This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of a filial/play therapy training model with high school juniors and seniors enrolled in a Peer Assistance and Leadership program (PALs). Filial/play therapy is an intervention that focuses on strengthening and enhancing adult-child relationships. The high students are trained to be a therapeutic change agent for primary school children identified as having adjustment difficulties by utilizing basic child-centered play therapy skills in weekly play sessions with young children. Specifically, this study is designed to determine the effectiveness of filial therapy in increasing: 1) the high school students' observed empathic behavior with young children, 2) the high school students' observed attitude of acceptance toward young children, 3) the high school students' observed ability to allow self-direction in young children, and 4) the high school students' observed level of involvement with young children. The experimental group, consisting of 16 volunteer high school students enrolled in a PALs class for high school credit, received a total of 24 weeks of filial/play therapy didactic training, application, and supervision for the playtimes they conducted with pre-kindergarten/kindergarten students identified with adjustment difficulties. The comparison group consisted of 15 volunteer high school students enrolled in a PALs class for …

The principal investigator (PI) for this study analyzed mean scores on the National Counselor Examination (NCE) of students from CACREP accredited and non- CACREP accredited programs. Data was provided by the National Board of Certified Counselors, Inc., for a total of ten examination administrations across six years. The fourteen variables examined in the study consisted of the eight common-core knowledge domains identified in CACREP standards, the five counselor work behavior areas identified by NBCC via periodic job analysis of counseling practice, and one overall or total score on the NCE. NCE mean scores of students from CACREP accredited programs were higher than NCE mean scores of students from non-CACREP accredited programs on all variables across all ten NCE administrations. Data seem to indicate that students from CACREP accredited programs perform significantly better on the NCE than students from non-CACREP accredited programs, in all fourteen variables. Sample size was large, totaling 9707, so the PI calculated effect sizes using Cohen's d for each variable to aid interpretation of statistical significance. Five variables had large effect sizes of .70 or higher. The higher effect size statistics were associated with the counselor work behavior areas, with the highest effect size (.85) associated with …

The specific purpose of this study was to try and understand why unique experiences of living with an alcoholic parent could create developmental deficits which emotionally challenge COAs' when faced with the life lessons a college environment offers. This study offered four possible explanations for experiencing challenges in its theoretical background: (1) psychosocial development, (2) the epistemology of alcoholism and its effects on the family, (3) personality development and the concurrence of building resilience, and (4) the college environment itself, with the phenomenon of binge drinking--forcing COAs to confront family alcoholism. A total of 7 participated in this study--4 men and 3 women. Despite the dynamic differences in the answers overall, all 7 participants acknowledged one important concept. When the participants were asked about their own drinking habits, each participant said, though in different ways, they had to be careful with their drinking habits. Participants seemed to be aware that whether alcoholism is genetic or a learned addiction, they were at risk of becoming alcoholics themselves. This study found overall, as previous literature suggests, no matter how COAs are studied, they are found to be a heterogeneous population. Specifically, this study's results points out that they are indeed heterogeneous, yet …

This study investigated relationships among hardiness, stress, and coping strategies among mid-level nurse managers in hospitals. Coping strategies were hypothesized to be positively related to stress. In addition, hardiness and its components were hypothesized to be positively related to stress and coping strategies. Demographics were hypothesized to be unrelated to stress, hardiness, and coping strategies. Both hardiness and coping strategies were hypothesized to be predictors of stress. Pearson correlation coefficients, multiple regression, and linear regression were used in data analysis. Stress was associated with specific coping strategies viz., confrontation, selfcontrolling, accepting responsibility, and escape-avoidance. High hardiness, particularly commitment and challenge, was associated with low levels of stress and with problemfocused coping strategies. By contrast, low hardiness was associated with high stress and use of emotion-focused strategies. Significant demographics, when compared to study variables, included age, experience, time with supervisors, number of direct reports, highest degrees obtained, and formal or informal higher education in management. Young nurse managers who were less experienced in nursing and management, and who had fewer direct reports, reported the highest stress levels among nurse managers. High hardiness, particularly commitment, was a strong predictor of low levels of stress; use of escape-avoidance was a significant predictor of …

The purposes for this study were: (a) to establish benchmark metrics for selected variables related to characteristics of physical therapy education programs; and (b) to determine how well a subset of the variables predicted group membership based on first-time pass rates (FTPRs) on the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE). The population was defined as all physical therapy programs in the United States and Puerto Rico accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Questionnaires soliciting data related to the variables were mailed to the entire population (N = 177). Fifty-eight (32.8%) of the programs returned the questionnaire, with 51 (29%) having provided enough information for inclusion in the study. Characteristics of the sample were compared to known population characteristics in order to determine the extent to which the sample represented the population. Pearson product-moment correlation resulted in a coefficient of .993, indicating that the two groups were similar. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Values for the variables were tabulated in various ways, based on the nature of sponsoring institution, regional location, degree offered, and grouping based on FTPRs, in order to facilitate comparisons. A single institution was selected and comparisons made to demonstrate the utilization of benchmark metrics. Chi-squared …

This study examined the career paths of women administrators serving as chief academic officers in Christian colleges and universities which belong to the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). The CCCU is a professional association of evangelical Christian institutions dedicated to integrating faith and learning. The exploration included each administrator's demographic information; her early, adolescent, college, and graduate school experiences; early vocational experiences; the effect of marriage and motherhood on her career; critical factors she identified as important in achieving her current position; and the importance of spiritual convictions or Christian faith in career decision making. Sixteen of the eighteen identified women holding the rank of chief academic officer agreed to participate in the study. The typical woman administrator was 50, married, and the mother of one or more children. She most likely had received her education in the humanities, with the terminal degree of choice being a Ph.D. She had served at her current institution for more than five years, but in her current administrative position for less than five. As an adolescent she excelled in the humanities, less so in math and science, and was involved in many extracurricular activities, including music endeavors, leadership, and her local …