Showing papers by "University of North Carolina at Greensboro published in 2008"
TL;DR: Measure physical activity decreased significantly between ages 9 and 15 years, and boys were more active than girls, spending 18 and 14 more minutes per day on the weekdays and weekends, respectively.
Abstract: Context Decreased physical activity plays a critical role in the increase in childhood obesity. Although at least 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is recommended, few longitudinal studies have determined the recent patterns of physical activity of youth. Objective To determine the patterns and determinants of MVPA of youth followed from ages 9 to 15 years. Design, Setting, and Participants Longitudinal descriptive analyses of the 1032 participants in the 1991-2007 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development birth cohort from 10 study sites who had accelerometer-determined minutes of MVPA at ages 9 (year 2000), 11 (2002), 12 (2003), and 15 (2006) years. Participants included boys (517 [50.1%]) and girls (515 [49.9%]); 76.6% white (n = 791); and 24.5% (n = 231) lived in low-income families. Main Outcome Measure Mean MVPA minutes per day, determined by 4 to 7 days of monitored activity. Results At age 9 years, children engaged in MVPA approximately 3 hours per day on both weekends and weekdays. Weekday MVPA decreased by 38 minutes per year, while weekend MVPA decreased by 41 minutes per year. By age 15 years, adolescents were only engaging in MVPA for 49 minutes per weekday and 35 minutes per weekend day. Boys were more active than girls, spending 18 and 13 more minutes per day in MVPA on the weekdays and weekends, respectively. The rate of decrease in MVPA was the same for boys and girls. The estimated age at which girls crossed below the recommended 60 minutes of MVPA per day was approximately 13.1 years for weekday activity compared with boys at 14.7 years, and for weekend activity, girls crossed below the recommended 60 minutes of MVPA at 12.6 years compared with boys at 13.4 years. Conclusion In this study cohort, measured physical activity decreased significantly between ages 9 and 15 years.
1,208 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that generic siRNAs might treat angiogenic disorders that affect 8% of the world’s population, and that si RNAs might induce unanticipated vascular or immune effects.
Abstract: Clinical trials of small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGFA) or its receptor VEGFR1 (also called FLT1), in patients with blinding choroidal neovascularization (CNV) from age-related macular degeneration, are premised on gene silencing by means of intracellular RNA interference (RNAi). We show instead that CNV inhibition is a siRNA-class effect: 21-nucleotide or longer siRNAs targeting non-mammalian genes, non-expressed genes, non-genomic sequences, pro- and anti-angiogenic genes, and RNAi-incompetent siRNAs all suppressed CNV in mice comparably to siRNAs targeting Vegfa or Vegfr1 without off-target RNAi or interferon-α/β activation. Non-targeted (against non-mammalian genes) and targeted (against Vegfa or Vegfr1) siRNA suppressed CNV via cell-surface toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3), its adaptor TRIF, and induction of interferon-γ and interleukin-12. Non-targeted siRNA suppressed dermal neovascularization in mice as effectively as Vegfa siRNA. siRNA-induced inhibition of neovascularization required a minimum length of 21 nucleotides, a bridging necessity in a modelled 2:1 TLR3–RNA complex. Choroidal endothelial cells from people expressing the TLR3 coding variant 412FF were refractory to extracellular siRNA-induced cytotoxicity, facilitating individualized pharmacogenetic therapy. Multiple human endothelial cell types expressed surface TLR3, indicating that generic siRNAs might treat angiogenic disorders that affect 8% of the world’s population, and that siRNAs might induce unanticipated vascular or immune effects.
895 citations
Karolinska Institutet1, University of Minnesota2, University of Vermont3, Waseda University4, Duke University5, University of Ioannina6, University of Cincinnati7, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences8, Pepperdine University9, Harvard University10, University of Southern Denmark11, Lund University12, University of North Carolina at Greensboro13, University of Michigan14, University of Oslo15
TL;DR: A multidisciplinary group of ACL expert clinicians and scientists are invited to review current evidence including data from the new Scandinavian ACL registries, critically evaluate high-quality studies of injury mechanics and consider the key elements of successful prevention programmes.
Abstract: The incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury remains high in young athletes. Because female athletes have a much higher incidence of ACL injuries in sports such as basketball and team handball than male athletes, the IOC Medical Commission invited a multidisciplinary group of ACL expert clinicians and scientists to (1) review current evidence including data from the new Scandinavian ACL registries; (2) critically evaluate high-quality studies of injury mechanics; (3) consider the key elements of successful prevention programmes; (4) summarise clinical management including surgery and conservative management; and (5) identify areas for further research. Risk factors for female athletes suffering ACL injury include: (1) being in the preovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle compared with the postovulatory phase; (2) having decreased intercondylar notch width on plain radiography; and (3) developing increased knee abduction moment (a valgus intersegmental torque) during impact on landing. Well-designed injury prevention programmes reduce the risk of ACL for athletes, particularly women. These programmes attempt to alter dynamic loading of the tibiofemoral joint through neuromuscular and proprioceptive training. They emphasise proper landing and cutting techniques. This includes landing softly on the forefoot and rolling back to the rearfoot, engaging knee and hip flexion and, where possible, landing on two feet. Players are trained to avoid excessive dynamic valgus of the knee and to focus on the "knee over toe position" when cutting.
740 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a new approach to assessing divergent thinking and appraises its reliability and validity is presented, where participants complete a divergent-thinking task and then circle the two responses that they think are their most creative responses.
Abstract: Divergent thinking is central to the study of individual differences in creativity, but the traditional scoring systems (assigning points for infrequent responses and summing the points) face well-known problems. After critically reviewing past scoring methods, this article describes a new approach to assessing divergent thinking and appraises its reliability and validity. In our new Top 2 scoring method, participants complete a divergent thinking task and then circle the two responses that they think are their most creative responses. Raters then evaluate the responses on a 5-point scale. Regarding reliability, a generalizability analysis showed that subjective ratings of unusual-uses tasks and instances tasks yield dependable scores with only 2 or 3 raters. Regarding validity, a latent-variable study (n = 226) predicted divergent thinking from the Big Five factors and their higher-order traits (Plasticity and Stability). Over half of the variance in divergent thinking could be explained by dimensions of personality. The article presents instructions for measuring divergent thinking with the new method.
642 citations
TL;DR: A review of the emerging body of work on the psychology of interest, with an emphasis on what contemporary emotion research has learned about the subject, can be found in this article, where the authors consider four central questions: Is interest like other emotions? What functions does interest serve? What makes something interesting? Is interest merely another label for happiness?
Abstract: Despite their interest in why people do what they do, psychologists typically overlook interest itself as a facet of human motivation and emotion. In recent years, however, researchers from diverse areas of psychology have turned their attention to the role of interest in learning, motivation, and development. This article reviews the emerging body of work on the psychology of interest, with an emphasis on what contemporary emotion research has learned about the subject. After considering four central questions—Is interest like other emotions? What functions does interest serve? What makes something interesting? Is interest merely another label for happiness?—the article considers unanswered questions and fruitful applications. Given interest's central role in cultivating knowledge and expertise, psychologists should apply research on interest to practical problems of learning, education, and motivation.
614 citations
TL;DR: The findings from this review lend support to ACL injury prevention programs designed to prevent unopposed excessive quadriceps force and frontal-plane or transverse-plane moments to the knee and to encourage increased knee flexion angle during sudden deceleration and acceleration tasks.
Abstract: Objective: To examine and summarize previous retrospective and observational studies assessing noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury mechanisms and to examine such reported ACL injury mechanisms based on ACL loading patterns due to knee loadings reported in in vivo, in vitro, and computer simulation studies. Data Sources: We searched MEDLINE from 1950 through 2007 using the key words anterior cruciate ligament + injury + mechanisms; anterior cruciate ligament + injury + mechanisms + retrospective; and anterior cruciate ligament + injury + mechanisms + video analysis. Study Selection: We selected retrospective studies and observational studies that specifically examined the noncontact ACL injury mechanisms (n = 7) and assessed ACL loading patterns in vivo, in vitro, and using computer simulations (n = 33). Data Extraction: The motion patterns reported as noncontact ACL injury mechanisms in retrospective and observational studies were assessed and critically compared with ACL loadi...
424 citations
TL;DR: The Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI), created by Cutter et al. (2003), examined the spatial patterns of social vulnerability to natural hazards at the county level in the United States in order to describe and understand the social burdens of risk.
Abstract: The Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI), created by Cutter et al. (2003), examined the spatial patterns of social vulnerability to natural hazards at the county level in the United States in order to describe and understand the social burdens of risk. The purpose of this article is to examine the sensitivity of quantitative features underlying the SoVI approach to changes in its construction, the scale at which it is applied, the set of variables used, and to various geographic contexts. First, the SoVI was calculated for multiple aggregation levels in the State of South Carolina and with a subset of the original variables to determine the impact of scalar and variable changes on index construction. Second, to test the sensitivity of the algorithm to changes in construction, and to determine if that sensitivity was constant in various geographic contexts, census data were collected at a submetropolitan level for three study sites: Charleston, SC; Los Angeles, CA; and New Orleans, LA. Fifty-four unique variations of the SoVI were calculated for each study area and evaluated using factorial analysis. These results were then compared across study areas to evaluate the impact of changing geographic context. While decreases in the scale of aggregation were found to result in decreases in the variance explained by principal components analysis (PCA), and in increases in the variance of the resulting index values, the subjective interpretations yielded from the SoVI remained fairly stable. The algorithm's sensitivity to certain changes in index construction differed somewhat among the study areas. Understanding the impacts of changes in index construction and scale are crucial in increasing user confidence in metrics designed to represent the extremely complex phenomenon of social vulnerability.
339 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors make recommendations for research on metacognition, self-regulation, and self-regulated learning, including providing clear definitions of processes, identifying relevant theories, ensuring that assessments clearly reflect processes, linking processes with academic outcomes, conducting more educational developmental research, and tying processes firmly with instructional methods.
Abstract: Much research has been conducted on metacognition, self-regulation, and self-regulated learning, but the articles in this special issue make it clear that we still have many unanswered questions. Recommendations for research include providing clear definitions of processes, identifying relevant theories, ensuring that assessments clearly reflect processes, linking processes with academic outcomes, conducting more educational developmental research, and tying processes firmly with instructional methods. Collectively, these recommendations will enhance our understanding of metacognition, self-regulation, and self-regulated learning and will lead to solid implications for educational policy and practice.
337 citations
TL;DR: Wellness conceptualized as the paradigm for counseling provides strength-based strategies for assessing clients, conceptualizing issues developmentally, and planning interventions to remediate dysfunction and optimize growth.
Abstract: Wellness conceptualized as the paradigm for counseling provides strength-based strategies for assessing clients,
conceptualizing issues developmentally, and planning interventions to remediate dysfunction and optimize growth.
Wellness counseling models have stimulated significant research that helps to form the evidence base for practice in
the counseling field. The development of these models is explained, results of studies using the models are reviewed,
and implications for research needed to further inform clinical practice and advocacy efforts are discussed.
323 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between manufacturing strategy and competitive strategy and their influence on firm performance and found significant and positive relationships between competitive strategies and the manufacturing strategies of cost, delivery, flexibility, and quality.
312 citations
TL;DR: Triple-hop distance is a useful clinical test to predict an athlete's lower extremity strength and power and was not a predictor of static balance, although further research is needed to examine its relationship with more dynamic balance tests.
Abstract: Context: Hop tests are functional tests that reportedly require strength, power, and postural stability to perform. The extent to which a triple-hop distance (THD) test measures each of th...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that emotion regulation is a component of (rather than a response to) emotional activation, and that it derives from the mutual influence of multiple emotion-related systems.
Abstract: Developmental research on emotion regulation is increasingly advancing toward a systems view that integrates behavioral and biological constituents of emotional self-control. However, this view poses fundamental challenges to prevailing conceptualizations of emotion regulation. In portraying emotion regulation as a network of multilevel processes characterized by feedback and interaction between higher and lower systems, it becomes increasingly apparent that emotion regulation is a component of (rather than a response to) emotional activation, that it derives from the mutual influence of multiple emotion-related systems (rather than the maturation of higher control processes alone), and that it sometimes contributes to maladaptive behavioral outcomes, especially in conditions of environmental adversity. The implications of this perspective for the developmental study of emotion regulation are discussed.
TL;DR: Overall, it appears that the development of emotion regulation over time is compromised when mothers report greater depressive symptomatology, and there is evidence that children's capacity for physiological regulation can buffer some of the adverse consequences associated with maternal depressive symptom atology.
Abstract: Trajectories of emotion regulation processes were examined in a community sample of 269 children across the ages of 4 to 7 using hierarchical linear modeling. Maternal depressive symptomatology (Symptom Checklist-90) and children's physiological reactivity (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and vagal regulation (Delta RSA) were explored as predictors of individual differences in trajectories of emotion regulation and negativity (mother-reported Emotion Regulation Checklist; A. M. Shields & D. Cicchetti, 1997). In addition, the authors explored whether children's physiological regulation would moderate the effect of maternal depressive symptomatology on children's emotion regulation trajectories. Results indicated that over time, emotion regulation increased whereas negativity decreased, though considerable individual variability in the pattern of change was observed. Greater maternal depressive symptomatology was associated with less steep emotion regulation trajectories. There was a significant Maternal Depressive Symptomatology x Baseline RSA x Age interaction predicting emotion regulation trajectories. Overall, it appears that the development of emotion regulation over time is compromised when mothers report greater depressive symptomatology. There is also evidence that children's capacity for physiological regulation can buffer some of the adverse consequences associated with maternal depressive symptomatology.
TL;DR: This paper used a content analysis of 472 self-reported PPTs collected from 94 prospective teachers to develop a model of categories of beliefs, and described the relationship between the content and sources of teacher candidates' beliefs expressed as PPTS.
Abstract: Research on teachers’ (personal) theories and beliefs and their (practical) knowledge derived from experience, whether held implicitly or stated explicitly as their personal practical theories (PPTs), indicates that such beliefs can influence teachers’ classroom practices and, therefore, the opportunities that their students have for learning. This study uses a content analysis of 472 self-reported PPTs collected from 94 prospective teachers to develop a model of categories of beliefs, and describes the relationship between the content and sources of teacher candidates’ beliefs, expressed as PPTs. The purpose of this study is to help teacher educators better understand beliefs that teacher candidates bring to their teacher education program as we try to influence their knowledge and practices.
TL;DR: In this paper, a sample of university students (n = 226) completed divergent thinking tasks and measures of fluid reasoning, verbal fluency, and strategy generation and found that creativity was significantly related to a higher-order intelligence factor composed of the lower-order factors.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Regular use of a health club benefit was associated with slower growth in total health care costs in the long term but not in the short term, and these findings warrant additional prospective investigations to determine whether policies to offer health club benefits and promote physical activity among older adults can reduce increases in health care cost.
Abstract: Results Compared with controls, Silver Sneakers participants were older and more likely to be male, used more preventive services, and had higher total health care costs at baseline. Adjusted total health care costs for Silver Sneakers participants and controls did not differ significantly in year 1. By year 2, compared with controls, Silver Sneakers participants had significantly fewer inpatient admissions (-2.3%, 95% confidence interval, −3.3% to −1.2%; P <.001) and lower total health care costs (−$500; 95% confidence interval, −$892 to −$106; P = .01]. Silver Sneakers participants who averaged at least two health club visits per week over 2 years incurred at least $1252 (95% confidence interval, −$1937 to −$567; P < .001) less in health care costs in year 2 than did those who visited on average less than once per week. Conclusion Regular use of a health club benefit was associated with slower growth in total health care costs in the long term but not in the short term. These findings warrant additional prospective investigations to determine whether policies to offer health club benefits and promote physical activity among older adults can reduce increases in health care costs.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that RTP will reduce the variance, both within-and across-days, in the quantity of electricity demanded, and estimate the short-run impacts of this reduction on SO 2, NO x, and CO 2 emissions.
Abstract: Real-time pricing (RTP) of electricity would improve allocative efficiency and limit wholesalers’ market power. Conventional wisdom claims that RTP provides additional environmental benefits. This paper argues that RTP will reduce the variance, both within- and across-days, in the quantity of electricity demanded. We estimate the short-run impacts of this reduction on SO 2 , NO x , and CO 2 emissions. Reducing variance decreases emissions in regions where peak demand is met more by oil-fired capacity than by hydropower, such as the Mid-Atlantic. However, reducing variance increases emissions in more U.S. regions, namely those with more hydropower like the West. The effects are relatively small.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the at-work allocation of time among teaching, research, grant writing and service by science and engineering faculty at top US research universities and found that women, on average, allocate more hours to university service and less time to research than do men.
TL;DR: Students with ADHD experience greater academic performance concerns and depressive symptoms during the transition to college, compared with randomly selected control students.
Abstract: Objective: To examine college adjustment in students reporting an ADHD diagnosis and the effect of medication treatment on students' adjustment. Method: 1,648 first-semester freshmen attending a public and a private university completed a Web-based survey to examine their adjustment to college. Results: Compared with 200 randomly selected control students, 68 students with ADHD reported more academic concerns and depressive symptoms. This was explained by higher rates of inattentive symptoms among students with ADHD and was unrelated to hyperactive-impulsive symptoms. Among students with ADHD, medication treatment was not related to better adjustment or diminished ADHD symptoms. The contribution of inattention to academic concerns and depressive symptoms remained significant when controlling for personality traits. Conclusion: Students with ADHD experience greater academic performance concerns and depressive symptoms during the transition to college. Medication treatment did not appear to diminish ADHD sy...
TL;DR: The findings support the construct validity of a multidimensional model of schizotypy and the use of psychometric inventories to assess these dimensions, which were differentially related to psychopathology, personality, and social impairment.
TL;DR: Evidence for relationships between greater religiousness and less psychopathology was strongest in the area of teenage substance use and methods of measuring religion/spirituality were highly heterogeneous.
Abstract: The aim of the current article is to review the literature on religion and spirituality as it pertains to adolescent psychiatric symptoms. One hundred and fifteen articles were reviewed that examined relationships between religion/spirituality and adolescent substance use, delinquency, depression, suicidality, and anxiety. Ninety-two percent of articles reviewed found at least one significant (p < .05) relationship between religiousness and better mental health. Evidence for relationships between greater religiousness and less psychopathology was strongest in the area of teenage substance use. Methods of measuring religion/spirituality were highly heterogeneous. Further research on the relationship of religion/spirituality to delinquency, depression, suicidality, and anxiety is warranted. Measurement recommendations, research priorities, and clinical implications are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the performance implications of implementing generic competitive strategies, and whether the implementation of a combination competitive strategy yields an incremental performance benefit over a single generic competitive strategy using data from Ghana, a Sub-Saharan African economy implementing economic liberalization policies.
TL;DR: During the last reunion, typically the most stressful episode for infants, mothers of secure infants showed greater vagal withdrawal than mothers of insecure-avoidant infants, suggesting greater attempts by these mothers at interactive repair.
Abstract: Vagal reactivity and salivary a-amylase (sAA) were assessed in infants (M age ¼13.55 months) and their mothers during the Strange Situation Paradigm (SSP) to investigate differences in physiological responses in a sample of insecure-avoidant and securely-attached dyads (N ¼132). Infants classified as insecure-avoidant had significantly higher vagal withdrawal during the SSP and higher sAA overall, suggesting that the avoidant attachment pattern is associated with a greater allostatic load. During separation episodes of the SSP, all mothers showed significant vagal withdrawal, suggesting greater attempts at regulation. During the last reunion, typically the most stressful episode for infants, mothers of secure infants showed greater vagal withdrawal than mothers of insecure- avoidant infants, suggesting greater attempts by these mothers at interactive repair. Results for mothers and infants supported the allostatic load theory. 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 50: 361-376, 2008.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the role of Behavioral Approach System (BAS) and Behavioral Inhibition System sensitivity in predicting symptoms along the externalizing dimension of psychopathology, and found that high BIS sensitivity was associated with drug abuse, alcohol abuse, primary and secondary psychopathy, and hyperactive-impulsive AD/HD symptoms.
TL;DR: This article reanalyzed these data using latent variable analysis, which can assess the relations between latent creativity and intelligence variables and model method variance shared by the creativity tasks, finding that the latent originality and fluency variables significantly predicted intelligence.
Abstract: Many decades of research have shown that creativity and intelligence are modestly related. Some studies, however, have found that creativity and intelligence are essentially unrelated. The best example may be Wallach and Kogan's (1965) landmark study of 151 children. In that study, 10 measures of creativity didn't correlate with 10 measures of intelligence and academic achievement (average r = .09). The present research reanalyzed these data using latent variable analysis, which can (a) assess the relations between latent creativity and intelligence variables and (b) model method variance shared by the creativity tasks. Consistent with past research, the latent originality and fluency variables significantly predicted intelligence. The relations' magnitude (around r = .20) was consistent with past research, suggesting that Wallach and Kogan's data replicate other studies of creativity and intelligence.
TL;DR: It is proposed that Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) can be used to integrate a wide range of factors into a unified and theoretically-driven model of GSP.
TL;DR: The reliability and validity of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised was examined in a sample of 6-month-old infants and their parents and convergent validity was established between observed fear and mother reported fear and father reported approach.
Abstract: The reliability and validity of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised was examined in a sample of 6-month-old infants and their parents. One hundred and fifteen mothers and 79 fathers completed the IBQ-R and a measure of depression and 98 infants participated in a laboratory assessment of temperament. Internal consistency reliability was adequate for all 14 IBQ-R subscales for both mothers and fathers and inter-rater reliability of mother and father reports was demonstrated for 11 of 14 subscales. Convergent validity was established between observed fear and mother reported fear and father reported approach. Parent depression and infant gender were examined as moderators of the concordance between parent reported and observed temperament. As predicted, concordance was higher when parents reported low versus high symptoms of depression. Infant gender did not alter concordance.
TL;DR: The authors found that people were more discerning than others: people high in openness to experience, in particular, had stronger agreement between their decisions and the judges’ ratings, and overall, people were discerning in their decisions.
Abstract: How well can people judge the creativity of their ideas? The distinction between generating ideas and evaluating ideas appears in many theories of creativity, but the massive literature on generation has overshadowed the question of evaluation. After critically reviewing the notion of accuracy in creativity judgments, this article explores whether (1) people in general are discerning and (2) whether some people are more discerning than others. University students (n 226) completed four divergent thinking tasks and then decided which responses were their most creative. Judges then rated the creativity of all of the responses. Multilevel latent-variable models found that people’s choices strongly agreed with judges’ ratings of the responses; overall, people were discerning in their decisions. But some people were more discerning than others: people high in openness to experience, in particular, had stronger agreement between their decisions and the judges’ ratings. Creative people are thus doubly skilled: they are better at generating good ideas and at picking their best ideas.
TL;DR: For example, this paper found that dyadic parent-child relationships decreased in warmth relative to those of their sibling, and the quality of sibling relationships from middle childhood to late adolescence, and that the linkages between differential treatment and outcomes are moderated by gender, the sibling dyad gender constellation, siblings' ages, and birth order.
Abstract: We tested social comparison predictions about cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between parents' differential treatment of siblings and both youth depressive symptoms and sibling relationship qualities from middle childhood to late adolescence, controlling for dyadic parent-child relationships and siblings' ratings of parents' fairness. Participants were parents and first- and second-borns (M = 11.8 and 9.2 years old at Year 1) from 201 White, middle/ working-class families. Three-level models revealed both cross-sectional and longitudinal linkages between differential treatment and outcomes. For example, youth whose parent-child relationships decreased in warmth relative to those of their sibling reported increases in depressive symptoms and decreases in sibling warmth. Gender and age moderated differential treatment-depressive symptoms associations; birth order moderated differential treatment-sibling relationship associations. Key Words: adolescence, depression, middle childhood, parental differential treatment, sibling relationships. Parents' differential treatment is a key component of siblings' nonshared experiences within the family. Indeed, cross-sectional research documents that children monitor their own versus their siblings' relationships with their parents beginning at an early age (e.g., Dunn & Munn, 1985), and that differential treatment is associated with youth adjustment, sibling differences in adjustment, and the quality of the sibling relationship from childhood through adulthood (e.g., Brody, Stoneman, & McCoy, 1992a, 1992b; Dunn, Stocker, & Plomin, 1990). Yet several themes regarding differential treatment-outcome links have rarely been investigated. First, parents' dyadic relationships with each sibling and youth's cognitions about differential treatment (e.g., its perceived fairness) may be responsible for at least some of the links between differential treatment and both adjustment and sibling relationships (e.g., Kowal & Kramer, 1997; McHale & Pawletko, 1992). second, siblings' gender, the gender constellation of the sibling dyad, age, and birth order may moderate differential treatment-outcome links (McHaIe, Updegraff, Jackson-Newsom, Tucker, & Crouler, 2000; Tamrouti-Makkink, Semon-Dubas, Gem's, & van Aken, 2004). Finally, little is known about over-time links between differential treatment and both adjustment and sibling relationships. Social comparison theory and extant research on differential treatment provided the grounding for this study's research goals: (a) to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between differential treatment and both youth adjustment and the quality of sibling relationships from middle childhood to late adolescence, taking into account both dyadic parent-child relationship qualities and fairness ratings, and (b) to test whether the linkages between differential treatment and outcomes are moderated by gender, the sibling dyad gender constellation, siblings' ages, and birth order. In addressing these goals, we drew on data from a 5-year-longitudinal study of 201 White middle- and working-class two-parent families that included four assessments of siblings and their parents, beginning in middle childhood. Implications of Differential Treatment: Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Research Individuals evaluate themselves based on social comparisons (Festinger, 1954); comparative processes may be particularly salient in youth who are exploring roles and identities (e.g., Levine, Smolak, & Hayden, 1994). Others who are physically proximate and similar in personal attributes (i.e., age, gender) are the most likely standards for social comparisons (Wills, 1991). Indeed, given shared characteristics, proximity, and encouragement to do so, siblings often engage in social comparisons with one another, and the quality of a sibling's relationship with parents is salient when it comes to evaluating one's own relationships with parents (e. …
TL;DR: The findings from this US study do not support the existence of the therapeutic milieu as described in the literature, and although the nurse-patient relationship was yearned for by nurses, it was nearly absent from patients' descriptions.
Abstract: How patients and nurses experience the acute care psychiatric environment The concept of the therapeutic milieu was developed when patients' hospitalizations were long, medications were few, and one- to-one nurse-patient interactions were the norm. However, it is not clear how the notion of 'therapeutic milieu' is experienced in American acute psychiatric environments today. This phenomenological study explored the experience of patients and nurses in an acute care psychiatric unit in the USA, by asking them, 'What stands out to you about this psychiatric hospital environment?' Three figural themes emerged, contextualized by time, which was a source of stress to both groups: for patients there was boredom, and for nurses, pressure and chaos. Although they shared some themes, nurses and patients experienced them differently. For instance, nurses felt caged-in by the Plexiglas-enclosed nursing station, and patients felt caged-in by the locked doors of the unit. The findings from this US study do not support the existence of the therapeutic milieu as described in the literature. Furthermore, although the nurse-patient relationship was yearned for by nurses, it was nearly absent from patients' descriptions. The caring experienced by patients was mainly derived from interactions with other patients.