Maternal depressive symptoms and low literacy as potential barriers to employment in a sample of families receiving welfare: are there two-generational implications?

This study examines the role of maternal depressive symptoms and low maternal literacy in predicting outcomes in two generations in families receiving welfare: mothers' employment and children's development. The sample consists of 351 African-American families, each with a preschool-age child, in which the mother had applied for or was receiving welfare. Close to the start of the study, 52.6 percent of the mothers in the sample had scores indicating lower literacy, 39.5 percent reported moderate to high levels of depressive symptoms, and 24.6 percent had a co-occurrence of these. Using continuous scores, in multivariate analyses of variance, neither level of literacy, extent of depressive symptoms, nor the interaction of these, were found to predict two measures of subsequent employment (any employment across the two year follow-up period, and current employment at the time of the follow-up). However, when cut points were used (low literacy; moderate to high depressive symptoms), mothers with low literacy were found less often to be employed approximately two years later. Multivariate analyses of variance examining the set of child outcomes (cognitive school readiness and behavior problems) in light of mothers' depressive symptoms and literacy level found a statistically significant interaction of literacy level and extent of depressive symptoms: children of mothers with more depressive symptoms had less favorable developmental outcomes only in the presence of low maternal literacy. Structural equation models provide evidence that parenting behavior mediates the relationship between the predictor variables and child outcomes, and that the pathways from depressive symptoms through parenting to child outcomes are stronger when maternal depressive symptoms co-occur with low maternal literacy.

Synovial chondromatosis of the temporomandibular joint with intracranial extension.

An unusual case of synovial chondromatosis of the temporomandibular joint with intracranial extension, which resulted in complete dehiscence of the floor of the middle cranial fossa, is reported. An overview of the current literature and a discussion of the diagnosis and surgical management of synovial chondromatosis are presented.

When low-income mothers go to work: implications for children.

When mothers who have depended on welfare become employed, the change affects not only welfare budgets and the women themselves, but the daily lives of the children who make up two-thirds of the welfare population. This article is the first of a set of three that consider what we know--and do not know--about the likely effects that a mother's moving from welfare to work will have on her children. This article gives an overview of research studies conducted from the late 1960s to the present that consider how maternal employment affects children in low-income families. The efforts of these families to juggle working and child rearing have received far less attention than those of middle-class or professional families. Most studies that do focus on low-income groups indicate that children are seldom harmed when their mothers work, and many have improved outcomes, especially in terms of cognitive development. The authors caution, however, that all the working mothers studied thus far entered employment voluntarily, so their experiences may be more favorable than the experiences of families who may be forced off welfare and into jobs. Child outcome research that focuses directly on the families who will be affected by welfare reform is currently unavailable. The two subsequent articles (by Parcel and Menaghan and by Moore and Driscoll) continue with the themes raised in this overview and examine in depth specific questions policymakers should ask as they anticipate the effects that moving mothers into low-wage jobs may have on the development of children: How does a parent's going to work outside the home affect family life? And how do children who were once supported by public assistance fare after their mothers become employed?

Priorities for research on adolescent development.

Research on the development of adolescents has made significant progress in the past 10-15 years, but is not yet fully mature. Future research must (a) deepen the recent work in understanding normal adolescent development, particularly among American youth from understudied racial and ethnic minority groups and through more longitudinal studies; (b) balance pressures to implement urgent preventive interventions for adolescents with the need for systematic evaluations that will lead to improvements in these approaches, including those that promote healthy patterns in all adolescents and target clusters of health-compromising behaviors rather than single ones; and (c) identify specific features of the range of settings in which adolescents participate that do or do not foster healthy development.

Oxidants from neutrophil myeloperoxidase do not enhance elastase-induced emphysema in the hamster.

Alpha-1-protease inhibitor is susceptible to oxidative impairment by the neutrophil myeloperoxidase (MPO) system. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the MPO oxidant system on elastase-induced emphysema in the hamster. Intratracheal instillation of 200 micrograms of human neutrophil elastase (HNE) induced a significant secretory cell metaplasia (SCM) and airspace enlargement [23% increase in mean linear intercept (MLI) as compared with control values]. Instillation of MPO system components [0.6 international units (U) of MPO, 5.5 U of glucose oxidase and glucose (0.02 M)] along with 200 micrograms HNE failed to enhance the severity of the SCM or emphysema induced by HNE alone. A second experiment was carried out using 50 micrograms of porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) to induce emphysema. PPE produced a significant 45% increase in MLI, but the MPO system combined with PPE failed to enhance the emphysema induced by PPE alone. The MPO system alone had no measurable effect on airspace size or SCM. In vitro studies showed that PPE was partially inactivated by the MPO system; a 56% loss of elastolytic activity occurred during a 6-min incubation of PPE with the MPO system. This may explain why the MPO system did not exacerbate PPE-induced injury, but it does not explain the lack of enhancement for HNE. A 6-minute incubation of HNE with the MPO system resulted in a nonsignificant 10% decrease of elastolytic activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Resolution of parental bereavement after a perinatal loss.

This is a follow-up study of 25 middle-class, expectant, married couples who had experienced a perinatal loss (16 miscarriages, seven stillbirths, and two neonatal deaths) within the previous 2 years and who subsequently gave birth to a healthy child. The Perinatal Bereavement Scale (PBS) had been previously completed during the 8th month of the subsequent pregnancy and at 6 weeks postnatally. In this study, the PBS was completed 16 months after the birth of the subsequent child. The hypothesis was that the parents who experienced a late perinatal loss (stillbirth and neonatal death) would display more unresolved grief 16 months after the subsequent child was born compared to parents who had experienced an early loss (miscarriage). The late group mothers had significantly higher PBS scores than either the early group mothers or early group fathers at 16 months postnatally.

Perinatal loss and parental bereavement.

The authors studied 25 middle-class pregnant women and their husbands who had experienced perinatal losses (16 miscarriages, seven stillbirths, and two neonatal deaths) within the previous 2 years. The Perinatal Bereavement Scale was designed to determine whether parents who have experienced a late perinatal loss (stillbirth or neonatal death) display more unresolved grief during a subsequent pregnancy and during the postnatal period than parents who have experienced a miscarriage. A three-factor repeated measures analysis of variance indicated significantly greater grief for the late-loss group, for the mothers, and during the pregnancy preceding the birth of the viable child.

Sex differences in children's response to parental divorce: 2. Samples, variables, ages, and sources.

This second of a two-part review examines four possibilities for explaining the discrepancy across studies in findings of sex differences in children's responses to parental divorce: sample type, nature of outcome variables, age of the child, and sources of data. Recommendations are made for further research that could clarify the nature and origins of differences by child gender in reactions to parental divorce. Part 1, reviewing research methodology and post divorce family forms, was published by this Journal in July 1988.

Sex differences in children's response to parental divorce: 1. Research methodology and postdivorce family forms.

This two-part review documents inconsistencies in the empirical basis for the hypothesis that boys are more negatively affected than are girls by parental divorce. An attempt is made to move beyond a global hypothesis to one specifying circumstances for the pattern. Part 1 asks whether methodological adequacy or postdivorce family forms in the studies help explain the discrepancy across studies that examine sex differences in children's response to parental divorce. Part 2, reviewing other possible sources for the discrepancy, will appear in a forthcoming issue of this Journal.

Paternal care of infants during maternal separations: associations with father-infant interaction at one year.

Observations of father-infant interaction in the home environment at age one year were compared for two groups of infants that in the months preceding the observations differed in the amount of experience they had with their fathers when the mother was outside the home. The sample consisted of 46 middle-class families, each with a first-born infant (23 males, 23 females). Estimates of the amount of experience the father had with the infant when the mother was outside the home were obtained from detailed maternal interviews that addressed all mother-infant separations. At one year, fathers who provided more extensive care in the absence of the mother showed a higher degree of breadth or variety in their patterns of engaging the infant and higher rates of behavior directed to the infant. These infants showed higher rates of responding to their fathers and more frequent instances of exploratory behavior. Distinctive patterns of differences were evident in the behavior of fathers and infants who had contrasting amounts of experience with each other in social contexts without the mother.

Depressed mood in new fathers: associations with parent-infant interaction.

In a sample of 37 middle-class families with firstborn 4-month-old infants, 52% of the fathers reported experiencing blues at some point after the birth of the baby. Observed behavior was found to differ between families in which the father reported eight or more days of blues (Group 2) as opposed to no blues (Group 1). Parents in Group 2 addressed fewer vocalizations to their babies. Group 2 fathers showed diminished proximity with their babies while their wives showed heightened proximity. Fathers in Group 2 engaged in less caregiving and touched their babies less than did their wives, while fathers in Group 1 engaged in more of this behavior than did their wives. Mothers and fathers in Group 2 were less likely to focus on the baby over other topics in their conversations with each other than the parents in Group 1. Few differences were found between the two groups on interview questions addressed to the fathers. However, those differences that were found, in addition to Group 2 fathers' descriptions of factors contributing to their blues, pointed to the spouse relationship as an area of concern.

Myeloperoxidase-induced inactivation of alpha 1-antiprotease in hamsters.

While numerous studies have demonstrated that the myeloperoxidase system found in neutrophils can oxidize and functionally inactivate alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor in vitro, there is little direct evidence that this phenomenon is relevant in vivo. Using incubation with tritiated porcine pancreatic elastase followed by column chromatography to quantitate binding, we demonstrated recovery of microgram amounts of functional alpha 1-protease inhibitor from bronchoalveolar lavage of hamster lungs. When exposed to the myeloperoxidase system in vitro, hamster alpha 1-protease inhibitor was 97% inactivated. Functional alpha 1-protease inhibitor recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage 20 minutes after hamsters were given intratracheal injections with myeloperoxidase and either hydrogen peroxide or glucose plus glucose oxidase was only half that recovered from control animals. These studies suggest that the myeloperoxidase system is effective in oxidizing alpha 1-protease inhibitor in vivo. They support the concept that oxidation of alpha 1-protease inhibitor by myeloperoxidase from neutrophil granules in the presence of H2O2 and halide may produce elastase-antielastase imbalance in vivo and contribute to the development of acute lung injury and emphysema in humans.

Human neutrophil elastase does not bind to alpha 1-protease inhibitor that has been exposed to activated human neutrophils.

The effect of leukocyte-derived oxidants on the elastase-inhibitory capacity of alpha 1-protease inhibitor was examined in an in vitro system using cells and purified proteins from human sources. The exposure of alpha 1-protease inhibitor to the myeloperoxidase-hydrogen peroxide-halide system resulted in a nearly complete loss of its ability to bind and inactivate purified human neutrophil elastase. A similar loss of binding to and inactivation of human neutrophil elastase was observed on exposure of alpha 1-protease inhibitor to human neutrophils in the presence of a halide and the neutrophil-activating agent, phorbol myristate acetate. This loss of elastase binding activity was abrogated by the addition of azide or catalase but not superoxide dismutase or heated catalase. The data suggest oxidative inactivation of alpha 1-protease inhibitor by secreted myeloperoxidase and hydrogen peroxide. Thus, the reported effects of leukocyte oxidants, especially the myeloperoxidase system, on alpha 1-protease inhibitor have been confirmed using the most pathophysiologically relevant protease, human neutrophil elastase, as the test enzyme. The role of the neutrophil in the pathogenesis of emphysema may, therefore, include the secretion of both elastase and oxidants that impair antielastase defenses.

Relationships among peers in kibbutz toddler groups.

Observations of toddlers in Israeli kibbutzim and interviews with their parents and caregivers, indicate that by the end of the first year the toddlers differentiate among the individual children in their residential groups. In addition, the first focused dyadic peer relationships emerge at about one year. Toddlers in focused peer relationships tend to be in the same bedroom in their group's children's house; to be responsive social partners in peer interactions; and to have parents who have formed relationships with the other child in the peer relationship or with that child's parents.