Age/cohort differences in several aspects of the self-system were investigated utilizing a sentence completion paradigm. Eighty-eight adults over age sixty and one hundred eight adults under age forty served as subjects. Subjects were asked to complete 30 self-referent sentence stems which were pre-structured to elicit information from the self-system. Responses were subjected to a content analysis utilizing a coding system which contained concepts used by subjects in their self-representations. Contents were coded for dimensions conceptually related to Physical Health, Autonomy, Self-Evaluation, Depression, Spirituality, and Altruism. Frequencies of codings were counted and subjected to statistical analysis for performing age group comparisons.

Stress plays a key role in our daily lives, influencing our emotional state, productivity, and health. One particular role in life, being a parent, has attracted significant attention in the research world in terms of the amount of stress parents experience in relation to different aspects of being parents. A life change that many parents, particularly mothers, are experiencing in increasing numbers is their return to college. This study compared reports of parenting stress and perceptions of the family environment between two groups of mothers. The first is a group of 32 mothers who were working 30 or more hours a week outside the home and were not enrolled in college while the second group consists of 31 mothers who were in college full-time and working less than 10 hours a week outside the home. All of the mothers were between the ages of 25 and 45 and had at least one child between the ages 5 and 12 years old. In both groups the mothers verified that their child(ren) was (were) without any diagnosis of an emotional, behavioral, or learning problem. A series of one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVAs) were performed. Results indicated there were no significant group …

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether differences exist between reports of parental stress in Mexican American and Caucasian mothers of children with ADHD. A second purpose was to examine whether there were child and family characteristics that made unique contributions to levels of parenting stress in Mexican American parents of children with ADHD. A third purpose was to examine the role that level of acculturation plays in the Mexican American mothers' reports of stress. Dependent measures used in this study include the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).

Traditional and cyber bullying have been identified as universal problematic issues facing adolescents, and research is needed to understand correlates associated with these phenomena. Structural equation modeling analyses examined associations between attachment to parents, traditional and cyber bullying or victimization, and mental health outcomes among 257 high school students (Average age 15.9 years). Key patterns emerged, including associations between maternal attachment and mental health outcomes; victimization and mental health concerns; and bullying and victimization in both traditional and cyber contexts. The role of attachment to mothers and fathers varied by context. Findings extend the literature by identifying risk factors in adolescence associated with bullying and victimization, as well as suggesting appropriate prevention and intervention strategies to increase adolescent well-being.

Grandparent-headed families are diverse in nature and represent a rapidly growing family type. While challenges facing grandparent caregivers are well documented, less is known about the well-being of their grandchildren, with many early studies relying on small samples of convenience. This study used an existing large national database, the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF), to compare differences in well-being of both children and grandparent caregivers across the independent variables of family type, ethnicity, gender, and age. Findings suggested better mental health and less parental aggravation for caregivers in traditional two parent intact families as compared to grandparents co-parenting in a multi-generation home, skipped generation grandparents (raising their grandchild with no parent present) or single parents. Skipped generation grandparents in particular reported most caregiver aggravation. Child physical health was reported to be worse by skipped generation grandparent caregivers. Behavior problems were reported to be worse for children in grandparent headed households than those in traditional families, particularly for teenagers raised in skipped generation households by their grandmothers. Specific results, limitations and future directions for research on grandparent-headed households were discussed.

This study examined the impact that a stress inoculation training (SIT) program had on a small-sized city police department in the southwestern U.S. Specifically, the aim of this study was to investigate how a SIT program impacted police officer self-reported levels of organizational stress, operational stress, perceived life stress, and mood states. All 24 participants were recruited from a population of 132 sworn, active duty police officers and were pre-tested through administration of a questionnaire packet containing a host of measures related to demographics, organizational stressors, operational stressors, general life stressors, and mood states. Participants were then randomly assigned to one of the following treatment conditions: (1) delayed training; (2) SIT program; and (3) SIT plus booster program. On completion of the SIT program, members of each of the treatment conditions were re-assessed through the administration of the aforementioned questionnaire packet. Subsequent to conducting the booster sessions, participants from each treatment condition took part in a second, and final, follow-up assessment. Results suggested that organizational stress was decreased for participants in the SIT program, particularly at follow-up. Results also suggested that energy (i.e., vigor) was increased for participants in the SIT plus booster program at both post-test and follow-up. Furthermore, …

The purpose of the following study was to evaluate sexual trauma and the effects on women veteran's quality of life ratings and current and past coping strategies. Participants were screened for sexual trauma history and divided into five mutually exclusive categories: 1)childhood sexual trauma, 2)civilian adult sexual trauma, 3)military sexual trauma, 4)multiple sexual trauma, and 5)no sexual trauma. Results of the study were mixed, retaining some hypotheses and rejecting others. Results regarding differences in QOL for the sexual trauma groups were rejected, as none of the QOL analyses were significant. Issues of small effect size for the QOL measure and low power to detect differences are discussed as limitations in the current study. Several significant findings were detected in the coping analyses. As predicted, the no trauma group was found to use significantly more approach coping strategies than the sexual trauma group for the past problem. Additionally, the sexual trauma group used significantly more avoidant coping techniques for past problem than the no trauma group. No between group differences were detected for sexual trauma type, however, several significant differences emerged in the comparisons of the multiple sexual trauma and military sexual trauma group's past coping compared to the no sexual …

his study compares ethnic, age, and gender differences concerning attitudes and behaviors toward death, dying, and bereavement among Caucasian, African, Hispanic, and Asian American adult participants in north Texas with the results of a 1976 study by Kalish and Reynolds on death attitudes and behaviors of Caucasian, African, Mexican, and Japanese American adult participants in Los Angeles, California. A modified version of Kalish and Reynolds' study questionnaire was administered to 526 respondents (164 Caucasian, 100 African, 205 Hispanic, and 57 Asian Americans) recruited from community and church groups. Findings of this study were compared with those of Kalish and Reynolds in specific areas, including experience with death, attitudes toward one's own death, dying, and afterlife, and attitudes toward the dying, death, or grief of someone else. Data was analyzed employing the same statistical tools as those used by Kalish and Reynolds, i.e., chi square calculations, frequencies, percentages, averages, and analyses of variance. As compared with the earlier study, results indicated that this study's participants were less likely to have known as many persons who had died recently or to state they would try very hard to control grief emotions in public. Present study participants were more likely to have visited …

The purpose of the current study was to understand the lived experiences and perspectives of high-functioning survivors of moderate or severe childhood maltreatment (CM) as related to the role of athletic participation in the development of their resilience. We emailed and screened Division I student-athletes from universities across the U. S. who did not meet criteria for a traumatic stress disorder. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach and constant comparison methodology, we obtained and analyzed interview data from 13 participants. The pathways through which participation in childhood athletics supported their coping include receiving social support from coaches and teammates, being present and engaged in their athletic participation, feeling relatively safe in their athletic environment, and spending time away from the main perpetrators of the CM. After applying concepts from existing literature to our data, we developed hypotheses to explain the processes by which participation in youth sport fosters resilience. For example, sport participation may provide opportunities for corrective emotional experiences that help young athletes heal. In addition, based on self-determination theory, maltreated elite athletes may benefit from sport participation because it meets their three basic needs (i.e., autonomy, mastery, and relatedness). We conclude this study with suggested implications for researchers …