Social influences on fertility : a comparative mixed methods study in eastern and western Germany

This article uses a mixed methods design to investigate the effects of social influence on family formation in a sample of eastern and western German young adults at an early stage of their family formation. Theoretical propositions on the importance of informal interaction for fertility and family behavior are still rarely supported by systematic empirical evidence. Major problems are the correct identification of salient relationships and the comparability of social networks across population subgroups. This article addresses the two issues through a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. In-depth interviewing, network charts, and network grids are used to map individual personal relationships and their influence on family formation decisions. In addition, an analysis of friendship dyads is provided.

Perfil motor de escolares sobrepesos e obesos de ambos os sexo na faixa etária de 9 e 10 anos

Pós-graduação em Pediatria - FMB

Psychosocial correlates of rehabilitation from stroke: a longitudinal study

The general aim of this dissertation was to uncover the association between psychosocial factors and rehabilitation outcome after stroke. METHOD. A sample of patients with stroke (n=40) and their caregivers (n=36) were assessed at admission to and six months after discharge from rehabilitation hospital, using the following instruments: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, structured interview based on Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research, Symptom Questionnaire, Psychosocial Index, Psychological Well-Being Scales, and Family Assessment Device. 40 subjects from the general population underwent the same psychological assessment. In addition, patients' functional status was measured using the Functional Independence Measure. RESULTS. Stroke survivors reported lower education and higher alcohol consumption than controls. No significant differences emerged between the two groups in the prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses or psychosomatic syndromes, however patients reported significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression, somatic symptoms, and lower autonomy than controls. Caregivers reported significantly higher scores in anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms compared to normative data, while no impairments emerged in psychological well-being and family functioning. At six-month follow-up, in patients a significant decrease in smoking habit and an increase in DSM diagnoses were reported. Both stroke survivors and caregivers showed significant reductions in anxiety, with patients displaying also a decrease in somatic symptoms, an increase in stress and a deterioration in quality of life. Significant deteriorations in several aspects of family functioning was perceived only by patients. An association between patients' functional recovery in the cognitive domain and family behavior control emerged. For caregivers, family functioning significantly predicted hostility and somatic symptoms were associated with family affective involvement. CONCLUSIONS. These data highlight the utility in the Italian setting of the adoption of a psychosocial assessment and a family-systems approach in stroke rehabilitation, in order to development interventions properly targeted to the characteristics of patients and their family members.

Família à mesa: com a palavra, mães e filhos

Introdução O comportamento alimentar do indivíduo resulta de decisões, conscientes ou não, relacionadas à cultura alimentar de sua região, à tradição alimentar de seu convívio social e às transformações decorridas do acesso à informação científica e popular. Objetivo Analisar a alimentação de adolescentes, residentes na região Norte do município de São José dos Campos (SP), na perspectiva da família. Materiais e métodos Estudo qualitativo, realizado em 2014 e 2015, com mães e adolescentes do 6o ano do ensino fundamental municipal. Dados sobre percepção, conhecimento, comportamento e barreiras para uma alimentação saudável dos adolescentes foram produzidos por meio de grupos focais. Entrevistas semiestruturadas foram realizadas com as mães dos estudantes para investigar aspectos sobre alimentação da família e relação com formação de práticas e comportamentos alimentares dos filhos. Os discursos foram registrados com auxílio de um gravador de voz, e transcritos posteriormente para análise, por meio da técnica de análise de conteúdo temática. Foram realizados 4 grupos focais com 6 estudantes cada, e 15 entrevistas com mães. Resultados e discussão Os discursos foram classificados em temas: comportamento alimentar, preferências alimentares e conhecimentos e crenças. Verificou-se que a alimentação dos adolescentes pode ser influenciada pelo comportamento alimentar dos pais. Mães e adolescentes percebemse conscientes e julgam sobre o que comem. Entretanto, a fala muitas vezes está distante da prática, seja por negligencia, dificuldade em perceber possibilidades de ação, questões emotivas ou pelo hábito formado, considerado a maior dificuldade para mudanças relacionadas à alimentação, tanto das mães quanto adolescentes. Possibilidades de soluções, quando referidas, eram por vezes permeadas por conflitos, causando insatisfação em mães e filhos. O contexto no qual esses individuos estão inseridos deve ser considerado, como o bairro e a escola, os quais contribuem para a determinação das escolhas alimentares. Conclusão a família exerce importante papel no comportamento alimentar de adolescentes, entretanto, a compreensão sobre o tema deve considerar, sobretudo, a cultura e o meio social em que a dinâmica familiar está contextualizada.

Parent management training and Asperger syndrome - A randomized controlled trial to evaluate a parent based intervention

This controlled trial of a parent management intervention aimed to increase parental competence in management of problem behaviours associated with Asperger syndrome. The intervention compared two formats, a 1 day workshop and six individual sessions. Measures were taken on three occasions: pre-intervention, at 4 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up. Variables of interest were number and intensity of problem behaviours, and parent evaluation of social interaction skills. Results showed parents reporting fewer and lower intensity of problem behaviours and increased social interactions at 4 weeks and 3 months. Results held across formats and suggest that parent management training can provide an effective intervention for parents of a child with Asperger syndrome. Group differences on outcome measures and in the use of strategies are discussed along with limitations of the study.

Prevention of child behavior problems through universal implementation of a group behavioral family intervention.

The aim of this mental health promotion initiative was to evaluate the effectiveness of a universally delivered group behavioral family intervention (BFI) in preventing behavior problems in children. This study investigates the transferability of an efficacious clinical program to a universal prevention intervention delivered through child and community health services targeting parents of preschoolers within a metropolitan health region. A quasiexperimental two-group (BFI, n=804 vs. Comparison group, n=806) longitudinal design followed preschool aged children and their parents over a 2-year period. BFI was associated with significant reductions in parent-reported levels of dysfunctional parenting and parent-reported levels of child behavior problems. Effect sizes on child behavior problems ranged from large (.83) to moderate (.47). Positive and significant effects were also observed in parent mental health, marital adjustment, and levels of child rearing conflict. Findings are discussed with respect to their implication for significant population reductions in child behavior problems as well as the pragmatic challenges for prevention science in encouraging both the evaluation and uptake of preventive initiatives in real world settings.

Behavior Profile of Family Members of Donors and Nondonors of Organs

Organ transplant shortage is a global problem caused by several factors, most of which are related to members of the family, who play it major role in the donation process. Objective. We sought to determine the most determinant features in the donor profile that relate to positive decisions versus refusal of donation. Material and Methods. Fifty-six families who were approached by the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) from November 2004 to April 2006 agreed to participate in this work. To assess donor profiles, we used it structured interview. Results. Parental involvement directly in decisions about donation lead to significantly less frequent consent (P = .005), young donor age was associated with a reduced probability of donation (P = .002), violent death negatively influenced donation consent, excluding suicide (P = .004). Conclusion. The present study showed violent death, young patient age, and parental donation consent to be the most important factors that make it harder to obtain consent organ donation. When a collateral relative (sibling/uncle) or children were responsible for the donation decision, there was more success of consent.

Composition of the family Didelphidae Gray, 1821 (Didelphoidea:Marsupialia), with a review of the morphology and behavior of the included four-eyed pouched opossums of the genus Philander Tiedemann, 1808 /

n.s. no.86(1997)

Maternal care in Gargaphia decoris (Heteroptera, Tingidae), with comments on this behavior within the genus and family

Maternal care in Gargaphia decoris is described for the first time. A video is presented as supplementary material. The knowledge on such trait within Tingidae is summarized. The behavior within the family is discussed, and the potential as a source of phylogenetic characters for further analyses is stressed.

The Family Partners Credit Card: A Token Economy System Adapted for Intensive Family Preservation Services to Enable Families to Manage Difficult Behavior of Adolescents

Increasingly, families referred for Intensive Family Preservation Services have not experienced a crisis of maltreatment, focused on the parent; rather these families have children with chronic behavioral difficulties for which their parents lack the skills to cope. These are the same families whose children were formerly placed in residential programs. This paper presents The Family Partners Credit Card System, incorporating behavioral techniques developed to treat children in out-of-home placements into a family preservation model. Two case examples illustrate how the system has been modified to train biological or adoptive parents in parenting skills, enable them to teach their children pro-family behaviors, and reinforce new behaviors through a credit card that monitors an ongoing balance of credits and fines.

Patient information leaflets: informing or frightening? A focus group study exploring patients' emotional reactions and subsequent behavior towards package leaflets of commonly prescribed medications in family practices.

BACKGROUND The purpose of patient information leaflets (PILs) is to inform patients about the administration, precautions and potential side effects of their prescribed medication. Despite European Commission guidelines aiming at increasing readability and comprehension of PILs little is known about the potential risk information has on patients. This article explores patients' reactions and subsequent behavior towards risk information conveyed in PILs of commonly prescribed drugs by general practitioners (GPs) for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension or hypercholesterolemia; the most frequent cause for consultations in family practices in Germany. METHODS We conducted six focus groups comprising 35 patients which were recruited in GP practices. Transcripts were read and coded for themes; categories were created by abstracting data and further refined into a coding framework. RESULTS Three interrelated categories are presented: (i) The vast amount of side effects and drug interactions commonly described in PILs provoke various emotional reactions in patients which (ii) lead to specific patient behavior of which (iii) consulting the GP for assistance is among the most common. Findings show that current description of potential risk information caused feelings of fear and anxiety in the reader resulting in undesirable behavioral reactions. CONCLUSIONS Future PILs need to convey potential risk information in a language that is less frightening while retaining the information content required to make informed decisions about the prescribed medication. Thus, during the production process greater emphasis needs to be placed on testing the degree of emotional arousal provoked in patients when reading risk information to allow them to undertake a benefit-risk-assessment of their medication that is based on rational rather than emotional (fearful) reactions.

The Role of women in family transportation behavior : final report /

"This report is based on Teresa Bayes' and Sandra Hough's masters theses ... "--Pref.

Individual differences and family resemblances in animal behavior, a study of habit formation in various strains of mice,

Published also as thesis (PH. D.) Columbia University, 1918.