Part I. Ethnographic Research: Ethnography and Culture. Language and Field Work. Informants. Part II. The Developmental Research Sequences: Locating an Informant. Interviewing an Informant. Making an Ethnographic Record. Asking Descriptive Questions. Analyzing Ethnographic Interviews. Making a Domain Analysis. Asking Structural Questions. Making a Taxonomic Analysis. Asking Contrast Questions. Making a Componential Analysis. Discovering Cultural Themes. Writing an Ethnography. Notes. Appendices: A Taxonomy of Ethnographic Questions. Developmental Research Sequence Writing Tasks. The Development Research Sequence Method. Bibliography. Index.

The ethnographic interview

The authors suggest that the most promising route to effective strategies for the prevention of adolescent alcohol and other drug problems is through a risk-focused approach. This approach requires the identification of risk factors for drug abuse, identification of methods by which risk factors have been effectively addressed, and application of these methods to appropriate high-risk and general population samples in controlled studies. The authors review risk and protective factors for drug abuse, assess a number of approaches for drug abuse prevention potential with high-risk groups, and make recommendations for research and practice.

/pdf/risk-and-protective-factors-for-alcohol-and-other-drug-ubehfds1zo.pdf

Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention.

Background The prevalence of obesity has increased substantially over the past 30 years. We performed a quantitative analysis of the nature and extent of the person-to-person spread of obesity as a possible factor contributing to the obesity epidemic. Methods We evaluated a densely interconnected social network of 12,067 people assessed repeatedly from 1971 to 2003 as part of the Framingham Heart Study. The bodymass index was available for all subjects. We used longitudinal statistical models to examine whether weight gain in one person was associated with weight gain in his or her friends, siblings, spouse, and neighbors. Results Discernible clusters of obese persons (body-mass index [the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters], ≥30) were present in the network at all time points, and the clusters extended to three degrees of separation. These clusters did not appear to be solely attributable to the selective formation of social ties among obese persons. A person’s chances of becoming obese increased by 57% (95% confidence interval [CI], 6 to 123) if he or she had a friend who became obese in a given interval. Among pairs of adult siblings, if one sibling became obese, the chance that the other would become obese increased by 40% (95% CI, 21 to 60). If one spouse became obese, the likelihood that the other spouse would become obese increased by 37% (95% CI, 7 to 73). These effects were not seen among neighbors in the immediate geographic location. Persons of the same sex had relatively greater influence on each other than those of the opposite sex. The spread of smoking cessation did not account for the spread of obesity in the network. Conclusions Network phenomena appear to be relevant to the biologic and behavioral trait of obesity, and obesity appears to spread through social ties. These findings have implications for clinical and public health interventions.

/pdf/the-spread-of-obesity-in-a-large-social-network-over-32-2y3wfpgr5w.pdf

The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years

In this review, we examine the oft-made claim that peer-relationship difficulties in childhood predict serious adjustment problems in later life. The article begins with a framework for conceptualizing and assessing children's peer difficulties and with a discussion of conceptual and methodological issues in longitudinal risk research. Following this, three indexes of problematic peer relationships (acceptance, aggressiveness, and shyness/withdrawal) are evaluated as predictors of three later outcomes (dropping out of school, criminality, and psychcpathology). The relation between peer difficulties and later maladjustment is examined in terms of both the consistency and strength of prediction. A review and analysis of the literature indicates general support for the hypothesis that children with poor peer adjustment are at risk for later life difficulties. Support is clearest for the outcomes of dropping out and criminality. It is also clearest for low acceptance and aggressiveness as predictors, whereas a link between shyness/withdrawal and later maladjustment has not yet been adequately tested. The article concludes with a critical discussion of the implicit models that have guided past research in this area and a set of recommendations for the next generation of research on the risk

Peer relations and later personal adjustment: Are low-accepted children at risk?

The development of competence holds great interest for parents and society alike. This article considers implications from research on competence and resilience in children and adolescents for policy and interventions designed to foster better outcomes among children at risk. Foundations of competence in early development are discussed, focusing on the role of attachment relationships and self-regulation. Results from studies of competence in the domains of peer relations, conduct, school, work, and activities are highlighted. Lessons are drawn from studies of naturally occurring resilience among children at risk because of disadvantage or trauma and also from efforts to deliberately alter the course of competence through early childhood education and preventive interventions. Converging evidence suggests that the same powerful adaptive systems protect development in both favorable and unfavorable environments.

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/53/2/205.pdf

The development of competence in favorable and unfavorable environments. Lessons from research on successful children

Use of the Danish Adoption Register for the study of obesity and thinness.

We examined the contributions of genetic factors and the family environment to human fatness in a sample of 540 adult Danish adoptees who were selected from a population of 3580 and divided into four weight classes: thin, median weight, overweight, and obese. There was a strong relation between the weight class of the adoptees and the body-mass index of their biologic parents - for the mothers, P less than 0.0001; for the fathers, P less than 0.02. There was no relation between the weight class of the adoptees and the body-mass index of their adoptive parents. Cumulative distributions of the body-mass index of parents showed similar results; there was a strong relation between the body-mass index of biologic parents and adoptee weight class and no relation between the index of adoptive parents and adoptee weight class. Furthermore, the relation between biologic parents and adoptees was not confined to the obesity weight class, but was present across the whole range of body fatness - from very thin to very fat. We conclude that genetic influences have an important role in determining human fatness in adults, whereas the family environment alone has no apparent effect.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM198601233140401?listPDF=true

An adoption study of human obesity.

Drinking practices and problems, plus a wide range of other life experiences, were studied in a group of 55 men who had been separated from their biological parents early in life where one parent had a hospital diagnosis of alcoholism Compared to a matched control group of adoptees, significantly more of them had a history of drinking problems and psychiatric treatment The two groups did not differ with regard to other forms of psychopathology, such as depression or character disorders Children of alcoholics had three times the divorce rate of the controls Apart from alcohol problems and divorce, the two groups did not differ significantly with regard to any other variable studied The adoptive parents of index and control subjects were of similar socioeconomic class and had similar rates of alcoholism and other psychiatric disorders These findings suggest that genetic factors may play a role in the development of alcohol problems

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/articlepdf/490841/archpsyc_28_2_011.pdf

Alcohol Problems in Adoptees Raised Apart From Alcoholic Biological Parents

The types and prevalence of mental illness in the biological and adoptive families of adopted schizophrenics

• To investigate the contribution of genetic and environmental factors in the etiology of mood disorders, a study was initiated to examine the frequency of psychiatric disorders in the biological and adoptive relatives of adult adoptees with mood disorders and in matched normal adoptees. Psychiatric evaluations of the relatives were made on the basis of independent blind diagnoses based on mental hospital and other official records. Analysis of the data showed an eightfold increase in unipolar depression among the biological relatives of the index cases and a 15-fold increase in suicide among the biological relatives of the index cases. These data demonstrate a significant genetic contribution to unipolar depression and suicide. They fail to disclose a significant contribution of family-associated transmission in the genesis of the mood disorders.

https://jamanetwork.com/HttpHandlers/ArticlePdfHandler.ashx?journal=psych&articleId=493888&pdfFileName=archpsyc_43_10_003.pdf

Fini Schulsinger

Papers

Use of the Danish Adoption Register for the study of obesity and thinness.

An adoption study of human obesity.

Alcohol Problems in Adoptees Raised Apart From Alcoholic Biological Parents

The types and prevalence of mental illness in the biological and adoptive families of adopted schizophrenics

Psychiatric disorders in the biological and adoptive families of adopted individuals with affective disorders.