Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a widely practiced therapy for many life-threatening childhood disorders. The authors investigated the psychosocial effects of HSCT on siblings of pediatric HSCT patients (n = 44; 21 donors, 23 nondonors, ages 6 to 18 years). Donor siblings reported significantly more anxiety and lower self-esteem than did nondonors. Nondonors showed significantly more school problems. Approximately one third of all siblings reported moderate to severe posttraumatic stress. The study drew on the developmental theory of Erik Erikson and the psychosocial model of posttraumatic stress. As part of the study, the authors used the Measures of Psychosocial Development (MPD), a self-report measure based on Eriksonian constructs. The MPD was used to assess the psychosocial adjustment of 12 siblings who were adolescents (> or =13 years) at the time the study was conducted. In this article, findings are presented from the MPD as well as salient findings from the larger study.

This study investigated gender effects on the conversational strategies used among 106 African American children ( mean age ϭ 7 years) from urban, low-income family backgrounds. Same-and mixed-gender pairs of children from the same grade level in an inner-city school were provided with toy bear puppets and asked to play together for 5 min. Conversations were coded using Leaper's Psychosocial Processes Coding Scheme, which classifies communication acts as either collaborative, controlling, informing, obliging, or withdrawing. Girls and boys were more similar than different. However, gender-related variations were found. Boys were more likely than girls to use controlling acts and domineering exchanges in same-gender pairs but not in mixed-gender pairs. Girls were more likely than boys to use a combination of collaborative and informing acts. For partner gender effects we found that controlling acts and domineering exchanges were less likelywhereas informing acts were more likely-to take place when children were matched with a girl than when they were matched with a boy. Findings replicate many of the gender effects on communication style reported in a prior study (Leaper, 1991) that used a similar procedure and coding strategy with a sample of middle-income children from mostly European American backgrounds.

Eating disorders are prevalent and complicated disorders which are difficult to treat. Unicausal and main effects models are not likely to do justice to the complexity of psychopathology encountered, as one considers etiology and pathogenesis. Risk and protection can arise out of several domains: biological, psychological and social. Risk and protective factors aggregate in specific developmental phases and interact to produce adverse outcomes. Temperamental factors, eating dysregulation, attachment, deficient self regulation and sociocultural ideals of health and beauty all contribute to pathogenesis. Applying the insights of developmental psychopathology to these disorders has considerable potential to lead to early and preventive interventions. Reviewing the current literature from this perspective and updating a similar discussion from 8 years ago, we witness a continued accumulation of quality empirical data. Compared to previous reviews, the field's attention has shifted to psychosocial/cultural domains relevant to eating, away from biological risk. In the aggregate, these data make possible the increasing differentiation of eating disorders from other psychopathology, and the specific pathways in which anorexia and bulimia may develop. Understanding of risk and vulnerability still outweighs our knowledge of protective factors and resilience. While an ideal study would be longitudinal, such studies are still extremely difficult to conduct and costly, thus, forcing us to further our understanding from lagged designs, cross-sectional data and case control studies. While these have many limitations, they do seem to produce an increasingly coherent account of the development of these disorders and prepare us for more targeted and longitudinal study of high risk populations.

This study explored how Latinas diagnosed with a breast abnormality suspicious for cancer define and use social support while undergoing diagnostic follow-up and/or awaiting a definitive diagnosis. Qualitative data was collected and analyzed from 15 telephone interviews with Spanish-speaking women diagnosed with a breast abnormality suspicious for cancer. Findings indicated that social support was perceived as the comfort, caring, and esteem a person receives from others. With respect to family support, half of the participants felt female family members (e.g., daughters, mothers) were more supportive than male family members (e.g., fathers, sons) when discussing their illness. Many participants felt that asking for help from family members, friends, and health professionals was acceptable under medical circumstances and less justifiable under non-medical circumstances. In conclusion, our findings suggest that Latinas diagnosed with a breast abnormality suspicious for breast cancer are more likely to seek support from family members, friends and health professional after a definitive diagnosis has been given. Additional research is needed to assess the impact of social support in increasing adherence to diagnostic follow-up procedures for a breast abnormality.

This study evaluated the relationships of emotional self-efficacy, stressful life events, and social support with mood disturbance among women diagnosed with breast cancer who live in rural communities. Eighty-two women completed measures of demographic characteristics, medical status, and psychosocial variables. Using multiple regression analysis, we found that greater mood disturbance was related to having less emotional self-efficacy (p < 0.001) and to having experienced more stressful life events (p = 0.02), while satisfaction with social support was not significantly related to mood disturbance (adjusted R2 = 0.39). Women living with breast cancer in rural communities who have experienced multiple stressful life events may have an increased risk for mood disturbance, whereas having greater emotional self-efficacy may provide resilience against mood disturbance.