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Property structures, demographic patterns and political vicissitudes encouraged testators in the Visigothic kingdom to follow a wide range of testation strategies to bequeath their property. Testation law offered the propertied classes various possibilities for finetuning bequests to secure their economic strategies and class reproduction in the long run. Yet in the mid-seventh century, King Chindaswinth introduced new inheritance laws that limited the power of testation for those who had descendants. While Chindaswinth's law was intended to secure military service, it collided with the landowning classes' economic strategies for patrimony reproduction. The law created a new discussion over inheritance practices, which eventually led to a reform in the late seventh century to restore much, though not all, of the propertied classes' testation powers. This article therefore provides a view of the law "from the ground up" that considers class interests and their collusion and collision with state demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Iberian Passio Mantii is a rare case of a late antique martyrdom account in which the protagonist, Mantius, is described as the Christian slave of Jewish owners who persecute him to death for not converting to Judaism. This unusual hagiographical text chimes with extensive legislation produced in Visigothic Iberia on the very question of Jewish ownership of Christian slaves. Placing these sources together and exploring their theological background allows us first to understand better the changes Visigothic legislators made to a long legal tradition of prohibiting both the conversion and ownership of Christian slaves by Jews. But it also allows us to go beyond the assumption that the sources reflect an active social practice and ask whether interest in Jews exercising power over Christians was part of the development of a discourse of Jewish danger that was itself fundamental to the elaboration of more clearly defined religious identities in the seventh century.

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Visigothic laws on who was allowed to testify in judicial trials followed Roman models, including restrictions based on birth and social reputation, and the loss of the right to testify as a result of infamia. This article argues that, far from simply reproducing Roman court practice, Visigothic legislation on the right to bear witness served two purposes. First, the microeconomy of witness selection and the forfeiture of the right to testify in court gave the monarchy a powerful tool to sanction otherwise elusive parameters of social standing. This in turn facilitated the administration of justice in a society that had abandoned late Roman rank–based hierarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study will analyse the different typologies of usufruct and use included in the regulation of Visigothic Law and in particular with a view to the main legal bodies of the Goths. In them, we observe an evolution from the common point represented by Classic Roman Law until the Legislative texts of the Goths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the study of secular sanction clauses in the charters from early medieval León. It considers the implications they have for our understanding of how sales were conceptualized, setting its study against the background of current debates on early medieval land markets. It explores the different contexts in which sanction clauses were used and contrasts this with the use of sanctions more generally. Lastly, the article considers one particular aspect of secular sanctions, who is held responsible for the payment of the penalties they prescribe. It demonstrates that in the case of sales the responsibility usually fell on the part of the seller/s. Ultimately, it is argued that beyond diplomatic practice secular sanctions can be interpreted as a reflection of the actual obligations in which a seller – or a group of sellers – incurred as a result of a sale. Abbreviations:Ast = Gregoria Cavero Domínguez and Encarnación Martín López,Colección documental de la catedral de Astorga(León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 1999); Canellas = Ángel Canellas López,Diplomática hispano-visigoda(Zaragoza: Institución Fernando el Católico, 1979); Castañeda = Ángel Rodríguez González,El tumbo del monasterio de San Martín de Castañeda(León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 1973); Eslonza = José Manuel Ruiz Asencio and Irene Ruiz Albi,Colección documental del Monasterio de San Pedro de Eslonza. Vol. I (912–1300)(León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 2007); FdL = Gonzalo Martínez Díez, "La tradición manuscrita del fuero de León y del concilio de Coyanza", inEl Reino de León en la Alta Edad Media II(León Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 1992), pp. 117–188; Li = Emilio Sáez,Colección documental del archivo de la Catedral de León (775–1230). Vol. I (775–952)(León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 1987); Lii = Emilio Sáez and Carlos Sáez,Colección documental del archivo de la Catedral de León (775–1230). Vol. II (935–985)(León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 1987); Liii = José Manuel Ruiz Asencio,Colección documental del archivo de la Catedral de León (775–1230). Vol. III (986–1031)(León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 1987); Liv = José Manuel Ruiz Asencio,Colección documental del archivo de la Catedral de León (775–1230). Vol. IV (1032–1109)(León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 1987); LV =Leges Visigothorum, ed. Karl Zeumer,MGH Leges nationum Germanicarum, section I.1(Hanover, 1902); OD = José Antonio Fernández Flórez and Marta Herrero de la Fuente,Colección documental del monasterio de Santa María de Otero de las Dueñas. Vol. I (854–1108)(León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 1999); Si = José M.ª Mínguez,Colección Diplomática del Monasterio de Sahagún (siglos IX y XI)(León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 1976); Sii = Marta Herrero de la Fuente,Colección Diplomática del Monasterio de Sahagún (857–1230). Vol. II (1000–1073)(León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 1988); Toribio = Luis Sánchez Belda,Cartulario de Santo Toribio de Liébana(Madrid: Patronato Nacional de Archivos Históricos, 1948). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the application of law between the 6th and the 12th centuries and seeks to determine the extent to which Roman Law was applied among the Goths and the extent of the survival of traditional customary law. It also looks at the causes of provincialisation of law, especially following the disappearance of the Roman imperial chancery and the consequent coming to the fore of local centres of law, followed still later by the Germanic monarchs, who were to become virtually autonomous sources for the creation and interpretation of the law. In the case of the Liber Iudiciorum, despite the disappearance of the Visigothic monarchy and the loss of any means of bringing those laws up to date, it still continued to serve as a benchmark. The paper examines various examples relating to taxation or to the law contained in municipal codes.

For decades, historians have pointed to the survival of Visigothic Law in the centuries immediately following the Muslim conquest. Various references from the Astur-Leonés documentation in the Liber Iudicum appear to confirm such continued use of Visigothic law. With that in mind, this paper highlights the existence of other legal practices that do not strictly conform to the Gothic tradition contained in the Liber; some are arguably evolved forms—significant in themselves—of these usages, but others are to some extent innovative. Thus, rather than looking to some putatively remote Roman or Germanic origins for these elements, the paper stresses what one might define as a process of transformation and partial substitution of legal culture, presumably related to various changes that were already taking place in the late Visigothic period.

Professor Alvaro d'Ors among many other things dealt with the question of Visighotic Law adopting a territorialist thesis in front of the personalism of the Germanists. The author of this essay considers that the theses of d'Ors (follower in part of the ones of García Gallo) have not been surpassed by its critics and it endorses it with the revision of texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the ways in which different political conflicts surrounding the emergence, independence, and consolidation of Castile as a political agent are managed and solved in thePoema de Fernán González.It shows how internal conflicts within the Castilian community are settled by favoring an authoritarian vision of leadership, discouraging consensus and shared decision making. Regarding conflicts with other political domains, the poem legitimizes Castilian independence by means of a narrative that makes natural Castilian claims on Visigothic heritage, while at the same time presenting Castile as following legal procedures and as a victim of external aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jacobean devotion and national awareness are closely related in thePoema de Fernán González (PFG).The great advance of the Reconquest in the thirteenth century and the reevaluation of the past that it caused enabled the broad Hispanic perspective of thePFG. Spain is not only a distant and longed-for reality (“regnum Gothorum”) but a current political concept. This is the frame of thePFG'sintense Castilian sentiment. Castile is the bastion of the Visigothic monarchy, which did not yield to the Muslims and was the foundation for the recovery of Spain.The territorial diversity becomes the outstanding feature of this country, in which the “Montaña” takes an important role. Confronting the proposal of the cult of Saint Millán by the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla, the author of thePFG, aware of the damages that such a cult was causing to his monastery, clings to the Jacobean devotion that achieved a broad Hispanic scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child completes the raft of international mechanisms for ensuring children's rights. However, it also raises unique problems particular to children as rights' holders and putative rights' enforcers. For example, children may not know of their rights, they may lack the necessary capacity to initiate enforcement actions and they may encounter problems should they perceive their rights as being contrary to parental wishes. Overcoming such problems is fraught with challenges but not impossible. Strong national mechanisms present a partial solution. Long advocated, they offer possibilities for awareness-raising, neutral representation of the child's interest before courts, committees and tribunals and ensuring a balance is sought, even achieved, between the rights of the child and those of the parents and State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Comment discusses the limitations of state agencies such as child protection in managing long-term risk issues in isolated families in need of strong support systems. It concludes with a suggestion that is in line with the national framework on child protection: namely, that community members and community level support services working in tandem with child protection might be better positioned to effectively assist with the onerous task of child protection -- especially where the state and parent(s) are unable to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of the book "Ensayo histórico-crítico sobre la legislación de Navarra" by 19th-century author José María de Zuaznávar y Francia, focusing on the history of the Kingdom of Navarre, which was conquered in 1512 by the Crown of Castile, now present day Spain. Two editions of the text are discussed, the first one published in 1820-1821 and the second one in 1827-1829. Subjects include the monarchy as a political regime, the origin of civil societies from the perspective of the natural law, and the Visigothic political constitution in Spain.

The article presents an analysis of the work of Spanish legal historian Alfonso García-Gallo on the Visigothic law, with a focus on the main hypothesis about the role of this law in the distribution of land between Goths and Romans. Historical sources discussed include paragraphs of Gallo-Roman bishop Sidonio Apolinar, the "Lex romana wisigothorum" of King of the Visigoths Alaric II, and the law of the King of the Visigoths in Hispania Theudis. Subjects discussed include the works of the legal historians Karl Zeumer, Manuel Torres López, and Ferdinand Lot on the history of the Visigothic law.

Adverse outcomes of teenage sexual activity are common in the United Kingdom. The authors used a computer-assisted interview to ask young adolescents aged 11 to 12 years (N = 6,856) and 12 to 13 years (N = 6,801) who were part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children about romantic and intimate behaviors. A total of 24% of 11- to 12-year-olds, and 41% of 12- to 13-year-olds reported holding hands, and 17% and 32%, respectively, reported having been kissed on the mouth. A minority of 12- to 13-year-olds reported sexual behavior including intercourse. The majority of participants who reported intimate sexual behavior did not regret it. Boys reported all activities more than girls and were less likely to express regret. The findings suggest that the timing and content of sex education should take into account the frequency with which young people are experimenting with sexual behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explores how young Ugandans perceive and experience the role of parents in preventing the spread of HIV among youths. Data were gathered from semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 16 in-school youths, ages 18-20, residing in Kampala. A key finding is that the youths perceived parenting styles as influencing HIV prevention among youths. The participants identified several harmful consequences from a lack of parental guidance or inadequate parenting and they discussed the gains of parental support in terms of assisting HIV prevention among youths. The participants expressed the idea that parents can importantly contribute to preventing the spread of HIV among youths by supporting their own adolescent children and discussing topics like sex, relationships, and HIV in an age-appropriate way. However, the participants also felt that Ugandan parents in general are unable to support and talk to youths about sex and HIV in a way that helps protect them from exposure to HIV. The in-school youths felt that parents are unsupportive in terms of HIV prevention among youths by way of fear of talking about sex, parents' lack of time to engage with their children, and authoritarian or indulgent parenting. The participants also described how parents treat girls and boys differently; however, no significant association was found between how girls and boys conceptualised parents' roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractPatient perspectives represent an increasingly important focus in clinical trials of medical treatments for pediatric mental health conditions. This paper describes the development and initial testing of a short, easy to complete, condition specific, measure of patients' and their parents' attitudes regarding drugs used for the treatment of their attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)—the Southampton ADHD Medication Behaviour and Attitudesscale. On the basis of an initial qualitative study and pilot data, subscales were constructed for both the child and parent versions covering perceived costs and benefits of treatment, patient stigma, and resistance to treatment. The parent version had additional subscales for parental stigma, treatment inconsistency, and flexibility. Factor and reliability analysis of data from 356 parents and 123 of their children supported the distinction between these subscale domains. Children were aged between 5 and 18 years (mean age 10.95 years). Parent and child scores were correlated, although as in previous research parents rated ADHD medications as having more benefits and children rated them as having more costs. The Southampton ADHD Medication Behaviour and Attitudesscale represents a useful addition to the growing portfolio of patient-reported outcomes for ADHD treatments. Future research should focus on the scales value in predicting treatment adherence as it impacts on medication effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractObjective:This article reviews rational approaches to treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in preschool children, including pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.Data Sources:We searched MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health, Educational Resources Information Center, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects for relevant literature published in English from 1967 to 2007 on preschool ADHD. We also reviewed the references cited in identified reports.Study Selection:Studies were reviewed if the sample included at least some children younger than 6 years of age or attending kindergarten, the study participants had a diagnosis of ADHD or equivalent symptoms, received intervention aimed at ADHD symptoms, and included a relevant outcome measure.Data Extraction:Studies were reviewed for type of intervention and outcome relevant to ADHD and were rated for the level of evidence for adequacy of the data to inform clinical practice.Conclusions:The current level of evidence for adequacy of empirical data to inform clinical practice for short-term treatment of ADHD in preschool children is Level A for methylphenidate and Level B for parent behavior training, child training, and additive-free elimination diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper - part reflection, part confession - emerges from a researcher/teacher's experience of assigning to students some of his own published work as course reading. Reflecting on the approaches taken by students when writing their responses to weekly readings, the researcher-as-teacher takes satisfaction in the students' capacity to employ the assigned texts either to make sense of their own pasts or to use their personal biographies as a lens through which to view the readings. For the teacher-as-researcher, however, these responses prove more uncomfortable when the voices of students (as highly qualified informants) reveal a great deal of pain that was absent from the generally upbeat research paper they were assigned to read. From the intersection of research and teaching comes a more nuanced understanding of parents' roles in their children's schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mothers who participate in genetic testing for hereditary breastovarian cancer risk must decide if, when, and how to ultimately share their BRCA1and BRCA2(BRCA12) test results with their minor-age children. One of the primary aides for mothers in making this decision is cancer genetic counseling. However, counseling is limited in how well it can educate mothers about such decisions without the availability of resources that are specific to family communication and genetic testing per se. In an effort to fill this gap and identify mothers most likely to benefit from such resources, surveys were conducted with 187 mothers undergoing BRCA12testing who had children 8–21 years old. Data were collected weeks after genetic testing but prior to mothers'' learning of their test results; quantitative assessments of informational resource needs (i.e., speaking with previous BRCA12testing participants who are parents regarding their experiences, reading educational literature about options and what to expect, speaking with a family counselor, attending a family support group, and self-nominated other resources), testing motivations, decision making vigilance, and decisional conflict regarding communicating test results to children were included. Mothers'' most-to-least frequently cited information resource needs were literature (93.4), family counseling (85.8), prior participants (79.0), support groups (53.9), and other (28.9; e.g., pediatricians and psychologists). Seventy-eight percent of mothers were interested in accessing three or more resources. In multivariate regression analyses, testing motivations (β 0.35, p 0.03), decision-making vigilance (β 0.16, p 0.00), and decisional conflict (β 0.10, p 0.00) were associated with mothers'' need level; mothers with a greater interest in testing to learn about their children''s risks, those with more vigilant decision-making styles, and those with higher decisional conflict had the greatest need. In conjunction with enhanced genetic counseling focusing on family disclosure, educational literature, and psychosocial support may promote improved outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article approaches the processes happened in Peninsular Northwest since the VIII th century, marked by the collapse of the visigothic kingdom, up to the X th century, marked by the implantation of the feudal system. During these centuries we are present at the emergence of a new Christian kingdom, the Astur kingdom. The key of the article is this kingdom, by the reason that here is collect your beginning, expansion and organisation of the first centuries of your existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we compare the distribution of parental educational styles and the scores reported both by parents and students for various family characteristics (acceptance, control, involvement, and expectations) and socio-demographic factors (socio-economic status, family structure, number of children, and order of birth of the children) in a group of adolescents with normal achievement (n?=?105) and in a group which present low achievement (n?=?205). Likewise, we examine which variables best predict academic achievement in the two groups and of adolescents. The results indicate differences in the distribution of parental styles in the two groups for the majority of the variables analysed. We also observed a differential pattern in the prediction of academic success. In the group of adolescents with normal academic achievement, socio-demographic variables better predict achievement; for students with low achievement, family variables play a more important role in predicting achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author assesses the Germanic cultural elements in Visigothic law. In evaluating such elements, the author considered the feasibility of the survival of Germanic ethnic and legal institutions in the seventh century, taking into consideration the presence of the personal retainer of the Gothic royal court, the Gothic commander, and the Gothic court official. The author mentions that it would be observed in "Liber Judicum," the final book of Visigothic law, that a legal system had developed.

Study objective: To describe gender specific suicide rates associated with partner's psychiatric disorder, loss of a spouse, or child by suicide or other causes, being a parent, and marital status. Design: Nested case-control study. Information on causes of death, psychiatric admission, marital status, children, and socioeconomic factors was obtained from routine registers. Selling: Denmark. Participants: 9011 people aged 25-60 years who committed suicide; 180 220 age-gender matched controls; 111 172 marital partners; 174 672 children. Main results: The suicide risk in women whose partner had been first admitted with a psychiatric disorder after 31 December two years earlier was 6.9 (95% CI 3.6 to 13.0), whereas their male counterpart experienced a risk of 3.9 (2.7 to 5.6); p value gender difference = 0.39. Men who had lost their partner by suicide or other causes of death experienced a suicide risk of 46.2 (18.3 to 116.4) and 10.1 (6.5 to 15.8), respectively; the analogous risk among women were about one third: 15.8 (6.6 to 37.4) and 3.3 (1.5 to 7.2), respectively. Child bereavement by suicide or other causes imposed an approximate twofold risk increase in their parents, whereas being a parent was protective in women. Except for widows (1 .6, 1.2 to 2.0) and widowers (3.0, 2.3 to 3.9) the suicide risk associated with being separated (2.0, 1.8 to 2.3), divorced (1.8, 1.7 to 2.0), never married (1.4, 1.3 to 1.6), cohabitant (1.2, 1.1 to 1.3) was virtually the same in the two sexes. Conclusions: The suicide risk is associated with partner psychiatric illness. Conjugal bereavement is particularly indicative of suicide in men, and spousal suicide is particularly indicative of suicide. Child bereavement is associated with parental suicide, while being a parent is protective against suicide in women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1997, the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) was passed with a primary goal of expediting the process of placing foster children with permanent or adoptive families. In order to meet this goal, ASFA requires states to terminate parental rights if a child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months. Prior empirical research on foster care dependence supports the provision in ASFA to expedite the discharge process because over time children are progressively less likely to be discharged from foster care. However, very little research has examined what impact terminating parental rights will have on this goal. One of the first steps is to examine which children are most likely to see the rights of their parents terminated and how these children differ from those children who are returned home. Using a competing risks hazard model we find many differences between the children who are sent home and those children whose parents have their rights terminated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Robey, Cohen, and Epstein (1988), children may hold a naïve theory of affection, whereby they believe that their parents' affection for them is a finite resource for which they must compete against their siblings. Parents, conversely, are unlikely to view their own affection in the same way. Although research on naïve theories is often conducted with youngsters, we speculated that even adult children may perceive that they compete with their siblings for their parents' affection, and we tested the naïve theory of affection in a study of 115 dyads of adult men and their adult sons. As hypothesized, the sons' numbers of brothers and sisters were associated inversely with sons' reports of how much affection they received from their fathers but were unrelated to fathers' reports. Fathers' and sons' reports of fathers' affection were also linearly related to each other, but fathers reported being more affectionate with their sons than their sons reported them being. Results suggest that naïve theorizing about parental affection is not limited to young children but continues to affect familial experience in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE:: To investigate the effects of chronic stress on weight changes and related behavioral changes in parents with a child who had just been diagnosed with cancer compared to parents with healthy children. DESIGN:: Longitudinal case-control study with assessments occurring over a three-month period following the child's diagnosis of cancer. SUBJECTS:: In total, 49 parents of healthy children and 49 parents of cancer patients aged 19-58?y. MEASUREMENTS:: Body weight, diet, physical activity, self-reported mood and stress. RESULTS:: Parents of cancer patients were more likely to gain weight, and experienced significantly greater weight gain over the 3 months than parents of healthy children. The magnitude of weight gain was related to the degree of psychological distress that the parents experienced. Parents of cancer patients reported lower levels of physical activity and lower caloric intake than parents of healthy children, with the most marked differences between groups occurring in the area of physical activity. CONCLUSION:: Findings suggest that a major stressor, such as a child's diagnosis of cancer, is associated with weight gain. Further research is needed to determine how long these weight gains persist and whether other types of stress also produce weight gains. Such studies should focus not only on the effect of stress on eating behavior but also on physical activity.International Journal of Obesity (2005) 29, 244-250. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0802835 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children of an addictive parent generally suffer from negative repercussions and constitute "a population at risk," in need of special therapeutic intervention. This article explores the difficulties confronting these children and the group intervention for children aged 8-11, lasting 18 months as a therapeutic intervention to help them. The description includes the group intervention frame-work, the expressive and non-verbal techniques used, and the rationale as well as the theoretical basis for using these techniques. The unique contribution of this article lies in the demonstration of using expressive group therapy and particularly of non-verbal techniques with children of addicted parents, with abundant examples stemming from the topics dealt with by the group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Karen Calvert's book, Children in the House, deals with middle-class play, there is very little work devoted to children's toys and games in a working-class context. This paper uses the toy assemblages from two working-class sites to begin a discussion of working-class play and the struggle nineteenth-century working-class parents waged to impart their own values to their children. Because marbles were the predominant toy recovered from both sites, the nature of the game is discussed, and its relationship to working-class values is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to ascertain depressive symptoms in recently bereaved prepubertal children and compare these symptoms with those of depressed prepubertal children. Method: The subjects were 38 children who had recently experienced the death of one but not both of their parents. They had to meet strict inclusion criteria so that the effects of bereavement per se, rather than other significant stressors, could be assessed. The camparison group consisted of 38 hospitalized, depressed children individually matched to each bereaved subject for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. All of the children underwent systematic and comprehensive evaluation. They and their parents were independently evaluated by trained interviewers using the parent and child versions of the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents. Family histories and basic demographic information were also obtained. Results: The recently bereaved children endorsed many depressive symptoms. Thirty-seven percent of them met the DSM-Ill-R criteria for a major depressive episode. The depressed children, however, had more depressive symptoms on average than the bereaved children. The factors associated with increased depressive symptoms in the bereaved children were 1) the mother as the surviving parent, 2) preexisting untreated psychiatric disorder in the child, 3) family history of depression, and 4) high socioeconomic status. Conclusions: A considerable number of the bereaved children developed the clinical symptoms of a major depressive episode immediately after the death of a parent. The relation of these symptoms to the subsequent course of grief and to major depressive disorder remains unknown and should be studied further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students at a large university, a small, church-related college, and a theological seminary were surveyed for the purpose of identifying familial factors which might account for "hawkish" attitudes toward war, under the assumption that some parents, as socialization agents, transmit pro-war attitudes to the young. In general, the data intimated that pro-war students were more frequently from lower-class and rural origins; from families which held conservative values and stressed conformity in parent-child relationships; and thus apparently from families which have accepted more traditional solutions in problem-solving. The data supported both the theories of "status politics" and the "authoritarian personality." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of orphanhood among children has been greatly exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. If orphanhood harms a childs development and these effects perpetuate into adult life, then the African orphan crisis could seriously jeopardize the continents future generations. Whether or not there exists an adverse, causal and intergenerational effect of HIV/AIDS on development is of crucial importance for setting medical priorities. This study is the first to empirically investigate the impact of orphanhood on health and schooling using long-term longitudinal data following children into adulthood. Methods We examined a cohort of 718 children interviewed in the early 1990s and again in 2004. Detailed survey questionnaires and anthropometric measurements were administered at baseline and during a follow-up survey. Final attained height and education (at adulthood) between children who lost a parent before the age of 15 and those who did not were compared. Results On average, children who lose their mother before the age of 15 suffer a deficit of around 2 cm in final attained height (mean 1.96; 95% CI 0.06–3.77) and 1 year of final attained schooling (mean 1.01; 95% CI 0.39–1.81). This effect is permanent and the hypothesis that it is causal cannot be rejected by our study. Although fathers death is a predictor of lower height and schooling as well, we reject the hypothesis of a causal link. Conclusions The African orphan crisis, exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic will have important negative intergenerational effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supervised visitation programs allow parents who may be a risk to their children or to another parent to experience parent–child contact while in the presence of an appropriate third party. Use of a “neutral third party” to oversee such contact has long been recognized as essential in child maltreatment cases in which the child has been removed from the home. This paper presents the results of an exploratory study of the structural and functional characteristics of 47 supervised visitation programs in Florida. Findings indicated that programs are typically operated on small budgets, with the related challenges of limited hours of operation, delayed or denied services to families in need, small and/or unpaid staff, and inadequate security measures. Recommendations for stable and sufficient funding as well as statutory legitimization are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]