Coping styles within the family system in the chronic phase following acquired brain injury: its relation to families’ and patients’ functioning

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how the functioning of family members and the coping styles they use are related to the psychosocial functioning both of the family members and of the person who has sustained a brain injury. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: Primary caregivers (n = 61) and other family members (n = 15) of 61 patients with brain injury. METHODS: Primary caregivers completed the Utrecht Coping List, the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire 9, and the Caregiver Strain Index. All family members completed the Family Assessment Device. Data for the patients were collected retrospectively. RESULTS: Primary caregivers who had a preference for passive coping styles reported that they experienced a lower level of family functioning, a lower quality of life, and a higher strain. Neither the coping styles nor the psychosocial outcomes of the primary caregivers were significantly associated with patients' self-reported quality of life. Furthermore, there was no correlation between the level of family functioning and a patient's quality of life. CONCLUSION: Coping styles of caregivers are important determinants for their own psychosocial functioning, but not for patients' psychosocial functioning, although causality cannot be inferred. To enhance caregivers' psychosocial functioning, rehabilitation should focus on changing their coping styles into ones that are less passive. Furthermore, distinct or additional interventions may be needed to change the patient's coping style

Old stones' song: Use-wear experiments and analysis of the Oldowan quartz and quartzite assemblage from Kanjera South (Kenya)

Evidence of Oldowan tools by w2.6 million years ago (Ma) may signal a major adaptive shift in hominin evolution. While tool-dependent butchery of large mammals was important by at least 2.0 Ma, the use of artifacts for tasks other than faunal processing has been difficult to diagnose. Here we report on use-wear analysis ofw2.0 Ma quartz and quartzite artifacts from Kanjera South, Kenya. A use-wear framework that links processing of specific materials and tool motions to their resultant use-wear patterns was developed. A blind test was then carried out to assess and improve the efficacy of this experimental use-wear framework, which was then applied to the analysis of 62 Oldowan artifacts from Kanjera South. Usewear on a total of 23 artifact edges was attributed to the processing of specific materials. Use-wear on seven edges (30%) was attributed to animal tissue processing,corroborating zooarchaeological evidence for butchery at the site. Use-wear on 16 edges (70%)was attributed to the processing of plant tissues, including wood, grit-covered plant tissues that we interpret asunderground storage organs (USOs), and stems of grass or sedges. These results expand our knowledge of the suite of behaviours carried out in the vicinity of Kanjera South to include the processing of materials that would be ‘invisible’ using standard archaeological methods. Wood cutting and scraping may represent the production and/or maintenance of wooden tools. Use-wear related to USO processing extends the archaeological evidence for hominin acquisition and consumption of this resource by over 1.5 Ma. Cutting of grasses, sedges or reeds may be related to a subsistence task (e.g., grass seed harvesting, cutting out papyrus culm for consumption) and/or a non-subsistence related task (e.g., production of ‘twine,’ simple carrying devices, or bedding). These results highlight the adaptive significance of lithic technology for hominins at Kanjera

Does noncompliance in toddlerhood predict externalizing problems later on?

Introduction and aims of the study: Toddlers who exhibit noncomplying behavior are considered to be at risk for developing externalizing problems. At the same time, strivings for autonomy are typical for toddlerhood, thus some opposing behavior can be expected in normal development. In studying these conflicting ideas, we searched for “healthy” forms of noncompliance in toddlerhood. To find out, we used Kochanska’s (1995) taxonomy for assessing (non)compliance and examined whether noncompliance in toddlerhood predicted externalizing problems in middle childhood. Material and Methods: Participants were 101 children (51% boys) from the Nijmegen Longitudinal Study on Infant and Child Development. At 28 months, parents were asked to keep children from touching an attractive box (3min); coders rated (non)compliance during this prohibition task and classified children into one of Kochanska’s two categories for compliance (i.e., Committed, Situational) or three categories for noncompliance (i.e., Passive, Overt resistance, Defiance). At age 9, teachers rated externalizing behavior problems (TRF; Achenbach, 1991). Results: One-way ANOVA analysis revealed significant differences among the five categories for externalizing problems (F(4,85) = 9.33, p = .00). As expected, children in the Passive noncompliance (M = 11.00; SD = 8.14) and the Defiant (M = 11.78; SD = 6.51) group exhibited significantly more externalizing problems at age 9 than compliant children (M = 2.94, SD = 5.96 for Committed compliance; M = 2.82, SD = 4.06 for Situational compliance). However, children in the Overt resistance group (M = 0.67; SD = 1.32) did not. Instead, their externalizing scores were significantly lower than those of the other two noncompliant groups, resembling the scores of the compliant groups. Conclusions: Our data preliminary suggest that Overt resistance, characterized by a nonaversive, socially skilled form of noncompliance, may be considered a healthy form of noncompliance, showing “autonomy with connectedness” (Emde & Buchsbaum, 1990; Sroufe, 1995)