (DIW) pre-exercise affects aerobic performance or thermoregulation. Design: Crossover study. Setting: Controlled laboratory study. Patients or Other Participants: Nine euhydrated men (age = 22 ± 3 years, height = 184.0 ± 8.2 cm, mass = 82.6 ± 16.0 kg) completed testing. Intervention(s): Participants rested for 65 minutes. During this period, they ingested 2 mL/kg of PJ, hypertonic saline, or DIW. Next, they drank 5 mL/kg of DIW. Blood was collected before and after ingestion of all fluids. Participants were weighed and ran in the heat (temperature = 38.3°C ± 1°C, relative humidity = 21.1% ± 4.7%) at increasing increments of maximal heart rate (50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%) until exhaustion or until rectal temperature exceeded 39.5°C. Participants were weighed postexercise so we could calculate sweat volume. Main Outcome Measure(s): Time to exhaustion, rectal temperature, changes in plasma volume, and sweat volume. Results: Time to exhaustion did not differ among drinks (PJ = 77.4 ± 5.9 minutes, hypertonic saline = 77.4 ± 4.0 minutes, DIW = 75.7 ± 3.2 minutes; F2,16 = 1.1, P = .40). Core temperature of participants was similar among drinks (PJ = 38.7°C ± 0.3°C, hypertonic saline = 38.7°C ± 0.4°C, DIW = 38.8°C ± 0.4°C; P = .74) but increased from pre-exercise (36.7°C ± 0.2°C) to postexercise (38.7°C ± 0.4°C) (P < .05). No differences were observed for changes in plasma volume or sweat volume among drinks (P > .05). Conclusions: Ingesting small amounts of PJ or hypertonic saline with water did not affect performance or select thermoregulatory measures. Drinking larger volumes of PJ and water may be more effective at expanding the extracellular space.

As more researchers utilize the Five-factor model (FFM) of personality with children and adolescents, the need for instruments designed specifically for use with children and adolescents increases. In the United States, the 108-item Inventory of Children's Individual Differences (ICID; Halverson et al., 2003), has provided researchers with an age and culture neutral instrument designed specifically to assess the FFM of personality in children and adolescents, ages 2 to 15, using parental, nonparental, or self-reports. This article presents a shorter, 50-item version of the ICID (the ICID-S) that maintains the levels of validity and reliability previously established for the full instrument.

Context: Twenty-five percent of athletic trainers administer pickle juice (PJ) to treat cramping. Anecdotally, some clinicians provide multiple boluses of PJ during exercise but warn that repeated ingestion of PJ may cause hyperkalemia. To our knowledge, no researchers have examined the effect of ingesting multiple boluses of PJ on the same day or the effect of ingestion during exercise. Objective: To determine the short-term effects of ingesting a single bolus or multiple boluses of PJ on plasma variables and to characterize changes in plasma variables when individuals ingest PJ and resume exercise. Design: Crossover study. Setting: Laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Nine euhydrated men (age = 23 ± 4 years, height = 180.9 ± 5.8 cm, mass = 80.7 ± 13.8 kg, urine specific gravity = 1.009 ± 0.005). Intervention(s): On 3 days, participants rested for 30 minutes, and then a blood sample was collected. Participants ingested 0 or 1 bolus (1 mL·kg−1 body weight) of PJ, donned sweat suits, biked vigorously for 30 minutes (approximate temperature = 37°C, relative humidity = 18%), and had a blood sample collected. They either rested for 60 seconds (0- and 1-bolus conditions) or ingested a second 1 mL·kg−1 body weight bolus of PJ (2-bolus condition). They resumed exercise for another 35 minutes. A third blood sample was collected, and they exited the environmental chamber and rested for 60 minutes (approximate temperature = 21°C, relative humidity = 18%). Blood samples were collected at 30 and 60 minutes postexercise. Main Outcome Measure(s): Plasma sodium concentration, plasma potassium concentration, plasma osmolality, and changes in plasma volume. Results: The number of PJ boluses ingested did not affect plasma sodium concentration, plasma potassium concentration, plasma osmolality, or changes in plasma volume over time. The plasma sodium concentration, plasma potassium concentration, and plasma osmolality did not exceed 144.6 mEq·L−1 (144.6 mmol·L−1), 4.98 mEq·L−1 (4.98 mmol·L−1), and 289.5 mOsm·kg−1H2O, respectively, in any condition at any time. Conclusions: Ingesting up to 2 boluses of PJ and resuming exercise caused negligible changes in blood variables. Ingesting up to 2 boluses of PJ did not increase plasma sodium concentration or cause hyperkalemia.

Objective Many clinicians believe that exercise-associated muscle cramps (EAMC) occur because of dehydration. Experimental research supporting this theory is lacking. Mild hypohydration (3% body mass loss) does not alter threshold frequency (TF), a measure of cramp susceptibility, when fatigue and exercise intensity are controlled. No experimental research has examined TF following significant (3–5% body mass loss) or serious hypohydration (>5% body mass loss). Determine if significant or serious hypohydration, with moderate electrolyte losses, decreases TF. Design A prepost experimental design was used. Dominant limb flexor hallucis brevis cramp TF, cramp electromyography (EMG) amplitude and cramp intensity were measured in 10 euhydrated, unacclimated men (age=24±4 years, height=184.2±4.8 cm, mass=84.8±11.4 kg). Subjects alternated exercising with their non-dominant limb or upper body on a cycle ergometer every 15 min at a moderate intensity until 5% body mass loss or volitional exhaustion (3.8±0.8 h; 39.1±1.5°C; humidity 18.4±3%). Cramp variables were reassessed posthypohydration. Results Subjects were well hydrated at the study9s onset (urine specific gravity=1.005±0.002). They lost 4.7±0.5% of their body mass (3.9±0.5 litres of fluid), 4.0±1.5 g of Na + and 0.6±0.1 g K + via exercise-induced sweating. Significant (n=5) or serious hypohydration (n=5) did not alter cramp TF (euhydrated=15±5 Hz, hypohydrated=13±6 Hz; F 1,9 =3.0, p=0.12), cramp intensity (euhydrated= 94.2±41%, hypohydrated=115.9±73%; F 1,9 =1.9, p=0.2) or cramp EMG amplitude (euhydrated=0.18±0.06 µV, hypohydrated= 0.18±0.09 µV; F 1,9 =0.1, p=0.79). Conclusions Significant and serious hypohydration with moderate electrolyte losses does not alter cramp susceptibility when fatigue and exercise intensity are controlled. Neuromuscular control may be more important in the onset of muscle cramps than dehydration or electrolyte losses.

Based on over 50,000 parental descriptors of children gathered in eight different countries, we used a combination of focus group sorting of descriptors in each country and factor analyses of instruments developed in four of the countries (United States, China, Greece, and the Netherlands) to describe children ages 3 to 12 years to select items for an instrument that would work well across countries to access personality. Through many factor analyses of indigenous items in each country, a core set of 141 items was used in three of the countries, with over 3000 parents responding to our instruments in China, Greece, and the United States. Much cross-comparative research analysis has resulted in 15 robust midlevel scales that describe the structures of parental descriptors that are common to the three countries. The data on the English (U.S.) sample are presented in detail. Links to temperament and behavior problems are presented and discussed.

While the systemic metaphor used in much current family research requires examination of the interrelationships among individuals, relationships, and the family as a whole, work on triadic relationships has generally been missing. This research examined the presence of second-order effects in marital interaction: changes in interactions between spouses when the husband-wife dyad became a parent-parent-child triad. Results indicated the presence of consistent context effects. Parental behavior when alone was not a good predictor of parental behavior in the presence of a child: behaviors occurred at significantly lower levels in parental dyads than in parent-parent-child triads, and correlations across the two contexts were less than consistent. Results are discussed in light of their implications for observations of families.

Sibling differential experience of the family environment has recently come to the forefront of both the family and the developmental literatures. One hypothesized determinant of such treatment is marital conflict. The present report used structural family therapy as a theoretical framework to examine the relation between marital conflict and differential treatment of siblings in a sample of married couples with preschool and elementary-school children. The results did find a significant, though modest, relation between marital conflict and differential treatment, suggesting that positive marital communication in an environment of mutual respect serves to lower the rate of differential treatment of siblings within the family.

Concepts such as "agreement," "consensus," "understanding," and "shared meaning" are very familiar to clinicians. It is argued in this article that similarity in perceptions between spouses is a crucial dimension of the family system underlying these concepts. Findings are presented that support the idea that families vary along a dimension of similarity of perceptions, with more functional families characterized by high similarity between spouses' perceptions of their marriage and their family. In addition, the structure of this similarity was stable over 2 years and little change occurred in the mean level of similarity. Of three sets of predictor variables--psychological stress, marital cohesion, and structural variables--marital cohesion was the most powerful predictor of marital similarity. The importance of similarity of perceptions between family members in clinical work is discussed.