Dorothy Flannagan

Emotional references in mother-daughter and mother-son dyads' conversations about school

The conversations of 100 mother-child (mean age4.5 years) dyads about the childrens school experienceswere examined for their emotional content. Dyads variedalong the dimensions of gender of child (53 girls; 57 boys), ethnicity (31African-American, 39 Anglo-American, and 40Mexican-American), and SES (55 lower and 55 higher).When compared to mother-son dyads, mother-daughter dyadsmade more emotional references, particularly when discussing topicsrelated to interpersonal relationships and whendiscussing emotions experienced by the daughters.Higher-SES dyads made more emotional references than did lower-SES dyads. While there was no main effectof ethnicity associated with the overall tendency todiscuss emotions, relative to other dyads,African-American dyads made more emotional referenceswhen discussing noninterpersonal, nonacademic topicsthan did other dyads, Anglo-American dyads made moreemotional references during the discussing of learningtopics, and Mexican-American dyads discussed emotion more in relation to interpersonal topics thandid African-American dyads.

Communication competence, self-care behaviors and glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between physician communication competence and A1c control among Hispanics and non-Hispanics seen in primary care practices. STUDY DESIGN Observational. METHODS Direct observation and audio-recording of patient-physician encounters by 155 Hispanic and non-Hispanic white patients seen by 40 physicians in 20 different primary care clinics. Audio-recordings were transcribed and coded to derive an overall communication competence score for the physician. An exit survey was administered to each patient to assess self-care activities and their medical record was abstracted for the most recent glycosylated hemoglobin (A1c) level. RESULTS Higher levels of communication competence were associated with lower levels of A1c for Hispanics, but not non-Hispanic white patients. Although communication competence was associated with better self-reported diet behaviors, diet was not associated with A1c control. Across all patients, higher levels of communication competence were associated with improved A1c control after controlling for age, ethnicity and diet adherence. CONCLUSIONS Physicians communication competence may be more important for promoting clinical success in disadvantaged patients. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Acquisition of communication competence skills may be an important component in interventions to eliminate Hispanic disparities in glucose control.

Effects of Pronoun Type and Gender Role Consistency on Children's Recall and Interpretation of Stories

The pronouns he, she, and they were compared with he and she alternating, to examine recall and gender interpretation of stories. Participants, who were ethnically diverse, were 48 girls and boys aged 6 and 9 from working-class and middle-class areas of San Antonio. Children read stories about imaginary characters of ambiguous gender referred to by varying pronouns and enjoying either stereotypically masculine, feminine, or neutral activities. Recall was higher for girls, older children, and children who heard stories containing she instead of he. Six-year-olds, but not 9-year-olds, recalled more information from stories containing gender-consistent activities. Interpretation of character gender for he, she, and he/she alternating was based largely on pronoun; for stories using they, it was based both on pronoun and activity. The results underscore the nongeneric nature of generic pronouns and the gender differences in recall and interpretation evoked by contact with gender specific reading material.

Perceptions and Communications About ADHD and ODD Behaviors in Children With Combined Type Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

We investigated the perceptions about the behaviors that are characteristic of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and the stimulant medication used to manage the symptoms of ADHD, in 40 Mexican American and non-Hispanic White mothers and their children (mean age 9.63 years). Mothers also reported the disorder-related information they had received from the professionals who worked with their children and the disorder-related information they had communicated to their children. Results revealed that mothers and children viewed oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and ADHD symptoms as equally salient, and they viewed stimulant medication as similarly important in treating both clusters of behavior. However, mothers reported receiving and communicating less information about ODD than about ADHD. There were differences related to ethnicity in the responses. The results suggest that professionals who work with children with ADHD and their families should consider providing information to them about ODD and its treatment.

Judgment Biases and Characteristics of Friendships of Mexican American and Anglo-American Girls and Boys.

Gender and ethnic patterns in ratings and assessments of four dimensions of friendship qualities were investigated (emotional attachment, support, shared activities, and conflicts) with 122 Anglo-American and Mexican American early adolescents (63 girls; mean age 10.36 years), as were links between ratings and assessments. Participants named a favorite friend, rated their perceptions of the hypothetical behaviors of that friend or an unfamiliar peer in scenarios that varied by actor’s intention and outcome of the actor’s behavior on the participant, and completed two measures designed to assess friendship quality. Girls, but not boys, rated friends’ behaviors as more positive than the similar behaviors of unfamiliar peers and reported higher levels of attachment and support in their friendships. Similar rating patterns were found for Anglo-American and Mexican American participants. In addition, ratings of friends’ behaviors in scenarios that presented neutral intentions were correlated with the level of emotional attachment reported in the friendship.

Judging the behaviors of friends and unfamiliar peers: Patterns associated with age and gender

This research was designed to examine age-related and gender-related patterns in the judgments of children and early adolescents about hypothetical behaviors of friends and unfamiliar peers. Thirty-eight children, 43 younger early adolescents, and 31 older early adolescents were presented with eight scenarios that portray an actor whose behavior affects the respondent. Scenarios varied according to the status (friend or unfamiliar peer) and intention (good or neutral) of the actor and the outcome (good or bad) of the actor’s behavior for the respondent. Participants were asked to recall each scenario and to rate the appropriateness of the actor’s behavior in each. Recall both of intentions and of outcomes was associated with ratings. Significant differences in ratings related to actors’status and intentions were found for girls but not for boys. The strongest positive bias toward friends was found in the ratings of younger early adolescent girls.

Item relatedness and elaborative processing in recall of word definitions

To test the effectiveness of self-reference and semantic processing when items are related and not related, 20 words were selected as members of one of four categories (Related) and 20 words were selected without category membership (Unrelated). Each word and its definition was viewed for 45 sec., and the college subjects in the Semantic condition were told to write each word in sentences using the pronouns “he,” “she,” or “it,” while subjects in the Self condition were told to use each word in sentences using the pronouns “I” or “me.” In the Related condition a category header was viewed for 45 sec. before the subjects saw the five related words. Subjects were tested after 10 min. and 1 wk. Self-referencing produced higher recall of definitions than semantic, mean recall of definitions of unrelated words was higher than that of the related words, and there was a significant drop in retention from 10 min. to 1 wk. These results support findings of previous studies which have demonstrated the facilitative effect of self-referencing; however, the results do not support the hypothesis that self-referent encoding is effective solely due to its tendency to provide an organizational structure.