PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Marcoen

Publications and source records attributed to A Marcoen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Relationships during adolescence: constructive vs. negative themes and relational dissatisfaction.

The present study set out to test Coleman's focal theory of adolescence in a cross-national context. The London Sentence Completion Test (LSCT) and the Louvain Loneliness Scale for Children and Adolescents (LLCA) were administered to 370 adolescents (11 to 17 years of age) in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. The findings confirm those of earlier work using the London Sentence Completion Test (LSCT) and other questionnaire-type measures in various English-speaking countries (England, Scotland, New Zealand and United States). The general pattern of peak ages for adolescents' interpersonal concerns provided support for the focal model. Negative feelings about being alone, relationships with parents, heterosexual relationships, small groups and rejection from larger groups do not emerge all at once, but seem to be dealt with issue by issue. The results for the Louvain Loneliness Scale for Children and Adolescents (LLCA), which measures loneliness in relationships with both parents and peers, and adolescents' attitudes towards being alone, confirmed the age trends observed with the sentence completion measure. Taken together, these findings strongly suggest that the changes in adolescent relationships are intimately linked to the general process of individuation, as implied by the focal model. It should be pointed out, however, that important parts of the focal theory remain at present untested. Suggestions for future empirical and conceptual work related to these aspects of Coleman's model are outlined.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

[Grandparents: their experience of the relationship with the oldest grand-child and their psychological well-being].

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the satisfaction with, perceived responsibilities in, and the meaning of the relationship with the oldest grandchild, on the one hand, and the level of psychological well-being measured with the six-dimensional scale of Ryff, on the other hand. Questionnaires came from 255 Flemish retired grandparents with a mean age of 64.6 years. The relationship with the oldest grandchild was generally experienced as positive. Nearly all the grandparents agreed with items about satisfaction drawn from the relationship with the grandchild, about feeling responsible for helping him or her and about experiencing oneself as a valued elder. In general, grandparents reported well-being on all six dimensions. The experience of the relationship with the grandchild was found to be a unique additional predictor of well-being, even when background variables as grandparent's age, subjective health, financial situation and marital status were first brought into the step-wise regression-analyses. These variables explained 5 to 8% of the variance in the dimensions of well-being and 7% of the variance in the total well-being. The experience of the relationship with the oldest grandchild explained an additional 6 to 7% of the variance.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

[The parental maturity of elderly dependent parents. Contributions to a contextual definition].

This paper focuses on the conceptual exploration of the concept of parental maturity which has been introduced along with the concept of filial maturity to describe the dynamic optimal states of caring and being cared for in adult children and their dependent elderly parents. A review of the literature shows that the development of the concept, contrary to the concept of filial maturity, has hardly started. The concept refers to attitudes and conducts through which adults produce and educate their children in an optimal way, and continually support them in the accomplishment of their developmental tasks and roles when they are adults themselves. From this broad perspective parental maturity, or maturity in the parental role, is the dynamic capacity of an adult individual to engage oneself in an enduring way in the relationship with one's children and to accomplish the corresponding developmental tasks in an adequate and successful way. With a view to the improvement of the theoretical and clinical usefulness of the construct we introduce an elaborated conceptualization which is specific for elderly parents confronted with their impairment. The following is considered to be the core of the contextual definition: an enduring engagement in the intergenerational relationship with one's adult children in an empathetic and responsive way, with respect for the children's needs, limitations, abilities and autonomy, without degenerating into submission and loss of autonomy, which would be a (pathological) state of role reversal; the elderly guards his or her own continuing contribution to the intergenerational relationship. Based on these (general) mature parental attitudes a frail elderly parent would be able to endorse the filial responsibility of his or her middle-aged children. He or she is willing and able to ask for the help needed, in an uncompelling way. Furthermore, the frail elderly parent will receive the filial caregiving with some proper sensitive responsivity as well as accept what the children cannot give or do. Then, we shortly discuss how we want to operationalize parental maturity, with a view to empirical research, by means of the measurement of a complex of parental attitudes. Finally, we give some considerations regarding the historical-sociological context in which the phenomenon occurs.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Five-year-olds' behaviorally presented self-esteem: relations to self-perceptions and stability across a three-year period.

In this study (a) the connection between 5-year-olds' behaviorally presented self-esteem and their domain-specific self-perceptions and (b) the stability in behaviorally presented self-esteem across a 3-year period (between age 5 and age 8) were examined. The behavioral manifestations of self-esteem were rated by the children's teachers using the Behavioral Rating Scale of Presented Self-Esteem in Young Children (J. Haltiwanger & S. Harter, 1988). The children's domain-specific self-perceptions were assessed by the Pictorial Scale for Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance (S. Harter & R. Pike, 1984). Ninety-five 5-year-olds (50 boys and 45 girls) and their teachers participated. Follow-up data on behavioral self-esteem were available for 55 of the children (30 boys and 25 girls). The results showed, first, that 5-year-olds' presented self-esteem as rated by their teachers was positively and significantly related to the children's perceptions of competence, but not to their perceptions of social acceptance. Second, a high degree of stability in presented self-esteem was found between age 5 and age 8. Some implications of these results for educational practice are discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1998

[Filial maturity. A view of developmental psychology on the relations between adult children and their weak aged parents].

With this article we would like to contribute to the elaboration and clarification of the concept of filial maturity. We first roughly outline how the concept has been used during the past 30 years to describe the nature and quality of the adult child-parent relationship. The concept is analysed in more detail. We argue that filial maturity can be placed in a developmental psychological perspective. This means that it has to be conceived as a specific maturity in the filial role and that some arguments can be given to explain the developmental psychological character of the concept. In view of the theoretical and clinical applicability of the construct we prefer to consider filial maturity as a non-age-graded developmental task within the context of filial care of adult children for their aged parents. Within this context of parent care we propose a (new) definition of the concept and differentiate it from other related constructs. Our definition highlights three important dimensions which refer to the way the adult children engage in the relationship with their parents: (a) they behave in an empathetic and responsive way in the intergenerational relationship, without role-reversal, (b) they take care of their aged parents without loosing their own autonomy, and (c) they respect their parents in their autonomy and enduring parental role.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

[Medical students' image of the elderly and the effect of medical education: a literature review].

In American studies in the sixties and seventies caregivers, including physicians, showed a negative attitude towards the elderly. There are indications that such a negative attitude affects the quality of care and the communication with the elderly. Based on predominantly American literature this article reviews research on medical students' knowledge about and attitudes towards older people as well as the impact of geriatric training on the image of older patients and physician-patient communication. In medical students who did not receive a geriatric training, attitudes improved in the eighties and nineties up till a slightly positive level but general gerontological knowledge displayed as many shortcomings as in former days. A few studies show that instructional modules in geriatrics do not have an impact on the attitude towards the elderly. Several studies show that contact with aged persons has a positive influence. Rather than geriatric residency or work in a nursing home, contact with healthy elderly has favourable effects. Attitude improvement based on interactions with older people is maintained during medical education. A program in gerontology as well as geriatric instructional modules can lead to knowledge improvement. Since significantly positive correlations between knowledge and attitude are sometimes demonstrated, increasing gerontological knowledge may lead to more positive attitudes.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

On the mechanisms of plasticity in young and older adults after instruction in the method of loci: evidence for an amplification model.

A meta-analytic review of the literature points out that young adults benefit more from instruction in mnemonic techniques than do older adults. In a study on memory plasticity after instruction in the method of loci, it was found that the cognitive mechanisms of plasticity in young and older adults are largely identical, with the age-related variables of speed of mental operations, associative memory, and number of list rehearsals as the core influences on plasticity. The data fit an amplification model of plasticity, in which variables positively associated with pretest performance and negatively associated with age are positively related to plasticity. Also, older adults were found to comply less with instructions, and when complying, to apply the method of loci correctly less often. Noncompliance, incorrect strategy use, and amplification might explain the adult age differences in treatment gain after instruction in a mnemonic technique.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

[Personal meaning in the elderly: sources of meaning, welfare, coping and attitude to death].

There are many different ways to experience one's life and aging as meaningful. The present study looks for different patterns of personal meaning in the elderly. Respondents were 376 older adults (221 women and 155 men), their mean age was 65.9 years. They completed several standardized questionnaires including measures of sources of meaning (SOMP), ultimate meaning (PMI), life satisfaction (LSIA), depression (SRDS), anxiety (STAI), coping orientations (COAP), and death attitudes (DAP-R). A cluster analysis performed on the sources of meaning revealed three groups each with a different pattern of meaning. The smallest group I (n=23) found most meaning in values that indicate self-preoccupation. Self-transcendent sources of meaning were on the top of the hierarchy of values of the second group II (n=123). The third and largest group III (n=230) valued self-transcendent sources of meaning as well as sources of meaning that indicate self-realisation. The three clusters also differed with regard to ultimate meaning (group I having the highest and group III the lowest score), well-being (group I reporting more depressive feelings and more feelings of anxiety than group II and group III), coping with aging (group III reporting most instrumental coping), and death attitude (group II having the most positive attitude).

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

The internal working model of the self, attachment, and competence in five-year-olds.

The present studies examine some of the correlates of the self in the lives of young children. In Study 1, the connection is tested between young children's internal working model of self and their competence, social acceptance, behavioral adjustment, and behavioral manifestations of self-esteem. Ninety-five kindergartners aged between 51 and 76 months (Mage = 5 years, 3 months) participated in the study. An adapted version of the Puppet Interview was used to assess the representation of self. Affective quality (positiveness) of self and openness to admit imperfections were rated independently. Results show significant and positive relations of the positiveness of self with competence and social acceptance, with behavioral adjustment to school, and with behavioral manifestations of self-esteem, all rated by the teacher. In Study 2, Bowlby's assumption was tested that the working model of self is closely intertwined with the working model of attachment to mother. Subjects were 50 children aged between 55 months and 75 months (Mage = 5 years, 5 months). The working model of child-mother attachment was assessed through an Attachment Story Completion Task. The working model of self was measured via the Puppet Interview. Results show a positive and strong connection between the security of the child-mother attachment representation and the positiveness of self. The results of the two studies contribute to the validation of the adapted Puppet Interview. The Puppet Interview seems to be a promising instrument for assessing the representation of self in young children.

Child↗
PubMed1995

The meaning of grandparents as viewed by adolescent grandchildren: an empirical study in Belgium.

Why do adolescents value their grandparents? This was the leading question of an investigation among 563 adolescents and young adults in Flanders (Belgium). The Grandparent Meaning Scale which probes eleven a priori dimensions of meaning, was completed by 147 early adolescents (M = 12.5 years), 175 middle adolescents (M = 15.7 years), and 241 late adolescents (M = 18.9 years). Results show that adolescents generally find their grandparents important and feel close to them. Grandparents are valued primarily because they provide affection, reassurance of worth, and reliable alliance. Relational-affective and caregiving meanings were assigned more often to grandmothers whereas advising, teaching, and narrative roles were ascribed more frequently to grandfathers. Maternal grandparents were generally perceived as more important and closer than paternal grandparents. Early adolescents assigned more importance and meaning to their grandparents than middle and late adolescents. There were no differences between grandsons and granddaughters.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Memory aging as a general phenomenon: episodic recall of older adults is a function of episodic recall of young adults.

The focus of this study was on the relationship between young and older adults' performance on tasks of deliberate recall from episodic memory. A meta-analysis on 91 relevant studies (comprising a total of 154 conditions) was conducted. It was found that 83% of the variance in older adults' recall probability was accounted for by a quadratic function using young adults' recall probabilities as predictors. No significant interaction with age of older adults was found. Interaction with task type was, however, significant, resulting in separate functions for list recall, prose recall, and paired-associate recall. The results point at the importance of the main effect of age in studies on memory aging.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Facts and fiction about memory aging: a quantitative integration of research findings.

A meta-analytic literature review on adult age differences in speed of search in short-term memory (12 studies), memory span (40 studies), list recall (68 studies), paired-associate recall (21 studies), and prose recall (39 studies) is presented. Results show that age differences are quite large (depending on the task, elderly people can be situated between the 3rd and the 38th percentile of the adult age memory performance distribution) and quasi-omnipresent, even under conditions of cued recall or semantic task orientation. Evidence for age sensitivity is found for the process of categorization of lists, but not for semantic processing, association strategies, imagery, nor for extracting main points from prose material. The elderly population benefits more than the young from the possibility of reviewing lists or texts. Differences between young adults and old-old adults are larger than between young adults and the young-old for speed of search in short-term memory and prose recall only. In two out of the five tasks, lower education is reliably associated with larger age differences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

More or less the same? A memorability analysis on episodic memory tasks in young and older adults.

A relative memorability analysis was conducted on a young (19.5 years, n = 48) and an old (67.0 years, n = 45) age group, using 10 episodic memory tasks (four lists of words, four lists of paired associates, and two texts). Probability of recall of individual items (lists) or idea units (texts) by the older adults could be predicted from probability of recall for the corresponding items or idea units by the young adults, with a median correlation (corrected for test unreliability) of .88. It was found that the same item characteristics predicted recall probability of individual items or idea units in both age groups. For lists of words and texts, no differences were found in the slopes of the regression functions relating item characteristics to recall probability in the two age groups. For 3 of 4 lists of paired associates, the slopes for item characteristics significantly predicting recall probability were reliably larger for the older adults as compared with the young adults. It can be concluded that age differences in deliberate recall are to a large amount quantitative, and not qualitative, in nature.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[Significance of grandparents for young-adult grandchildren].

Do young adult grandchildren find their grandparents important? What are the meanings that grandparents seem to have for these grandchildren? Those were the leading questions in the present study. Subjects were 239 university students (mean age: 19.5 years). They completed the Grandparents Meaning Scale, a recently developed 82-item instrument which probes for 11 a priori dimensions of meaning of grandparents for grandchildren: (I) Reliable alliance, (2) Affection and emotional support, (3) Reassurance of worth, (4) Practical and financial support, (5) Link with the past, (6) Acquaintance with aging, (7) Mentor and role-model, (8) Kinkeeper, (9) Mediator between children and parents, (10) Substitute caregiver, and (11) Distant figure. Subjects rated the importance and meaning of 222 grandmothers and 159 grandfathers. The results confirmed earlier findings. Young adult grandchildren generally found their grandparents important. Grandparents were valued because they provide their grandchildren with reassurance of worth and emotional support, and link their lives to the historical past. Grandmothers received higher scores than grandfathers on seven scales (1-4, 8-10). Grandfathers had higher scores on just two of the scales (5 and 11). Gender differences emerged with regard to the ratings of the grandmothers only. Girls had higher scores than boys on eight scales (1-3, 5, 7-10) and boys had a higher score on just one scale (11).

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Improving memory performance in the aged through mnemonic training: a meta-analytic study.

The effectiveness of memory training for the elderly was examined through a meta-analysis of pre-to-posttest gains on episodic memory tasks in healthy subjects aged 60 or above. Pre-to-posttest gains were found to be significantly larger in training groups (0.73 SD, k = 49) than in both control (0.38 SD, k = 10) and placebo (0.37 SD, k = 8) groups. Treatment gains in training groups were negatively affected by age of participants and duration of training sessions and positively affected by group treatment, pretraining, and memory-related interventions. No differences in treatment gain were obtained as a function of type of mnemonic taught nor the kind of pretraining used.

Aged↗