A narrative analysis of helplessness in depression.

The transcripts of semistructured clinical interviews with forty psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents were subjected to narrative analysis in an effort to map the logic of their explanations as they spontaneously talked about helplessness experiences, and to determine how helplessness is embedded in broader story lines. Three types of narrative composition were discerned, and are discussed by means of excerpts from the interviews. In a first and predominant type of narrative, a disturbing confrontation with another is pivotal: the other's intentions are obscure; this frightens the narrator, who does not know what to do.

Continuity and Change from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Adolescence-limited vs. Life-course-persistent Profound Ego Development Arrests.

Participants ( = 36) with consistent Pre-conformist ego development levels during multiple adolescent assessments were studied to determine whether and how their ego levels had changed at age 25. Those ( = 12) whose ego levels remained at the Pre-conformist level were assigned to trajectory group; those ( = 24) whose ego levels reached the Conformist or Post-conformist level at age 25 were assigned to an trajectory group. Analysis of predictors and age 25 correlates of group membership revealed that selected age 14 family interaction behaviors differentiated the two groups.

Depressive symptoms and bias in perceived social competence among young adults.

We examined associations between depressive symptoms and young adults' self-perceptions of social competence to explore whether higher symptoms are associated with self-evaluations that are more accurate (i.e., depressive realism), negatively biased (i.

Prospective associations from family-of-origin interactions to adult marital interactions and relationship adjustment.

To test the social learning-based hypothesis that marital conflict resolution patterns are learned in the family of origin, longitudinal, observational data were used to assess prospective associations between family conflict interaction patterns during adolescence and offspring's later marital conflict interaction patterns. At age 14 years, 47 participants completed an observed family conflict resolution task with their parents. In a subsequent assessment 17 years later, the participants completed measures of marital adjustment and an observed marital conflict interaction task with their spouse.

Being close and being social: peer ratings of distinct aspects of young adult social competence.

The present study had three main objectives: (1) to develop and validate scales of young adult social competence in two domains, close relationships and social groups, using peer ratings of California Q-sort (Block, 1974; Kremen & Block, 2002) items; (2) to test the hypothesis that social competence is associated with young adult well-being and ego development; (3) to test the hypothesis that close relationship competence aligns more closely than social group competence with young adult functioning. Psychometric data on peer ratings of social competence are presented. For 133 young adults, peer ratings of social competence were correlated in expected directions with indices of functioning (e.

Adolescent Ego-Development Trajectories and Young Adult Relationship Outcomes.

Adolescent ego-development trajectories were related to close-relationship outcomes in young adulthood. An adolescent sample completed annual measures of ego development from ages 14 through 17. The authors theoretically determined and empirically traced five ego-development trajectories reflecting stability or change.

Narrative in the study of resilience.

The authors trace the contribution of narrative studies to the study of resilience. Narrative studies infiltrated the mental health field more slowly than they did the medical and social sciences, despite its long reliance on "talking therapies. " With the development of the Adult Attachment Interview, however narrative studies began to come into their own in developmental psychology, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis.

Markers of Resilience and Risk: Adult Lives in a Vulnerable Population.

In this report, we drew on data from an ongoing longitudinal study that began in 1978 (Hauser, Powers, Noam, Jacobson, Weiss, & Folansbee, 1984). Focusing on late, young-adult life among individuals who were psychiatrically hospitalized during adolescence, we examined markers of resilience empirically defined in terms of adult success and well-being. The study includes a demographically similar group recruited from a public high school.

The Same Old Song?-Stability and Change in Relationship Schemas From Adolescence to Young Adulthood.

Relationship schemas are core elements of personality that guide interpersonal functioning. The aim of this study is to examine stability and change in relationship schemas across two developmental epochs-adolescence and young adulthood-in the stories that people tell about their interactions with others. Using the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme Method, relationship themes were coded from semistructured interviews conducted in adolescence and again at age 25.

Attachment and core relationship themes: wishes for autonomy and closeness in the narratives of securely and insecurely attached adults.

This study examines links between attachment states of mind and relationship schemas in a sample of 40 young adults, half of whom were hospitalized as adolescents for psychiatric treatment. Participants were interviewed about their closest relationships, and, using the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme method, their narratives about these relationships were analyzed for the relative frequency with which they expressed wishes for closeness and for autonomy in relation to others. Participants were also administered the Adult Attachment Interview and were classified with respect to security of attachment.

Beyond psychopathology: assessing seriously disruptive students in school settings.

Objective: To obtain a demographic profile of aggressive students in an urban setting and discern psychiatric diagnoses, functional impairment, and psychosocial stressors.

Study Design: Participants were 33 students in an urban public school district referred for comprehensive psychiatric evaluation by school staff because they were viewed as a threat to school safety. Evaluations included a review of records, interviews with school and mental health professionals, and student and parent interviews.

Adolescents' behavior in the presence of interparental hostility: developmental and emotion regulatory influences.

Within-family covariation between interparental hostility and adolescent behavior across three interactions over a 2-year period was explored in a sample that included 37 typical adolescents and 35 adolescents recently hospitalized for psychiatric difficulties. More interparental hostility across the three interactions was associated with more adolescent hostility and more positive engagement (at a trend level) regardless of psychiatric background. Parent-to-child hostility in each interaction mediated the link for adolescent hostility but not for positive adolescent engagement.

Bilingual children: cross-sectional relations of psychiatric syndrome severity and dual language proficiency.

The severity of child psychiatric disorders is commonly associated with child language delays. However, the characteristics of these associations in the fast-growing population of bilingual children remain unknown. To begin to address this gap, we studied a unique sample of Spanish-English bilingual children with significant parent-reported psychopathology (n = 29), focusing on their language proficiencies and psychiatric severity using the Child Behavior Check List.

Adolescent psychiatric hospitalization and mortality, distress levels, and educational attainment: follow-up after 11 and 20 years.

Background: Adolescents with early psychiatric hospitalization are likely to be at a significant risk for long-term difficulties.

Objective: To examine early adulthood outcomes of psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents.

Design: Inception cohort recruited from 1978 to 1981 and observed until 2002.

Reading others emotions: The role of intuitive judgments in predicting marital satisfaction, quality, and stability.

This study examined links between emotion expression in couple interactions and marital quality and stability. Core aspects of emotion expression in marital interactions were identified with the use of naive observational coding by multiple raters. Judges rated 47 marital discussions with 15 emotion descriptors.