Among 1,493 adolescents ages 14-20 years, the lower the social group, the higher the average neurotic defense style score. Boys had higher scores of mature defense styles than girls. Among boys who had lost their father, lower social class was related to immaturity. Social class differences in defense styles may partly explain later differences in…

Investigates the informal resources that parents of disabled children use across the family life cycle, focusing on positive adaptation. Interviews with 12 parents revealed ways in which friends and family, parent groups, helping professionals, and religious beliefs can be particularly supportive. (JPS)

Notes that life books are well-established tools for helping foster children cope with past events and future plans. Describes a here-and-now process for compiling life books that concerns the child's present life and is more accessible for the child and social worker than traditional life books. Provides case examples to demonstrate the model's…

Discusses initial validation and evaluation of the cross-cultural and cross-language equivalence of the Parenting Self-Agency Measure (PSAM) with English-speaking middle-income Anglo mothers (n=90) and Spanish-speaking low-income Mexican immigrant mothers (n=94). Hypothesized relationship of PSAM with measures of parents' coping strategies and…

Discusses common threads found in the four articles written by teachers in this themed journal issue on coping with mandated curriculum. Discusses the teachers' commitment to professional responsibility expressed as their responsibility to: learn about learning, demonstrate how learning works, make the best teaching decisions possible, remain…

In this article, a man with autism and a woman dating him (who has two children with autism) describe their struggles and the wisdom that they have gained trying to maintain a relationship. Symptoms of autism, the love and commitment they share, and their hope for the future are discussed. (CR)

In this article, an adult with autism shares some of the stories of his childhood, including some humorous stories and some stories that are that are too painful to be funny. His experiences at school are recounted, including the bullying and teasing of other children and the rigidity of teachers. (CR)

School leaders are trying pay incentives, consortia, and temp firms to assuage their need for qualified substitute teachers. Five coping strategies include making the job more attractive, increasing the candidate pool, hiring some permanent subs, using automated calling systems, and examining systemic issues. Substitutes are unionizing in some…

Studied the interrelationships among characteristics of undergraduate students and the characteristics that predicted achievement in samples of 71 mature-age students entering from an enabling program and 61 younger students entering from high school. Results add to the literature on links between psychological characteristics and academic…

Provides guidelines to facilitate children's emotional adjustment to their parents' divorce. Suggestions include avoiding arguing in front of children, allowing children to spend quality time with both parents, keeping children's daily routines as normal as possible, avoiding putting children in the middle or in the "missing parent" role, allowing…

Responding to schools' need for disaster preparedness, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers a week-long course at its Emergency Management Institute (the Multi-Hazard Safety Program for Schools). FEMA recommends that school officials identify likely hazards, mitigate against them, develop response and postdisaster coping plans,…

Crisis events may be viewed as expected, sudden, or catastrophic. Survivors have common needs: recognition of loss, soothing of fear, a sense of what happened, expression of feelings, assistance with adjustment, shared closure rituals, and ways to remember. Schools' crisis-response plans should include intervention and postintervention activities…

Presents suggestions to help school nurses recognize and deal with the causes of children's physical problems in times of trauma and stress and coordinate their responsibilities with other professionals and parents (focusing on the events of September 11, 2001). The article also discusses how to recognize posttraumatic stress disorder in children…

Examines the relationship between bully/victim problems and the coping strategies used when confronted with a peer argument in Greek primary school children. Suggests that both bullying and victimization are associated with self-evaluations in diverse domains and emotional coping strategies in conflictual peer interactions. Includes references.…

This article explores the notion of "non-finite loss," defined as the ongoing sense of grief experienced by parents caring for children with severe disabilities. Issues that professionals need to consider when working with parents are discussed, and a set of recommendations for promoting more effective partnerships is provided. (Contains…