Parental support and insecure attachment development: the cortisol stress response as a moderator.

The current study investigated whether variations at the level of the cortisol stress response moderate the association between parental support and attachment development. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a one-year longitudinal study with two waves in which 101 children (56% girls, Mage = 11.15, SDage = 0.70) participated. Attachment anxiety and avoidance were measured at baseline (Wave 1) and one year later (Wave 2). Parental support and children's cortisol stress response during the Trier Social Stress Test were measured at Wave 2. Children's cortisol stress response was found to moderate the association between parental support and relative change in anxious attachment. A strong cortisol stress response weakened the associated between parental support and relative change in anxious attachment. No moderation effects were found for relative change in avoidant attachment.

Parenting, Effortful Control, and Adolescents' Externalizing Problem Behavior: Moderation by Dopaminergic Genes.

Research shows that genetics and effortful control play an important role in the link between parenting and problem behavior. However, little is known about how these factors act simultaneously. This article used a moderated mediation model to examine whether effortful control mediated the link between parenting and externalizing problem behavior, and whether dopaminergic genes (i.e., polygenic index score including DAT1, DRD2, DRD4, COMT) moderated this link. Two three-wave studies were conducted on community samples (adolescents: Study 1: N = 457; Mage = 15.74; Study 2: N = 221; Mage = 12.84). There was no mediation by effortful control, but a moderation by dopaminergic reactivity was observed. Despite inconsistent evidence, this article indicates that the development of externalizing problem behavior is subject to genetic characteristics and parenting.

Needs of relatives of critical care patients: perceptions of relatives, physicians and nurses.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated differences between the perceptions of relatives, physicians and nurses concerning the needs of relatives of critical care patients. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: Perceived needs were assessed in 200 relatives, 38 physicians, and 143 nurses using a 45-item questionnaire. SETTING: Data were gathered at the intensive care unit of the University Hospital Gasthuisberg. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The overall rankings of the needs by the three groups are very similar. Information emerges as most important factor, with considerably less importance attached to comfort and support. There were significant differences between the groups on all categories and on 24 individual needs. Regarding the need categories, both nurses and physicians underestimate the relatives' need for information and proximity to the patient. Physicians also underestimate the relatives' need for assurance. On the individual need items, relatives' needs are generally underestimated by the staff, but in some cases overestimations are found.

Assessment of cognitive coping styles: a closer look at situation-response inventories.

Cognitive coping style approaches establish two concepts central to the understanding of people's responses to a stressful situation: "attention" and "avoidance". Theoretical frameworks corresponding to these conceptions are Sensitization-Repression (Byrne, 1961), Monitoring-Blunting (Miller, 1980), and Vigilance-Cognitive Avoidance (Krohne, 1986). Such types of cognitive coping styles are usually measured by means of situation-response inventories. In the present article, we take a closer look at this kind of coping assessment by considering the scenarios, the coping options and response formats, the dimensionality of the constructs, and published data on the reliability and the validity of seven situation-response inventories. Three important points deserve to be highlighted: (a) it probably makes little sense to assess coping style using scenarios that diverge maximally with respect to controllability and predictability since coping is not assumed to show such complete cross-situational stability; (b) similarly named inventories rely on largely different operationalizations and can hardly be considered as measuring similar constructs; and (c) monitoring/vigilance and blunting/avoidance generally emerge as independent constructs, which argues against use of summary scores.

Reliability and validity of the Critical Care Family Needs Inventory in a Dutch-speaking Belgian sample.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to provide psychometric evaluation of the Dutch version of the Critical Care Family Needs Inventory. SETTING: The study took place in an intensive care unit of a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: The participant group included 200 adult family members visiting a patient within the 72-hour interval after admission to the intensive care unit. RESULTS: Principal factor analysis with varimax rotation resulted in a 5-factor solution distinguishing 5 need types: need for information, need for comfort, need for support, need for assurance and anxiety reduction, and need for proximity and accessibility. The internal consistency of the resulting subscales ranged from 0.80 to 0.62, and all factors were significantly related to each other. The Critical Care Family Needs Inventory subscales were found to be clearly related to the demographic variables age, sex, and education level. CONCLUSION: The reliability and validity of the Dutch-language Critical Care Family Needs Inventory as a diagnostic tool in family needs assessment are supported.

The Impact of Previous Experience on Children's Reactions to Venepunctures.

The relationship between children's previous experience with venepunctures and their responses to a subsequent blood test was studied in 47 children hospitalized for a surgical intervention. We replicated the results of earlier studies, revealing no effect of the amount of experience but a significant effect of the quality of previous experience. Children with a history of negative medical experiences were found to show higher levels of state anxiety prior to the procedure and to be more distressed and less cooperative during the procedure than children with previous positive or neutral experiences. A comparison of both groups of experienced children with inexperienced children revealed that negative past experiences are likely to sensitize the child, whereas positive or neutral past experiences do not have a significant impact on subsequent reactions. This effect occurs independently of the coping style of the child (sensitizing versus repression).

Coping with peer arguments in school-age children with bully/victim problems.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: This paper reports data on the relationship between bully/victim problems and the coping strategies used when confronted with a peer argument. Specifically, we examine the extent to which bully/victim problems are related to five types of coping strategies (Social Support Seeking, Problem-Solving, Distancing, Internalising and Externalising). SAMPLE: The sample consists of 329 children (168 boys, 161 girls), drawn from the fourth- through sixth-grade classrooms of three Flemish elementary schools. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In the correlational analyses, both victimisation and social neglect are shown to be related to internalising coping, whereas bullying is associated with externalising coping and with a lack of problem-solving. Moreover, a positive relationship between victimisation and social support seeking was found. Separate analyses for boys and girls and a consecutive categorical approach provide a more precise picture of the link between social coping strategies and bully/victim problems.

Antecedents, concomitants, and consequences of pediatric headache: confirmatory construct validation of two parent-report scales.

The aim of the study presented is to examine the psychometric properties of two parent-report scales for the assessment of environmental factors in pediatric headache, namely, the Children's Headache Assessment Scale (CHAS) and the Illness Behavior Encouragement Scale (IBES). Data were gathered in a sample of 160 parents of children suffering from headaches regularly. The internal structure of both scales is investigated by means of confirmatory factor analysis. The internal consistency of the resulting subscales is explored and data on the convergent validity and on the relationship with demographics are presented. Both the CHAS and the IBES appear to be promising assessment tools in a behavioral approach to pediatric headache.