PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G H Brody

Publications and source records attributed to G H Brody.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

African American single mothers and children in context: a review of studies on risk and resilience.

This paper presents a comprehensive review of research linking single-parent family structure to parenting processes, maternal well-being, and child developmental outcomes among African Americans. The approaches used to study these families, related methodological and conceptual concerns, and the factors linked to maternal well-being, effective parenting processes, family functioning, and child outcomes are addressed. Much work remains to be done on conceptualizing and assessing parenting processes among African Americans in general and single African American mothers in particular. Researchers must examine more carefully the circumstances that foster or impede successful parenting among these mothers. Studies also are needed to disentangle the interactions between economic stress and parenting behavior and to determine the extent to which the findings can be applied to middle-income single African American parents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Linking parenting processes and self-regulation to psychological functioning and alcohol use during early adolescence.

A longitudinal transactional model was tested linking parenting and youth self-regulation to youths' psychological functioning and alcohol-use behavior. Participants included one hundred twenty 12-year-olds, their mothers, and their fathers from whom three waves of data were collected at 1-year intervals. Teachers provided assessments of self-regulation, and parenting was assessed from multiple perspectives, including youth reports, parent reports, and observer ratings. Youths reported their psychological functioning and alcohol-use behavior. The data supported the model. Parenting and youth self-regulation were stable across time, and self-regulation was linked with changes in harsh-conflicted parenting from Wave 1 to Wave 2. Parenting at Wave 2 was associated with youth self-regulation. Youth self-regulation at Wave 2 mediated the paths from parenting practices at Wave 2 to youth psychological functioning and alcohol use at Wave 3.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2001

Attributions in marriage: examining the entailment model in dyadic context.

The entailment model of attributions is examined for the first time using a dyadic approach and longitudinal data. In a sample of 229 married partners with children, causal attributions were distinguished empirically from responsibility attributions and, consistent with the entailment model, the effect of causal attributions on conflict was mediated through attributions of responsibility. Only 1 path was influenced by spouse gender. Examination of cross-spouse effects revealed significant effects and provided a better fit than a model with no cross-spouse effects. The importance of including cross-spouse effects in attributional models is discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2000

Protection and vulnerability processes relevant for early onset of substance use: a test among African American children.

This research tested predictions from a self-regulation model of factors relevant for early onset of tobacco and alcohol use with a community sample of 889 African American children (mean age = 10.5 years). Criterion variables were peer substance use, willingness to use substances, and resistance efficacy (intention to refuse substance offers). Structural modeling indicated effects of temperament dimensions were mediated through self-control and risk-taking constructs, which were related to school involvement, life events, and perceived vulnerability to harmful effects of substances. Peer use was predicted by life events, poor self-control, and parent-child conflict; willingness was predicted by life events, risk taking, and (inversely) parental support; and resistance efficacy was predicted by perceived vulnerability and (inversely) poor self-control. Findings are discussed with reference to theoretical models of early protection and vulnerability processes.

Black or African American↗
PubMed2000

Fragile self-esteem in children and its associations with perceived patterns of parent-child communication.

We examined the extent to which 11- to 12-year-old children's (N = 174) self-esteem (SE) stability and level related to their perceptions of various aspects of parent-child communication. Compared to children with stable SE, children with unstable SE reported that their fathers were more critical and psychologically controlling, and less likely to acknowledge their positive behaviors or to show their approval in value-affirming ways. Likewise, children with low SE reported that their fathers exhibited these qualities to a greater extent than did children with high SE. In addition, fathers of children with stable high SE were viewed as especially good at problem solving. Children's SE level related to perceptions of mothers' communication styles very similarly to how it did with fathers'; with respect to SE stability, however, relationships were generally less consistent and frequently absent. Discussion centered on the role of parent-child communication in promoting unstable SE.

Child↗
PubMed1999

Parent-child relationships, child temperament profiles and children's alcohol use norms.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of child temperament, parents' alcohol use norms for their children and parent-child relationship quality to children's alcohol use norms. METHOD: Observational and self-report data on these variables were gathered from mothers, fathers and target children during home visits to a purposive random sample of 171 intact white families with a 10- to 12-year-old child, 85 with girls and 86 with boys. RESULTS: Liberality in children's norms was associated with active, sensation-seeking temperament, liberality in parents' norms and poor parent-child relationship quality. Positive parent-child, particularly father-child, relationships were associated with less liberal child norms even when parents' norms were liberal and children's temperaments were active and sensation oriented. CONCLUSIONS: Positive parent-child relationships have a conventionalizing effect on children's alcohol use norms that moderates the effects of temperament and parental norms. The development of alcohol use norms is best described by transactional models.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1998

Sibling relationship quality: its causes and consequences.

Current work on children's individual characteristics and family processes that contribute to variation in sibling relationship quality is reviewed. Findings from these studies are summarized in a heuristic model that specifies hypothesized links among family processes, intrapersonal characteristics, and variations in sibling relationship quality. The model is designed to provide researchers with a host of hypotheses to test and refine in future studies. The contributions that sibling relationships may make to cognitive and psychosocial development are then reviewed, with a suggestion that sibling relationships comprised of a balance of both prosocial and conflicted interactions create experiences that are most likely to nurture children's social, cognitive, and psychosocial development.

Child↗
PubMed1998

Maternal resources, parenting practices, and child competence in rural, single-parent African American families.

A family process model was tested that linked maternal education, maternal religiosity, and the adequacy of family financial resources to cognitive and psychosocial competence in the mothers' children. The sample included 156 6- to 9-year-old African American children living in single-mother-headed households in rural areas, 82% of whom lived in poverty. The distal variables of maternal education, maternal religiosity, and adequacy of financial resources were linked with the proximal variables of "no nonsense" parenting, mother-child relationship quality, and maternal involvement in the child's school activities. The proximal variables were, in turn, indirectly linked with children's cognitive competence, social competence, and internalizing problems through their association with the children's development of self-regulation.

Achievement↗
PubMed1997

Maternal psychological functioning, family processes, and child adjustment in rural, single-parent, African American families.

A family process model was tested, linking adequacy of family financial resources to academic and psychosocial adjustment among 156 African American 6- to 9-year-old children with single mothers who lived in the rural South. Seventy five percent of the sample lived in poverty. Lack of adequate financial resources was associated with more depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem among mothers. Self-esteem was linked with family routines and mother-child relationship quality. The paths from mother-child relationship quality and family routines to child academic and psychosocial adjustment were mediated by the development of child self-regulation. An alternative partially mediated model improved the fit of the data for families with boys.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1997

Hemophilia and AIDS in married men: functioning of family members. Hemophilia PAC Project.

Aspects of functioning in families of 137 hemophilic men who, in 50% of cases, were also HIV seropositive were examined in terms of psychological and physical functioning and economic pressure. Results indicated that HIV-seropositive status, but not severity of hemophilia, was associated with poorer psychological and physical functioning of the husband, a poorer mother-child relationship, less support from outside the family for both spouses, and greater economic pressure on the family.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1996

Parent-child relationships, family problems-solving behavior, and sibling relationship quality: the moderating role of sibling temperaments.

In this study we sought to determine whether sibling temperaments moderated the associations of parent-child relationship quality and family problem-solving behavior with sibling relationship quality. Observational assessments of mother-child and father-child relationship quality, family problem-solving behavior, and sibling relationship quality were obtained from the families of 49 pairs of brothers and 46 pairs of sisters. Mean ages were 10-2 for older siblings and 7-6 for younger siblings. Parent-reported child temperament assessments were also obtained. The links among mother-older child relationship quality, father-older child relationship quality, and sibling relationship quality were moderated by the older sibling's temperament. The younger and older siblings' temperaments moderated the associations between the quality of the father-younger sibling and sibling relationships. The association between family problem-solving behavior and sibling relationship quality was not moderated by sibling temperaments.

Child↗
PubMed1994

Forecasting sibling relationships in early adolescence from child temperaments and family processes in middle childhood.

We developed a model to account for variation in the quality of sibling relationships across a 4-year span from middle childhood to early adolescence. We tested this model on a sample of 71 families, in which older siblings' ages ranged from 6 to 11 years, and those of younger siblings ranged from 4 to 9 years. We also assessed continuity and discontinuity over time in sibling relationship quality. The descriptive analyses revealed an increase of negative sibling relationship qualities and a decrease in positive qualities. The hypothesized paths involving children's temperaments, interparental conflict, positivity in parent-child relationships, and differential negativity in parent-sibling relationships were supported, accounting for 27% to 34% of the variation in sibling relationship quality.

Child↗
PubMed1994

Financial resources, parent psychological functioning, parent co-caregiving, and early adolescent competence in rural two-parent African-American families.

We proposed a family process model that links family financial resources to academic competence and socioemotional adjustment during early adolescence. The sample included 90 9-12-year old African-American youths and their married parents who lived in the rural South. The theoretical constructs in the model were measured via a multimethod, multi-informant design. Rural African-American community members participated in the development of the self-report instruments and observational research methods. The results largely supported the hypotheses. Lack of family financial resources led to greater depression and less optimism in mothers and fathers, which in turn were linked with co-caregiving support and conflict. The associations among the co-caregiving processes and youth academic and socioemotional competence were mediated by the development of youth self-regulations. Disruptions in parental co-caregiving interfered with the development of self-regulation. This interference negatively influenced youths' academic competence and socioemotional adjustment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Prospective associations among family form, family processes, and adolescents' alcohol and drug use.

The present study was designed to disentangle and define the unique contributions of family form and family processes to substance use and association with deviant peers among adolescents. Eighty adolescents and their mothers participated in the study; half were from divorced single-parent families and half were from families in which the parents were still married. Maternal assessments of interparental conflict and the quality of the mother-adolescent relationship were used to prospectively forecast adolescent reports of substance use and affiliation with deviant peers one year later. The results revealed that mother-adolescent conflict predicted adolescent alcohol use, and maternal acceptance-rejection predicted both drug use and affiliation with deviant peers. These findings support the hypothesis that family processes rather than family form forecast adolescents' substance use and deviant peer affiliation. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Sibling temperaments, conflict, warmth, and role asymmetry.

The association between sibling temperament combinations (activity and adaptability) and qualitative aspects of the sibling relationship were examined, including in-home observations of sibling positivity/warmth, negativity/conflict, social engagement, and role asymmetry and older sibling perceptions of warmth/closeness, conflict, and status/power. The sample consisted of 67 same-gender, school-aged sibling pairs. Highest levels of negativity/conflict occurred when both siblings were high in activity and when the older sibling was rated as more active than the younger. Conflict was lowest when both siblings were low in activity. Warmth/positivity was greatest when both children were similar in activity level. Siblings were more socially engaged when the older sibling was more adaptable than the younger. Perceived status/power was greatest when younger siblings were low in adaptability. When between-temperament-dimension relationships were examined, observed conflict was greatest when older siblings were high in activity and younger siblings were nonadaptable. Gender and age-related findings are also reported. Findings highlight the importance of identifying the complex ways in which varying dimensions of sibling temperaments combine to influence specific aspects of the sibling relationship.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Contemporaneous and longitudinal associations of sibling conflict with family relationship assessments and family discussions about sibling problems.

The first purpose of this study was to examine contemporaneous and longitudinal associations of maternal and paternal measures of family functioning with observational and self-report assessments of sibling conflict. The second purpose was to determine whether the ways in which families attempt to solve siblings' problems are associated with contemporaneous and longitudinal assessment of sibling conflict. The results indicate that paternal equality of treatment and family harmony during family discussions about sibling problems, as well as parents' perceptions of family cohesiveness, are associated with lower sibling conflict levels.

Adolescent↗