James E. Deal

Personality Structure as Derived From Parental Ratings of Free Descriptions of Children: The Inventory of Child Individual Differences

Based on over 50,000 parental descriptors of children gathered in eight different countries, we used a combination of focus group sorting of descriptors in each country and factor analyses of instruments developed in four of the countries (United States, China, Greece, and the Netherlands) to describe children ages 3 to 12 years to select items for an instrument that would work well across countries to access personality. Through many factor analyses of indigenous items in each country, a core set of 141 items was used in three of the countries, with over 3000 parents responding to our instruments in China, Greece, and the United States. Much cross-comparative research analysis has resulted in 15 robust midlevel scales that describe the structures of parental descriptors that are common to the three countries. The data on the English (U.S.) sample are presented in detail. Links to temperament and behavior problems are presented and discussed.

Dating Violence: The Primacy of Previous Experience:

Data concerning dating violence were collected from 410 university and college students. Descriptive information on the rate and type of such violence was examined along with information on the gender of individuals involved. The relative contributions of five sets of factors to the occurrence of dating violence were investigated: past experiences with violence, attitudes, personality factors, the nature of the relationship, and socioeconomic status. The results indicate that 47 percent of the respondents had some experience with violence in a dating relationship. The majority of these experiences were reciprocal in nature with both partners violent at some time. When the violence was not reciprocal, males were three times as likely to report victim-only experiences than were females. Multiple regression analysis showed violent experiences in previous relationships to be the main predictor of violent experiences in current relationships.

The hierarchical structure of childhood personality in five countries: continuity from early childhood to early adolescence.

Childhood personality is a rapidly growing area of investigation within individual differences research. One understudied topic is the universality of the hierarchical structure of childhood personality. In the present investigation, parents rated the personality characteristics of 3,751 children from 5 countries and 4 age groups. The hierarchical structure of childhood personality was examined for 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-factor models across country (Canada, China, Greece, Russia, and the United States) and age group (3-5, 6-8, 9-11, and 12-14 years of age). Many similarities were noted across both country and age. The Five-Factor Model was salient beginning in early childhood (ages 3-5). Deviations across groups and from adult findings are noted, including the prominent role of antagonism in childhood personality and the high covariation between Conscientiousness and intellect. Future directions, including the need for more explicit attempts to merge temperament and personality models, are discussed.

Operationalizing Family Resilience: A Methodological Strategy

This article explores several research design and analysis strategies for examining family resilience, and presents a strategy argued to reflect the process-oriented nature of this construct. We advocate a quantitative, longitudinal strategy, sensitive to both the context of a family and the unique stressor being examined. Our strategy was tested with longitudinal data, assessing transitions relating to the birth of a first child. Challenges connected with this model are presented, as well as clinical implications and directions for future research. Identifying differing resilience trajectories which families exhibit in response to stress may aid in identifying factors instrumental in shaping those trajectories.

The inventory of children's individual differences : Development and validation of a short version

As more researchers utilize the Five-factor model (FFM) of personality with children and adolescents, the need for instruments designed specifically for use with children and adolescents increases. In the United States, the 108-item Inventory of Childrens Individual Differences (ICID; Halverson et al., 2003), has provided researchers with an age and culture neutral instrument designed specifically to assess the FFM of personality in children and adolescents, ages 2 to 15, using parental, nonparental, or self-reports. This article presents a shorter, 50-item version of the ICID (the ICID-S) that maintains the levels of validity and reliability previously established for the full instrument.

Temperament Factors as Longitudinal Predictors of Young Adult Personality

While there is a general consensus that temperament forms the enduring, biologically based foundation of personality and that this biological basis should imply some continuity within the individual across time, there is a limited literature exploring linkages between these areas. The purpose of this article was to provide an initial assessment of the relation between a two-factor model of temperament in early/middle childhood and the five-factor model of personality in late adolescence/young adulthood. Data were gathered from 115 children who had participated in a longitudinal study of early/middle childhood and who provided follow-up data 15 years later. Significant linkages were found between the two time periods. At the facet level, temperament in early and middle childhood accounted for an average of 32% of the variance in personality in late adolescence/early young adulthood. At the domain level, temperament accounted for an average of 34% of the variance.

Significant and serious dehydration does not affect skeletal muscle cramp threshold frequency

Objective Many clinicians believe that exercise-associated muscle cramps (EAMC) occur because of dehydration. Experimental research supporting this theory is lacking. Mild hypohydration (3% body mass loss) does not alter threshold frequency (TF), a measure of cramp susceptibility, when fatigue and exercise intensity are controlled. No experimental research has examined TF following significant (3–5% body mass loss) or serious hypohydration (>5% body mass loss). Determine if significant or serious hypohydration, with moderate electrolyte losses, decreases TF. Design A prepost experimental design was used. Dominant limb flexor hallucis brevis cramp TF, cramp electromyography (EMG) amplitude and cramp intensity were measured in 10 euhydrated, unacclimated men (age=24±4 years, height=184.2±4.8 cm, mass=84.8±11.4 kg). Subjects alternated exercising with their non-dominant limb or upper body on a cycle ergometer every 15 min at a moderate intensity until 5% body mass loss or volitional exhaustion (3.8±0.8 h; 39.1±1.5°C; humidity 18.4±3%). Cramp variables were reassessed posthypohydration. Results Subjects were well hydrated at the studys onset (urine specific gravity=1.005±0.002). They lost 4.7±0.5% of their body mass (3.9±0.5 litres of fluid), 4.0±1.5 g of Na+ and 0.6±0.1 g K+ via exercise-induced sweating. Significant (n=5) or serious hypohydration (n=5) did not alter cramp TF (euhydrated=15±5 Hz, hypohydrated=13±6 Hz; F1,9=3.0, p=0.12), cramp intensity (euhydrated= 94.2±41%, hypohydrated=115.9±73%; F1,9=1.9, p=0.2) or cramp EMG amplitude (euhydrated=0.18±0.06 µV, hypohydrated= 0.18±0.09 µV; F1,9=0.1, p=0.79). Conclusions Significant and serious hypohydration with moderate electrolyte losses does not alter cramp susceptibility when fatigue and exercise intensity are controlled. Neuromuscular control may be more important in the onset of muscle cramps than dehydration or electrolyte losses.

Parental Similarity on Child-Rearing Orientations: Effects of Stereotype Similarity

Previous research findings on similarity between parents on child-rearing orientations have been questioned as more recent research has found fairly high stereotype effects between spouses. The present report addressed issues of level and consistency of similarity over time, using data from the first 4 years of a 5-year study of 136 families and their preschool children. Parental similarity was assessed using the Block Child-rearing Practices Report (CRPR). Standard estimates of similarity as well as estimates of a dyadic-level similarity score, with stereotype effects removed, were obtained. While correlations across time were positive and significant for both scores, the dyadic score was significantly lower than the unadjusted score at all time points. Results indicated that earlier significant findings, between similarity and marital relations, family relations and child outcomes, were caused almost completely by stereotype effects.

Operationalizing Family Resilience as Process: Proposed Methodological Strategies

The notion that some families are able to function well, and even thrive, in the face of considerable stress has been the subject of considerable theoretical discussion as well as empirical study (Baldwin, Baldwin, & Cole, 1990; McCubbin, 1995; Walsh, 2006). Although the construct of family resilience holds much promise, there has not been universal agreement on how to conceptualize or assess this intriguing area of study. Previously, we explored conceptual and definitional issues relating to the notion of family resilience, paying particular attention to the idea that family resilience represents adaptive paths that a family exhibits both in the present and over time (Hawley & DeHaan, 1996). Such a process-focused approach necessitates a methodological framework to match these conceptual ideas. In this chapter we examine research design and analysis strategies, focusing on quantitative methods for measuring pathways of family resilience. We then examine the efficacy of our proposed method, with a sample test case of parents coping with the normative stressor of the birth of their first child. We believe that this proposed method, identifying differing trajectories of resilience, may play an important role in discovering factors instrumental in shaping adaptive pathways for families and may assist clinicians in both their research and practice. Our method is argued to align more closely with how family resilience is used clinically, that is, as a process, rather than as a trait.

Children's School Behavior and Performance: Relations to Marital and Familial Characteristics

The relation between marital andfamilial relationships and childrens performance and behavior in school was examined in a sample of 143families with children in early or middle childhood. Correlational analyses indicated a complex set of relations dependent on the gender of the child, the relationship being assessed, the means of assessment, and the type of outcome measure used. Results are discussed in terms of implications for researchers and clinicians.