A rating scale was designed to measure dysfunctional discipline practices in parents of young children. Three stable factors of dysfunctional discipline style were identified: (a) Laxness, (b) Overreactivity, and (c) Verbosity. The Parenting Scale exhibited adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Mothers of clinic children reported more dysfunctional parenting than did mothers of nonclinic children. Parenting Scale scores were related to maternal ratings of child behavior and marital discord. Most important, Parenting Scale scores correlated significantly with observational measures of dysfunctional discipline and child misbehavior.

Emerging research has revealed that subjective social status (SSS), or how people perceive their position in the social hierarchy, is significantly associated with multiple health outcomes. Yet few studies have examined how this association is affected by the person or group to whom respondents are comparing themselves. While previous studies have used distal referent groups when assessing SSS, scholars have suggested that individuals may prefer to make comparisons to those who share similar characteristics to themselves. Overall, there has been little empirical analysis assessing the health impact of comparing oneself to one referent group over another. Using a diverse, national U.S. sample (n=3,644), this study explores whether the relationship between SSS and self-rated health is sensitive to the referent used for social comparison. Data are from respondents who completed the Styles mail surveys and who have assessed their SSS against four referents: others in American society, others of the same race or ethnicity, neighbors, and parents at the same age. Self-rated health was the dependent variable, while we controlled for household income, education, home ownership, race/ethnicity, and other covariates. In logistic regression models, SSS using each of the four referents was significantly associated with self-rated health, but the model using the referent of others in American society had the strongest association with self-rated health and was the most parsimonious. Findings validate previous studies which typically have used a more distal referent such as others in American society in exploring the SSS-health relationship. However, future work should explore whether this referent is salient to diverse population groups when making social comparisons. Researchers may also want to consider using SSS as an additional status measure since it may capture more subtle differences in the status hierarchy than traditional economic measures.

Studies have shown subjective social status (SSS) is associated with multiple health outcomes. This article examines the predictors of SSS, whether these associations vary by race/ethnicity, and whether SSS is sensitive to different referents used for social comparison. Data were from a national US mail survey. Income was strongly associated with SSS only among Whites and Hispanics. While there were no SSS differences by race/ethnicity using a distal referent, Blacks had higher SSS than Whites when using more proximal referents, even after controlling for objective status indicators. Findings indicate SSS measurement may be sensitive to race/ethnicity and the comparison referent.

BackgroundMusculoskeletal disorders affect all racial and ethnic groups, including Hispanics. Because these disorders are not life-threatening, decision-making is generally preference-based. Little is known about whether Hispanics in the U.S. differ from non-Hispanic Whites with respect to key decision making preferences.MethodsWe assembled six focus groups of Hispanic and non-Hispanic White patients with chronic back or knee pain at an urban medical center to discuss management of their conditions and the roles they preferred in medical decision-making. Hispanic groups were further stratified by socioeconomic status, using neighborhood characteristics as proxy measures. Discussions were led by a moderator, taped, transcribed and analyzed using a grounded theory approach.ResultsThe analysis revealed ethnic differences in several areas pertinent to medical decision-making. Specifically, Hispanic participants were more likely to permit their physician to take the predominant role in making health decisions. Also, Hispanics of lower socioeconomic status generally preferred to use non-internet sources of health information to make medical decisions and to rely on advice obtained by word of mouth. Hispanics emphasized the role of faith and religion in coping with musculoskeletal disability. The analysis also revealed broad areas of concordance across ethnic strata including the primary role that pain and achieving pain relief play in patients' experiences and decisions.ConclusionsThese findings suggest differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites in preferred information sources and decision-making roles. These findings are hypothesis-generating. If confirmed in further research, they may inform the development of interventions to enhance preference-based decision-making among Hispanics.

A novel class of glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx1) inhibitors, namely tri‐ and tetracyclic pentathiepins, has been identified that is approximately 15 times more potent than the most active known GPx1 inhibitor, mercaptosuccinic acid. Enzyme kinetic studies with bovine erythrocyte GPx1 indicate that pentathiepins reversibly inhibit oxidation of the substrate glutathione (GSH). Moreover, no inhibition of superoxide dismutase, catalase, thioredoxin reductase or glutathione reductase was observed at concentrations that effectively inhibit GPx1. As well as potent enzyme inhibitory activity, the pentathiepins show strong anticancer activity in various human cancer cell lines, with IC 50 values in a low‐micromolar range. A representative tetracyclic pentathiepin causes the formation of reactive oxygen species in these cells, the fragmentation of nuclear DNA and induces apoptosis via the intrinsic pathway. Moreover, this pentathiepin leads to a rapid and strong loss of mitochondrial membrane potential in treated cancer cells. On the other hand, evidence for the induction of ferroptosis as a form of cell death was negative. These new findings show that pentathiepins possess interesting biological activities beyond those originally ascribed to these compounds.