The current study examined the relationship between the family environment and symptoms and functioning over time in a group of adolescents and young adults at clinical high risk for psychosis (N = 63). The current study compared the ability of interview-based versus self-report ratings of the family environment to predict the severity of prodromal symptoms and functioning over time. The family environmental factors were measured by interviewer ratings of the Camberwell Family Interview (CFI), self-report questionnaires surveying the patient's perceptions of criticism and warmth, and parent reported perceptions of their own level of criticism and warmth. Patients living in a critical family environment, as measured by the CFI at baseline, exhibited significantly worse positive symptoms at 6-month follow-up, relative to patients living in a low-key family environment. In terms of protective effects, warmth and an optimal level of family involvement interacted such that the two jointly predicted improved functioning at 6-month follow-up. Overall, both interview-based and self-report ratings of the family environment were predictive of symptoms and functioning at follow-up; however patient's self-report ratings of criticism had stronger predictive power. These results suggest that the family environment should be a specific target of treatment for individuals at risk for psychosis.
Although increasing the numbers of women and minority faculty in academia is a widely held goal, their numbers remain small. The presence of women and minorities decreases disproportionately at each ascending rung of the academic ladder. This investigation identified factors potentially contributing to attrition in White and non-White women at a critical stage in their careers: as doctoral candidates and recent graduates. Two-hundred and twenty-four women in the life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities described their most pressing professional and personal concerns and offered suggestions for changes in their fields and in academia more generally. Independent raters coded responses by thematic content. Differences in responses by field, educational status, and minority status were examined. The most frequently cited concerns involved practical issues such as finding employment, financial stability, and developing professional expertise, revealing wide-
This study examines relations between early adolescent girls' well-being, achievement, and emerging identities. Variable-centered results showed that girls' moral and student identities were the strongest predictors of their achievement, whereas their moral, student, physical, and peer identities predicted their well-being. Person-centered results delineated four subgroups of girls based on their profiles of well being and achievement. The largest group of girls (46%) was characterized by well being and positive school achievement and had balanced adult-and peer-oriented identities. The second largest group (35%), characterized by emotional distress and average school achievement, had positive student and negative physical and peer identity representations. The third group (12%), characterized by emotional distress and poor school achievement, reported pervasive negative representations. The final group (7%), characterized by well being and poor achievement, did not consider themselves good students but did see themselves as physically
The notion that nonparent social support buffers the impact of parent depressive symptoms and substance use on adolescent depressive symptoms was tested in 142 Mexican American and 148 European American families with 12- through 15-year-old adolescents. Parent risk factors and adolescent nonparent adult social support were measured at baseline; adolescent symptoms were measured 1 year later. Analyses revealed significant interactions between social support, gender, ethnicity, and paternal depressive symptoms and substance use. Greater social support related to fewer depressive symptoms at follow-up. Mexican American girls benefited from more social support when fathers had lower depression and substance use scores; European American girls benefited from more social support when fathers had higher depression and substance use scores. No interaction effects emerged for boys or for mother depression and substance use. Variations based on gender, ethnicity, and parent risk factors suggest that nonparent social support might be different for girls and boys from diverse environments.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.