The author provides some reflections based on her experiences as a member of Becky's treatment team (see Werth, this issue). She briefly highlights some of the areas that were most important in her work with Becky and others with life-limiting illnesses, including information-seeking, social support, maintaining normalcy, depression and…

This article describes an eight-session psychoeducational group for aggressive adolescent girls. The content of the group sessions is based on research that has identified gender-specific issues related to aggression in adolescent girls, such as gender-role socialization, childhood abuse, relational aggression, horizontal violence, and girl…

This study examined the way part-time students cope with fitting in study on top of other demands on their time. To measure the deployment of coping mechanisms, an instrument was developed based on previous qualitative work. The earlier work had identified three coping mechanisms--sacrifice, support, and negotiation of arrangements--operating in…

The support that the African American college students from predominantly White campuses get from the families and other kinship networks is analyzed. It is concluded that the family support helps in reducing stress level among college students and provides an emotional support to them.

Using a longitudinal design, we investigated the relation of childhood personality type to volunteering during adolescence. We hypothesized that participants with more adaptive personality functioning during childhood would be more likely to volunteer during adolescence and that membership in social organizations would mediate the relation of…

The statistics for divorce in the United States are alarming. Among the shouting there are voices that are not being heard: the children's. Empirical research has shown that the implementation of protective measures may increase the probability of a child becoming resilient in the face of divorce. This review of current literature is written to…

Current research on blended families is summarized to address blended family development, communication strategies, and relationships between stepparents and stepchildren. Considerations for family counselors and blended families are addressed. Implications for future research opportunities include multicultural issues within blended families and…

Part of growing up involves discovering social power, the power of the group, and the power of words. Victims of chronic harassment are at serious risk for poor mental and physical health, as well as academic underachievement. A good way to start simultaneously protecting at-risk victims while explaining to parents of non-victims that what appears…

This study describes the process by which a circuit board manufacturing company became certified in an international quality control program known as ISO 9002. Particular attention is paid to how quality documents were made and used in actual practice and to the relationship between these standardized procedures (official literacies) and…

Maltreatment in the family occurs through a variety of forms of abuse and neglect. These risks are particularly prevalent in families with parents who abuse substances. The author describes connections between parental addiction and coping behaviors used by the children in these high-risk families. Strength-based strategies enable these youth to…

This study examines the factors contributing to middle-aged widows' adaptation to their husbands' death due to physical illness, 1 to 5 years after the initial loss. Ninety-three widows and 93 married women, who served as controls, filled out questionnaires assessing their experience of stress and strain, their Sense of Coherence level, the social…

The present study investigated the coping responses to two childhood stressors of fifth and sixth grade, gifted (n=52) and typical (n=55) children. The subjects were administered the Self-Report Coping Scale for school and peer stressors (i.e., getting a lower grade than usual and having a fight with a friend). Teachers' ratings of children's…

This article introduces the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS), a 4-item measure designed to capture tendencies to cope with stress in a highly adaptive manner. Two samples of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (ns = 90 and 140) provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the BRCS. The BRCS has adequate internal consistency and…

In these times of legislative mandates for accountability and high-stakes testing, meeting the needs of diverse learners has never been more urgent. If change is to occur in classrooms across the United States, the change forces will be the administrators and teachers in each school. Educators must now choose a plan of action to address student…

The study of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in maltreated youth has received increased attention, though extensive comparisons to maltreated youth without PTSD and administrations of anxiety-based structured diagnostic interviews remain needed. We examined maltreated youth with or without PTSD using structured diagnostic interviews and…