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Three hundred twenty-six undergraduates who participated in a diversity-based course or voluntary intergroup dialogues completed a written questionnaire about their attitudes toward and comfort with people who are African American, Asian American, First Nation, Latina/o, white, and lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB). Secondary analysis of quantitative items revealed, that students were significantly more likely to report greater discomfort with and more negative attitudes toward LGB individuals than toward the specified ethnic/racial groups. Respondents' gender, ethnic/racial, sexual orientation, and religious differences were correlated with attitudes and comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a study that explored the relationship between gender and co-occuring substance abuse and mental health conditions among a sample of 754 consumers of behavioral health services. Research on gender differences of co-occurring conditions show conflicting findings. Some studies in psychiatric settings indicate a higher rate of co-occurring conditions among men, while others found the reverse, or no difference in prevalence rates between men and women. Whatever the gender differences in rates, co-occurring conditions are a serious problem for women found lifetime prevalence rates for co-occurring psychiatric and substance-related diagnoses to be 72% for women diagnosed with alcohol abuse and 86% for women with alcohol dependence. Women also exhibit higher rates of psychological distress and family pathology than men with similar diagnoses, even though their overall level of functioning may be perceived as higher. They also express a greater need for family treatment despite a closer relationship to their children and partner. If mothers, women face additional challenges related to the parenting role with their children at high risk for abuse and neglect.

We examine the associations among multigenerational coresidence, intrafamilial conflict over childrearing, and parenting stress in 190 young adolescent mothers at 6, 12, and 24 months postpartum. Analyses assessed the association between coresidence and conflict on parenting stress in 2 ways. To investigate associations between coresidence and conflict at specific points postpartum, 3 cross-sectional analyses were conducted. To assess the association between postpartum duration of coresidence and conflict, we predicted parenting stress at 24 months from the duration of coresidence and conflict across the 3 time points. While the coefficients in the cross-sectional models for coresidence and conflict increased from 6 to 24 months, the change was not significant over time holding all other variables constant. The interaction of coresidence by conflict was not associated with parenting stress at any time point. Additionally, duration of coresidence was not associated with parenting stress at 24 months. However, in contrast, sustained conflict over time was associated with higher levels of parenting stress at 24 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding problem behavior among adolescent mothers is critical, as their behaviors affect not only their own lives but the lives of their children. Using confirmatory factor analysis with an ethnically diverse sample of 233 pregnant adolescents, we test a hypothesis derived from problem behavior theory that diverse problem behaviors are manifestations of a single underlying construct. Three measurement models of problem behaviors are compared: a single factor model, a four factor model, and a second order factor model in which a single higher order factor is posited to account for the covariation among the four factors. The results show support for the higher order factor model, suggesting a constellation of related problem behaviors in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]