Anna-Liisa Lyyra

Life success of males on nonoffender, adolescence-limited, persistent, and adult-onset antisocial pathways: follow-up from age 8 to 42

A random sample of 196 males, drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, was divided into four groups of offenders using information from government registers of convictions between ages 21 and 47, from local police registers searched at age 21, from a Self-Report Delinquency Scale administered at age 36, from a Life History Calendar for ages 15-42, and from personal interviews at ages 27, 36, and 42. The groups were: persistent offenders (offences before and after age 21; 29% of the men); adolescence-limited offenders (offences before age 21; 27%); adult-onset offenders (offences after age 21; 16%); and nonoffenders (28%). The profile of the persistent offenders included many characteristics of antisocial personality and problems of social and psychological functioning at all ages. In childhood and adolescence, the adolescence-limited offenders tended to display higher self-control than the other offenders indicated by less negative emotionality and higher constraint. In early middle age, they were well established in terms of work and marriage, but they differed from the nonoffenders in higher neuroticism, aggressiveness, and psychosomatic symptoms as did the other offender groups. The adult-onset offenders displayed an emotionally unstable personality, and in adulthood, they tended to be heavy users of alcohol. Parental SES did not differentiate the groups, but the parents of the persistent offenders tended to use alcohol heavily, and the social capital of the family tended to be low compared with the other groups.

Task Avoidance, Number Skills and Parental Learning Difficulties as Predictors of Poor Response to Instruction

Altogether 1,285 Finnish children were followed up from the end of kindergarten through Grade 1. All were nonreaders at school entrance. The aim was to delineate predictors of resistance to treatment that are evidenced as little or no reading progress during Grade 1. On the basis of reading achievement in Grade 1 spring, four subgroups were formed. These were fast, average, and slow reading acquisition and slow progress in both reading and math. Kindergarten spring scores in phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid naming, and number skills differentiated well among the groups, the latter two being more robust predictors. Task avoidance added to the prediction over and above cognitive skills. Its effect disappeared when parental history of reading and math difficulties was included in the equation. The present results depict poor response to instruction as a general learning problem rather than a specific reading difficulty. Poor response to instruction differs from dyslexia also in that treatment resisters start school with cognitive prerequisites that do not indicate severe reading and math problems.

Is Social Capital a Mediator between Self-Control and Psychological and Social Functioning across 34 Years?.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of social capital assessed in early adulthood in linking self-control in childhood with psychological and social functioning in middle age. Data collected at ages 8, 27, and 42 years were based on the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (159 females, 177 males). Self-control was assessed at age 8 using teacher ratings and peer nominations. Social capital at age 27 was operationalized in terms of the breadth of the individuals’ social network and the depth of their close relationships. Psychological functioning at age 42 was indicated by, for instance, psychological well-being, and social functioning was indicated by, for instance, aggression. Results showed for females, but not for males, that social capital partially mediated the link between self-control and psychological well-being, as well as the link between self-control and aggression. In females, higher self-control explained better psychological well-being and lower aggression both directly and indirectly via the breadth of the individual’s social network. In males, both childhood self-control and behavioral activity contributed to the breadth of their social network, which, in turn, contributed to the depth of their close relationships. Deeper relationships explained better psychological well-being and, marginally, lower aggression; male lower aggression was directly accounted for by childhood self-control.

Mutual Trust between Kindergarten Teachers and Mothers and its Associations with Family Characteristics in Estonia and Finland

Mutual trust between mothers and kindergarten teachers along with its relation to mother’s educational level and child’s gender was studied in two neighboring countries—Estonia and Finland. From Estonia 543 ratings of mothers and 232 ratings of teachers were collected, and, from Finland, 712 ratings of mothers and 712 ratings of teachers. Trust was assessed with shortened questionnaires based on the Trust scale. More Finnish than Estonian mothers reported a higher level of trust towards the teacher while no significant difference was found for teachers. The associations between the level of mothers’ and teachers’ trust and mother’s education were different in each country.

Social relations in older adults: Secular trends and longitudinal changes over a 16-year follow-up

Drawing on population studies in Finland, we investigated secular trends and longitudinal changes in social relations. The cohort comparison data comprised on 974 persons aged 65-69 years from three cohorts born between 1919 and 1939 and interviewed in 1988, 1996 and 2004. Longitudinal analyses were conducted for 635 persons aged 65-74 years over a 16-year follow-up at three measurement points. Social relations were studied on the basis of frequency seeing ones offspring, perceptions of the sufficiency of these contacts, and by asking whom the participants considered as their closest person and how often and in how many tasks they helped someone. The cohort comparisons showed that the frequency of seeing ones offspring had decreased in the most recent cohort and that the number of contacts was considered more inadequate. Longitudinal analyses showed that although the proportion of children as the closest persons increased, meetings with them became fewer. Helping others was more common in the last cohort, but in the longitudinal analyses it decreased with age. Finnish people at retirement help others more than before, but they do not meet their offspring as often as they would like. Measures are needed for action to promote intergenerational exchange in older adults on both individual and societal level.

Compression forces of haptics of selected posterior chamber lenses

Purpose: To compare the compressive forces of the haptics of different intraocular lens (IOL) models and analyze the observed differences. Setting: Central Hospital of Central Finland and University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland. Methods: The haptics of 28 IOL models were compressed to a diameter of 9.0 mm. The compression forces were measured at 0.5 mm intervals. The conclusions were verified by numerical simulations of mechanical models of the lenses. Results: The measured forces varied between 100 and 601 mg at a diameter of 11.0 mm, 206 and 1057 mg at a diameter of 10.0 mm, and 315 and 2094 mg at a diameter of 9.0 mm. The slopes of the force curves of the three‐piece lenses were fairly linear. In general, the three‐piece models were less rigid than one‐piece models and underwent plastic deformations after repeated compressions. For most one‐piece models, compression force increased progressively with increasing compression. The overall IOL diameter and differences in haptic thickness and length and the angle between optic at the point of haptic insertion were the main causes of the observed differences in the compression forces. The variation in forces between individual specimens of the same model, which occurred with almost all models, were mainly the result of variations in haptic thickness. Conclusion: Great variations in the compression forces of the IOL haptics were found. Compression behaviors should be taken into account when selecting a lens to implant.

Parental Identity and Its Relation to Parenting and Psychological Functioning in Middle Age

SYNOPSIS Objective. This article focuses on identity as a parent in relation to parenting and psychological functioning in middle age. Design. Drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, 162 participants (53% females) with children (age 36), represented the Finnish age-cohort born in 1959. Parental identity was assessed at ages 36, 42, and 50. Results. In both women and men, parental identity achievement increased from age 36 to 42 and remained stable to 50. The level of parental identity achievement was higher in women than in men. Achievement was typical for women and foreclosure for men. Participants’ education, occupational status, and number of offspring were not related to parental identity status. As expected, parental identity achievement was associated with authoritative (indicated by higher nurturance and parental knowledge about the child’s activities) parenting style. No significant associations emerged between parental identity foreclosure and restrictiveness as an indicator of authoritarian parenting style. The diffused men outscored others in parental stress. Achieved parental identity was related to generativity in both genders and to higher psychological and social well-being in men. Conclusions. At present, many parenting programs are targeted to young parents. This study highlighted the importance of a later parenting phase at around age 40, when for many, the children are approaching puberty. Therefore, parenting programs and support should also be designed for middle-aged parents. Specifically men may need additional support for their active consideration and engagement in the fathering role.

Compression forces of haptics of freely rotating posterior chamber intraocular lenses

Purpose: To measure the compressive forces of the haptics of 28 intraocular lens (IOL) models for different modes of compression and compare the results of two types of measurements. Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Central Hospital of Central Finland, Jyväskylä, Finland. Methods: The haptics of 28 types of IOLs were compressed to a diameter of 9.0 mm between curved anvils. The compression forces in the plane of compression (i.e., in the plane of the optics) were measured at 0.5 mm intervals. During compression, the optics and the haptics were free to rotate with respect to the anvils. The results were compared with those of earlier measurements in which the optics were held fixed during compression. Perpendicular forces were measured at 0.4 mm intervals. Results: The measured forces in the plane of the optics varied between 114 and 659 mg at a diameter of 10.0 mm and 192 and 1047 mg at a diameter of 9.0 mm. When compressed to 10.0 mm in diameter, the forces were 1 to 75% lower than when lens rotation was not possible. The forces perpendicular to the optic varied between 0 and 96 mg at a 10.0 mm diameter and correlated with the forces in the plane of the optic. Conclusion: The compression forces of the lens haptics were generally lower when the lenses were allowed to rotate during compression. The orders of stiffness of the haptics in these two measurements were similar. The perpendicular forces were generally small and correlated significantly with the forces measured in the plane of the optic. J Cataract Refract Surg 1998, 24:415‐425

Antisocial and human capital pathways to socioeconomic exclusion: A 42-year prospective study.

Nordic welfare states have been very successful at reducing poverty and inequality among their citizens. However, the presence of a strong social safety net in these countries has not solved the problem of socioeconomic exclusion, manifesting in such outcomes as chronic unemployment and welfare dependency. In an effort to understand this phenomenon, the current study builds on the assumption that psychological risk factors emerge as important determinants of socioeconomic disadvantage in an environment where ascribed characteristics have less impact on educational and occupational attainment. Using data from Finland, this research examined a life course model linking childhood differences in cognitive skills and antisocial propensity to midlife socioeconomic exclusion. The Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (n = 369) follows individuals from age 8 (b. 1959) through age 50. Evidence from a structural equation model found support for key theoretical predictions: (a) human capital and antisocial pathways contributed independently to socioeconomic exclusion; (b) the effect of childhood psychological factors on midlife socioeconomic exclusion was mediated by adolescent and adult life course outcomes; and (c) the human capital and antisocial domains intersected such that antisocial children struggled in school as adolescents, which contributed to their persistence in crime and deviance in adulthood—a behavioral pattern that directly increased the risk of socioeconomic exclusion in midlife. In short, the findings suggest that early emerging differences in cognitive ability and antisociality set in motion a process of negative life outcomes with enduring consequences for socioeconomic well-being. The results are discussed from the perspective of sociohistorical context and public policy.