Patricia L. East

Compensatory Patterns of Support Among Children's Peer Relationships: A Test Using School Friends, Nonschool Friends, and Siblings.

We examined the extent to which isolated and aggressive 6th graders compensate for unsatisfying school friendships by deriving support from siblings and nonschool friends and whether this support protects such children from poor socioemotional outcomes. Results were as follows: (a) When compared with average and aggressive children, isolated children perceived their school friendships as least supportive and their favorite sibling relationships as most supportive; (b) isolated, aggressive, and average children did not differ in their perceptions of support from nonschool friends; and (c) high support from a favorite sibling was associated with better adjustment among isolated children on select outcomes. Despite the somewhat ameliorating role of siblings for isolated children, isolated children with high sibling support remained less well adjusted than did average children.

Risk and Protective Factors Predictive of Adolescent Pregnancy: A Longitudinal, Prospective Study.

One hundred twenty-eight Latina and African American girls from high-risk environments (e.g., poverty, family history of teen parenting, etc.) were studied from age 13 through age 19 to prospectively identify the protective factors that might guard against teenage pregnancy. Results indicated that involved and strict parenting during early adolescence buffered against pregnancy under conditions of multiple family risks and peer risks. Low childbearing intentions and desires during early adolescence also forecasted a reduced likelihood of pregnancy. Findings suggest the risk and protective factors evident during early adolescence that contribute to and potentially guard against subsequently experiencing an adolescent pregnancy.

Children’s Provision of Family Caregiving: Benefit or Burden?

Despite the high numbers of children who provide care to family members in industrialized countries, relatively little is known about the impact of caregiving on childrens development. In this article, issues related to childrens caregiving, including a discussion of who provides care, the costs and benefits of caring, and directions for future research are reviewed. This review is intended to stimulate further study of this issue, particularly in clarifying who is most vulnerable to caregiving burden and understanding how caregiving affects childrens lives and development.

Adolescent emotional response to music and its relationship to risk-taking behaviors

PURPOSE Adults have frequently been concerned about the adverse influence that music may have on teenagers. This study was designed to examine the relationship between the intensity of emotional response to music and health risk-taking behavior in adolescents. METHODS Consecutive participants from the University of California, San Diego, Adolescent Medicine Clinics completed a written survey about music preference, emotional response to music using the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and a variety of health-risk behaviors. For each participant, the PANAS scores were summed to give a positive, negative, and total affect score, and health-risk behaviors were assigned a point value based on the level of risk and then summed to give a risk score. RESULTS Health-risk behavior was found to be correlated with increasing emotional response to music (r = 0.23), whether those emotions were positive (r = 0.19) or negative (r = 0.24). Strong negative emotional response to music in particular was correlated with a history of greater risk behavior, particularly among whites (risk score = 14.0). CONCLUSIONS Our study indicates that subjects who experience strong negative emotions to music are at an increased risk of participating in a variety of risk-taking behaviors. Further evaluation of the link between emotional response to music and health-risk behaviors will be useful in clarifying the nature of this relationship.

Links between past abuse, suicide ideation, and sexual orientation among San Diego college students

Abstract The authors explored relationships among childhood abuse, suicidal ideation, and sexual orientation of 18- to 30-year-old students enrolled in 2 San Diego area colleges, using responses from anonymous questionnaires. Sixty percent of the 138 eligible respondents were women, and 22% were self-identified gay/bisexual individuals. Women were more likely than men to report at least 1 form of emotional abuse (odds ratio [OR] = 2.3; p = .02) and unwanted sexual touching (OR = 4.3; p = .0004). Lesbian/bisexual women were significantly more likely to report past suicidal ideation than were heterosexual women (OR = 3.7, p = .03). Gay/bisexual men were more likely to report unwanted sexual touching than were heterosexual men (OR = 5.1, p = .04), but the men did not report significantly higher rates of past suicide ideation or suicide attempts. Sexual orientation and a past history of child sexual, physical, and emotional abuse could be compounding risk factors for suicidal ideation among college students.

Pregnancy risk among the younger sisters of pregnant and childbearing adolescents.

There is increasing evidence that younger sisters of childbearing teenagers are at increased risk for adolescent childbearing. We critically review this research and discuss three plausible theoretical explanations (social modeling, shared parenting influences, and shared societal risk) why the younger sisters of childbearing adolescents would themselves be at risk for teenage pregnancy. Considerations for preventive interventions aimed at the younger sisters of pregnant teenagers and directions for future research are discussed. J Dev Behav Pediatr 13:128–136, 1992.

Pregnant and parenting adolescents and their younger sisters : The influence of relationship qualities for younger sister outcomes

On the basis of social modeling theory and a sibling interaction hypothesis, it was hypothesized that specific relationship qualities between a pregnant or parenting teen and her younger sister would be associated with permissive younger sister outcomes, such as permissive childbearing attitudes and permissive sexual behavior. Results indicated that negative relationship qualities, such as rivalry, competition, and conflict, were more closely related to younger sisters engaging in problem, delinquent-like behavior and sexual behavior than were positive relationship qualities, such as warmth and closeness. Additionally, a shared friendship network with the older sister was found to be associated with extensive younger sister problem behavior and sexual behavior. Three potential explanatory processes are discussed.

The First Teenage Pregnancy in the Family: Does It Affect Mothers’ Parenting, Attitudes, or Mother-Adolescent Communication?

To understand the consequences of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing for the family, 189 mothers from three types offamilies were studied: families in which all teenage daughters had never been pregnant, families in which only one teenager was currently pregnant, and families in which only one teenager had delivered a baby within the previous 6 months. in the latter two family types, the current pregnancy or childbearing was the first to occur in the family. Mothers were assessed twice, 13 months apart. Results indicated that, compared with the mothers of never-pregnant teens, the mothers of parenting teens monitored their children less. expected less of their older daughters, and were more accepting of teenage childbearing. Across-time analyses showed that, in families in which the teenager was initially pregnant, mothers monitored and communicated less with their other children and were more accepting of teenage sex after the older daughter gave birth. In families in which the teenager was initially parenting, mothers perceived more difficulty for their teenage daughters and reported being less strict with their other children across time.

Children’s Experiences After the Unintended Birth of a Sibling

This study examines whether children with a younger sibling whose birth was unintended experience larger declines in the quality of their home environment and larger increases in behavioral problems than children whose younger sibling’s birth was intended. We use data from the NLSY79 to estimate cross-lag regression models that assess changes in the home environment and children’s behavioral problems after the birth of a sibling (intended or unintended). Results are consistent with our hypotheses, finding that, indeed, unintended births have negative spillover effects. Compared with children whose sibling’s birth was intended, both boys and girls whose sibling’s birth was unintended experienced larger declines in the quality of their home environment, and boys had larger increases in behavioral problems. We also find some unexpected evidence that mistimed births may have larger negative effects than unwanted births. This deserves further research, and we offer some possible explanations that could guide those investigations.

Breaking the cycle of teenage pregnancy: prevention opportunities focusing on the younger sisters of teen mothers.

This paper begins with a literature review that analyzes studies that compared younger sisters of adolescent mothers to younger sisters of nonchildbearing adolescents and revealed key attitudinal and behavioral differences in the former group that are consistent with a high risk of adolescent pregnancy. The paper then discusses the following considerations and intervention strategies for the risk group: 1) recognize the school as an identifying context 2) offer disincentives to early childbearing 3) encourage groups discussion 4) provide intensive attention and care to the at risk adolescents 5) involve the entire family and 6) address pre-pregnancy risk characteristics. Next the paper offers three reasons why schools provide a good prevention setting: 1) the ability of school staff to identify at-risk adolescents 2) the presence of personnel who are able to deal with the specific concerns of adolescents and 3) the suitability of the proposed strategies for implementation in a school setting. The paper concludes that additional goals include research into the processes that propel sisters into early childbearing and that the younger sister interventions offer a tremendous untapped potential for reducing the incidence of adolescent pregnancy.