This article illustrates new statistical methods for the study of psychological change in married couples. The design involves time-series data on each partner. The analysis combines longitudinal methods for studies of individual change with cross-sectional methods for the study of matched pairs. Each person is viewed as changing over time as a function of an individual growth curve or change function. As in previous studies of individual change, a person's trajectory depends on time-invariant personal background characteristics and time-varying changes in the environment. However, unlike typical studies of individual change, a person's changing psychological profile depends, in part, on the influence of that person's partner. These methods apply directly to other types of longitudinal studies on families (e.g., studies that use teacher and parent reports of a child's social behavior). The methodology is flexible in allowing randomly missing data, varying spacing of time points, unbalanced designs, and time-varying and time-invariant covariates.

No abstract

No abstract

Objective To investigate the longitudinal course of internalizing and externalizing problems and adaptive/prosocial behaviors among Sierra Leonean former child soldiers and whether post-conflict factors contribute to adverse or resilient mental health outcomes. Method Male and female former child soldiers (N=260, ages 10–17 at baseline) were recruited from the roster of an NGO-run Interim Care Center in Kono District and interviewed in 2002, 2004 and 2008. The retention rate was 69%. Linear growth models were used to investigate trends related to war and post-conflict experiences. Results The long-term mental health of former child soldiers was associated with war experiences and post-conflict risk factors, which were partly mitigated by post-conflict protective factors. Increases in externalizing behavior were associated with killing/injuring others during the war and post-conflict stigma while increased community acceptance was associated with decreases in externalizing problems (B=−1.09). High baseline levels of internalizing problems were associated with surviving rape while increases were associated with younger involvement in armed groups and social and economic hardships. Improvements in internalizing problems were associated with higher levels of community acceptance and increases in community acceptance (B=−0.86). Decreases in adaptive/prosocial behaviors were associated with killing/injuring others during the war and post-conflict stigma, but partially mitigated by social support, being in school and increased community acceptance (B=1.93). Conclusions Psychosocial interventions for former child soldiers may be more effective if they account for post-conflict factors in addition to war exposures. Youth with accumulated risk factors, lack of protective factors, and persistent distress should be identified; sustainable services to promote community acceptance, reduce stigma, and expand social supports and educational access are recommended.

This article examines the association between job role quality and psychological distress in a sample of 300 full-time employed dual-earner couples, controlling for such individual level variables as age, education, occupational prestige, and marital quality and for such couple level variables as length of marriage, parental status, and household income. The magnitude of this effect is compared for men and for women. Results indicate that job role quality is significantly negatively associated with psychological distress for women as well as for men and that the magnitude of the effect depends little, if at all, on gender, casting doubt on the widely held view that job experiences more significantly influence men's mental health states than women's. The results are discussed in the context of differentiating between sex differences and gender differences.

clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01939197.

Differences in maternal characteristics only partially explain the lower birth weights of infants of African-American women. It is hypothesized that economic and social features of urban neighborhoods may further account for these differences. The authors conducted a household survey of 8,782 adults residing in 343 Chicago, Illinois, neighborhoods to assess mean levels of perceived social support and used US Census data to estimate neighborhood economic disadvantage. Data on birth weight and maternal risk factors were gathered from 95,711 birth certificates (1994-1996). Before statistical adjustment of the data, infants born to African-American mothers were found to be, on average, 297 g lighter than those born to White mothers. After adjustment for individual-level risk factors, this difference was reduced to 154 g. For African-American mothers only, mean birth weight decreased significantly as the neighborhood level of economic disadvantage increased. For White mothers only, a significant positive association was found between perceived levels of neighborhood social support and infant birth weight. Adding these neighborhood-level predictors to the model reduced the adjusted White versus African-American difference in birth weight to 124 g. Results support the hypothesis that neighborhood-level factors are significantly associated with infant birth weight.

Findings suggest that academic medicine does not support relatedness and a moral culture for many faculty. If these issues are not addressed, academic health centers may find themselves with dissatisfied faculty looking to go elsewhere.