Fathers and Perceptions of God Play an Important Role in Psychological Adjustment Among Emerging Adults in Guatemala and the United States.

Interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory posits that people require parental acceptance in childhood to develop healthy psychological adjustment. People's beliefs about and their relationship with deity also influences their psychological adjustment. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how both perceived parental acceptance and a relationship with deity are related to psychological adjustment for emerging adults in Guatemala and the United States. Participants (N = 189) from Guatemala and the United States completed measures of perceived parental acceptance-rejection, images of God, attachment to God, and psychological adjustment. Results indicate that perceived paternal acceptance-rejection was only a significant predictor of psychological adjustment in U.S. participants, and not in Guatemalan participants. In both samples, images of God did not predict psychological adjustment. However, an anxious attachment with God predicted psychological maladjustment for both groups. The findings suggest that two important factors to be considered by researchers, educators, and mental health professionals are adults' perceptions of their father's level of acceptance-rejection and the amount of anxiety they experience in their relationship with God.

Using adolescents' drawings to reveal stereotypes about ethnic groups in Guatemala.

It is important to identify stereotypes about indigenous people because those stereotypes influence prejudice and discrimination, both obstacles to social justice and universal human rights. The purpose of the current study was to document the stereotypes, as held by Guatemalan adolescents, of indigenous Maya people (e.g., Maya) and nonindigenous Ladinos in Guatemala (the 2 main ethnic groups in Guatemala). Guatemalan adolescents (N = 465; 38.3% female; Mage = 14.51 years; SDage = 1.81 years) provided drawings and written characteristics about indigenous Maya and nonindigenous Ladino people, which were then coded for patterns in the data. These patterns included negative stereotypes, such as the Maya being lazy and Ladina women being weak; and positive stereotypes, such as the Maya being caring and warm and Ladino men being successful. There were also interactions between the participants' own gender and ethnicity and how they depicted the target they were assigned. For example, male participants were unlikely to depict male targets of either ethnicity engaging in homemaking activities. Finally, there was evidence of in-group bias based both on gender and ethnicity. These findings suggest that perhaps because indigenous groups around the world share some common negative stereotypes, an understanding of these stereotypes will aid in decreasing prejudice and discrimination against indigenous people, could reduce intergroup conflict, and increase access to basic human rights. (PsycINFO Database Record

Perceived Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Artistic Preference: Replication Thirty Years Later / Aceptación-Rechazo Parental Percibido y Preferencias Artísticas: Replicación Treinta Años Después

Abstract: In 1982, Rohner and Frampton investigated if there is a relationship in the U.S. between the degree to which adults recall themselves as having been accepted or rejected as children and their current preference for graphic art varying in complexity of design. The researchers found a relationship between these two constructs - the participants' perceived parental acceptance in childhood was associated with a preference for more complex art forms, which differed from their expectations based on the findings of previous studies. The purpose of our study was to replicate Rohner and Frampton's (1982) work, 30 years later, in order to determine if similar findings would emerge. Among our 133 participants, perceived maternal acceptance in childhood was associated with a preference for more complex art forms [similar to Rohner and Frampton's (1982) findings]. However, our participants' perceived paternal acceptance in childhood had no association with artistic preference. We suggest that in the future, researchers work to uncover the underlying reasons for the relationship between artistic preference and perceived parental acceptance and rejection.

Resumen: En 1982, Rohner y Frampton investigaron si existe una relación en los Estados Unidos entre el grado con el que los adultos recuerdan qué tan aceptados o rechazados eran como niños y su preferencia actual sobre arte gráfico que varía en complejidad del diseño. Rohner y Frampton encontraron una relación entre estos dos constructos - la percepción de aceptación parental en la infancia se asocia con la preferencia de formas más complejas de arte, que difieren de sus expectativas, reportadas en hallazgos de investigaciones previas. El objetivo de este estudio fue replicar el trabajo de Rohner y Frampton (1982) 30 años después, para determinar si los resultados serían similares. Entre los 133 participantes, la percepción de aceptación maternal estuvo asociada con la preferencia de formas de arte más complejas [similar a lo que encontraron Rohner y Frampton (1982)]. Sin embargo, en los participantes de este estudio, la percepción de aceptación paternal durante la infancia no tuvo relación con la preferencia artística. Se sugiere que en el futuro, se trabaje en encontrar las razones subyacentes en la relación entre preferencia artística y percepción de rechazo-aceptación parental.

Acculturation Clusters and Life Satisfaction / Grupos de aculturación y satisfacción vital

The purpose of our study was to determine if acculturation variables from different acculturation domains form empirically extracted acculturation clusters [based on Berry's (1997) model], and if the clusters are related to the life satisfaction of first and second generation immigrant college students. One hundred twenty-two students attending a university in the Midwestern USA (70% female), representing more than 20 countries of origin, completed an online questionnaire. Hierarchical cluster analysis using Ward's method and a k-means analysis revealed four acculturation clusters that were labeled (1) Bicultural Attitudes, (2) Bicultural Practices & Heritage Identity, (3) U.S. Practices, and (4) Heritage Practices. Participants in the two clusters most closely resembling Berry's (1997) acculturation category of integration (i.e., Bicultural Attitudes, and Bicultural Practices & Heritage Identity) reported significantly higher life satisfaction than participants in the cluster most closely resembling Berry's (1997) acculturation category of separation (i.e., Heritage Practices). The findings of the present study lend additional support to the use of clustering methods as a way of including multiple domains of acculturation, thereby gaining a more comprehensive understanding of acculturation and its connection with psychosocial adjustment. The results also reinforce prior research findings that integration, or biculturalism, is an adaptive acculturation strategy.

El objetivo de nuestro estudio fue determinar si distintas combinaciones de variables de aculturación provenientes de diferentes dominios de aculturación conforman grupos obtenidos empíricamente [con base en el modelo de Berry (1997)], y si estos grupos están relacionados con diferentes niveles de satisfacción vital en estudiantes universitarios que pertenecen a la primera y segunda generación de imigrantes. Ciento veintidós estudiantes que asisten a una universidad en el Medio Oeste de los Estados Unidos (70% mujeres), provenientes de más de 20 países de origen distintos, completaron un cuestionario a través del Internet. Los análisis de conglomerados jerárquicos con el método de Ward y un análisis de K-means revelaron cuatro grupos de aculturación que fueron nombrados: (1) las actitudes biculturales, (2) las prácticas biculturales y la identidad étnica, (3) las prácticas estadounidenses, y (4) las prácticas étnicas. Los participantes de los dos grupos que más se asemejan a la categoría de aculturación de integración de Berry (1997) (las actitudes biculturales; las prácticas biculturales y la identidad étnica) reportaron una mayor satisfacción vital que los participantes en el grupo que más se asemeja a la categoría de separación de Berry (las prácticas étnicas). Los resultados de este estudio proveen un argumento adicional en favor del uso de métodos de agrupación como una manera de incluir dominios de aculturación múltiples, para obtener con ello una comprensión más amplia de la aculturación y su conexión con la adaptación psicosocial. Los resultados también refuerzan que la biculturalidad es una estrategia adaptativa.

Improving resident self-efficacy in pediatric palliative care through clinical simulation.

CONTEXT: Pediatric residents have limited training and practice experience with palliative care. This study examined whether clinical simulation improved resident self-efficacy in pediatric palliative care. METHODS: Residents were surveyed on their self-efficacy and how they perceived the importance of pediatric palliative care; they were then randomized into either a control group or an intervention group. The intervention group participated in two simulated pediatric palliative care scenarios. The residents' responses before and after the intervention were analyzed to determine whether simulation training had influenced their responses. RESULTS: Although there were no differences in responses on the importance of pediatric palliative care, respondents were more comfortable with suggesting that conferences are needed with families of children who have life-limiting conditions in order to explain do-not-resuscitate orders. CONCLUSION: Simulation improved pediatric residents' self-efficacy with end-of-life discussions.

Perceptions of family caring and its impact on peer associations and drug involvement among rural dwelling African American and White adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the premise that adolescent perceptions of family caring are a precipitating source of substance use deterrence. More specifically, this study examined the role of family caring on communication of substance use harm and sanctions of use and the effect of these on peer substance involvement and individual use outcomes. A sample of rural dwelling African American and White 7th and 8th grade students (N = 1780) was assessed through self-report. It was anticipated that family caring would be positively related to harm communication and sanctions of use, and that these would be negatively related to peer substance involvement and individual use. Results suggest that family caring was positively linked to harm communication and sanctions of use, and that these were both negatively related to peer substance involvement and individual use. Several significant race differences were noted, which suggest differential associations between some variables. Results are discussed in terms of these race differences, as well as in terms of rural residency.

ErbB expression, activation, and inhibition with lapatinib and tyrphostin (AG825) in human vestibular schwannomas.

BACKGROUND: Pharmacologic agents targeted against the ErbB family, or the intracellular pathways that mediate their effects, could slow clinical progression of vestibular schwannoma (VS) in patients where other modalities carry a high risk-to-benefit ratio. OBJECTIVE: Determine the identity of the predominant ErbB dimer partners in VS tumors and assess the effects of targeted inhibition of the ErbB molecules on VS growth and proliferation, as well as apoptosis. SETTING: Academic tertiary referral center. METHODS: Coimmunoprecipitation and Western blotting of VS tissue, in vitro BrdU assays of proliferation in the presence of lapatinib and tyrphostin (AG825) using primary VS cultures, and annexin V cell death assays and cell cycle assays using propidium iodide staining were performed on HEI193 cell line derived from an neurofibromatosis type 2-associated VS. RESULTS: Activated ErbB family receptor heterodimers in VS contain predominantly epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and ErbB2. A robust, dose-dependent inhibition of VS growth and proliferation with the dual EGFR/ErbB2 inhibitor, lapatinib, was demonstrated. Lapatinib also inhibited EGF-induced VS proliferation. The selective ErbB2 inhibitor, AG825, inhibited growth to a lesser extent. HEI193 demonstrated apoptosis after lapatinib treatment. CONCLUSION: Dual EGFR and ErbB2 inhibition with lapatinib or combination therapy may provide therapeutic benefit in VS treatment, but further studies are necessary.

Estrogen receptor expression in sporadic vestibular schwannomas.

HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesize that vestibular schwannomas (VSs) exhibit up-regulation of estrogen receptor (ER) at the protein level compared with control great auricular nerve (GAN). BACKGROUND: It has been reported in the literature that VS occur more commonly in women and tend to be larger and more vascular in women, and growth rate can accelerate during pregnancy. The literature contains widely divergent results on ER expression in VS, however, varying from no detectable levels to detection of ER in all samples. METHODS: Sixteen sporadic VS specimens were immediately snap-frozen after microsurgical excision and analyzed for phosphorylated and total levels of ERα with Western blot analysis. ERα expression levels were normalized to actin; then, relative expression to GAN was determined. RESULTS: All VS specimens exhibited expression of both phosphorylated and total ERα. Total ERα expression in VS is equivalent to or slightly up-regulated compared with GAN. VS specimens exhibited more pronounced up-regulation of phosphorylated (i.e., activated) levels of ERα compared with GAN. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated that ERα expression in VS is equivalent to GAN. The phosphorylated form of the receptor is up-regulated compared with GAN, however, indicating a higher level of ERα activation in sporadic VS compared with normal nerve. Further investigation into antiestrogen therapy for VS is warranted.