Adolescent-Mother Agreement about Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Direction and Predictors of Disagreement

Correlations between adolescent and parent reports of adolescent problems are low in magnitude. In community samples adolescents tend to report more problems than parents and in clinical samples adolescents tend to report fewer problems than parents. Indices of agreement may be biased if some adolescents in a given sample report more problems and others report fewer problems than parents. In the current study, order and mean agreement between adolescent and maternal reports of adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems, taking into account the direction of disagreement, was examined in a community sample of 133 young adolescents and their mothers. Two-thirds to three-quarters of adolescents reported more problems than mothers. Accounting for the direction of discrepancies resulted in improved agreement between adolescents and mothers and differing patterns of predictors of discrepancies. Additionally, the results demonstrate the need to control for relations between adolescent-reported problems and discrepancies when exploring predictors of discrepancies. Erin T. Barker received her Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Alberta. Her research interests include internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence and emerging adulthood. Marc H. Bornstein received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Yale University. He has contributed scientific papers in the areas of human experimental, methodological, comparative, developmental, cross-cultural, neuroscientific, pediatric, and aesthetic psychology. Diane L. Putnick received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from George Washington University. Her research interests include child and family processes across cultures. Charlene Hendricks received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from George Mason University. Her research interests are in the areas of early adolescent development and adjustment and families by adoption. Joan T. D. Suwalsky received her M.S. degree in Human Development from Cornell University. Her research interests include parent-child interaction and child development in at-risk populations, including families by adoption.     

A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of individually oriented Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT) for severe aggressive behavior in adolescents

This meta-analysis, including six studies (13 effect sizes) and 164 adolescents, examined the effectiveness of individually oriented treatment (which means that the intervention contained at least an individual component, possibly in combination with group and/or family therapy) with CBT-elements for adolescents with severe aggression problems. A large and homogeneous overall effect size was found (d = 1.139) indicating consistency across studies. The included studies examined the effect of three interventions, namely, mode deactivation therapy (MDT; four studies), stress-inoculation therapy (1), and the cell-phone program (1). This multilevel analysis demonstrated that only few individually oriented interventions have been developed and evaluated, while four of the included studies used a weak research design. Effective individually tailored interventions for youths with severe aggression problems (who are unsuitable for group treatment) are scant. There may be added value if group interventions are supplemented with more individually tailored evidence-based interventions.     

Determining Postmortem Interval Using Glycoproteinous Adhesion Deposits by Balanus improvisus on Human Skeletal and Dental Remains

An anthropological analysis was conducted on skeletal and dental remains brought to the Galveston County Medical Examiner's office. The skeletal remains were dry, fragmented, and absent of typical fluvial characteristics. During microscopic examination, semitransparent, circular objects were discovered on the dentition, the mandible, tibial plateau, and distal femur. The objects were glycoproteinous adhesions deposited by the acorn barnacle, Balanus improvisus. B. improvisus is an intertidal barnacle found in estuaries in Galveston Bay. Basal diameter of the adhesions on the dentition were significantly smaller than those found on the postcranial bones (p = 0.010), indicating two consecutive cohorts adhered to the bone and dentition. As settlement typically occurs once a year, this would indicate that the remains were in the fluvial environment for at least 375–410 days. It is important in geographic areas that have prevalent fluvial environments that human remains, particularly dentition, are microscopically examined for marine life evidence.