In three studies, the authors examined the effect of revealing a concealable social stigma--mental illness--on intellectual performance. It was hypothesized that revealing this deeply discrediting stigma would result in performance decrements. College students either with or without a history of mental illness (MI) treatment participated. In Study 1, the type of mental illness was left unselected. In Study 2, only participants who reported a history of depression participated. In Study 3, a comparison group of participants with a history of eating disorder were included. Results showed that the MI participants who revealed their history did worse on the reasoning test than did those in the no reveal condition. There was a trend in the opposite direction for participants with no MI. As predicted, revealing a narrower stigma, eating disorder, did not affect performance. The results are discussed in terms of identity threat and concealable stigmas.

Little is known about the cross-sectional or longitudinal relationships between body weight and health at older ages. Using multilevel modeling analyses, this study examined the trajectories of body mass index (BMI), chronic health conditions (CHC), and functional disability (FD); factors associated with the trajectories; and the relationships between the trajectories. The sample of elders aged 65 and older participated in the Americans Changing Lives longitudinal study. Participants showed decreasing BMI and increasing CHCand FD with time. Current smokers presented lowerBMI at Wave 1 and showed a slower decrease inBMIover time than those who never smoked. Obesity was associated with more CHC and greater FDatWave 1 but did not influence their changes. Elders who experienced a slower decrease in BMI showed a slower increase in CHC and FD; the change in health was not related to the change in BMI.

Serious mental illnesses (SMI) and problems with parenting are associated, but the link between change in psychiatric symptoms and change in parenting over time has not been examined. Three hypotheses were tested. Hypothesis 1: As symptoms decline, parenting stress will decline and parenting nurturance will improve. Hypothesis 2: High prior levels of symptoms have a continuing impact on parenting over time, persisting even when symptoms remit. Hypothesis 3: Both symptoms and parenting are influenced by contextual factors; taking these into account diminishes the association between them. With the use of latent growth curve modeling and an economically and racially diverse sample of mothers with SMI (N = 294), evidence supporting Hypothesis 1 was found, but there was no support for Hypothesis 2. For Hypothesis 3, contextual factors predicted both symptoms and parenting; accounting for context diminished the association between symptoms and parenting stress, but context did not completely explain the association between symptoms and parenting.

We explored parenting self‐construals among mothers with serious mental illness (n= 379). Mothers reported feeling moderately positively about themselves as parents, more efficacious than inefficacious, more positive than negative, more valued than disvalued; but also at least somewhat restricted and burdened by motherhood. Factor analyses revealed 3 parenting self‐construal factors: efficacious, burdened, and parenting as a personal growth experience. In hierarchical regression analyses, parenting self‐construal factors significantly added to prediction of parenting behaviors and attitudes (nurturance, explanatory parenting style, and parenting stress), once demographic, mental health history, and current social context variables (support, stress, and current mental health) were taken into account. Maternal parenting self‐efficacy increased (while self‐construal of parenting as a burden decreased) positive parenting style.