Cross-cultural views of self in the treatment of mental illness: disentangling the curative aspects of myth from the mythic aspects of cure

Journal ArticleTHIS paper compares Eastern and Western concepts of self within the context of the healing process. I draw upon the work of Sudhir Kakar and Heinz Kohut to illustrate differences in how mental illness is expressed and treated in India and the United States. I propose that cultural variances in the way that illness is expressed and treated relate to differences in culturally determined "myths" of the self. In India, where Kakar lives and works, the self is conceived as fluid and interdependent; in the West, the self is conceived as more solid and autonomous

Differential outcomes among adolescent fathers: understanding fatherhood as a transformative process

ManuscriptIn response to the rising numbers of mother headed households, there is a great debate about whether to encourage young unwed parents to marry. Policies designed to pursue and/or punish fathers who do not meet their legal and financial responsibilities and to promote marriage, carte blanche, are referred to as "the marriage agenda." This agenda is reactive to the social costs of single motherhood, which have included high rates of poverty and a heavy reliance on public programs for economic support (Carlson, McLanahan & England, 2001; Coley, 2001; Furstenberg, 1995)

Hostile personality traits and coronary artery calcification in middle-aged and older married couples: different effects for self-reports versus spouse ratings

Journal ArticleObjective: To examine the association between hostile personality traits and coronary artery disease (CAD) and the role of aspects of hostility, method of assessment, and age as influences on its magnitude, as prior studies of hostility and coronary artery calcification (CAC) have produced conflicting findings. Methods: Participants included 300 married couples (mean age = 54.4 years) free from diagnosed CAD. Participants completed four measures of hostility-self-reports and spouse ratings of angry hostility (i.e., tendency to experience anger) and antagonism (i.e., argumentative, mistrusting, and cold interpersonal behavior). Results: In hierarchical random regression models accounting for dependency between husbands' and wives' observations, analyses of log-transformed Agatston scores indicated that self-reports of angry hostility and antagonism were not related to CAC. However, spouse ratings of both anger and antagonism were significantly associated with CAC severity. Interactions with age indicated that these associations occurred only among older participants. Control of behavioral and biomedical risk factors did not eliminate these effects. Antagonism but not anger was an independent predictor of CAC when considered simultaneously. Conclusions: Hostility is associated with concurrent asymptomatic CAD as assessed through CAC, but this effect is likely to be underestimated when hostility is assessed through self-reports rather than ratings by others and in samples with lower prevalence and severity of CAC. Key words: hostility, anger, antagonism, agreeableness, coronary artery calcification, coronary artery disease

Mourning the loss of "self as father": a longitudinal study of fatherhood among the druze

Journal ArticleIT is within the context of the parent-child relationship - through the processes of attachment, loss, separation and individuation - that we grow and develop interpersonally and intrapsychically (Bowlby 1969, 1980; Mahler et al. 1975; Pollock, 1989). Most developmentalists agree that changes in the parent-child relationship continue to influence both parents and children throughout the life cycle (Cohen et al. 1984; Colarusso and Nemiroff 1982)

Hostile personality traits and coronary artery calcification in middle-aged and older married couples: different effects for self-reports versus spouse ratings

Journal ArticleTo examine the association between hostile personality traits and coronary artery disease (CAD) and the role of aspects of hostility, method of assessment, and age as influences on its magnitude, as prior studies of hostility and coronary artery calcification (CAC) have produced conflicting findings. Methods: Participants included 300 married couples (mean age = 54.4 years) free from diagnosed CAD. Participants completed four measures of hostility-self-reports and spouse ratings of angry hostility (i.e., tendency to experience anger) and antagonism (i.e., argumentative, mistrusting, and cold interpersonal behavior)

Observing differences between healthy and unhealthy adolescent romantic relationships: Substance abuse and interpersonal process

Previous research on adolescent romantic relationships has been largely based on self-reports and interview data; as a result, relatively little is known about the interpersonal-behavioral dynamics of adolescent couples. In an attempt to address this gap in the previous literature on young couples, the present study used observational methods to differentiate between healthy and dysfunctional adolescent romantic relationships. Two groups of adolescent couples were recruited to participate in this study: (1) a high-risk group (n=18 couples) in which one or both partners had a substance use disorder (SUD) and (2) a low-risk group (n=12 couples) in which neither partner had a history of psychopathology. Self-report and observational data on couples’ relationships were collected from both groups. Couples’ observed conflict interactions were coded using the structural analysis of social behavior [Florsheim, P., & Benjamin, L. S. (2001). The structural analysis of social behavior observational coding scheme. In P. K. Kerig, & M. Lindahl (Eds.), Family observational coding schemes: Resources for systemic research (pp. 127–150). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates]. Findings indicated that, compared to couples with no psychopathology, couples in the SUD group engaged in significantly more hostile and less warm behavior, as well as more complex communication involving a mix of hostility and warmth. Self-reported relational quality did not differentiate the two groups, highlighting the unique contributions of observational data for understanding the clinically relevant dynamics of adolescent romantic relationships

Young Fathers And The Transition To Parenthood: An Interpersonal Analysis Of Paternal Outcomes

The transition to parenthood is regarded as a critical developmental milestone, posing a number of new challenges associated with dramatic increases in responsibility, new demands for emotional attunement and stability, and profound shifts in the nature and parameters of intimacy. Indeed, many young couples report significant declines in marital satisfaction, directly related to the emotional and physical strain of caring for a newborn as well as diminished time and energy for romance (Lawrence et al., 2008). The typical difficulties of early parenthood usually are compensated for by a parent\u27s psychological preparation for childrearing, a durable relationship between the coparents, and love for the child. Although most parents are able to manage temporary declines in relationship satisfaction by drawing on their interpersonal reserves, some couples become increasingly hostile and pervasively distressed. This problematic adjustment to parenthood can be particularly dire when it spills over onto the parent-child relationship (Katz & Gottman, 1996; Katz & Woodin, 2002; Kitzmann, 2000; Laurent et al., 2008; Margolin et al., 2001). Adolescent parents in general, and adolescent fathers in particular, are thought to be especially susceptible to coparenting relationship problems (Cabrera, Fagan, & Farrie, 2008; Fagan, Bernd & Whiteman, 2007). In addition to being more likely to have unstable relationships with their coparenting partners, young fathers are often psychologically unprepared for fatherhood and Interpersonally ill-equipped to provide the sort of nurturance and care that an infant needs. Despite having generally optimistic views of marriage before childbirth, less than 20% of adolescent coparenting couples are married when their child is born (Ryan, Manlove, & Moore, 2004). In addition, there is evidence that over time, committed romantic relationships between young parents tend to dissolve and young fathers become increasingly disengaged as parents, contributing to the high rates of impoverished children among households headed by single mothers (Carlson, McLanahan, & Brooks-Gunn, 2008). The social and public health concerns associated with the decline in stable two-parent families have generated some debate about how to support marriage or promote engaged parenthood among young fathers and their partners (Halford, Markman, & Scott, 2008). Concerns about the impact of unstable coparenting relations on child development have also led to an increased interest in young couples who are able to successfully navigate the transition to parenthood and surmount the significant risk factors that they encounter along the way. In regards to this last point, it is important to note that despite the well-documented risks associated with early parenthood, not all young fathers fail as relationship partners or as parents; some are in fact able to manage the frustration, anxiety, and demands that accompany the monumental responsibility of parenthood and maintain (or establish for the first time) positive relations with both their partners and children (Carlson & McLanahan, 2006; Fagan, Palkovitz, Roy & Farrie, 2009). In this chapter, we use an interpersonal framework to develop an understanding of how adolescent males manage the transition to parenthood, highlighting different pathways and outcomes that can emerge during this process. We employ complementary methods and analytic strategies to provide a comprehensive understanding of the development and functioning of young fathers. More specifically, a combination of observational and self-report data helps provide a broad perspective on interpersonal trends associated with the adjustment to parenthood, while interview-based narrative data from two young fathers help anchor these trends in the concrete life experiences of individuals

Young Parenthood Interview

Interview; Purpose: The purpose of the Young Parenthood Interview is to assess perceptions of one\u27s own family relationships and interactions.; Description: The Young Parenthood Interview (Moore & Florsheim, 2008) was developed in the context of a study that examined interpartner conflict and child abuse risk among African American and Latino adolescent parenting couples. This interview focuses on family and partner relationships and expectations of parenthood. It includes several open-ended questions regarding couples\u27 conflict, conflict resolution, and the occurrence of physical violence between partners. In the development study, interviews were transcribed and coded for the occurrence of mild, moderate, or severe violence (or no violence). In cases where violence had occurred, interview responses were coded to indicate whether the participant was the victim, perpetrator, or both. Coding was completed by undergraduate research assistants, and 20% of the interviews were coded twice. Inter-rater reliability was established for violence severity and victim/perpetrator status