Interdisciplinary Psychology and Law Training in Family and Child Mediation: An Empirical Study of the Effects on Law Student Mediators

There is growing interest in interdisciplinary training programs for law students. The goal of these programs is to prepare law students for the real world interdisciplinary settings they will face in their careers. However, there exists little research to provide evidence of the utility of such training. This study examined the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary psychology and law training program on law students using a multi-method approach (i.e., knowledge tests and focus group discussion). Findings suggest that interdisciplinary training of law students increased law students’ knowledge of law and psychology, was enjoyed by law students, and had a beneficial impact on law students’ educational experience

Is Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy a Causal Environmental Risk Factor for Adolescent Antisocial Behavior? Testing Etiological Theories and Assumptions

Background—Although many studies indicate that maternal smoking during pregnancy (SDP) is correlated with later offspring antisocial behavior (ASB), recent quasi-experimental studies suggest that background familial factors confound the association. The present study sought to test alternative etiological hypotheses using multiple indices of adolescent ASB, comparing differentially exposed siblings, and testing assumptions in the sibling-comparison design

Offspring ADHD as a risk factor for parental marital problems: Controls for genetic and environmental confounds

Background: Previous studies have found that child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with more parental marital problems. However, the reasons for this association are unclear. The association might be due to genetic or environmental confounds that contribute to both marital problems and ADHD. Method: Data were drawn from the Australian Twin Registry, including 1,296 individual twins, their spouses, and offspring. We studied adult twins who were discordant for offspring ADHD. Using a discordant twin pairs design, we examined the extent to which genetic and environmental confounds, as well as measured parental and offspring characteristics, explain the ADHD-marital problems association. Results: Offspring ADHD predicted parental divorce and marital conflict. The associations were also robust when comparing differentially exposed identical twins to control for unmeasured genetic and environmental factors, when controlling for measured maternal and paternal psychopathology, when restricting the sample based on timing of parental divorce and ADHD onset, and when controlling for other forms of offspring psychopathology. Each of these controls rules out alternative explanations for the association. Conclusion: The results of the current study converge with those of prior research in suggesting that factors directly associated with offspring ADHD increase parental marital problems

Development and Initial Validation of the Quick Discrimination Index

A series of empirical studies was conducted to develop and validate the Quick Discrimination Index (QDI), a 30-item, Likert-type self-report inventory. The QDI measures attitudes toward racial diversity (multiculturalism) and women\u27s equality and is appropriate for late adolescents and adults. The instrument has applicability across racial/ethnic groups. Exploratory factor analyses examining both orthogonal and oblique rotations indicate that the QDI is best conceptualized as a tridimensional measure of attitudes. Three oblique factors emerged: (a) general (cognitive) attitudes about racial diversity and multiculturalism, (b) affective attitudes regarding racial diversity related to one\u27s personal life, and (c) general attitudes regarding women\u27s equity issues. The QDI total score and subscale scores were found to be internally consistent, to be stable over a 15-week test-retest period, and to have promising indexes of face, content, construct, and criterion-related validity. A confirmatory factor analysis examining competing factor solutions supported the three-factor oblique extraction