Basic research and community collaboration: necessary ingredients for the development of a family-based HIV prevention program.

This article describes the development of a family-based, longitudinal HIV prevention program targeting urban, African American fourth- and fifth-grade children and their families living in areas with high rates of HIV infection. The intervention is based on the research findings of the Chicago HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Family Study, a longitudinal study of 315 urban, African American families with preadolescent children (Paikoff, 1997). Results from this study informed the development of a 12-week, family-based preventive intervention-the Chicago HIV-Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Project (CHAMP) Family Program. The development and implementation of the program also was guided by a collaborative partnership between university researchers and community members (parents and school staff). A description of the process by which collaboration influenced the development of the intervention is provided. This article is meant to serve as a model for the integration of empirical findings and community collaboration into the development of HIV prevention programs.

Involving families in an urban HIV preventive intervention: how community collaboration addresses barriers to participation.

This article addresses the increasing need within urban communities for effective, culturally relevant HIV prevention programs. The recruitment efforts of a family-based prevention program aimed at promoting health and preventing HIV risk exposure in urban, African American fourth and fifth grade children living in a community with high rates of HIV infection is detailed. The program, referred to as the CHAMP (Chicago HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Project) Family Program, is overseen by a collaborative partnership of community parents, school staff, and university-based researchers (Paikoff & McKay, 1995). The recruitment strategies developed as a result of this community-research collaboration are described. Preliminary results of the project's efforts to reach out to families within the targeted, inner-city community are presented.

Early heterosexual debut: situations of sexual possibility during the transition to adolescence.

Preadolescent sexuality among urban, minority youth is considered within a normative developmental context. Fourth- and fifth-grade children living in an urban, primarily African-American, low-income neighborhood were interviewed regarding situations of sexual possibility and contigencies of heterosocial and heterosexual behavior. Findings are discussed in light of factors that may influence early heterosexual debut.

Evolving self-image, pubertal manifestations, and pubertal hormones: preliminary findings in young adolescent girls.

PURPOSE: Recent studies indicate that negative self-image increases in white females during early adolescence. This study was designed to examine the effects of physical and hormonal change during puberty on evolving self-image. METHODS: The study sample consisted of 54 girls aged 10-14 yrs (mean 12.2 +/- 0.9). Evaluations at baseline and one-year follow-up included the Self-Image Questionnaire for Young Adolescents (SIQYA), physical examination, and assays of serum FSH, LH, estradiol, testosterone, and DHEAS. Tanner stage was assessed separately for breast and pubic hair, and the girls were classified as early-, mid-, or late-maturers for each. RESULTS: Pearson correlations between baseline and follow-up scores on the nine SIQYA scales ranged from 0.28-0.72 (P < 0.05); three scales demonstrated declining function (P < 0.05). At baseline, 39 girls (72%) were pre-menarcheal compared to 27 (50%) at follow-up. Mean body mass index (BMI) increased from 18.62 +/- 2.38 to 19.01 +/- 1.84 (P < 0.001), Tanner stages each increased by one, and pubertal timing did not change. LH and testosterone increased (P < 0.05) over the year, DHEAS decreased (P < 0.01), and FSH and estradiol did not change. Stepwise linear regression revealed that change in breast stage was positively correlated with change in Body Image score and change in Adjustment score (beta weights 0.46 and 0.41, respectively). Change in testosterone was negatively correlated with change in Adjustment score (beta weight of -0.46). After controlling for baseline score, change in breast stage was positively correlated and FSH was negatively correlated with follow-up Body Image score (beta weights of 0.40 and -0.24, respectively). CONCLUSION: We conclude that the rate of breast development and FSH level have independent, opposite effects on body image during early adolescence.

Do parent-child relationships change during puberty?

This article reviews changes in parent-child relationships during puberty, emphasizing the developmental processes that might be implicated in these changes. Evidence suggests increases in conflict and less warm interactions in relationships between parents and children during puberty. Changes are assumed to be short term, although little longitudinal research has directly addressed the issue of long-lasting effects. Other developmental changes occurring for the adolescent, the parent, or both (such as social cognitive or self-definitional change), as well as other relationship changes, personality characteristics, and the sheer number of life events or transitions have all been posited as potential contributors to changes in the parent-child relationship for young adolescents. These possible contributors, however, have seldom been studied in conjunction with pubertal changes. Such integrative research is necessary to test various models through which puberty, social relationships, social cognitive, self-definitional, and other processes influence one another and are influenced by one another during the transition to adolescence.

Effect of reproductive status changes on family functioning and well-being of mothers and daughters.

PIP: The effects of mother and daughter reproductive changes on maternal perceptions regarding the family are assessed. Mother and daughter reproductive status changes were examined in terms of their effects on family relations and mother and daughter well-being. Controls were made for mother and daughter age and heaviness. 144 mothers (37-59 years) and daughters (14-18 years) were selected from a study of white, middle to upper middle income families in large Eastern metropolitan areas. Mothers were typically well educated and employed and from 2-parent homes; 50% were 1st born. Moos' Family Environment Scale was used to measure family functioning; other measures included daughter's age at menarche, mother's menstrual status, the Ponderal index of mother and daughter heaviness, the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale, an abbreviated version of the Eating Attitudes Test, and Satisfaction with Body Parts scale of Padin, Lerner and Spiro. Self-administered questionnaires were mailed after agreement to participate was confirmed by phone. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the effect of menstrual status controlling for age on family cohesion or conflict, and the effect of perception of family cohesion or conflict on well-being. Factor-covariate interactions were tested for, and none were found based on the Bonferroni procedure. The cross-sectional results show that early adolescent maturation is not related to increases in family conflict compared with on-time or late maturers, in contrast to Hill's study results. There was no link between perceptions of family conflict on the well-being of mother or daughter. Family cohesion was important to mother and daughter well-being, but was not associated with mother's reproductive status or daughter's reproductive timing. For mothers, the effect was on depression and body image. For daughters, the most important variable was maternal perceptions of family cohesion for all measures of well-being. Daughters' perceptions of well-being were not associated with any well-being measures. Mother's menstrual status and interaction with daughter's menarcheal timing were related to maternal dieting behavior and bulimic symptoms. For daughters, mother's reproductive status and daughter's reproductive timing was significantly related to dieting behavior. Maternal age was related to maternal well-being (depression).^ieng

Methodological issues in the study of divergent views of the family.

A wealth of methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative, are available for conducting research on divergent views in the family. While the pathways for investigating divergent views of the family are clearer for those who chose more quantitative methods (as current literature reflects this tradition), qualitative methods may serve to clarify the process through which divergent views occur and are maintained within the family, both on an individual and on a dyadic or triadic level. In terms of the analysis of data from quantitative designs, divergent views of the family can quite easily be explored by viewing the family as a system and the individual family members as components of that system. This approach minimizes problems arising from having sampled families and included more than one family member from each. In addition, the organization of the data as family (rather than individual) records enables the researcher to directly examine divergences between family members by comparing ratings by different family members on the same construct. The issues involved in such analyses were discussed, first, in terms of the reliability of difference scores and then, in more detail, in terms of alternative regression-based models that estimate the effects of differences on a dependent variable. Although differences between variables are reputed to be (and often are) unreliable, the conditions under which these scores are likely to be reliable are the conditions found when examining divergent family views. Also, the reliability of difference variables can be treated directly. The discussion of regression models indicated the statistical equivalence (or in some instances nonequivalence) of models containing difference variables to alternative models not containing difference variables. Although algebraically equivalent, these alternative linear models provide different views of the same information. When moving from linear models to nonlinear models, however, researchers are cautioned to choose each specific model carefully since the nonlinear terms containing difference variables are actually more complex than they at first appear. The current volume speaks to the importance of variation in family members' views for the adjustment and well-being of adolescents. This chapter has taken on the question of how best to look at these divergences, and how different methods and statistical techniques may yield similar or different information regarding divergent views. The diversity in research methods and analytical strategies creates a challenging task for the investigator, and the continued exploration of questions regarding the implications of divergent views in the family should enhance our knowledge of how and why views diverge, as well as what divergences mean to family members.

Effects of girls' hormonal status on depressive and aggressive symptoms over the course of one year.

Associations between hormonal and physical status and girls' depressive affect, aggressive affect, and delinquent behavior were studied over the course of one year. Seventy-two White girls, aged 10-14 at initial data collection, were seen twice. Endocrinological status (estradiol, luteinizing hormone [LH], folicle stimulating hormone [FSH], testosterone, and dehydroepiandosterone sulfate [DHEAS] at Time 1, physical development (menarche, secondary sexual characteristics) and maturational timing at Times 1 and 2 were used to predict self- and maternal reports of depressive affect, and self-reports of aggressive affect and delinquent behavior at Time 2. It was posited that initial endocrinological status, as represented by hormonal categories derived by Warren and Brooks-Gunn [(1989) "Mood and Behavior at Adolescence: Evidence for Hormonal Factors, " Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol. 69, pp. 77-83] and reflecting estradiol, LH, and FSH levels, would be associated with affective expression and delinquent behavior one year later. DHEAS, however, was not expected to be associated with affective expression a year later as it is thought to be more indicative of adrenal changes that are in part environmentally mediated. Initial affective expression was hypothesized to account for more of the variation than prior hormonal status. Hormonal categories predicted depressive and aggressive affect a year later, while DHEAS, physical status, and maturational timing did not. Initial hormonal categories were associated with subsequent reports of delinquent behavior, although not after physical status or prior reports of delinquency were entered into the regression. Initial reports of affective expression accounted for a far greater proportion of the variance in aggressive affect and delinquent behavior than did hormonal or physical status.

Attitudes toward consequences of pregnancy in young women attending a family planning clinic.

PIP: This study examines the relationship between young women's knowledge and attitude concerning pregnancy and their sexual behavior. The study involved 78 young women (14-20 years of age) who had attended a midwestern family planning clinic. Primarily from a larger socioeconomic status, 70% of the participants said that they had never been pregnant. Adapting the testing methods of previous investigations, the study presented the participants with various exams intended to measure the following: 1) knowledge concerning "how babies are made"; 2) knowledge regarding intercourse and pregnancy; 3) anticipation of future consequences of adolescent childbirth; 4) anticipation of immediate consequences or fears of adolescent pregnancy. The study also examined the participants' contraceptive behavior and pregnancy history. The findings indicate that knowledge concerning understanding "how babies are made" does not influence sexual behavior, with no significant difference found between contraceptive users and non-contraceptive users. Also, the participants generally had accurate knowledge concerning intercourse and pregnancy. But the study did reveal significant differences in the evaluation of the consequences of pregnancy and childbirth. Those women who had previously been pregnant -- including those who had terminated their pregnancies -- showed a less negative attitude towards the consequences of pregnancy and childbirth than those who had never been pregnant. Furthermore, as the age of the women increased, the attitude became more positive. However, the study found that the attitude towards the consequences of pregnancy and childbirth had no impact on contraceptive behavior.^ieng

An exploratory study of dominance interactions among adolescent females at a summer camp.

One bunk of eight 16- to 17-year old females was studied over a four-week camping session. Instances of dyadic dominance behaviors between group members were recorded in three settings. Although participants formed a cohesive group dominance structure that remained relatively stable throughout the camp session, the structure was not rigid or hierarchical. A new term, "cohesive dyarchy," was coined to describe intracabin dominance relations. In contrast to many studies of adolescent females, popularity with boys and physical attractiveness were not found to be major predictors of dominance status. A variety of personality traits emphasizing interpersonal skills, athletic ability, and self-reported self-esteem predicted dominance status. Implications of these findings in terms of female adolescent development and future research are discussed.