DO PARENT EDUCATION PROGRAMS PROMOTE HEALTHY POSTDIVORCE PARENTING? CRITICAL DISTINCTIONS AND A REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE

Most parent education programs are designed to improve child well-being following divorce by changing some aspect of parenting. However, there has been relatively little discussion of what aspects of parenting are most critical and the effectiveness of programs to change different aspects of parenting. This paper addresses these issues by: 1. Distinguishing three aspects of post-divorce parenting that have been targeted in parent education programs; 2. Reviewing evidence of the relations between each aspect of parenting and the well-being of children and; 3. Critically reviewing evidence that parent education programs have been successful in changing each aspect of post-divorce parenting.     

The impact of complexity and reform on congressional committee output

Some investigators argue that recent reforms in Congress have made it more difficult for Congress to do its job, while others contend that growing complexity in the larger congressional environment has had this result. We test these competing explanations using selected measures of congressional committee inputs and outputs over a period of eight Congresses, 1961–1975. Analysis based on pooled time-series and cross-section data reveals that reform had no direct impact on our measures of committee inputs and outputs once the effects of underlying trends attributable to complexity in the external environment are controlled. Similar conclusions emerge when we compare committees in complex and noncomplex environments and also when we compare committees differentially affected by reform. We discuss methodological and policy implications of our findings.     

Mitochondrial DNA control region variation in a population sample from Hong Kong, China

Entire mitochondrial control region sequences were generated from 377 unrelated individuals from urban Hong Kong. In line with other control region datasets from China, the sample from Hong Kong exhibited significant genetic diversity that was reflected in a random match probability of 0.19% and a mean pairwise difference of 13.14. A total of 305 haplotypes were identified, of which 262 were unique. These sequences will be made publicly available to serve as forensic mtDNA reference data for China.     

The effects of outlier presence,plaintiff population size,and aggregation of plaintiffs on simulated civil jury decisions

An experiment was performed to determine the effects of the size of the plaintiff population, the presence or absence of an outlier, defined as a plaintiff whose injuries were significantly more severe than other plaintiffs, and whether plaintiffs were tried individually or were aggregated in a group. Sixty-six person juries were assigned to one of eleven experimental conditions, listened to a 4-h toxic tort tria, and after deliberating, delivered verdicts on liability, and damage awards. The verdicts were increased significantly by the presence of an outlier and by an increase in the plaintiff population. While the punitive awards were higher in the outlier condition, there was also a tendency for juries to find the company not liable.The meaning of the above findings, as well as the fact that juries exhibited great variability in their verdicts was discussed. Evidence as to the decision-making process of the juries was also gathered and discussed.This research was supported by National Science Foundation Grant SES 860 9892 and by a University of Toledo College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Development Grant. Special thanks to members of the Toledo Repertoire Theatre and University of Toledo Theatre Department for their assistance in preparing the materials for this study.     

Genetic variation for 15 autosomal STR loci (PowerPlex 16) in a population sample from northern Greece

Fifteen autosomal STR loci were typed in a population sample of 318 unrelated individuals from northern Greece. Allele frequencies were determined, and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium tested, for the following loci: D5S818, D7S820, TH01, TPOX, vWA, CSF1PO, D16S539, D13S317, D8S1179, D3S1358, FGA, PENTA D, PENTA E, D21S11, D18S51.     

Technology transfer,public policy,and the cooperative extension service-OMB imbroglio

The Cooperative Extension Service, although widely cited as an exemplary technology transfer system for its documented contributions to increases in agricultural productivity, is confronting a number of challenges. Recent presidential budgets propose a narrowing of federal responsibilities for Extension to programs related to the transfer of agricultural technology. At the same time, the relevance of its traditional organizational structure to the technical needs of contemporary agriculture has been questioned. Extension's ability simultaneously to correct what it perceives to be a narrow view of its mission as well as to improve its performance as a technology transfer system is constrained by several things. One of these is its need to provide the diverse set of services demanded by the broad constituency that comprises its political base of support. Another is the gradual change in its own internal norms towards an educational information dissemination orientation away from an emphasis on adaptive research and technical problem-solving.     

History of spouse violence against mother: Correlated risks and unique effects in child mental health

The present study examined mental health risk associated with lifetime occurrence of spouse violence against mother among 303 10 to 12 year-old inner-city children. Maternal report data showed a 30% prevalence rate for lifetime occurrence of spouse violence in this sample. Results of correlational analyses indicated that violence against mother was associated with several other historical risk factors including divorce, parental drinking problems, and incarceration of father. Multiple regression analyses controlling for the effects of demographic and historical risk factors that correlated with violence against mother revealed that violence accounted for significant unique variance in girls' self-reports of conduct problems, but did not account for unique variance in boys' symptomatology. Implications of these results for understanding the effects of violence against mother on children and for the development of empirically based interventions for children in those families are discussed.