No description available.

The present study examined the relationship between marital conflict, parenting conflict and emotional and behavioural problems in children aged 2 to 16 years. Additionally the psychometric properties of the Parent Problem Checklist (PPC; Dadds & Powell, 1991) were examined in sample of 200 parents sharing the role of parenting. The purpose of the present study was threefold: (1) to gain a measure of parenting conflict and children’s behavioural and emotional problems in a non-clinic referred community sample, (2) to examine the individual contribution of conflict specific to child-rearing to the prediction of child problems, and (3) to further validate the psychometric properties and examine the factor structure of the Parent Problem Checklist (PPC; Dadds & Powell, 1991). Findings support the hypothesis that parenting conflict influences children’s outcomes more than either general marital conflict or marital satisfaction. Analyses of the PPC show evidence of strong reliability and validity for the measure and factor analysis provided support for a two-factor structure. Implications for clinical practice and understanding the role of parenting conflict in the development of child difficulty are discussed.

This thesis integrated the cognitive-contextual model of Grych and Fincham (1990) and the emotional security framework of Davies and Cummings (1994; Cummings & Davies, 1996) to investigate the role played by children's threat perceptions in the relationship between interparental conflict and child adjustment. Past research has emphasised the importance of children's appraisals of the threat posed by parent conflict for understanding links between interparental conflict and child outcomes. However, little is known about what it is that children actually find threatening about parent conflict, and what contributes to children's appraisals of threat in the context of parent conflict. In study 1, children (n = 236) aged 10 to 16 years were recruited to examine the relative contribution of four specific threat subtypes - fear of parent conflict escalating, fear of being drawn into parent conflict, fear of parent conflict resulting in family breakdown, and fear of parent conflict disrupting attachment relationships with parents - in explaining links between interparental conflict and child adjustment. Results showed that boys' fear of being drawn into parent conflict mediated the relationship between conflict severity and child internalising problems, while for girls it was a fear of parent conflict disrupting attachment relationships with parents that mediated this relationship. Threat was not found to mediate relationships between interparental conflict and child externalising problems. In study 2, families (n = 57) were recruited to investigate how aspects of parent conflict, and characteristics of the context in which the conflict occurs, shapes children's appraisals of the four specific threat subtypes in response to interparental conflict. The study adopted broader measures, including independent observations, of conflict, context, and child adjustment to further delineate the pathways linking interparental conflict, specific threat appraisals, and child adjustment. Results indicated that children perceived greater threat in the context of destructive parent conflict resolution behaviour, and lower threat in the context of positive family relationships (particularly the mother/child relationship). Specific aspects of conflict and context were differentially related to the four threat appraisals. Direct, gender-specific relationships were found between aspects of parent conflict resolution behaviour and family relationship security, and child outcomes. However, once these relationships were accounted for, specific threat perceptions were not found to predict child outcomes. Overall, the findings of this study suggested that positive parent/child relationships (in particular the mother/child relationship) modulated the stressfulness of parent conflict for children, making it more benign in terms of its impact on children's threat appraisals, and their longer-term adjustment in the context of conflict. Results of the thesis are discussed in terms of the importance of studying relationships between specific aspects of conflict, context, appraisals, and adjustment to further understand those situations in which children find interparental conflict stressful, and those in which they cope adaptively with interparental conflict.

No description available.

Eftersom fertiliteten i många utvecklade länder har gått ned är det intressant att studera orsakerna bakom detta. Om inte orsakerna bara ligger i de socioekonomiska förhållandena, vilka diskuteras mest, var kan de då sökas? Denna studie använder enkätdata med avsikt att belysa om attityder till att skaffa barn påverkas av vilka familjeförhållanden man själv växt upp under samt själv upplever under vuxet liv. Synsättet bygger på idén att det finns effekter som påverkar tänkandet genom socialisering, från en generation till en annan. Genom analys av data från undersökningen YAPS studeras om det finns några empiriska samband mellan stabilitet i familjens sammansättning under uppväxten, attityder till att leva i parförhållande och attityder till att skaffa barn. Uppsatsen använder sig av regressionsanalys för att undersöka eventuella statistiskt belagda samband. Då resultaten inte visar upp något samband med uppväxtvillkoren så undersöks även ekonomiska villkor då dessa ingått som bakgrundsdata i analysen. Resultatet pekar på samband mellan synen på barn och synen på parförhållanden samt den ekonomiska situationen i familjen under uppväxten. Den attityd till barn som man uppger verkar också vara en könsfråga då kvinnor har en mer positiv syn på barn än män enligt denna studie.

Present research has offered few easy-to-administer, accurate, and psychometrically-tested screening tools. Additionally, a gap exists in peer-reviewed literature concerning effective utilization of a family risk assessment instrument to determine the appropriate services for families involved in high-conflict custody cases. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if the Child Risk Index for Divorced or Separating families (CRI-DS) can be used as an effective family risk assessment tool to identify specific family needs and refer families to relevant court-related family triage services and programs. This study was grounded by Kellam and Van Horn's life course/social field theory. This study was supported by archival data. Correlation and regression analyses of 5 research questions addressing the relationships between family risk, court use, and related court services. Correlation results indicated both gender and marital status were significantly associated with an elevated pretest CRI-DS score and likewise conflict intensity also tended to increase. Study findings were consistent with previous findings that stress of divorce and separation was exacerbated by parental conflict and impacted the core relationships within the family; having long-term negative effects on the psychological well-being of the children involved. Using the CRI-DS as a triage instrument can facilitate the determination of which interventive services may be implemented for at-risk youth of high-conflict families, therefore promoting positive social change through the potential to improve the lives of at-risk youth and their families.

Genomic imprinting is responsible for monoallelic gene expression that depends on the sex of the parent from which the alleles (one active, one silent) were inherited. X-chromosome inactivation is also a form of monoallelic gene expression. One of the two X chromosomes is transcriptionally silenced in the somatic cells of females, effectively equalising gene dosage with males who have only one X chromosome that is not complemented by a gene poor Y chromosome. X chromosome inactivation is random in eutherian mammals, but imprinted in marsupials, and in the extraembryonic membranes of some placentals. Imprinting and X inactivation have been studied in great detail in placental mammals (particularly humans and mice), and appear to occur also in marsupial mammals. However, both phenomena appear to have evolved specifically in mammals, since there is no evidence of imprinting or X inactivation in non-mammalian vertebrates, which do not show parent of origin effects and possess different sex chromosomes and dosage compensation mechanisms to mammals.¶ In order to understand how imprinting and X inactivation evolved, I have focused on the mammals most distantly related to human and mouse. I compared the sequence, location and expression of genes from major imprinted domains, and genes that regulate genomic imprinting and X-chromosome inactivation in the three extant mammalian groups and other vertebrates. Specifically, I studied the evolution of an autosomal region that is imprinted in humans and mouse, the evolution of the X-linked region thought to control X inactivation, and the evolution of the genes thought to establish and control differential expression of various imprinted loci. This thesis is presented as a collection of research papers that examines each of these topics, and a review and discussion that synthesizes my findings.¶ The first paper reports a study of the imprinted locus responsible for the human Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes (PWS and AS). A search for kangaroo and platypus orthologues of PWS-AS genes identified only the putative AS gene UBE3A, and showed it was in a completely different genomic context to that of humans and mice. The only PWS gene found in marsupials (SNRPN) was located in tandem with its ancient paralogue SNRPB, on a different chromosome to UBE3A. Monotremes apparently have no orthologue of SNRPN. The several intronless genes of the PWS-AS domain also have no orthologues in marsupials or monotremes or non-mammal vertebrates, but all have close paralogues scattered about the genome from which they evidently retrotransposed. UBE3A in marsupials and monotremes, and SNRPN in marsupials were found to be expressed from both alleles, so are not imprinted. Thus, the PWA-AS imprinted domain was assembled from many non-imprinted components relatively recently, demonstrating that the evolution of imprinting has been an ongoing process during mammalian radiation.¶ In the second paper, I examine the evolution of the X-inactivation centre, the key regulatory region responsible for X-chromosome inactivation in humans and mice, which is imprinted in mouse extraembryonic membranes. By sequencing and aligning flanking regions across the three mammal groups and non-mammal vertebrates, I discovered that the region homologous to the X-inactivation centre, though intact in birds and frogs, was disrupted independently in marsupial and monotreme mammals. I showed that the key regulatory RNA of this locus (X-inactive specific transcript or XIST) is absent, explaining why a decade-long search for marsupial XIST was unsuccessful. Thus, XIST is eutherian-specific and is therefore not a basic requirement for X-chromosome inactivation in all mammals.¶ The broader significance of the findings reported in these two papers is explored with respect to other current work regarding the evolution and construction of imprinted loci in mammals in the form of a review. This comparison enabled me to conclude that like the PWS-AS domain and the X-inactivation centre, many domains show unexpected construction from disparate genomic elements that correlate with their acquisition of imprinting.¶ The fourth and last paper examines the evolution of CCCTC-binding Factor (CTCF) and its parologue Brother Of Regulator of Imprinted Sites (BORIS) which contribute to the establishment and interpretation of genomic imprinting at the Insulin-Like Growth Factor 2/H19 locus. In this paper I show that the duplication of CTCF giving rise to BORIS occurred much earlier than previously recognised, and demonstrate that a major change in BORIS expression (restriction to the germline) occurred in concert with the evolution of genomic imprinting. The papers that form the bulk of this thesis show that the evolution of epigenetic traits such as genomic imprinting and X-chromosome inactivation is labile and has apparently responded rapidly to different selective pressures during the independent evolution of the three mammal groups. I have introduced these papers, and discussed them generally in terms of current theories of how and why these forms of monoallelic expression have evolved in mammals.

The role of child optimism as a mediator and moderator in the relationship between interparental conflict and child adjustment was examined for 36 children between the ages of 9 and 12 years who resided in a two adult home. Child participants completed self-report measures of dispositional and attributional optimism, as well as a self-report measure of interparental conflict. Mothers of child participants completed measures of child internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Multiple regression analyses found that dispositional optimism mediated the relationship between interparental conflict and both child internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Attributional optimism was found to mediate the relationship between interparental conflict and child internalizing symptoms. No significant moderating effects of optimism were found. The relationships between optimism and child appraisals of threat and self-blame related to interparental conflict were examined using correlations. Both dispositional and attributional optimism were significantly negatively related to child appraisals of threat and self-blame regarding interparental conflict. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to explore the link between exposure to domestic violence (DV) and the presence of symptoms of anxiety in a population of justice-involved juveniles. The categories of DV were broken down into verbal abuse and physical abuse, along with a third category of juveniles that witnessed both forms of abuse within their households. This study compared the prevalence of anxiety in juveniles when faced with the different instances of DV through the use of data collected from a longitudinal study conducted by the Pathways to Desistance Project. The goal of the study was to further understand how the witnessing of specific forms of DV may result in a higher rate of symptoms of anxiety displayed within juveniles. This study will allow for professionals to better identify sources of anxiety and trends found in juvenile offenders exhibiting such internalized behavior, which may have been as a result of witnessing DV in their pasts. This study may lead to better handling and identification of anxiety disorders and symptoms in children and act as a red flag for potential domestic abuse in the child's household. This study may also allow for a higher likelihood of assistance given to children at a young age in order to prevent the development of behaviors they witness within the household and may reflect in the future.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur familjebehandlare upplever sitt arbete med familjer där det förekommer föräldrakonflikter. Genom att applicering av KASAM syftade även uppsatsen till att öka kunskapen kring familjebehandlares upplevelser av påfrestningar och hur dessa hanteras. Studiens frågeställningar är: Vilka utmaningar och känslor upplever familjebehandlarna i arbetet med familjer där det förekommer föräldrakonflikter? och Hur hanterar familjebehandlarna upplevda utmaningar och känslor i sitt arbete? För att besvara frågeställningarna har semistrukturerade intervjuer med familjebehandlare genomförts. Det teoretiska ramverket utgörs av KASAM av Aaron Antonovsky. Empirin har analyserats med tematisk analys. Resultatet visade upplevelser av organisatoriska utmaningar såväl som utmaningar i arbetet med föräldrar. Organisatoriska utmaningarna rör främst tidspress men också bristande samverkan mellan insats och myndighet. Resultatet visade att utmaningar som familjebehandlare upplever i arbetet med föräldrar främst rör sig om när föräldrar upplevs sakna insikt i sin problematik samt när konflikter mellan föräldrar är så pass ingrodda att det påverkar behandlingens effektivitet. Resultatet visade även att de känslor som familjebehandlare upplevde i arbetet med familjer där det förekommer föräldrakonflikter uppkom i samband med upplevda utmaningar. Den vanligaste känslan som informanterna tog upp var frustration. Informanterna beskrev också en kombination av ilska, irritation och sorg. Kopplat till studiens andra frågeställning visade resultatet att vanliga strategier är kollegial handledning, distansering, acceptans och öppenhet. Studiens bidrag var att ge ökad kunskap gällande vad som kan skapa påfrestningar och stressorer i familjebehandlande arbete. Denna kunskap är viktig för att motverka utmattning och tung arbetsbelastning. Slutsatsen som kunde dras av studien var att en trygg arbetsgrupp ger bättre förutsättningar för att klara av påfrestningar i arbetet. Framtida forskning bör undersöka kartläggning av samverkan mellan insatssidan och myndighetssidan då detta var något som resultatet visade var bristande. Vidare forskning behövs även kring personlighetsvariabler som kan påverka individens KASAM då studien valt att bortse från det.