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American Families (american + family)
Kinds of American Families Selected AbstractsAfrican American Therapists Working With African American Families: An Exploration of the Strengths Perspective in TreatmentJOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 3 2009LaVerne Bell-Tolliver With the exception of Hill's (1971, 1999) work, historically much of the literature on African American families has focused more on pathology than strengths. This study used interviews with 30 African American psychotherapists, self-identified as employing a strengths perspective with African American families, to investigate which strengths they identified in the families and how they use those strengths in therapy. Themes emerging from data analysis confirmed the continued importance of the five strengths Hill noted. In addition, two new strengths were identified by the participants: a willingness of a greater number of families to seek therapy, and the importance of family structure. Strategies used in engaging the families in therapy and practice implications for family therapists are discussed. [source] An Examination of Cross-Racial Comparability of Mother-Child Interaction Among African American and Anglo American FamiliesJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 3 2001Leanne Whiteside-Mansell This study examined the cross-racial comparability of maternal quality of assistance and supportive presence coded from a video protocol using data from the Infant Health and Development Program for low-birth-weight, premature 30-month-olds and their mothers. Evidence of equivalence of measures is necessary before comparisons can be made across groups. Multiple-group mean and covariance structures analysis was used to demonstrate the invariance of the measures and make comparisons for Anglo American and African American treatment and comparison groups of dyads. Comparisons across groups indicated similar variances and correlation between child and maternal behavior. Differences were found between the mean scores, with Anglo American treatment families scoring the highest. [source] Preferences, Knowledge, Communication and Patient-Physician Discussion of Living Kidney Transplantation in African American FamiliesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 6 2005L. Ebony Boulware It is unknown whether patient-physician discussion about live kidney transplantation (LT) among African Americans (AA) is affected by preferences, knowledge and family discussions regarding LT. We recruited 182 AA dialysis patients and their families and assessed the relation of preferences, knowledge and family discussions regarding LT to the occurrence of patient-physician discussion using multivariable logistic regression. Most patients (76%) desired a transplant, and most patients (93%), spouses (91%) and children (88%) had knowledge of LT. Nearly half of the families discussed transplantation. Only 68% of patients and less than half of their spouses (41%) and children (31%) had discussed transplantation with physicians. Patient-physician discussion was more common among patients: whose spouses acknowledged their interest in transplantation (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) (95% CI):3.5 (1.61,7.8)); who discussed transplantation with spouses (AOR(95% CI):5.25 (2.22,12.41)); whose spouses agreed that they discussed transplantation with patients (AOR (95%CI):5.20 (1.76,15.37)) and whose children discussed transplantation with patients' physicians (AOR (95%CI):7.4 (1.3,40.0)). Universal patient-physician discussion of LT does not occur despite patient preferences. Rates of family-physician discussions are low, and rates of family discussions vary. Early family-physician discussion of LT, use of allied health professionals to promote family discussion of LT and the institution of culturally appropriate programs to enhance discussion of LT in AA families could improve rates of discussion and enhance patients' access to LT. [source] Loci Contributing to Adult Height and Body Mass Index in African American Families Ascertained for Type 2 DiabetesANNALS OF HUMAN GENETICS, Issue 5 2005M.M. Sale Summary Height and body mass index (BMI) have high heritability in most studies. High BMI and reduced height are well-recognized as important risk factors for a number of cardiovascular diseases. We investigated these phenotypes in African American families originally ascertained for studies of linkage with type 2 diabetes using self-reported height and weight. We conducted a genome wide scan in 221 families containing 580 individuals and 672 relative pairs of African American descent. Estimates of heritability and support for linkage were assessed by genetic variance component analyses using SOLAR software. The estimated heritabilities for height and BMI were 0.43 and 0.64, respectively. We have identified major loci contributing to variation in height on chromosomes 15 (LOD = 2.61 at 35 cM, p = 0.0004), 3 (LOD = 1.82 at 84 cM, p = 0.0029), 8 (LOD = 1.92 at 135 cM, p = 0.0024) and 17 (LOD = 1.70 at 110 cM, p = 0.0044). A broad region on chromosome 4 supported evidence of linkage to variation in BMI, with the highest LOD = 2.66 at 168 cM (p = 0.0005). Two height loci and two BMI loci appear to confirm the existence of quantitative trait loci previously identified by other studies, providing important replicative data to allow further resolution of linkage regions suitable for positional cloning of these cardiovascular disease risk loci. [source] Economic Stress, Parenting, and Child Adjustment in Mexican American and European American FamiliesCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2004Ross D. Parke To assess the impact of economic hardship on 111 European American and 167 Mexican American families and their 5th-grade (M age=11.4 years) children, a family stress model was evaluated. Structural equation analyses revealed that economic hardship was linked to indexes of economic pressure that were related to depressive symptoms for mothers and fathers of both ethnicities. Depressive symptoms were linked to marital problems and hostile parenting. Paternal hostile parenting was related to child adjustment problems for European Americans, whereas marital problems were linked to child adjustment problems for Mexican Americans. Maternal acculturation was associated with both higher marital problems and lower hostile parenting. The utility of the model for describing the effects of economic hardship in Mexican Americans is noted. [source] The Council of Economic Advisers on the Changing American FamilyPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 3 2000Article first published online: 27 JAN 200 The 2000 Annual Report of the US Council of Economic Advisers (a document exceeding 300 pages, formally an Annex to the Economic Report of the President Transmitted to the Congress February 2000, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office) devotes considerable space to a discussion of the demographic and economic changes affecting families in the United States. Excerpts reproduced below from the first part of Chapter 5, titled "The Changing American Family," examine the relevant trends in a broad historical perspective, drawing on data in some cases spanning the entire twentieth century. The second part of this chapter discusses the "money crunch": financial constraints "that still burden many families despite the remarkable growth in the American standard of living," and the "time crunch": shortage of time devoted to family needs "that results from the increased participation of parents, especially mothers, in the paid labor market." Policies designed to address these problems are also discussed in the second part of the chapter. [source] Caregiver Depressive Symptoms and Observed Family Interaction in Low-Income Children with Persistent AsthmaFAMILY PROCESS, Issue 1 2008MARIANNE CELANO PH.D. This study examined the relationship between caregiver depressive symptoms and observed parenting behaviors and family processes during interactions among 101 urban, low-income Africtan American families with children with persistent asthma. Caregivers (primarily female) were assessed on four dimensions (i.e., warmth/involvement, hostility, consistent discipline, relationship quality) in three videotaped interaction tasks (loss, conflict, cohesion). The results indicated that increased depressive symptoms were significantly associated with lower warmth/involvement and synchrony scores and greater hostility scores during the loss and conflict tasks. In the total sample, the highest levels of hostility and the lowest levels of warmth/involvement were found for the conflict task; nevertheless, caregivers with moderate/severe depressive symptoms showed a significantly greater increase in hostility from the loss to the conflict task than caregivers with minimal/mild depressive symptoms. The findings highlight the salience of considering task content in family observational process research to expand our understanding of depressed and nondepressed caregivers' abilities to modulate appropriately their behaviors and affect across various family interactions. Implications for improving asthma management for low-income children with persistent asthma are discussed, including the utility of multidisciplinary interventions that combine asthma education with family therapy. RESUMEN Síntomas de depresión en los responsables de los niños e interacción familiar observada en niños de familias de bajos ingresos que padecen asma crónica Este estudio examinó la relación entre los síntomas de depresión de los responsables de los niños y los comportamientos paternos y dinámicas familiares observados durante interacciones entre 101 familias afronorteamericanas, urbanas y de bajos recursos, con niños que padecen asma crónica. Los responsables de los niños (la mayoría mujeres) fueron evaluados en base a cuatro criterios: calidez/implicación, hostilidad, disciplina constante, y calidad de la relación) en tres tareas de interacción grabadas en cinta de video (pérdida, conflicto y cohesión). Los resultados demostraron que el aumento de los síntomas de depresión estaban relacionados de forma significativa con una menor puntuación en calidez/implicación y comprensión mutua, y una mayor puntuación en hostilidad durante las tareas de pérdida y conflicto. En la muestra total, los mayores niveles de hostilidad y menores niveles de calidez/implicación se encontraron en la tarea de conflicto; sin embargo, los responsables con síntomas de depresión de moderados a severos mostraron un aumento mucho mayor de la hostilidad, de la tarea de pérdida a la de conflicto, que los responsables con síntomas de mínimos a leves. Los resultados enfatizan la importancia de considerar el contenido de la tarea en la investigación observacional de familias para aumentar nuestra comprensión de las habilidades de los responsables de los niños, con o sin depresión, con el fin de modular de una manera apropiada su comportamiento y afecto en diferentes interacciones familiares. Las medidas para mejorar el control del asma en niños que padecen asma crónica y provienen de familias de bajos ingresos están en debate, incluida la utilidad de intervenciones multidisciplinarias que combinen formación sobre el asma con terapia familiar. [source] Assessment of Family Functioning in Caucasian and Hispanic Americans: Reliability, Validity, and Factor Structure of the Family Assessment DeviceFAMILY PROCESS, Issue 4 2007GREGORY A. AARONS PH.D. The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Family Assessment Device (FAD) among a national sample of Caucasian and Hispanic American families receiving public sector mental health services. A confirmatory factor analysis conducted to test model fit yielded equivocal findings. With few exceptions, indices of model fit, reliability, and validity were poorer for Hispanic Americans compared with Caucasian Americans. Contrary to our expectation, an exploratory factor analysis did not result in a better fitting model of family functioning. Without stronger evidence supporting a reformulation of the FAD, we recommend against such a course of action. Findings highlight the need for additional research on the role of culture in measurement of family functioning. [source] Changes in Wives' Employment When Husbands Stop Working: A Recession-Prosperity ComparisonFAMILY RELATIONS, Issue 4 2010Marybeth J. Mattingly American families are experiencing the effects of the "Great Recession." Most of the job losses are accruing to men, so families may find it strategic for wives to enter the labor force, or increase their work hours. We consider this possibility using the May 2008 and 2009 Current Population Survey, and compare findings to May 2004 and 2005 data, a time of relative prosperity. We find that wives of husbands who stopped working during the recession were more likely to increase work hours, and more likely to commence or seek work. During the Great Recession years, the effect for wives entering the labor force is significantly greater than during the earlier years of relative prosperity. [source] Genetics of the apnea hypopnea index in Caucasians and African Americans: I. Segregation analysisGENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 3 2002Sarah G. Buxbaum Abstract Differences in age of presentation and anatomic risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in Caucasians and African Americans suggest possible racial differences in the genetic underpinnings of the disorder. In this study, we assess transmission patterns in a Caucasian sample consisting of 177 families (N = 1,195) and in an African American sample consisting of 125 families (N = 720) for two variables: 1) apnea hypopnea index (AHI) log transformed and adjusted for age, and 2) AHI log transformed and adjusted for age and body mass index (BMI). We allowed for residual familial correlations and sex-specific means in all models. Analysis of the Caucasian sample showed transmission patterns consistent with that of a major gene that were stronger in the age-adjusted variable than in the age- and BMI-adjusted variable. However, in the African American families, adjusting for BMI in addition to age gave stronger evidence for segregation of a codominant gene with an allele frequency of 0.14, accounting for 35% of the total variance. These results provide support for an underlying genetic basis for OSA that in African Americans is independent of the contribution of BMI. Genet. Epidemiol. 22:243,253, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Biochemical and mutational analyses of the cathepsin c gene (CTSC) in three North American families with Papillon Lefèvre syndromeHUMAN MUTATION, Issue 1 2002Y. Zhang Abstract Papillon Lefèvre syndrome (PLS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by palmoplantar hyperkeratosis and severe periodontitis. The disease is caused by mutations in the cathepsin C gene (CTSC) that maps to chromosome 11q14. CTSC gene mutations associated with PLS have been correlated with significantly decreased enzyme activity. Mutational analysis of the CTSC gene in three North American families segregating PLS identified four mutations, including a novel mutation p.G139R. All mutations were associated with dramatically reduced CTSC protease enzyme activity. A homozygous c.96T>G transversion resulting in a p.Y32X change was present in a Mexican PLS proband, while one Caucasian PLS proband was a compound heterozygote for the p.Y32X and p.R272P (c.815G>C) mutations. The other Caucasian PLS proband was a compound heterozygote for c.415G>A transition and c.1141delC mutations that resulted in a p.G139R and a frameshift and premature termination (p.L381fsX393), respectively. The c.415G>A was not present in more than 300 controls, suggesting it is not a CTSC polymorphism. Biochemical analysis demonstrated almost no detectable CTSC activity in leukocytes of all three probands. These mutations altered restriction enzyme sites in the highly conserved CTSC gene. Sequence analysis of CTSC exon 3 confirmed the previously reported p.T153I polymorphism in 4 of the 5 ethnically diverse populations studied. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Postneonatal mental and motor development of infants exposed in utero to opioid drugsINFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 3 2001Sydney L. Hans We compared the mental and motor development of 33 infants from innercity, African American families whose mothers used opioid drugs during pregnancy with that of 45 infants from demographically comparable families where the mothers were not users of opioids. We found that during the first 2 years of life, the children exposed to opioid drugs showed poorer functioning on Bayley Scales mental and psychomotor development indices as well as on Infant Behavior Record ratings of mental and motor functioning. Although both groups of children performed in the normal range during infancy, both groups showed sharp declines in their developmental scores during the second year of life relative to norms. The poorer performance of the opioid-exposed group in mental development was related to social-environmental risk factors; in psychomotor development, to reduced birth weight. © 2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. [source] African American Therapists Working With African American Families: An Exploration of the Strengths Perspective in TreatmentJOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 3 2009LaVerne Bell-Tolliver With the exception of Hill's (1971, 1999) work, historically much of the literature on African American families has focused more on pathology than strengths. This study used interviews with 30 African American psychotherapists, self-identified as employing a strengths perspective with African American families, to investigate which strengths they identified in the families and how they use those strengths in therapy. Themes emerging from data analysis confirmed the continued importance of the five strengths Hill noted. In addition, two new strengths were identified by the participants: a willingness of a greater number of families to seek therapy, and the importance of family structure. Strategies used in engaging the families in therapy and practice implications for family therapists are discussed. [source] PARTNERING WITH COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS: ENGAGING RURAL AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES IN BASIC RESEARCH AND THE STRONG AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES PREVENTIVE INTERVENTION PROGRAMJOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 3 2004Velma McBride Murry The Center for Family Research has implemented the first family-community preventive intervention program designed specifically for rural African American families and youths. Basic information garnered during a decade of research in rural African American communities formed the theoretical and empirical foundations for the program, which focuses on delaying the onset of sexual activity and discouraging substance use among youths. The Center's researchers have formulated future directions for engaging rural families in basic research and preventive intervention programs. [source] Positive Marital Quality, Acculturative Stress, and Child Outcomes Among Mexican AmericansJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 4 2009Melinda S. Leidy Previous research suggests that the quality of parents' relationships can influence their children's adjustment, but most studies have focused on the negative effects of marital conflict for children in White middle-class families. The current study focuses on the potential benefits of positive marital quality for children in working-class first generation Mexican American families using observational and self-report data. This study examined the links between positive marital quality and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors 1 year later when the child was in sixth grade (N = 134 families). Positive marital quality was negatively correlated with child internalizing behaviors. Parent acculturative stress was found to mediate the relationship between positive marital quality and child internalizing behaviors in sixth grade. [source] Parent-to-Child Aggression Among Asian American Parents: Culture, Context, and VulnerabilityJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 5 2006Anna S. Lau We examined correlates of lifetime parent-to-child aggression in a representative sample of 1,293 Asian American parents. Correlates examined included nativity, indicators of acculturation, socioeconomic status, family climate, and stressors associated with minority status. Results revealed that Asian Americans of Chinese descent and those who immigrated as youth were more likely to report minor parental aggression; ethnicity and nativity were not associated with severe aggression. Indices of acculturation did not predict risk, but minority status stressors (perceived discrimination, low social standing) predicted risk of both minor and severe aggression. Affective climate differed markedly in families with minor versus severe aggression. Parental aggression in Asian American families may not be cultural per se, but stress associated with immigrant family context may heighten vulnerability. [source] Marital Processes and Parental Socialization in Families of Color: A Decade Review of ResearchJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 4 2000Vonnie C. McLoyd Research published during the past decade on African American, Latino, and Asian American families is reviewed. Emphasis is given to selected issues within the broad domains of marriage and parenting. The first section highlights demographic trends in family formation and family structure and factors that contributed to secular changes in family structure among African Americans. In the second section, new conceptualizations of marital relations within Latino families are discussed, along with research documenting the complexities in African American men's conceptions of manhood. Studies examining within-group variation in marital conflict and racial and ethnic differences in division of household labor, marital relations, and children's adjustment to marital and family conflict also are reviewed. The third section gives attention to research on (a) paternal involvement among fathers of color; (b) the relation of parenting behavior to race and ethnicity, grandmother involvement, neighborhood and peer characteristics, and immigration; and (c) racial and ethnic socialization. The article concludes with an overview of recent advances in the study of families of color and important challenges and issues that represent research opportunities for the new decade. [source] African American Adolescent Girls in Impoverished Communities: Parenting Style and Adolescent OutcomesJOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 2 2001Laura D. Pittman The relationship between parenting style and adolescent functioning was examined in a sample of 302 African American adolescent girls and their mothers who lived in impoverished neighborhoods. Although previous research has found that authoritative parenting, as compared with authoritarian, permissive, and disengaged parenting, is associated with positive adolescent outcomes in both European American, middle-class and large multiethnic school-based samples, these parenting categories have not been fully explored in African American families living at or near poverty level. Data were collected from adolescent girls and their self-identified mothers or mother figures using in-home interviews and self-administered questionnaires. Parenting style was found to be significantly related to adolescent outcome in multiple domains including externalizing and internalizing behaviors, academic achievement, work orientation, sexual experience, and pregnancy history. Specifically, teens whose mothers were disengaged (low on both parental warmth and supervision/monitoring) were found to have the most negative outcomes. [source] Heritability of platelet function in families with premature coronary artery diseaseJOURNAL OF THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS, Issue 8 2007P. F. BRAY Summary.,Background:,Variations in platelet function among individuals may be related to differences in platelet-related genes. The major goal of our study was to estimate the contribution of inheritance to the variability in platelet function in unaffected individuals from white and African American families with premature coronary artery disease.Methods:,Platelet reactivity, in the absence of antiplatelet agents, was assessed by in vitro aggregation and the platelet function analyzer closure time. Heritability was estimated using a variance components model.Results:,Both white (n = 687) and African American (n = 321) subjects exhibited moderate to strong heritability (h2) for epinephrine- and adenosine diphosphate-induced aggregation (0.36,0.42 for white and >0.71 for African American subjects), but heritability for collagen-induced platelet aggregation in platelet-rich plasma was prominent only in African American subjects. Platelet lag phase after collagen stimulation was heritable in both groups (0.47,0.50). A limited genotype analysis demonstrated that the C825T polymorphism of GNB3 was associated with the platelet aggregation response to 2 ,M epinephrine, but the effect differed by race.Conclusions:,Considering the few and modest genetic effects reported to affect platelet function, our findings suggest the likely existence of undiscovered important genes that modify platelet reactivity, some of which affect multiple aspects of platelet biology. [source] Sharing information about peer relations: Parent and adolescent opinions and behaviors in Hmong and African American familiesNEW DIRECTIONS FOR CHILD & ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT, Issue 116 2007B. Bradford Brown Despite sharing similar attitudes regarding the information about peers that parents have a right to know, the strategies African American and Hmong families use to seek or censor information about peers diverge because of ethnic differences in emphasis on trust, nurturing autonomy, respect for parental authority, and maintaining cultural traditions. [source] Familial myeloma and monoclonal gammopathy: A report of eight African American families,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Maneesh Jain Previous descriptions of familial myeloma have been mainly of Caucasian families. We report here eight African American families with familial multiple myeloma and monoclonal gammopathy identified over a 30 year period. Six patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and two with monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS) reported a family history of MM or had family members with MGUS found on screening. A pedigree compiled for each family included a history of other cancers. In the eight families, 21 of 58 first degree relatives had a plasma cell dyscrasia including 12 MM, eight MGUS, and one amyloidosis patient(s). The age of the MM patients ranged from 50 to 78 years (median 61 years). Four families had two members with MM, including one mother,son and three sibling pairs. Two MM families each had two additional first degree relatives with MGUS, with three generations involved in one family. Anticipation was suggested in two families with parent,child pairs with monoclonal gammopathy. The eight pedigrees had 66 members, 21 of whom had a diagnosis of cancer, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin disease, or a clonal myeloproliferative disorder other than MM. Although the mode of genetic transmission and anticipation cannot be confirmed due to the small sample size, the increased number of MM and MGUS family members suggests underlying genetic susceptibility factors for plasma cell dyscrasias and possibly for other cancers in these families. Am. J. Hematol., 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Promoting Infant Health Through Home Visiting By a Nurse-Managed Community Worker TeamPUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 4 2001Cynthia Barnes-Boyd R.N., Ph.D. This article describes the Resources, Education and Care in the Home program (REACH-Futures), an infant mortality reduction initiative in the inner city of Chicago built on the World Health Organization (WHO) primary health care model and over a decade of experience administering programs to reduce infant mortality through home visits. The program uses a nurse-managed team, which includes community residents selected, trained, and integrated as health advocates. Service participants were predominately African American families. All participants were low-income and resided in inner-city neighborhoods with high unemployment, high teen birth rates, violent crime, and deteriorated neighborhoods. Outcomes for the first 666 participants are compared to a previous home-visiting program that used only nurses. Participant retention rates were equivalent overall and significantly higher in the first months of the REACH-Futures program. There were two infant deaths during the course of the study, a lower death rate than the previous program or the city. Infant health problems and developmental levels were equivalent to the prior program and significantly more infants were fully immunized at 12 months. The authors conclude that the use of community workers as a part of the home-visiting team is as effective as the nurse-only team in meeting the needs of families at high risk of poor infant outcomes. This approach is of national interest because of its potential to achieve the desired outcomes in a cost-effective manner. [source] Therapeutic Use of Parental Stories to Enhance Mexican American Family Socialization: Family Transition to the Community School SystemPUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 3 2001B.S.N., Kathleen J Niska Ph.D., M.P.H. An ethnographic study was carried out in Hidalgo County, Texas, among 23 Mexican American families to field-test a methodology of using parental stories to enhance family socialization when a firstborn child enters the community school system. Thirteen of the 23 families shared their parental concerns about the child beginning school in audio-taped interviews in 1998. In 1999, the investigator assessed the parental concerns of the remaining 10 families who were about to have their children enter the school system. The investigator elicited parental stories of how the 13 experienced families managed their parental concerns during 1998, transcribed 65 parental stories verbatim, and shared the parental stories that addressed the specific concerns of each of the 10 inexperienced families. The assessment showed the stories addressed concerns that were similar, the inexperienced parents acquired new ways of managing their parental concerns, and their overall concern was lessened as a result of listening to the stories. [source] Loci Contributing to Adult Height and Body Mass Index in African American Families Ascertained for Type 2 DiabetesANNALS OF HUMAN GENETICS, Issue 5 2005M.M. Sale Summary Height and body mass index (BMI) have high heritability in most studies. High BMI and reduced height are well-recognized as important risk factors for a number of cardiovascular diseases. We investigated these phenotypes in African American families originally ascertained for studies of linkage with type 2 diabetes using self-reported height and weight. We conducted a genome wide scan in 221 families containing 580 individuals and 672 relative pairs of African American descent. Estimates of heritability and support for linkage were assessed by genetic variance component analyses using SOLAR software. The estimated heritabilities for height and BMI were 0.43 and 0.64, respectively. We have identified major loci contributing to variation in height on chromosomes 15 (LOD = 2.61 at 35 cM, p = 0.0004), 3 (LOD = 1.82 at 84 cM, p = 0.0029), 8 (LOD = 1.92 at 135 cM, p = 0.0024) and 17 (LOD = 1.70 at 110 cM, p = 0.0044). A broad region on chromosome 4 supported evidence of linkage to variation in BMI, with the highest LOD = 2.66 at 168 cM (p = 0.0005). Two height loci and two BMI loci appear to confirm the existence of quantitative trait loci previously identified by other studies, providing important replicative data to allow further resolution of linkage regions suitable for positional cloning of these cardiovascular disease risk loci. [source] Adolescents' and Parents' Evaluations of Helping Versus Fulfilling Personal Desires in Family SituationsCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2009Judith G. Smetana A sample of 118 predominantly European American families with early and middle adolescents (Mages= 12.32 and 15.18 years) and 1 parent evaluated hypothetical conflicts between adolescents' and parents' requests for assistance versus the other's personal desires. Evaluations differed by level of need, but in low-need situations, adolescents viewed teens as more obligated to help parents than did parents, whereas parents rated it as more permissible for teens to satisfy personal desires than did teenagers. Justifications for helping focused on concern for others, role responsibilities, and among parents, psychological reasons. Middle adolescents reasoned about role responsibilities more and viewed satisfying personal desires as less selfish than did early adolescents, but satisfying personal desires was seen as more selfish by parents of middle than early adolescents. Implications for adolescent,parent relationships are discussed. [source] Economic Stress, Parenting, and Child Adjustment in Mexican American and European American FamiliesCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2004Ross D. Parke To assess the impact of economic hardship on 111 European American and 167 Mexican American families and their 5th-grade (M age=11.4 years) children, a family stress model was evaluated. Structural equation analyses revealed that economic hardship was linked to indexes of economic pressure that were related to depressive symptoms for mothers and fathers of both ethnicities. Depressive symptoms were linked to marital problems and hostile parenting. Paternal hostile parenting was related to child adjustment problems for European Americans, whereas marital problems were linked to child adjustment problems for Mexican Americans. Maternal acculturation was associated with both higher marital problems and lower hostile parenting. The utility of the model for describing the effects of economic hardship in Mexican Americans is noted. [source] Middle-Class African American Adolescents' and Parents' Conceptions of Parental Authority and Parenting Practices: A Longitudinal InvestigationCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2000Judith G. Smetana Conceptions of parental authority and ratings of parental rules and decision making were examined longitudinally among 82 middle-class African American adolescents and their parents (82 mothers and 52 fathers), who were divided into two groups according to family income. Adolescents were, on average, 13.14 years of age at Time 1 and 15.05 years of age at Time 2. Nearly all adolescents and parents affirmed parents' legitimate authority to regulate (and children's obligation to comply with) rules regarding moral, conventional, prudential, friendship, and multifaceted issues, but they were more equivocal in their judgments regarding personal issues. With age, adolescents increasingly judged personal issues to be beyond the bounds of legitimate parental authority, but judgments differed by family income. Adolescents from upper income families rejected parents' legitimate authority to regulate personal issues more at Time 1 than did adolescents from middle income families, but no differences were found at Time 2. Authority to regulate adolescents' behavior did not extend to other adults or to schools, churches, and the law. With adolescents' increasing age, African American families became less restrictive in regulating prudential, friendship, multifaceted, and personal issues. Adolescents', mothers', and fathers' judgments demonstrated significant continuity over time, but few cross- or within-generation associations in judgments were found. Conceptions of legitimate parental authority at Time 1 were found to predict family rules at Time 2. [source] ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAMILY STRUCTURE AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR: PARENTAL COHABITATION AND BLENDED HOUSEHOLDS,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2008ROBERT APEL In the last several decades, the American family has undergone considerable change, with less than half of all adolescents residing with two married biological parents. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we construct an elaborate measure of family structure and find considerable heterogeneity in the risk of antisocial and delinquent behavior among groups of youth who reside in what are traditionally dichotomized as intact and nonintact families. In particular, we find that youth in "intact" families differ in important ways depending on whether the two biological parents are married or cohabiting and on whether they have children from a previous relationship. In addition, we find that youth who reside with a single biological parent who cohabits with a nonbiological partner exhibit an unusually high rate of antisocial behavior, especially if the custodial parent is the biological father. [source] Marital Research in the 20th Century and a Research Agenda for the 21st CenturyFAMILY PROCESS, Issue 2 2002John M. Gottman Ph.D. In this article we review the advances made in the 20th century in studying marriages. Progress moved from a self-report, personality-based approach to the study of interaction in the 1950s, following the advent of general systems theory. This shift led, beginning in the 1970s, to the rapid development of marital research using a multimethod approach. The development of more sophisticated observational measures in the 1970s followed theorizing about family process that was begun in the decade of the 1950s. New techniques for observation, particularly the study of affect and the merging of synchronized data streams using observational and self-report perceptual data, and the use of sequential and time-series analyses produced new understandings of process and power. Research in the decades of the 1980s and 1990s witnessed the realization of many secular changes in the American family, including the changing role of women, social science's discovery of violence and incest in the family, the beginning of the study of cultural variation in marriages, the expansion of the measurement of marital outcomes to include longevity, health, and physiology (including the immune system), and the study of co-morbidities that accompany marital distress. A research agenda for the 21st century is then described. [source] Family decision at the turn of the century: has the changing structure of households impacted the family decision-making process?JOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 2 2002Michael A. Belch Professor of Marketing Abstract Evaluation of husbands' and wives' influence in family decision making is heavily reliant on studies conducted in the 1970s and 1980s. Since that time, profound changes have occurred in the American family. These changes may have affected the nature of decision making in the household. To examine the degree to which earlier findings are still generalisable today, hypotheses are developed and tested with a contemporary sample of 458 men and women. Results suggest that there have been significant changes in the roles assumed in the family decision-making process, with the wife gaining more influence in all decision areas. The results indicate that marketers must re-examine their marketing strategies for some products and/or services. Possible theoretical explanations are suggested to explain why these changes may have occurred. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||