Teen Dating Violence in a High-Risk Sample: The Protective Role of Maternal Acceptance.

Exposure to marital conflict has been identified as a risk factor for teen dating violence (TDV). Given the high rates of marital conflict observed in families affected by paternal alcoholism, children of alcoholic fathers may be at increased risk for TDV. Positive parenting behaviors are protective against TDV in general, but whether they can attenuate the effects of exposure to marital conflict is uncertain. According to social learning theory, adolescents exposed to both positive and conflictual parenting may perceive aggression to be part of a normal and loving relationship and hence be at risk for TDV. In contrast, attachment theory would posit that positive parenting would better enable youth to regulate negative emotions and would be protective against TDV. The current study used prospective data to examine whether maternal acceptance buffered the relationship between exposure to marital conflict in early adolescence and TDV in late adolescence among a sample of adolescents at risk for TDV due to parental alcoholism. Adolescents (N = 227, 50% female, 89% European American), half of whom had an alcoholic parent, completed surveys in early (eighth grade) and late adolescence (11th and 12th grades). They reported on exposure to marital conflict, perceptions of maternal acceptance, and involvement in TDV. Regression analyses revealed that exposure to marital conflict in early adolescence was predictive of TDV in late adolescence. However, an examination of the interaction between exposure to marital conflict and maternal acceptance indicated that at high levels of marital conflict and maternal acceptance, exposure to marital conflict no longer predicted TDV. Findings suggest that social modeling alone is not sufficient for understanding the intergenerational transmission of violence. A multipronged approach to violence prevention among high-risk families targeting both parental and parent-child relationships is recommended.

Etiology of Teen Dating Violence among Adolescent Children of Alcoholics.

Family processes in early life have been implicated in adolescent involvement in teen dating violence, yet the developmental pathways through which this occurs are not well understood. In this study, etiological pathways from parental psychopathology and marital conflict in infancy to involvement in dating violence in late adolescence were examined in a sample of children at high-risk due to parental alcohol problems. Families (N = 227) recruited when the child was 12 months of age were assessed at 12-, 24-, 36-months, kindergarten, 6th, 8th, and 12th grades. Slightly more than half of the children were female (51%) and the majority were of European American descent (91%). Parental psychopathology in infancy was indirectly associated with teen dating violence in late adolescence via low maternal warmth and self-regulation in early childhood, externalizing behavior from kindergarten to early adolescence, and sibling problems in middle childhood. Marital conflict was also indirectly associated with teen dating violence via child externalizing behavior. Maternal warmth and sensitivity in early childhood emerged as an important protective factor and was associated with reduced marital conflict and increased child self-regulation in the preschool years as well as increased parental monitoring in middle childhood and early adolescence. Family processes occurring in the preschool years and in middle childhood appear to be critical periods for creating conditions that contribute to dating violence risk in late adolescence. These findings underscore the need for early intervention and prevention with at-risk families.

Neural systems for reflected and direct self-appraisals in Chinese young adults: Exploring the role of the temporal-parietal junction.

OBJECTIVES: Although cortical midline structures (CMS) are the most commonly identified neural foundations of self-appraisals, research is beginning to implicate the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) in more interdependent self-construals. The goal of this study was to extend this research in an understudied population by (a) examining both direct (first-person) and reflected (third-person) self-appraisals across 2 domains (social and academics), and (b) exploring individual differences in recruitment of the TPJ during reflected self-appraisals. METHOD: The neural correlates of direct and reflected self-appraisals in social and academic domains were examined in 16 Chinese young adults (8 males, 8 females; aged 18-23 years) using functional MRI. RESULTS: As expected, when making reflected self-appraisals (i.e., reporting what they believed others thought about them, regardless of domain), Chinese participants recruited both CMSs and the TPJ. Similar to previous research in East Asian and interdependent samples, CMSs and the TPJ were relatively more active during direct self-appraisals in the social than in the academic domain. We additionally found that, to the extent participants reported that reflected academic self-appraisals differed from direct academic self-appraisals, they demonstrated greater engagement of the TPJ during reflected academic self-appraisals. Exploratory cross-national comparisons with previously published data from American participants revealed that Chinese young adults engaged the TPJ relatively more during reflected self-appraisals made from peer perspectives. CONCLUSIONS: In combination with previous research, these findings increase support for a role of the TPJ in self-appraisal processes, particularly when Chinese young adults consider peer perspectives. The possible functional contributions provided by the TPJ are explored and discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Developmental cascade model for adolescent substance use from infancy to late adolescence.

A developmental cascade model for adolescent substance use beginning in infancy was examined in a sample of children with alcoholic and nonalcoholic parents. The model examined the role of parents' alcohol diagnoses, depression and antisocial behavior in a cascading process of risk via 3 major hypothesized pathways: first, via parental warmth/sensitivity from toddler to kindergarten age predicting higher parental monitoring in middle childhood through early adolescence, serving as a protective pathway for adolescent substance use; second, via child low self-regulation in the preschool years to a continuing externalizing behavior problem pathway leading to underage drinking and higher engagement with substance using peers; and third, via higher social competence from kindergarten age through middle childhood being protective against engagement with delinquent and substance using peers, and leading to lower adolescent substance use. The sample consisted of 227 intact families recruited from the community at 12 months of child age. Results were supportive for the first 2 pathways to substance use in late adolescence. Among proximal, early adolescent risks, engagement with delinquent peers and parent's acceptance of underage drinking were significant predictors of late adolescent alcohol and marijuana use. The results highlight the important protective roles of maternal warmth/sensitivity in early childhood to kindergarten age, parental monitoring in middle childhood, and of child self-regulation in the preschool period as reducing risk for externalizing behavior problems, underage drinking, and engagement with delinquent peers in early adolescence. Specific implications for the creation of developmentally fine-tuned preventive intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

A Community-Based Home Visitation Program's Impact on Birth Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: MOMS Orange County is a coordinated home visitation program in which trained paraprofessional home visitors work under the close supervision of registered nurses. This model was developed to address health disparities in birth outcomes in a Hispanic community in Orange County, CA. PURPOSE: The primary objective was to test the impact of MOMS Orange County on birth outcomes. The second objective was to examine the breadth of prenatal health education topics as a mediator of the relationship between home visits and birth outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective cohort design was used. Paraprofessional home visitors collected prenatal and postnatal data during home visits. Only those whose birth outcomes were obtained were included in the analysis (N = 2,027 participants). Regression models were conducted to test the associations between prenatal home visits and birth outcomes, adjusting for 10 covariates. RESULTS: Number of prenatal home visits predicted higher birthweight and greater gestational age at birth. Breadth of health education topics partially mediated the associations between home visits and birthweight. The same mediation was revealed with gestational age at birth. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The MOMS Orange County prenatal home visitation program may be a promising approach to decrease adverse birth outcomes in disadvantaged communities. Rigorously designed studies are needed to further test this model.

High-school seniors' college enrollment goals: Costs and benefits of ambitious expectations.

High school students with high long-term educational expectations attain higher levels of education than those with lower expectations. Less studied is the role of students' short-term college enrollment expectations for the year after high school graduation. The purpose of the current study was to examine the costs and benefits of ambitious short-term expectations and the impact of falling short of these expectations on mental health, motivation, and educational outcomes. Over 1000 youth with expectations to attend college were surveyed during their senior year of high school, one year later, and four years later. Participants who did not achieve their short-term expectations had lower educational attainment four years later but were not less satisfied with their educational progress. The negative consequences of falling short of one's expectations were restricted to individuals with less ambitious short-term expectations. Thus, the benefits of ambitious short-term expectations for youth may outweigh the costs.

Physiological reactivity during object manipulation among cigarette-exposed infants at 9 months of age.

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between prenatal exposure to cigarettes and heart rate during an object manipulation task at 9 months of age. Second-by-second heart rate was recorded for 181 infants who were prenatally exposed to cigarettes and 77 nonexposed infants during the manipulation of four standardized toys. A series of longitudinal multilevel models were run to examine the association of prenatal smoking on the intercept and slope of heart rate during four 90-second object manipulation tasks. After controlling for maternal age, prenatal marijuana and alcohol use, duration of focused attention and activity level, results indicated that the heart rates of exposed infants significantly increased during the object manipulation task. These findings suggest casual rather than focused attention and a possible increase in physiological arousal during object manipulation.

Correlates of ever having used electronic cigarettes among older adolescent children of alcoholic fathers.

INTRODUCTION: Few studies have examined predictors of ever having used electronic cigarettes (or e-cigarettes) among older adolescents. This study examined correlates of ever having used e-cigarettes among adolescent children of alcoholic fathers. METHODS: Participants were 136 adolescents (50.7% male, 89.4% European American) from an ongoing longitudinal case-control study of children of alcoholic fathers. Adolescents reported on their mother's and father's parenting during middle adolescence (MA; M age = 13.8) and completed measures of their own, as well as their peers', substance use during late adolescence (LA; M age = 17.0). Parents completed measures of their own substance use at the MA assessment. RESULTS: More than one third (36.9%) of the participants reported ever using e-cigarettes. Parental monitoring during MA (odds ratio [OR] = 0.85, p < .05), lifetime use of cigarettes (OR = 3.88, p < .01), alcohol use (OR = 7.72, p < .05), marijuana use (OR = 4.07, p < .01), and peer substance use (OR = 1.34, p < .05) during LA were each uniquely associated with ever having used e-cigarettes. Ever having used e-cigarettes also was associated with more frequent current cigarette use (ß = .38, p < .05), alcohol use (ß = .30, p < .01), and marijuana use (ß = .31, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that ever having used e-cigarettes in LA is a risk marker for substance use. Interventions to promote parental monitoring may be effective in curbing use of e-cigarettes and other substances in LA.

FKBP5 and CRHR1 polymorphisms moderate the stress-physical health association in a national sample.

OBJECTIVE: Stressful life events experienced during childhood and as an adult negatively impact mental and physical health over the life span. This study examined polymorphisms from 2 hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis-related genes previously associated with posttraumatic stress disorder-FKBP5 and CRHR1-as moderators of the impact of child abuse and adult stress on physical health. METHOD: A national, community-based subsample of non-Hispanic European American respondents (n = 527) from a prospective longitudinal 3-year study of stress and coping (N = 2,729) provided saliva for genotyping. RESULTS: FKBP5 (rs1360780) and CRHR1 (rs12944712) polymorphisms significantly interacted with child abuse and adult stress to predict increases in physical health ailments over 3 years. Child abuse and adult stress were strongly related to physician-diagnosed physical ailments among individuals with the risk alleles of both single nucleotide polymorphisms. Individuals carrying the low-risk homozygotic genotypes were protected from the long-term negative health implications of experiencing both child abuse and adult stress. CONCLUSION: Consistent with theories linking the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis with stress-related disease, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis polymorphism genotypes moderated the association between exposure to child abuse/adult stress and long-term physical health outcomes in a national sample.

Genetic variations in the dopamine system and facial expression recognition in healthy chinese college students.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the relation between genetic variations in the dopamine system and facial expression recognition. METHODS: A sample of Chinese college students (n = 478) was given a facial expression recognition task. Subjects were genotyped for 98 loci [96 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 2 variable number tandem repeats] in 16 genes involved in the dopamine neurotransmitter system, including its 4 subsystems: synthesis (TH, DDC, and DBH), degradation/transport (COMT,MAOA,MAOB, and SLC6A3), receptors (DRD1,DRD2,DRD3,DRD4, and DRD5), and modulation (NTS,NTSR1,NTSR2, and NLN). To quantify the total contributions of the dopamine system to emotion recognition, we used a series of multiple regression models. Permutation analyses were performed to assess the posterior probabilities of obtaining such results. RESULTS: Among the 78 loci that were included in the final analyses (after excluding 12 SNPs that were in high linkage disequilibrium and 8 that were not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium), 1 (for fear), 3 (for sadness), 5 (for anger), 13 (for surprise), and 15 (for disgust) loci exhibited main effects on the recognition of facial expressions. Genetic variations in the dopamine system accounted for 3% for fear, 6% for sadness, 7% for anger, 10% for surprise, and 18% for disgust, with the latter surviving a stringent permutation test. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variations in the dopamine system (especially the dopamine synthesis and modulation subsystems) made significant contributions to individual differences in the recognition of disgust faces.

Genetic variations in the dopaminergic system and alcohol use: a system-level analysis.

Alcohol use is highly heritable and has been associated with many gene variants, including those related to dopamine (DA). However, single gene association studies have shown inconsistent and small effects. Using a system-level approach, the current study aimed to estimate the overall effect of genetic variations in the DA system on alcohol use among male drinkers. One hundred seventy-six male college students who reported to have ever drunk alcohol were enrolled. Alcohol use was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Ninety-eight representative polymorphisms in all major DA neurotransmitter genes were genotyped. Using analysis of variance, we identified six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)s that made statistically significant contributions to alcohol use. Next, main effects and interactions of these SNPs were assessed using multiple regression. The final model accounted for approximately 20% of the variance for alcohol use. Finally, permutation analyses ascertained the probability of obtaining these findings by chance to be low, p ranging from 0.024 to 0.048. These results confirmed that DA-related gene variants made strong contributions to reported alcohol use and suggest that multiple regression can be a promising way to explore the genetic basis for multi-gene-determined human behaviors.

Sex modulates the associations between the COMT gene and personality traits.

Previous research has shown inconsistent findings regarding the relations between the functional Val158Met polymorphisms of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene and individual differences in personality traits. This study attempts to overcome some of the weaknesses of previous research, namely, small sample sizes, clinical samples, ethnic stratification, wide age ranges, neglecting sex differences, and single measures of personality traits. A large sample (n = 556, 250 male, 306 female) of healthy Chinese college students (mean age = 20.5 ± 1 years) was given a battery of personality scales, including the temperament and character inventory-revised, the behavioral inhibition system and behavioral approach system scale, the Beck depression inventory, and the Beck anxiety inventory. Factor analysis of the affect-related personality traits revealed two factors that corresponded to positive (PEM) and negative emotionality (NEM). We found a consistent COMT-by-sex interaction effect on affect-related personality traits. Compared with males with Met/Met alleles, males with Val/Val alleles showed significantly higher scores on NEM, but lower scores on PEM. Females, however, showed an opposite but nonsignificant pattern. Our results supported the role of the COMT gene in personality traits for males and contributed to the growing literature on sex differences in gene-behavior connections.

Are youths' feelings of entitlement always "bad"?: Evidence for a distinction between exploitive and non-exploitive dimensions of entitlement.

Previous personality research (e.g., Campbell et al., 2004) has described the sense of entitlement as an unifactorial construct. In this study, we examined characteristics of two potential facets of entitlement: exploitive entitlement, characterized by exploitive interactions and expectations of special treatment, and non-exploitive entitlement, or entitled beliefs that rest on notions of self-worth and fairness. 466 college students (mean age = 20.5) completed a questionnaire consisting of unifactorial and two-factor measures of entitlement and other personality dispositions and attitudes. As expected, both exploitive and non-exploitive entitlement were positively related to the Psychological Entitlement Scale (PES; r = .51 and r = .43, respectively), an unifactorial measure of entitlement. In other respects, exploitive and non-exploitive entitlement had quite distinct correlates. Exploitive entitlement was uniquely related to higher levels of psychopathy and neuroticism, and lower levels of work orientation, social commitment, and self-esteem; whereas non-exploitive entitlement was uniquely associated with higher self-esteem.

Adolescents' response to parental efforts to influence eating habits: when parental warmth matters.

Previous findings have shown both beneficial and adverse effects of parents' attempts to influence adolescents' eating habits. The current study examined the differential effect of parents' persuasion (e.g., encouragement, giving information) and pressure tactics (e.g., guilt induction, ridicule) and the moderating influence of parental warmth on older adolescents' emotional and behavioral responses. An ethnically diverse sample of 336 older adolescents (M age = 18.6; SD = 1.1; 58.0% female) were surveyed. Adolescents who reported higher levels of pressure tactics by parents reported more negative affect and behavioral resistance. Perceived parental warmth moderated the influence of persuasion tactics, but not pressure tactics. For adolescents with low parental warmth, high levels of persuasion were associated with more negative emotional and behavioral responses; persuasion had the opposite associations for adolescents with high parental warmth. These results suggest that parental warmth plays an important role in how older adolescents respond to parents' persuasion tactics. However, when parents use more forceful pressure tactics to influence eating habits, adolescents react negatively regardless of the overall quality of the parent-adolescent relationship.