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Biomedical subjects

M A Rueter

Publications and source records attributed to M A Rueter.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

The effect of systematic variation in retrospective conduct disorder reports on antisocial personality disorder diagnoses.

A diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) requires a conduct disorder (CD) diagnosis. A CD diagnosis is often obtained retrospectively. This study tested the influence of current behavior on CD recall and the association between recent behavior change and inconsistencies in contemporaneous and retrospective CD reports. Five hundred young adults reported ASPD; retrospective CD; current problem behavior; and, at ages 12 to 15 years, contemporaneous CD. True-positive, true-negative, false-positive, and false-negative CD and ASPD groups were identified. The results supported the hypotheses. Participants whose current behavior agreed with past behavior provided reliable retrospective CD reports. Inaccurate diagnoses occurred among participants whose current behavior was inconsistent with past behavior, either becoming more problematic (CD and ASPD false positives) or less problematic (CD and ASPD false negatives) over time.

Adolescent↗

First onset of depressive or anxiety disorders predicted by the longitudinal course of internalizing symptoms and parent-adolescent disagreements.

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence indicates that anxiety and depressive disorder onset may involve a prodromal buildup of symptoms. Also, stressful life events may precipitate gradual symptom increase, leading to the development of full-blown disorders. This study used prospective longitudinal data to examine the theory that, over time, stressful events, such as parent-adolescent disagreements, influence the longitudinal course of adolescents' internalizing symptoms, which in turn predict first onset of a depressive or anxiety disorder. METHODS: A community sample of 303 families with an adolescent aged 12 or 13 years in year 1 provided repeated measures of parent-adolescent disagreements and adolescents' internalizing symptoms over 3 and 4 years, respectively. At age 19 or 20 years, the adolescents were assessed for anxiety and depressive disorders using structured interviews based on DSM-III-R criteria. The hypothesized associations were estimated using latent growth curve modeling procedures. RESULTS: Year 1 parent-adolescent disagreements predicted year 1 adolescents' internalizing symptoms, and changes in disagreements from year 1 to year 3 predicted changes in internalizing symptoms from year 1 to year 4. Both the year 1 level and changes in symptoms predicted internalizing disorder onset in years 4 through 7, and both the year 1 level and changes in disagreements indirectly predicted disorder onset. CONCLUSIONS: Among adolescents, persistent or escalating stressful events, such as disagreements with parents, indirectly increase the risk for internalizing disorder onset through their direct association with high or increasing symptom levels. Chronically high or increasing symptom levels directly increase risk for internalizing disorder.

Adolescent↗

Couple resilience to economic pressure.

Over 400 married couples participated in a 3-year prospective study of economic pressure and marital relations. The research (a) empirically evaluated the family stress model of economic stress influences on marital distress and (b) extended the model to include specific interactional characteristics of spouses hypothesized to protect against economic pressure. Findings provided support for the basic mediational model, which proposes that economic pressure increases risk for emotional distress, which, in turn, increases risk for marital conflict and subsequent marital distress. Regarding resilience to economic stress, high marital support reduced the association between economic pressure and emotional distress. In addition, effective couple problem solving reduced the adverse influence of marital conflict on marital distress. Overall, the findings provided substantial support for the extended family stress model.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Reciprocal influences between parenting and adolescent problem-solving behavior.

This investigation evaluated the hypothesis that the development of either effective or disruptive adolescent problem-solving behavior is reciprocally associated with the child-rearing strategies of parents. Longitudinal data collected over 3 time points from a large sample of families were analyzed at 1-year and 2-year measurement intervals by using structural equation modeling. Parent and adolescent behavior was assessed by independent observers. Reciprocal parent--adolescent interactions occurred primarily in the presence of disruptive adolescent behavior. Analyses involving positive adolescent behavior produced unidirectional effects from parent behavior to adolescent behavior. Also, reciprocal associations were most evident when the 2-year measurement interval was used.

Adolescent↗

Interaction style, problem-solving behavior, and family problem-solving effectiveness.

We proposed that an individual's characteristic style of interaction will predict his or her problem-solving behavior and family problem-solving effectiveness. We test this hypothesis for mothers, fathers, and adolescent boys and girls (M age = 12.7 years) in 431 rural families using both warm and hostile interaction styles. One set of videotape coders observed a general family discussion and measured interaction style. A year later, another, independent set of coders observed a family problem-solving task. Family members reported family problem-solving effectiveness immediately following the problem-solving task. The results indicated that a hostile interaction style directly predicted destructive problem-solving behavior and indirectly predicted family problem-solving effectiveness. A warm interaction style related directly to constructive problem-solving behavior and indirectly to family problem-solving effectiveness.

Adolescent↗