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The present study is interested in the role of the corpus callosum in the development of the language network. We, therefore, investigated language abilities and the language network using task-based fMRI in three cases of complete agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC), three cases of partial ACC and six controls. Although the children with complete ACC revealed impaired functions in specific language domains, no child with partial ACC showed a test score below average. As a group, ACC children performed significantly worse than healthy controls in verbal fluency and naming. Furthermore, whole-brain ROI-to-ROI connectivity analyses revealed reduced intrahemispheric and right intrahemispheric functional connectivity in ACC patients as compared to controls. In addition, stronger functional connectivity between left and right temporal areas was associated with better language abilities in the ACC group. In healthy controls, no association between language abilities and connectivity was found. Our results show that ACC is associated not only with less interhemispheric, but also with less right intrahemispheric language network connectivity in line with reduced verbal abilities. The present study, thus, supports the excitatory role of the corpus callosum in functional language network connectivity and language abilities.

Growing up in multicultural environments, Turkish-heritage individuals in Europe face specific challenges in combining their multiple cultural identities to form a coherent sense of self. Drawing from social identity complexity, this study explores four modes of combining cultural identities and their variation in relational contexts. Problem-centered interviews with Turkish-heritage young adults in Austria revealed the preference for complex, supranational labels, such as multicultural. Furthermore, most participants described varying modes of combining cultural identities over time and across relational contexts. Social exclusion experiences throughout adolescence related to perceived conflict of cultural identities, whereas multicultural peer groups supported perceived compatibility of cultural identities. Findings emphasize the need for complex, multidimensional approaches to study ethnic minorities’ combination of cultural identities.

Zusammenfassung In dieser Arbeit wurden Determinanten des Kontaktausmases von Kindern zum getrennt lebenden Vater sowie Zusammenhange zwischen dem Familienstatus (nicht-getrennte und getrennte Familien), der Beziehung zum Vater und Kriterien des kindlichen Wohlbefindens untersucht. Dazu wurden 254 Jugendliche im Alter von 15 bis 19 Jahren aus nicht-getrennt und getrennt lebenden Familien befragt. Vorgegeben wurde eine Adaptation des Inventars zur Erfassung der Lebensqualitat bei Kindern und Jugendlichen (Mattejat u. Remschmidt, 1998) und die Skala Emotionalitat aus dem FPI-R (Fahrenberg et al., 2000). Das Kontaktausmas zum Vater nach der Trennung stand vor allem mit dem zwischenelterlichen Konflikt- und Kontaktausmas wahrend und nach der Scheidung in Zusammenhang. Nicht relevant waren das kindliche Geschlecht und das Alter, der Partnerschaftsstatus der Mutter oder das Bildungsniveau des Vaters. Die Beziehung zum Vater stellte sich als bedeutsame Mediatorvariable der Unterschiede zwischen den getrennten un...

Longitudinal influences on the relationships between parents and their adolescent children in 175 Austrian families were analysed with data from three measurement points over a time span of 18 years. We investigated the influences of parental personality, marital conflict and adolescents' personality on the father–child and mother–child relationships separately. Inconsistent with previous theories and empirical findings, we found almost no associations between parental personality and parent–child relationships. Marital conflict was associated with only the father–child relationship. Children's personality showed the most consistent associations with the parent–child relationship. Our data support the theory of dynamic interactionism, which postulates an interdependency of personality factors and social relationships.

Father-Child-Contact and Well-being of the Children in Separated and Non-Separated Families This study investigated determinants of the contact between children and fathers after parental separation and the interplay of family status (non-separated vs. separated families), father-child relationship-quality and child's well-being. We compared 254 adolescents aged 15 to 19 years, from non-separated and separated families, by administering an adaptation of the "Inventory of Life Quality in Children and Adolescents" (Mattejat u. Remschmidt, 1998) and the scale emotionality of the FPI-R (Fahrenberg, Hampel, Selg, 2000). Contact between fathers and children after parental separation was mainly associated with parental conflict and contact during and after the separation. No significant associations were found with age and gender of the child, maternal remarriage or paternal education. The relationship to the father mediated the effects of family arrangement on different measures of child well-being. In separated families children with little contact to their fathers showed worse relationships to them compared to children in intact families. Good father-child relationships were positively associated with different measures of children's well-being. A central conclusion of this study is, that the father-child relationship is an important source for child's well-being.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden die Einschatzungen des kindlichen prosozialen Verhaltens mittels Fragebogen von Muttern, Vatern und Padagoginnen verglichen. Daruber hinaus wurde untersucht, inwieweit das mutterliche und vaterliche Partnerschafts- und Erziehungsverhalten mit dem kindlichen prosozialen Verhalten in Zusammenhang stehen. Insgesamt wurden jeweils 98 Mutter und Vater von Vorschulkindern (49 Madchen und 49 Buben) und deren Padagoginnen in die Untersuchung miteinbezogen. Mutter beurteilten ihre Kinder als prosozialer im Vergleich zu Vatern und Padagoginnen. Das Erziehungsverhalten beider Eltern stand mit dem prosozialen Verhalten der Kinder in Zusammenhang. Lediglich das Partnerschaftsverhalten des Vaters zeigte einen Zusammenhang mit dem kindlichen prosozialen Verhalten. Das Partnerschaftsverhalten des Vaters zeigte dabei, mediiert uber dessen Erziehungsverhalten, einen indirekten Effekt auf das kindliche prosoziale Verhalten. Implikationen fur die zukunftige Forschung und die praktische Bedeutung der Ergebnisse werden diskutiert.