Assessing Children's Relationships with Pet Dogs: A Multi-Method Approach.

Relationships with pet dogs are thought to provide substantial benefits for children, but the study of these relationships has been hindered by a lack of validated measures. Approaches to assessing the quality of children's pet dog relationships have tended to focus on positive relationship qualities and to rely on self-report questionnaires. The aim of this study was to develop and test multiple measures that could be used to assess both positive and negative features of children's relationships with pet dogs.

Dyadic invariance of the Adult Self-Report and Adult Behavior Checklist: Evidence from young adult romantic couples.

The current paper investigated the invariance of the behavior problem scales of two measures from the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment, the Adult Self Report (ASR) and the Adult Behavior Checklist (ABCL), across members of young adult romantic couples. Data were derived from three studies examining romantic relationships in young adulthood (total N = 672). Using a series of confirmatory factor analysis models, we tested levels of invariance of the behavior problem subscales of the ASR/ABCL across self- and partner-reports.

Positive parental engagement: Investigating the role of the mother-father relationship.

Promoting positive parental engagement (e.g., reading to the child, practicing nursery rhymes with the child, playing with the child) is beneficial for children.

The Peer Relationships of Those Who Have Experienced Adoption or Foster Care: A Meta-Analysis.

This meta-analytic review examines the presence and quality of close peer relationships for adoptees and individuals with foster care experience. Results indicate that adoptees show difficulty forming close peer relationships compared with biologically reared individuals, but they do not differ in the quality of these relationships. In contrast, those with foster care experience report lower quality peer relationships than biologically reared individuals.

Preadolescents' Relationships with Pet Dogs: Relationship Continuity and Associations with Adjustment.

Research on human-animal interaction in children has been studied in isolation rather than integrated with core theories of children's relationships. This study is one of the first to examine how children's relationships with pet dogs are related to their human relationships (parent-child attachments, friendships) and to child adjustment, and to include observational assessment of children's interactions with their pet dog. Children (9 to 11 years old, n = 99) completed questionnaires regarding relationships with pet dogs, parents, and friends.

Pet Dogs: Does their presence influence preadolescents' emotional responses to a social stressor?

Despite interest in human-animal interaction, few studies have tested whether the presence of a dog facilitates children's emotional responding. Preadolescents ( = 99) were randomly assigned to complete the Trier Social Stress Test either with or without their pet dog. Children rated their positive and negative affect, and high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) was assessed throughout the session.

The occurrence of earlier changes in family dynamics and friendship conflict predicting adolescent functional somatic symptoms: A large-scale prospective study.

Objective: To better understand the role earlier stressful environments have in predicting functional somatic symptoms (FSS) in late adolescence, this study explores the effect the occurrence of earlier changes in family dynamics and friendship conflict have on FSS.

Method: We used data from the Consortium for Longitudinal Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect (N = 1,314), a large, prospective study of children at risk for maltreatment and their parent/caregiver from approximately 4 to 18 years of age.

Results: We found a significant, small (Effect Size = .

Evaluations and Future Plans After Casual Sexual Experiences: Differences Across Partner Type.

Casual sexual relationships and experiences (CSREs) are common among emerging adults, and their diversity may contribute to variability in their associations with mental health and future romantic relationship development. The present research used multiple regression analyses to examine how CSRE type (casual dating, friends with benefits [FWB], or booty call/one-night stand) is associated with short-term outcomes of these experiences, including positive and negative evaluations, plans to start a romantic relationship with a CSRE partner, and general plans for future CSREs. College students and non-college-attending emerging adults (N = 192, 80% female, mean age = 22.

Using the presurgical psychological evaluation to predict 5-year weight loss outcomes in bariatric surgery patients.

Background: Psychosocial factors contribute to poorer weight loss outcomes following bariatric surgery; however, findings on associations between preoperative psychiatric diagnoses, psychological testing, and weight loss are inconsistent.

Objectives: Examine associations between presurgical psychiatric diagnoses derived from a semi-structured clinical interview and test scores from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality-Inventory-2 - Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) and 5-year Body Mass Index (BMI) outcomes.

Setting: Cleveland Clinic Bariatric and Metabolic Institute METHODS: 446 consecutively consented patients who underwent a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) at least 5 years prior were included in the study.

Self-Control and Emotional and Verbal Aggression in Dating Relationships: A Dyadic Understanding.

Guided by the dynamic developmental systems perspective, this study extends past research by examining the association between self-control and emotional and verbal aggression (EVA) using a dyadic multi-method design. Guided by empirical research and the dynamic developmental systems perspective, we hypothesized that (a) there would be a negative association between one's own self-control and one's own perpetration of EVA and (b) there would also be a negative association between one's partner's self-control and one's own perpetration of EVA. One hundred twenty heterosexual dating couples (ages 18-25 years) provided data on self-control (Grasmick et al.

The Association of Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance With Emotional Dating Abuse Perpetration Using Multimethod, Dyadic Data.

This study examined the relationship between emotional dating abuse perpetration and attachment anxiety and avoidance using multimethod, multi-informant dyadic data. Data were derived from a sample of young adult heterosexual dating couples (N = 113 couples). We measured attachment through self-report survey data and emotional dating abuse through self-report surveys, partner-report surveys, and ratings by independent observers of a videotaped couple interaction.

The association between alcohol use and engagement in casual sexual relationships and experiences: a meta-analytic review of non-experimental studies.

The present study provides a meta-analytic review of the association between alcohol use and engagement in casual sexual relationships and experiences (CSREs). Specifically, the meta-analysis focused on non-experimental studies of community and college samples. Results from the meta-analysis, which included 29 relevant studies (34 effect sizes), indicated that alcohol use was significantly associated with engaging in CSREs, r = .

Premature termination from psychotherapy and internalizing psychopathology: the role of demoralization.

Background: Some research suggests that higher levels of depression and anxiety-related symptoms at intake are associated with premature termination from psychotherapy, but findings are mixed. However, theoretical and measurement considerations - introduced by a common mood factor - might complicate literature synthesis. Tellegen (1985) demonstrated that demoralization causes multicollinearity between measures of depression and anxiety, and other lines of research have converged to indicate that this construct is an important non-specific factor to consider when assessing mood pathology.

Interpersonal aggression victimization within casual sexual relationships and experiences.

The frequent occurrence of aggression within committed romantic relationships is well documented. However, little is known about experiences of interpersonal aggression within casual sexual relationships and experiences. This study aimed to describe the occurrence of emotional, physical, and sexual aggression victimization within committed romantic relationships, casual dating relationships, friends-with-benefit relationships, booty-calls, and one-night stands.

Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction for prehypertension.

Objective: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an increasingly popular practice demonstrated to alleviate stress and treat certain health conditions. MBSR may reduce elevated blood pressure (BP). Treatment guidelines recommend life-style modifications for BP in the prehypertensive range (systolic BP [SBP] 120-139 mm Hg or diastolic BP [DBP] 80-89 mm Hg), followed by antihypertensives if BP reaches hypertensive levels.

Psychosocial predictors and outcomes of loneliness trajectories from childhood to early adolescence.

Using latent class growth analysis, we were interested in investigating how experiences of loneliness emerge in distinct developmental patterns over the course of middle childhood and adolescence (NICHD Study of Early Child Care, N = 832). Second, we examined the role of demographic, mental health, and behavioral variables in association with these discrete patterns of loneliness. Loneliness was measured at 3 time points: age 9, age 11, and age 15.

Thinking meta-theoretically about the role of internalization in the development of body dissatisfaction and body change behaviors.

Internalization of societal standards of physical attractiveness (i.e., internalization of the thin ideal for women and internalization of the mesomorphic ideal for men) is a widely studied and robust risk factor for body dissatisfaction and maladaptive body change behaviors.

A new measure of interpersonal exploitativeness.

Measures of exploitativeness evidence problems with validity and reliability. The present set of studies assessed a new measure [the Interpersonal Exploitativeness Scale (IES)] that defines exploitativeness in terms of reciprocity. In Studies 1 and 2, 33 items were administered to participants.

Psychosocial characteristics associated with frequent physical fighting: findings from the 2009 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

The goal of the current study was to determine the prevalence and psychosocial correlates associated with frequent fighting among US high school students. Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N=16 410). Multivariate logistic regression analyses determined associations between demographic and psychosocial correlates of frequent fighting.