Parental attachment was hypothesized as a mediational variable, explaining the relationship between parental alcoholism, family dysfunction, and the expression of interpersonal distress. Undergraduate students (N = 152) were administered questionnaires to assess parental attachment, parental alcoholism, family dysfunction, and interpersonal distress; structural analysis was used to specify the relations among measured constructs. Parental alcoholism was not a significant predictor of attachment to parents or interpersonal distress; however, the mediating role of parental attachment was evident when family dysfunction was examined. As the level of family dysfunction increased, participants reported less parental attachment and more interpersonal distress. Viewing parental attachment as a mediator has important implications for theory and clinical practice.Much of the clinical writing and research on adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) has been based on a narrow stereotypical view of the impact of parental alcoholism on family dynamics (Wright & Heppner, 1993). A great deal of research in this area has focused on comparisons of two groups, individuals who did or did not report growing up in a family where alcohol was abused (ACOAs vs. non-ACOAs). As would be expected with such a heterogeneous population, the results have been inconsistent. For example, ACOAs research, typically that done with clinical samples, has found ACOAs to report more psychological and interpersonal problems than their non-ACOAs counterparts (e.g., Hinz, 1990). Other studies, typically done with nonclinical samples, failed to find differences between these two groups (Wright & Heppner, 1991. The validity of classifying ACOAs as a separate group is clearly under question (Harrington & Metzler, 1997). Heppner (1993) andMintz, Kashubeck, andTracy (1995) argued that ACOAs research has been based on a "uniformity assumption." Specifically, writers and researchers have assumed that (a) all ACOAs are alike regardless of the type and severity of parental drinking problems and (b) all ACOAs share similar family environments and experiences. In regard to this first assumption, Mintz et al. found significant within-group differences among ACOAs. In this

This case study describes a 65-year-old man initially diagnosed with an atypical rapidly progressive dementia who subsequently participated in a research project at the MIND Institute at the University of California-Davis, where he was diagnosed with a recently identified neurodegenerative syndrome, fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS). He was a carrier of the fragile X premutation and in later life developed tremor, gait ataxia, parkinsonism, and cognitive deficits that progressed very rapidly. This case study provides a detailed description of the individual's history, presenting symptoms, neuropsychological test results, and postmortem neuropathological analysis. Pathological findings showed diagnostic features of both FXTAS and Alzheimer's disease, which might help to explain the rapid progression of his dementia.

The purpose of this study was to use structural equation modeling techniques to examine potential interrelationships among psychological factors, im‐munologic activation, and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The subjects were 80 male patients with a diagnosis of classic or definite RA. Measures included the Beck Depression Inventory, the Arthritis Helplessness Index, and the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales (AIMS) pain score. Joint counts and immunophenotypic analyses of peripheral blood lyMPHocytes also were collected. Path analysis showed that percentage of HLA‐DR+ cells in the peripheral blood and helplessness were related to join count. In addition, joint count had an effect upon depression. Depression had an effect upon pain, but there was no reciprocal effect of pain upon depression. This study describes a preliminary path model of interrelationships among psychological factors, immunologic activation, and disease activity in RA.

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