DOES MANDATORY DIVORCE EDUCATION FOR PARENTS WORK?

In a court-mandated, child-focused class for divorcing parents, parental mastery of skills taught were evaluated both immediately after the class and 6 months later. Parents perceived the classes to be realistic and useful. Skills were effectively learned and were maintained over the evaluation period. Parents reported that they were successful in dramatically lowering exposure of their children to parental conflict. Relative to a comparison group of parents divorcing the year before the classes were initiated, parents completing the class were better able to work through how they would handle difficult child-related situations with their ex-spouses and were willing to let their children spend more time with the other parent. Few gender differences were observed—mothers perceived the class as more realistic; fathers showed greater improvement on some skills. Similarly, interest level in further training was not predictive of class benefits, suggesting that enthusiasm for parenting training is probably not essential.     

Employer strategies for modifying or terminating retiree benefits in the 1990s

Over the past decade, access to health care coverage has become a crucial national concern. At the same time, the rising cost of health care, the aging of the population, and new accounting requirements for retiree medical benefits have caused employers to reevaluate their commitment to providing unrestricted health care benefits to the retirees. This article discusses the key federal appellate court decisions concerning an employer's decision to modify or terminate retiree medical benefits. It then explores alternatives for meeting the statutory, legal, and accounting challenges faced by employers who now offer retiree health care coverage.     

The Liberalization of the Telecommunications Sector: A Rent-Seeking Perspective

This paper assesses market liberalization in the telecommunications industry from a rent-seeking perspective. Our focus is on United States regulation, with corollary international developments that are spurring competition. The analysis which is general in approach, assesses pervasive government controls which have long shaped the nature of competition in the telecommunication sectors. We find that government has been a means for retarding competition and innovation in the telecommunications sector through the actions of rent-seeking agents. Rapid technological change, however, increasingly is rendering traditional government regulation obsolete. This change is spurring welfare-enhancing competition, regulatory reform, and privatization in the telecommunications sector.     

Variability in Hormone Concentrations and Self-Reported Menstrual Histories in Young Adolescents: Menarche as an Integral Part of a Developmental Process

Menarche has been considered a marker for examining interindividual differences in biobehavioral development and for separating pubertal development into 2 stages. The purpose of this study was (1) to compare hormone concentrations in pre- and postmenarcheal girls to determine whether they fit a continuous or dichotomous model of pubertal development surrounding menarche; and (2) to address methodological issues of variability in self-reports of menstrual histories and reliability in reporting age at menarche. Girls (N = 52) ages 9 to 14 years were enrolled in a longitudinal study. Blood was drawn for hormone concentrations. Menstrual-cycle information was collected by questionnaire and oral report. Discrepancies in reporting of age at menarche ranged from 0 to 18 months and variability was noted in length of cycle. There was great overlap in hormones between pre- and postmenarcheal categories. Future studies might consider menarche as the culmination of underlying developmental processes rather than as a discrete event. Limitations of each measure of puberty should be considered by investigators conducting biobehavioral studies of adolescents.