"Because being fat means being sick": children at risk of type 2 diabetes.

This study addresses the social and cultural underpinnings that shape children's risk of type 2 diabetes, as identified by a racially and economically diverse group of parents and their children living in Anaheim, California. Based on in-depth interviews with 28 adults and 17 children, we explored how they understood what constitutes "good health" in children and the aspects of their neighborhoods and communities that acted as resources or impediments to their children's well-being. We found that parents and children employed a language of food that reflected a fear-based, medicalized orientation to food consumption. Although nearly all agreed that children should stay active, densely populated neighborhoods, apartment complexes with rigid outdoor rules, high crime rates, police surveillance, and diminished access to public parks and recreational facilities posed challenges. Similarly problematic were deficits in school lunch programs and the limited sometimes demeaning, conversations with healthcare professionals about diabetes risk and prevention. Together, these narratives identify key structural processes attendant to type 2 diabetes risk in children and call for a more politicized conversation regarding prevention strategies and public healthcare practices.

Physical discipline and children's adjustment: cultural normativeness as a moderator.

Interviews were conducted with 336 mother-child dyads (children's ages ranged from 6 to 17 years; mothers' ages ranged from 20 to 59 years) in China, India, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines, and Thailand to examine whether normativeness of physical discipline moderates the link between mothers' use of physical discipline and children's adjustment. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that physical discipline was less strongly associated with adverse child outcomes in conditions of greater perceived normativeness, but physical discipline was also associated with more adverse outcomes regardless of its perceived normativeness. Countries with the lowest use of physical discipline showed the strongest association between mothers' use and children's behavior problems, but in all countries higher use of physical discipline was associated with more aggression and anxiety.

Siblings in domestically violent families: experiences of interparent conflict and adjustment problems.

This research examines whether siblings in domestically violent families differ in experiences of interparent conflict and whether such differences are associated with differences in children's adjustment. Participants included 112 sibling pairs and their mothers temporarily residing in domestic violence shelters. Children completed measures of their experiences of interparent conflict, and children and mothers reported on children's adjustment problems. Cross-sibling correlations for experiences of interparent conflict were low to moderate. Sibling differences in threat appraisals of interparent conflict were associated with sibling differences in internalizing problems. Differences in self-blame appraisals were associated with differences in internalizing and externalizing problems. The direction of the relations indicated that the sibling who felt more threatened by or more at fault for interparent conflict experienced more adjustment problems. These findings suggest the potential utility of individually assessing sibling experiences of interparent conflict and tailoring interventions individually.

Genetic and environmental influences in adolescent peer socialization: evidence from two genetically sensitive designs.

Harris argues that peer relationships are the chief determinants of personality development. Harris's thesis makes the behavioral genetic investigation of peer groups particularly timely. The present study examined genetic and environmental contribution to self-reported peer-group characteristics in two samples of adolescent siblings: 180 adoptive and nonadoptive sibling pairs from the Colorado Adoption Project, and 386 sibling pairs from the Nonshared Environment and Adolescent Development Study. Substantial genetic influence emerged for college orientation, with the remaining variance accounted for by nonshared environment. For delinquency, however, the majority of the variance was explained by nonshared environment. Although genetic influence was implicated for peer popularity in twin analyses, genetic factors were not important in explaining individual differences in nontwin siblings. These results suggest that although some dimensions of peers are somewhat mediated by genetic factors, nonshared environmental influence is substantial.