Altersunterschiede in psychosozialen Ressourcen und im Befinden von Krebspatienten am Beginn einer Chemotherapie

It has been suggested that older patients would have fewer resources than younger patients. We assessed psychosocial resources in 361 recently diagnosed cancer patients. Older patients had a stronger internal health-related locus of control but also less hope than younger patients. No age differences were found for self-esteem and perceived social support. In addition, older patients reported lower levels of negative and positive affect. Curative-intended therapy and social support were associated with a more positive affect only in younger patients, whereas hope was only related to older patients' psychological well-being. It is concluded that older cancer patients have similar levels of psychosocial resources compared to younger patients, but that lack of hope is a vulnerability factor for older patients in particular.

Supportive parenting and adolescent adjustment across time in former East and West Germany

Using a 3-year longitudinal data set, we examined the effects of consistently versus inconsistently supportive parenting on several aspects of adolescent adjustment. Supportive parenting was a multidimensional construct which included parental sensitivity, predictability and involvement. The sample consisted of 283 German early adolescents (mean age=11.4 years, S.D.=1.2 at time 1) from former East (n=97) and West (n=186) Germany. As hypothesized, adolescents who reported their parents to be consistently supportive (e.g. supportive for at least two points in time) had lower levels of depression and delinquency, higher levels of self-efficacy and did better in school over the 3-year period than adolescents who reported their parents to be inconsistently supportive (e.g. supportive at only one time point or less). The results showed that there were no significant interactions between region and supportive parenting, indicating that the effects of consistently supportive parenting "worked" in a similar manner in both contexts of former East and West Germany. Results also reveal that supportive parenting is not necessarily a stable phenomenon, but may fluctuate from year to year.

The influence of puberty, family processes, and leisure activities on the timing of first sexual experience

This study investigated the effects of pubertal timing, demographics, family processes, and leisure activities on the timing of first sexual experience. The sample included 15-18-year-old adolescents from the former East and West Germanys. Hierarchical model using Cox regression examined the differences in the patterns of predictors by nation and sex. Higher levels of parental monitoring predicted later initiation of sexual experience for West males and females and East males. In the final model pubertal timing was significant only for East males. Higher levels of risky leisure predicted earlier first sexual experience for East males and females and West females. Social-romantic leisure was a significant predictor of earlier timing for both West males and females.

Family income loss and economic hardship: antecedents of adolescents' problem behavior

Income loss leads to lower family integration, which in turn makes adolescents more sensitive to evaluation by peers. This can result in lower self-esteem and an inclination to act against common rules and norms.