Accuracy of predicting a child's response to potential threat: A comparison of children and their mothers

Considerable research has indicated that children and their parents often demonstrate marked discrepancies in their reporting of anxiety-related phenomena. In such cases, the question arises as to whether children are capable of accurately reporting on their anxiety. In the present study, 50 children (aged 5 to 14 years) were asked to approach a large, German Shepherd dog. Prior to the task, both the mother and child independently predicted the closest point likely to be reached by the child and the degree of anxiety likely to be experienced. These predictions were then compared with the actual phenomena displayed by the child during the task. On the behavioural measure (closest step reached), both the child and mother demonstrated equivalent predictive accuracy. On the subjective measure (fear ratings) children were considerably more accurate than their mothers. The data were not influenced by gender, age, or clinical status. The results indicate the ability of children to accurately predict their anxious responses, and support the value of incorporating children's self-reports in the assessment of emotional disorders.

A survey of contact with offspring and assistance with child care among parents with psychotic disorders

To help improve services for parents with psychotic disorders, patients with such disorders in three treatment agencies in Queensland, Australia, were surveyed about whether they were parents, how much contact they had with their offspring, and who provided assistance with child care. Of the 342 individuals with psychotic disorders mho participated in the study, 124 were parents. Forty-eight parents in the study had children under age 16, and 20 of these parents (42 percent) had their children living with them. Most parents relied on relatives or friends for assistance with child care. Barriers to child care services identified by parents were inability to pay, lack of local services, and fear of losing custody of children.

Mothers' mental illness and child behavior problems: Cause-effect association or observation bias

Objective: A number, of studies have consistently found that a mother's mental health (particularly her level of depression) is a strong predictor of mental health problems experienced by her child(ren). However, the validity of this finding is in doubt because the majority of these studies have relied on maternal reports as indicators of children's behavior. Method: This prospective, longitudinal study examines data an the mental health of the mother from prior to the birth of her child to when the child reaches 14 years of age. Child behavior is measured at 14 years of age using reports from mother and child. Mother and child responses are compared to provide an indication of the possible magnitude of maternal observation bias in the reporting of child behavior problems. Results: Anxious and/or depressed mothers tend to report more cases of child behavior problems than do their mentally healthy counterparts or children themselves. Differences between mothers and youths In reporting behavior problems appear to be related to the mothers' mental health. Conclusions: Current maternal mental health impairment appears to have a substantial effect on the reporting of child behavior problems by the mother, thereby raising questions about the validity of reports of child behavior by persons who are currently emotionally distressed.

Estimating the cost of contact for non-resident parents: A budget standards approach

Most Western countries have, for some time, provided income support and/or taxation relief to parents with children in their care. The significant amount of research into the costs of children to couple and sole parent households has been important in assessing and developing family support policies. Changing societal expectations about the level of involvement of fathers in child rearing activities has highlighted the need to understand the costs facing usually male non-resident parents in having contact with their children. The budget standards methodology is used in this paper to estimate the costs for non-resident parents exercising regular contact with their children. Costs of contact are found to be high. For contact with one child for 20 per cent of the year, costs of contact represent about 40 per cent of the costs of that same child in an intact couple household with a medium income and more than half of the costs of that child in a household with low income. Household infrastructure and transportation is the reason for high costs. One implication of this finding is that the total cost of children substantially increases when parents separate. The article discusses some policy implications of these findings. This research is of relevance to social security, taxation, family law and child support policies and administration.

The role of the church in developing the law: response to commentators

Three of the four commentators endorse our concerns about intervention by the Roman Catholic church as an omicus curiae in civil litigation, with few reservations. One commentary rejects our arguments in We deal first with the three commentaries that support our arguments; secondly, with the reservations and qualifications in those commentaries, and thirdly, with the commentary that totally rejects our arguments.

Structural change, balance-of-payments constraint, and economic growth: evidence from the multisectoral Thirlwall`s law

This paper contributes to the literature on balance-of-payments constrained growth by investigating how structural change identified with changes in the sectoral composition of exports and imports affects the external constraint We test both the original and a multisectoral version of Thirlwall`s law for a sample of Latin American and Asian countries The original Thirlwall s law is found to hold for all sample countries except South Korea, whereas the multisectoral analogue holds for all of them As the sectoral composition of exports and imports is found to matter for growth we analyze the evolution of each country`s weighted trade income elasticities