Catherine A. Taylor

Intimate Partner Violence, Maternal Stress, Nativity, and Risk for Maternal Maltreatment of Young Children

OBJECTIVES We examined the associations of intimate partner violence (IPV) and maternal risk factors with maternal child maltreatment risk within a diverse sample of mothers. METHODS We derived the study sample (N=2508) from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. We conducted regression analyses to examine associations between IPV, parenting stress, major depression, key covariates, and 4 proxy variables for maternal child maltreatment. RESULTS Mothers reported an average of 25 acts of psychological aggression and 17 acts of physical aggression against their 3-year-old children in the year before the study, 11% reported some act of neglect toward their children during the same period, and 55% had spanked their children during the previous month. About 40% of mothers had experienced IPV by their current partner. IPV and maternal parenting stress were both consistent risk factors for all 4 maltreatment proxy variables. Although foreign-born mothers reported fewer incidents of child maltreatment, the IPV relative risk for child maltreatment was greater for foreign-born than for US-born mothers. CONCLUSIONS Further integration of IPV and child maltreatment prevention and intervention efforts is warranted; such efforts must carefully balance the needs of adult and child victims.

Mentoring College-Age Women: A Relational Approach

Despite the popularity of mentoring programs, the relational dimension of mentoring has not been elucidated. Traditional conceptions of mentoring may exclude factors that are particularly important for women and girls, thus limiting the efficacy of mentoring programs for female adolescents. We suggest that the presence of relational qualities in the mentoring relationship (e.g., empathy, engagement, authenticity, and empowerment) strongly influences the success of mentoring in the lives of young women. In this study, we use a promising new measure of mentoring, the Relational Health Index – Mentor, to explore the impact of relational aspects of mentoring in female college students. We found that mentoring relationships high in relational qualities were associated with higher self-esteem and less loneliness.

Mothers' Spanking of 3-Year-Old Children and Subsequent Risk of Children's Aggressive Behavior

OBJECTIVE: The goal was to examine the association between the use of corporal punishment (CP) against 3-year-old children and subsequent aggressive behavior among those children. METHODS: Respondents (N = 2461) participated in the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (1998–2005), a population-based, birth cohort study of children born in 20 large US cities. Maternal reports of CP, childrens aggressive behaviors at 3 and 5 years of age, and a host of key demographic features and potential confounding factors, including maternal child physical maltreatment, psychological maltreatment, and neglect, intimate partner aggression victimization, stress, depression, substance use, and consideration of abortion, were assessed. RESULTS: Frequent use of CP (ie, mothers use of spanking more than twice in the previous month) when the child was 3 years of age was associated with increased risk for higher levels of child aggression when the child was 5 years of age (adjusted odds ratio: 1.49 [95% confidence interval: 1.2–1.8]; P < .0001), even with controlling for the childs level of aggression at age 3 and the aforementioned potential confounding factors and key demographic features. CONCLUSIONS: Despite American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations to the contrary, most parents in the United States approve of and have used CP as a form of child discipline. The current findings suggest that even minor forms of CP, such as spanking, increase risk for increased child aggressive behavior. Importantly, these findings cannot be attributed to possible confounding effects of a host of other maternal parenting risk factors.

FEMALE AGGRESSION TOWARD MALE INTIMATE PARTNERS: AN EXAMINATION OF SOCIAL NORMS IN A COMMUNITY‐BASED SAMPLE

We investigated the effect of assailant gender on injunctive social norms (i.e., beliefs about what ought to happen) regarding violence toward an intimate heterosexual partner. In a random-digit-dialed survey conducted in four languages, 3,769 community-residing adults were presented with five vignettes in which we experimentally manipulated characteristics of the assailant, victim, and incident. We examined the vignette variables and measured respondent characteristics using multivariate logistic regressions. Judgments about womens violence against male intimates (vs. mens violence against female intimates) were less harsh and took contextual factors more fully into account. The type of violence and the presence of a weapon played a central role in respondent judgments. Respondent demographic characteristics were largely unrelated to their judgments.

THE RELATIONAL HEALTH INDICES: A STUDY OF WOMEN'S RELATIONSHIPS

A new measure of womens relationships, the Relational Health Indices (RHI), comprises three scales that assess growth-fostering connections with peers, mentors, and communities. The RHI was developed using the Relational Model (Jordan, Kaplan, Miller, Stiver, Surrey, 1991; Miller & Stiver, 1997), a theory of womens psychological development. The 37-item measure assesses three conceptual dimensions of growth-fostering relationships: engagement, authenticity, and empowerment/zest. This study examined the psychometric properties of the RHI with a group of 450 students at a womens liberal arts college, providing evidence for the reliability, validity, and utility of the new measure. The factor analyses confirmed a three-subscale structure: engagement, authenticity, empowerment/zest. The RHIs components generally demonstrate good overall internal consistency. Furthermore, associations between RHI scales and convergent validation scales were significant and in the direction hypothesized. Correlations with adjustment scales varied across the RHI components. The RHI has potential for enriching our understanding of important, subtle qualities and complex dynamics of both dyadic and group relationships, especially among women. The instrument is available for use by researchers interested in continuing the scale and theory development.

The unique hypusine modification of eIF5A promotes islet β cell inflammation and dysfunction in mice

In both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, pancreatic islet dysfunction results in part from cytokine-mediated inflammation. The ubiquitous eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A), which is the only protein to contain the amino acid hypusine, contributes to the production of proinflammatory cytokines. We therefore investigated whether eIF5A participates in the inflammatory cascade leading to islet dysfunction during the development of diabetes. As described herein, we found that eIF5A regulates iNOS levels and that eIF5A depletion as well as the inhibition of hypusination protects against glucose intolerance in inflammatory mouse models of diabetes. We observed that following knockdown of eIF5A expression, mice were resistant to beta cell loss and the development of hyperglycemia in the low-dose streptozotocin model of diabetes. The depletion of eIF5A led to impaired translation of iNOS-encoding mRNA within the islet. A role for the hypusine residue of eIF5A in islet inflammatory responses was suggested by the observation that inhibition of hypusine synthesis reduced translation of iNOS-encoding mRNA in rodent beta cells and human islets and protected mice against the development of glucose intolerance the low-dose streptozotocin model of diabetes. Further analysis revealed that hypusine is required in part for nuclear export of iNOS-encoding mRNA, a process that involved the export protein exportin1. These observations identify the hypusine modification of eIF5A as a potential therapeutic target for preserving islet function under inflammatory conditions.

The Role of Mental Health Factors, Behavioral Factors, and Past Experiences in the Prediction of Rapid Repeat Pregnancy in Adolescence

PURPOSE This study investigates the predictors of rapid repeat pregnancy (subsequent pregnancy within 24 months of previous pregnancy outcome) in a sample of urban adolescents. METHODS Adolescents aged 12-19 years (N = 354) who were predominantly African-American (94.1%) completed individual interviews during pregnancy and at 24 months postpartum. Logistic regression was used to determine the relationship among mental health factors, behavioral factors, and negative life experiences in the prediction of rapid repeat pregnancy. RESULTS Of the adolescents, 42% (n = 147) of adolescents reported a rapid repeat pregnancy. Baseline reports of later age at menarche (12.43 vs. 11.91; p = .003) and a greater likelihood of aggression were significantly associated with having a rapid repeat pregnancy within 24 months. Age at menarche and self-reported aggression contributed independently to the prediction of a closely spaced second pregnancy (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS It is suggested that pubertal onset and individual mental health as it relates to measures of aggression should be considered when developing programs targeting adolescents at highest risk for rapid repeat pregnancy.

Pleiotropic effects of suppressing deoxyhypusine synthase expression in Arabidopsis thaliana

A full-length cDNA clone encoding deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) was isolated from a cDNA expression library prepared from senescing leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana. Southern blot analysis indicated that DHS is encoded by a single-copy gene in Arabidopsis. During leaf development, the abundance of DHS mRNA in the third pair of rosette leaves peaked at days 14 and 35 after emergence coincident with the initiation of bolting and the later stages of leaf senescence, respectively. These changes in DHS expression were paralleled by corresponding changes in transcript abundance for eIF-5A1, one of three isoforms of eIF-5A in Arabidopsis. Levels of DHS transcript also increased in detached leaves coincident with post-harvest senescence. DHS was suppressed in transgenic plants by introducing antisense full-length or 3′-untranslated Arabidopsis DHS cDNA under the regulation of the constitutive cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV-35S) promoter. Plants expressing the antisense transgenes had reduced levels of leaf DHS protein and, depending on the level of DHS suppression, exhibited delayed natural leaf senescence, delayed bolting, increased rosette leaf and root biomass, and enhanced seed yield. Suppression of DHS also delayed premature leaf senescence induced by drought stress resulting in enhanced survival in comparison with wild-type plants. In addition, detached leaves from DHS-suppressed plants exhibited delayed post-harvest senescence. These pleiotropic effects of DHS suppression indicate that the protein plays a central role in plant development and senescence.

Characterization of a Plastid Triacylglycerol Lipase from Arabidopsis

Full-length cDNA corresponding to Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) gene At2g31690, which has been annotated in GenBank as a putative triacylglycerol (TAG) lipase, was obtained by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction using RNA from senescing rosette leaves of Arabidopsis as a template. The cognate protein was found to contain the lipase active site sequence, and corresponding recombinant protein proved capable of deesterifying TAG. In vitro chloroplast import assays indicated that the lipase is targeted to chloroplasts. This was confirmed by confocal microscopy of rosette leaf tissue treated with fluorescein isocyanate-labeled, lipase-specific antibody, which revealed that lipase protein colocalizes with plastoglobular neutral lipids. Western-blot analysis indicated that the lipase is expressed in roots, inflorescence stems, flowers, siliques, and leaves and that it is strongly up-regulated in senescing rosette leaf tissue. Transgenic plants with suppressed lipase protein levels were obtained by expressing At2g31690 cDNA in antisense orientation under the regulation of a constitutive promoter. Transgenic plants bolted and flowered at the same time as wild-type plants, but were severely stunted and exhibited delayed rosette senescence. Moreover, the stunted growth phenotype correlated with irregular chloroplast morphology. The chloroplasts of transgenic plants were structurally deformed, had reduced abundance of thylakoids that were abnormally stacked, and contained more plastoglobular neutral lipids than chloroplasts of wild-type plants. These observations collectively indicate that this TAG lipase plays a role in maintaining the structural integrity of chloroplasts, possibly by mobilizing the fatty acids of plastoglobular TAG.

The nature of newspaper coverage of homicide

Objectives: Previous research has shown that some homicides are more likely than others to receive newspaper coverage (for example, homicides by strangers). The present investigation examined whether, once the decision has been made to report on a homicide, the nature of the coverage (that is, how much visibility is given to a story, what information is included, and how a story is written) differs according to two key variables, victim ethnicity, and victim-suspect relationship. Setting: Los Angeles, California (USA). Methods: Homicide articles from the 1990–94 issues of the Los Angeles Times were stratified according to the predictors of interest (victim ethnicity and victim-suspect relationship) and a sample was drawn. Data that characterized two primary aspects of newspaper coverage, prominence and story framing (including background information, story focus, use of opinions, story tone, and “hook” or leading introductory lines) were abstracted from the articles. Descriptive statistics and cross tabulations were generated. Multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the predictive value of victim ethnicity and victim-suspect relationship on the nature of the newspaper coverage. Results: Newspaper coverage of homicide was generally factual, episodic, and unemotional in tone. Victim-suspect relationship, but not victim ethnicity, was related to how a story was covered, particularly the story frame. Homicides by intimates were covered consistently differently from other types of homicides; these stories were less likely to be opinion dominated, be emotional, and begin with a “hook”. Conclusion: Victim-suspect relationship was related to the nature of coverage of homicides in a large, metropolitan newspaper. Given the agenda setting and issue framing functions of the news media, these findings have implications for the manner in which the public and policy makers perceive homicides and, consequently, for the support afforded to various types of solutions for addressing and preventing violence.