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Although self-report questionnaires assessing family relationships are plentiful, all were developed from the perspective of the theorist or researcher.There is no instrument that has as its basis ...

The main objectives of this multimethod exploratory study were to compare parent and college student perceptions of communication patterns, financial/emotional support, family environment, and achieved adulthood during the transition to adulthood while in college. First, focus groups including eight parent figures and 16 students were conducted to provide feedback on important topics as well as on survey instruments. Survey responses from 152 parent figures and their college-age children were then used for the exploratory survey study. Parents reported providing more financial support, more positive family interactions, and less negative family interactions compared to their college-age children. The majority of students as well as parents did not view themselves and their children as having fully completed the transition to adulthood as indicated by the majority using the “in-between” response when asked if their child (or student himself or herself) had reached adulthood.

BACKGROUND With the increasing integration of technology into society, it is advisable that researchers explore the effects of repeated digital media exposure on our most vulnerable population—infants. Excessive screen time during infancy has been linked to delays in language, literacy, and self-regulation. OBJECTIVE This study explores the awareness of and adherence to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) recommendations related to avoiding screen time for infants younger than 2 years and the motivational factors associated with screen time exposure. METHODS A mixed methods survey design was used to gather responses from 178 mothers of infants younger than 2 years. The measures included infant screen time use and duration, maternal awareness of screen time use recommendations, and motivations related to screen time exposure. A variety of statistical procedures were used to explore associations between caregiver awareness of and adherence to AAP guidelines for screen time exposure, motivations related to screen time for infants, and the duration of infant screen time exposure. RESULTS The results indicated that 62.2% (111/178) of mothers were aware of the AAP screen time recommendations, but only 46.1% (82/178) could cite them accurately, and most mothers learned of them via the internet or from a medical professional. Mothers who were aware of the guidelines allowed significantly less screen time for infants than those who were unaware (P=.03). In addition, parents who adhered to the AAP guidelines reported significantly less infant screen time per day than those who did not adhere (PP=.048). The regression analysis indicated that none of the parental motivation factors predicted daily infant screen time. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate 2 key approaches to improving adherence to screen time recommendations. First, the awareness of the AAP recommendations needs to be increased, which tends to improve adherence. Second, the myth that screen time can be educational for infants needs to be dispelled.

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。.

This study examined the associations among personality, identity style, and fundamentalism. The initial sample included 808 students from 2 state universities (in the upper Midwest and Southeast United States). Of those students, 440 students self-identified as Protestant and were included. Testing mediation effects of identity styles on the relationship between personality and fundamentalism revealed only moderate direct effects between personality and fundamentalism, but 4 distinct patterns of indirect effects supporting the process-oriented model proposed by Duriez and colleagues. Results are discussed in terms of similarities and differences with other studies, with implications for future research outlined.

The literature on Protestant fundamentalism is characterised by instruments that are unidimensional, largely assessing Christian orthodoxy, and use inconsistent conceptual definitions. The present study presents an effort to develop and test an instrument using Ammerman’s definition of North American Protestant fundamentalism as a multidimensional construct that includes four components: inerrancy of scripture, evangelism, premillenialism, and separatism. This model was confirmed statistically, and clear evidence of reliability and both convergent and divergent validity is presented. Relationships with other variables, while clearly showing overlap in anticipated directions, also show enough non-shared variance to justify continuing to view fundamentalism as a separate construct.

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.

Childhood personality is a rapidly growing area of investigation within individual differences research. One understudied topic is the universality of the hierarchical structure of childhood personality. In the present investigation, parents rated the personality characteristics of 3,751 children from 5 countries and 4 age groups. The hierarchical structure of childhood personality was examined for 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-factor models across country (Canada, China, Greece, Russia, and the United States) and age group (3-5, 6-8, 9-11, and 12-14 years of age). Many similarities were noted across both country and age. The Five-Factor Model was salient beginning in early childhood (ages 3-5). Deviations across groups and from adult findings are noted, including the prominent role of antagonism in childhood personality and the high covariation between Conscientiousness and intellect. Future directions, including the need for more explicit attempts to merge temperament and personality models, are discussed.

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.

While there is a general consensus that temperament forms the enduring, biologically based foundation of personality and that this biological basis should imply some continuity within the individual across time, there is a limited literature exploring linkages between these areas. The purpose of this article was to provide an initial assessment of the relation between a two-factor model of temperament in early/middle childhood and the five-factor model of personality in late adolescence/young adulthood. Data were gathered from 115 children who had participated in a longitudinal study of early/middle childhood and who provided follow-up data 15 years later. Significant linkages were found between the two time periods. At the facet level, temperament in early and middle childhood accounted for an average of 32% of the variance in personality in late adolescence/early young adulthood. At the domain level, temperament accounted for an average of 34% of the variance.

This article explores several research design and analysis strategies for examining family resilience, and presents a strategy argued to reflect the process-oriented nature of this construct. We advocate a quantitative, longitudinal strategy, sensitive to both the context of a family and the unique stressor being examined. Our strategy was tested with longitudinal data, assessing transitions relating to the birth of a first child. Challenges connected with this model are presented, as well as clinical implications and directions for future research. Identifying differing resilience trajectories which families exhibit in response to stress may aid in identifying factors instrumental in shaping those trajectories.

Previous research findings on similarity between parents on child-rearing orientations have been questioned as more recent research has found fairly high stereotype effects between spouses. The present report addressed issues of level and consistency of similarity over time, using data from the first 4 years of a 5-year study of 136 families and their preschool children. Parental similarity was assessed using the Block Child-rearing Practices Report (CRPR). Standard estimates of similarity as well as estimates of a dyadic-level similarity score, with stereotype effects removed, were obtained. While correlations across time were positive and significant for both scores, the dyadic score was significantly lower than the unadjusted score at all time points. Results indicated that earlier significant findings, between similarity and marital relations, family relations and child outcomes, were caused almost completely by stereotype effects.

The relation between marital andfamilial relationships and children's performance and behavior in school was examined in a sample of 143families with children in early or middle childhood. Correlational analyses indicated a complex set of relations dependent on the gender of the child, the relationship being assessed, the means of assessment, and the type of outcome measure used. Results are discussed in terms of implications for researchers and clinicians.

Programs in family science have typically been housed in interdisciplinary departments combining the study of family relationships and the study of human development. While this model fits well with the academic and applied goals of the field, it makes these programs less easy to categorize than those that follow more traditional disciplinary lines. For individuals looking to document departmental performance, then, what sources of data are available? This paper will review the sources available for documenting performance and success in family science programs, with consideration given to their strengths and weaknesses as well as to how well family science as a discipline is represented in them.

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.

The notion that some families are able to function well, and even thrive, in the face of considerable stress has been the subject of considerable theoretical discussion as well as empirical study (Baldwin, Baldwin, & Cole, 1990; McCubbin, 1995; Walsh, 2006). Although the construct of family resilience holds much promise, there has not been universal agreement on how to conceptualize or assess this intriguing area of study. Previously, we explored conceptual and definitional issues relating to the notion of family resilience, paying particular attention to the idea that family resilience represents adaptive paths that a family exhibits both in the present and over time (Hawley & DeHaan, 1996). Such a process-focused approach necessitates a methodological framework to match these conceptual ideas. In this chapter we examine research design and analysis strategies, focusing on quantitative methods for measuring pathways of family resilience. We then examine the efficacy of our proposed method, with a sample test case of parents coping with the normative stressor of the birth of their first child. We believe that this proposed method, identifying differing trajectories of resilience, may play an important role in discovering factors instrumental in shaping adaptive pathways for families and may assist clinicians in both their research and practice. Our method is argued to align more closely with how family resilience is used clinically, that is, as a process, rather than as a trait.

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.

As the family field becomes increasingly diverse, presentation of research findings becomes even more critical. In many instances the presentation of quantitative research on the family, albeit unwittingly, suffers from a tendency to interpret findings on a statistical rather than a substantive basis, to use summary statistics that are potentially misleading indicators of the diversity of responses, and to rely on probability level as an indicator of the importance of a result. As an alternative, we advocate the use of data analysis that lends itself to an intuitive understanding of the nature of the findings, the strength of the association, and the import of the result. The past decade has clearly been a fruitful one for the study of the family, as evidenced by the growing amount of attention the family has received from both within and outside the traditional venues. Long the domain of sociologists, interdisciplinarians (i.e., family scientists, family developmentalists), and family therapists, the 1980s and 1990s saw the family field broached by child developmentalists (see the 1985 special issue of Child Development), behaviorists (Blechman, 1990), clinical psychologists (Jacob, 1987), cognitive psychologists (Fincham & Bradbury, 1990), and many others. From all quarters comes the application of a variety of new and innovative methodologies to the study of the family. Because of the increased cross-field involvement in family research, we believe it is time for a critical look at how quantitative research on the family is presented to a diverse audience with differing levels of familiarity with the theoretical and methodological innovations taking place. The future of the field lies in interdisciplinary collaboration, and researchers should foster this goal by presenting results in such a way that findings are readily interpretable and meaningful to all readers. In addition, social science research generally is likely to undergo more careful scrutiny in the future as competition for resources becomes more intense. Researchers increasingly will need to demonstrate that their research has widespread practical applications that merit public funds. Thus, researchers must look for ways to present results that lend themselves to a clear, intuitive understanding by readers unfamiliar with the discipline, and provide a clear indication of the meaningfulness and utility of the findings. The issue of representing meaningfulness in results has a history in the clinical literature. Jacobson and Traux (1991) discussed what is meaningful in terms of significant change or improvement in clinical status, and claimed that researchers often equate statistical significance with clinical significance. These authors stated that conclusions about the beneficial effects of therapy "are simply not warranted on the basis of either the existence or the size of statistical effects. In contrast to criteria based on statistical significance, judgments regarding clinical significance are based on external standards" (p. 12). They further stated that although there is little consensus regarding what these standards might be, a number of criteria have be suggested, including a high percentage of clients improving, a level of change recognizable to peers or others in the community, and reaching normative levels of functioning. The purpose of this article is to reintroduce into scientific studies of the family the idea of presenting and interpreting findings in a more substantive manner than reliance on statistical significance alone will allow. We aim to remind researchers of the importance of the following: first, avoiding equating probability level or statistical significance with substantive significance or meaningfulness; second, avoiding discussions of purely statistical findings, such as e size of a correlation or the presence of a statistically significant mean difference; and third, considering carefully the appropriateness of summary statistics as descriptions of the populations in question. …

The issue of unit of analysis has been a critical one in the study of the family for a number of years. The recognition that responses and perspectives of husbands and wives are not always the same (Bernard, 1972; Safilios-Rothschild, 1969) has had a serious impact on family methodology. Many researchers began to deal with the task of gathering data from both husbands and wives, then attempting to integrate these reports into some assessment of the marital relationship. The issue became even more problematic when a family assessment was sought--that is, when data from more than two family members were collected. While a number of means for representing such relationships have been suggested (see, e.g., Fisher, Kokes, Ransom, Phillips, & Rudd, 1985; Klein, 1982; Olson, McCubbin, Barnes, Larsen, Muxen, & Wilson, 1983; Thompson & Walker, 1982; White & Brinkerhoff, 1977), they generally fall into two groups that reflect an underlying belief either in the convergence of family members' reports or in their divergence. Proponents of a divergence perspective propose that the reality of the family may be found in the disparate, or nonoverlapping, reports of its members. This perspective is perhaps best seen in Larson and Olson's 1990) citation of the parable of the six wise men of Indostan who, although blind, "set out to see the elephant" (p. 18) Having arrived at the elephant, each encounters a different part--one a leg, one the trunk, another a side--and each believes that he has "seen" the reality of the elephant. The point is that each has seen only a portion of the elephant; the reality of the beast is revealed only when the separate perceptions of each are combine. When this view is applied to the family, the argument is made that each family member can only see a portion of the "beast" that is the family; only in combining the unique perceptions of family members does the reality of the family emerge. Proponents of a convergence perspective take the opposite approach, namely that the reality of the family lies in what its members hold in common. Researchers with this orientation often invoke the sociology of knowledge perspective that knowledge and reality are that which are held in common in society (Berger & Luckman, 1967). This perspective runs through the work of Berger and Kellner (1964), who argue that the process of marriage changes the individual realities of husband and wife, resulting in a joint reality that is held in common by the pair. Similarly, this perspective is seen in the work of Minuchin and Fishman (1981), who emphasize the need for husband and wife to produce a common value system out of the individual value systems that each brings to the relationship. Finally, this perspective has been applied to the family by Reiss (1974), who grouped families according to the view that each had of their external environment, a view that was found to be held in common by all family members. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES USED As mentioned previously, a multitude of methodological techniques have been used to integrate data collected from multiple family members. The reviews cited above attest to this, as well as to the great amount of dissatisfaction attached to many, if not most, of these methods. Another method has been advanced as a possible means for dealing with this multiple informant problem, a method that has the ability to address both divergent and convergent perceptions. Beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s, structural equation modeling began to become prominent in the family literature. Initially using the LISREL program, researchers were able to go beyond regression-based path analysis to study both measurement and structural models. The simultaneous estimation of these parameters increased the ability of researchers to formulate quasi-causal structures, as well as to explore in more detail the impact of measurement error on substantive findings. …

This study examined the relationship between children's locus of control and their perceptions of their fathers' and mothers' socialization practices in intact, rural families in Brazil, the Philippines, and the United States. Results showed that Brazilian children scored significantly higher in locus of control, followed by Filipino and American children, respectively. Significant differences were found in locus of control scores between younger and older children in the three samples. Moreover, American and Filipino children's perceptions of their parents' socialization practices were significantly correlated with their locus of control scores. Only one significant relationship was found between Brazilian children's locus of control scores and their parents' socialization practices. The cultural implications of these findings are discussed.

Data concerning dating violence were collected from 410 university and college students. Descriptive information on the rate and type of such violence was examined along with information on the gender of individuals involved. The relative contributions of five sets of factors to the occurrence of dating violence were investigated: past experiences with violence, attitudes, personality factors, the nature of the relationship, and socioeconomic status. The results indicate that 47 percent of the respondents had some experience with violence in a dating relationship. The majority of these experiences were reciprocal in nature with both partners violent at some time. When the violence was not reciprocal, males were three times as likely to report victim-only experiences than were females. Multiple regression analysis showed violent experiences in previous relationships to be the main predictor of violent experiences in current relationships.