Family Chaos Research Articles

How Low Socioeconomic Status Affects 2-Year Hormonal Trajectories in Children

Disparities by socioeconomic status (SES) are seen for numerous mental and physical illnesses, and yet understanding of the pathways to health disparities is limited. We tested whether SES alters longitudinal trajectories of cortisol output and what types of psychosocial factors could account for these links. Fifty healthy children collected saliva samples (four times per day for 2 days) at 6-month intervals for 2 years. At baseline, families were interviewed about SES and psychosocial factors. Lower-SES children displayed greater 2-year increases in daily cortisol output compared with higher-SES children. These effects were partially mediated by children’s perceptions of threat and by family chaos. These findings may help explain, and provide some first steps toward ameliorating, low-SES children’s vulnerability to health problems later in life by identifying the tendency to perceive threat in ambiguous situations and experiences of chaos as factors that link low SES to 2-year hormonal trajectories.

The Nature of Nurture: A Genomewide Association Scan for Family Chaos

Widely used measures of the environment, especially the family environment of children, show genetic influence in dozens of twin and adoption studies. This phenomenon is known as gene-environment correlation in which genetically driven influences of individuals affect their environments. We conducted the first genome-wide association (GWA) analysis of an environmental measure. We used a measure called CHAOS which assesses ‘environmental confusion’ in the home, a measure that is more strongly associated with cognitive development in childhood than any other environmental measure. CHAOS was assessed by parental report when the children were 3 years and again when the children were 4 years; a composite CHAOS measure was constructed across the 2 years. We screened 490,041 autosomal single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a two-stage design in which children in low chaos families (N = 469) versus high chaos families (N = 369) from 3,000 families of 4-year-old twins were screened in Stage 1 using pooled DNA. In Stage 2, following SNP quality control procedures, 41 nominated SNPs were tested for association with family chaos by individual genotyping an independent representative sample of 3,529. Despite having 99% power to detect associations that account for more than 0.5% of the variance, none of the 41 nominated SNPs met conservative criteria for replication. Similar to GWA analyses of other complex traits, it is likely that most of the heritable variation in environmental measures such as family chaos is due to many genes of very small effect size.

Pathways to Problem Behaviors: Chaotic Homes, Parent and Child Effortful Control, and Parenting

AbstractGuided by Belsky's and Eisenberg, Cumberland, and Spinrad's heuristic models, we tested a process model with hypothesized paths from parents' effortful control (EC) and family chaos to indices of parenting to children's EC, and finally children's externalizing problem behavior. Parents reported on all constructs and children ( N = 188; M age = 9.55 years) reported on their EC and externalizing problem behaviors. Consistent with expectations, parents' EC promoted their positive (and inhibited negative) reactions to children's negative emotions. In addition, high levels of family chaos predicted low levels of parental positive reactions to children's emotion. Children's EC was predicted by high levels of positive reactions and low levels of negative reactions. As expected, children's externalizing problem behaviors were negatively related to their EC. Results clarify possible family processes by which children's EC is enhanced and problem behaviors are reduced.

Affect Regulation and the Cycle of Violence Against Women: New Directions for Understanding the Process

The process of the intergenerational transmission of violence is not well understood. A risk and resilience model of criminal violence against women was investigated using secondary data. The sample was composed of adolescent male juvenile delinquents who had been physically abused by their parents, and who were followed up at ages 25 and 31. A series of structural equation models were fit to investigate whether dysregulated affect mediated the effects of attachment and family chaos on the adult perpetration of violence against women. These models support the hypothesis that affect dysregulation may act as a mediator. Results raise new ideas about the mechanisms by which violence may be transmitted across generations.

Birthweight‐discordance and differences in early parenting relate to monozygotic twin differences in behaviour problems and academic achievement at age 7

This longitudinal monozygotic (MZ) twin differences study explored associations between birthweight and early family environment and teacher-rated behaviour problems and academic achievement at age 7. MZ differences in anxiety, hyperactivity, conduct problems, peer problems and academic achievement correlated significantly with MZ differences in birthweight and early family environment, showing effect sizes of up to 2%. As predicted by earlier research, associations increased at the extremes of discordance, even in a longitudinal, cross-rater design, with effect sizes reaching as high as 12%. As with previous research some of these non-shared environmental (NSE) relationships appeared to operate partly as a function of SES, family chaos and maternal depression. Higher-risk families generally showed stronger negative associations.

Schizophrenia in Late Life: Aging Effects on Symptoms and Course of Illness

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book Forum: SCHIZOPHRENIAFull AccessSchizophrenia in Late Life: Aging Effects on Symptoms and Course of IllnessJAMES ALLEN WILCOX, D.O., Ph.D., and DJILLALI BOUDJENAH, M.D., JAMES ALLEN WILCOXSearch for more papers by this author, D.O., Ph.D., and DJILLALI BOUDJENAHSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., El Paso, Tex.Published Online:1 Nov 2005https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.11.2204AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail It is fully appropriate that as the elderly proportion of our population increases, we should have a book that addresses the elderly person with psychosis. Schizophrenia in Late Life is an excellent reference book. Dr. Harvey is a psychologist by training and has excellent experience in the study of chronic mental illness. The book is well written and highly informative.Older people with schizophrenia are an often neglected group. The author describes the history of these patients and gives detailed information about their condition over the past 15 years. For example, elderly people with psychosis have long been shuffled into poorhouses, county farms, and nursing homes. This has made the study of this group difficult. As the asylums expanded into state hospitals, the accounting of elderly people with schizophrenia continued to be difficult, due to overcrowding and poor diagnostic techniques. Only in the last 20 years has operational study of the elderly subgroup of chronically mentally ill people been possible.We have learned a fair amount about this condition. We see that these people are poorly equipped for the problems of later life. They have seldom been employed as young people and hence have no savings to “retire” on. Similarly, the condition of chronic psychosis usually means that no retirement contributions have been made to government programs by these individuals. As a result, the elderly person with schizophrenia is at the mercy of the least expensive care available, which sometimes results in no care at all.Cognitive decline is often seen in schizophrenia. This is a common diagnostic problem once the person has become elderly. Many older people have dementia. This can be very difficult to sort out in the elderly person with schizophrenia if the history is unavailable. The cohabitation of demented elders and cognitively impaired elders with psychosis is commonly seen in nursing homes. In this setting, misdiagnosis and the subsequent incorrect treatment of elderly patients causes a multitude of problems.Even before coming to old age, the elderly person with schizophrenia has had a number of treatments not shared by elderly people without chronic mental illness. Neuroleptic use (with possible tardive dyskinesia) is common, and ECT and even psychosurgery occur often in the histories of elderly patients with schizophrenia. Many former treatments lead to complications in the assessment of cognitive decline. As these people come into treatment settings, triage and care must be provided.This is a complex group of patients. They bring histories of unemployment, family chaos, and serious medical problems. They need treatment, housing, and care, but they have limited resources of their own. The huge cohort of elderly mentally ill is growing and will do so for several decades. They produce a challenge for the geriatrician and for society in general. Dr. Harvey articulates this topic very well. This is quite a good book and we recommend it.By Philip D. Harvey, Ph.D. Washington, D.C., American Psychological Association, 2004, 208 pp., $49.95. FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited byPsychology, Vol. 02, No. 05 Volume 162Issue 11 November 2005Pages 2204-2204 Metrics PDF download History Published online 1 November 2005 Published in print 1 November 2005

Environmental moderators of genetic influence on verbal and nonverbal abilities in early childhood

The study of genotype–environment interaction (G × E) has been dominated by two competing hypotheses, one that heritability is greater in high-risk environments (diathesis-stress) and the other that heritability is greater in permissive environments. The current study examined relationships between verbal and nonverbal abilities and 10 measured environments, using a sample of 4-year-old same-sex twins ( N = 4446 children). Significant G × E emerged for verbal ability with three of the environmental indices, all in the direction of the diathesis-stress model (family chaos, instructive parent–child communication and informal parent–child communication). No significant G × E emerged for nonverbal ability. We conclude that G × E exists for verbal ability in early childhood and tends to be in the direction of greater heritability in high-risk environments.

Naïve observers' perceptions of family drawings by 7-year-olds with disorganized attachment histories

Previous research has succeeded in distinguishing among drawings made by children with histories of organized attachment relationships (secure, avoidant, and resistant); however, drawings of children with histories of disorganized attachment have yet to be systematically investigated. The purpose of this study was to determine whether naïve observers would respond differentially to family drawings of 7-year-olds who were classified in infancy as disorganized vs. organized. Seventy-three undergraduate students from one university and 78 from a second viewed 50 family drawings of 7-year-olds (25 by children with organized infant attachment and 25 by children with disorganized infant attachment). Participants were asked to (1) circle the emotion that best described their reaction to the drawings and (2) rate the drawings on 6 bipolar scales. Drawings from children classified as disorganized in infancy evoked positive emotion labels less often and negative emotion labels more often than those children classified as organized. Furthermore, drawings from children classified as disorganized in infancy received higher ratings on scales for disorganization, carelessness, family chaos, bizarreness, uneasiness, and dysfunction. These data indicate that naïve observers are relatively successful in distinguishing selected features of drawings by children with histories of disorganized vs. organized attachment.

Office versus Home-Based Family Therapy for Runaway, Alcohol Abusing Adolescents

There is a dearth of research examining treatment engagement and attendance among runaway youth and their families. Such research is needed in order to inform treatment providers on factors associated with engagement and maintenance of these difficult to engage families into counseling. This study examined differential treatment attendance for alcohol abusing runaway youth residing at a local shelter. A traditional office-based family systems approach, Functional Family Therapy (FFT), was compared to a non-traditional, home-based, multisystemic family therapy approach, Ecologically Based Family Therapy (EBFT). As expected, treatment engagement and attendance was significantly higher for those assigned to EBFT (N = 37) compared to FFT (N = 40). Predictors of treatment attendance (income, family chaos, externalization problems and level of youth substance use) were examined within each treatment modality. Findings suggest that home-based (compared to office-based) treatment modalities may significantly increase treatment attendance and engagement of runaway youth and their families. Non-traditional forms of treatment may need to be considered in order to best meet the needs of highly chaotic and disorganized family systems.

The Relationship of Violence and Trichotillomania

To examine the relationship between violence and the development of trichotillomania (TTM) in women. Semistructured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 44 women with trichotillomania from 21 American states and Canada. The participants were asked to describe how they live and cope with TTM. The data were subjected to content analysis and were quantified for presentation. Checks were instituted to establish reliability of the content analysis using the criteria of reproducibility and stability. Forty of the 44 women (91%) reported some form of trauma or violence occurring during their lives and 38 (86%) reported a history of violence concurrent with the onset of TTM. Events ranged from repetitive and moderate to severe abuse (including sexual assault, rape, and gang rape) by family members, acquaintances, and strangers. These women with trichotillomania experienced a disproportionate number of traumatic or violent episodes in childhood. In most cases, the onset of TTM was correlated with specific episodes of violence. Of special interest is the possible relationship between family chaos experienced during childhood and the onset of TTM.

Family System and Family Functioning: Circumplex Model and FACES IV

This study investigated the interrelationships between students’ perceptions of their family of origin systems and their reports of family quality and stress in a sample of 118 Australian first-year students taking Psychology at the University of Sydney. The main measure adopted in this study was a new instrument (FACES IV) developed by Judith Tiesel and David Olson (1997) and applied by them to assess dimensions and predictions associated with Olson’s Circumplex Model of Family Systems. In the present study, families classified as generally extreme or unbalanced in their type of family system were found to be significantly lower in family quality and higher in family stress than families classified as balanced. More specifically, multiple regression analyses indicated that family quality was best predicted by family disengagement and family rigidity, and family stress by family chaos. The linear relationships found in this Australian study are consistent with the findings reported in a recent study using FACES IV with a North American sample (Tiesel & Olson, 1997).

The treatment and prevention of diabetic ketoacidosis in children and adolescents with type I diabetes mellitus.

There remain a number of important controversies in the management of pediatric DKA. From the sodium content of the hydrational fluid to the rate of fluid administration that is best able to reverse the hyperosmolar dehydration attendant with DKA with minimal morbidity and mortality, there is no universal agreement on how patients with this devastating metabolic disturbance should be treated. It is still unclear what promotes or protects patients from neurologic insult during DKA reversal. It is appropriate to begin to develop a national approach to eradicating DKA. This would require widespread public and professional education programs aimed at detecting new-onset type I patients prior to the onset of DKA. It would involve promoting diabetes screening programs aimed at detecting patients before the onset of symptomatic disease, and these would most appropriately be centered in the pediatrician's office. In the known patient, DKA still occurs as the result of intercurrent illness and nonadherence to the diabetes regimen due to patient or family chaos and dysfunction. Clearly, more strategies are needed to address these psychological and family patterns and the fact that many tenuous families have insufficient access to appropriate medical care. Those caring for children and adolescents must do all they can to prevent DKA and to treat it optimally to avert the toll this metabolic aberration takes on the pediatric diabetes population.

Family context of infantile colic

Psychological factors in families with a colicky baby were studied. A total of 59 families who had enrolled on the basis of information received at the postpartum wards in the city of Turku, Finland, were included in this study. In addition, 58 families with age-matched infants were selected as a control group. These families kept a diary of the infant's crying. Thirty-six infants fulfilled the criteria for severe colic. Twenty-three families with a baby who cried excessively but did not fulfill the criteria were defined as the moderate colic group. A semistructured family interview was carried out to assess the structure, communcation patterns, functioning, and affective tone of the families. Mothers and fathers were younger in the moderate colic group compared with parents in the other groups. In the moderate colic families, the infant was more often the first child than in the control families. On the other hand, neither the infant's gender nor the education of the parents was related to infant's crying. Organized family structure and strong parental coalition were more often present in the severe colic and control groups than in the moderate colic group. Increased family chaos was noted in this group. The severe and moderate colic families had more enmeshed individual boundaries. Generational boundaries were enmeshed in the moderate colic families. Communication patterns did not differ between the groups. The families with a severely or moderately crying baby were less flexible, had decreased ability to cope with daily activities, and showed less energy and vitality than the control families. Both the severe and moderate colic families expressed more anxiety and conflict compared to the control families. In conclusion, an association between infantile colic and psychological characteristics of the family was found. Moreover, the families with a moderately colicky infant had specific psychological features that differed from both the control families and those with severely colicky infants.

The Relationship of Presenting Problems to Family Conflicts

The complexities and difficulties in establishing specific linkages between the presenting problem and family conflicts include: differences in philosophy, changing value systems and developments in treatment, fragmentation in the helping professions, and the impact of family chaos or resistance on the therapist.