In death-averse American society, the field of thanatology is often socially and academically isolating. The purpose of this article is to describe the experiences of a group of death scholars and share insights gained as members of an interdisciplinary team. They discuss the ways in which they have created a special "safe" space for death study…

This article contains the transcript of a session one mother ran in her child's class. The aim of the session was to give class members a better understanding of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in general and of her son in particular. The effectiveness of her approach is evident in the follow-up stories children wrote and in the experiences this…

Background: Comparatively little is known about the cognitive appraisals and coping styles of child road traffic accident (RTA) survivors that are associated with chronic post-traumatic reactions. Methods: Seventy-five children and young people aged 7-18 who were involved in a road traffic accident and attended an accident and emergency department…

Few studies have examined graduate students and stress. At a large, Southeastern university, 223 graduate students completed a survey about factors contributing their stress, current coping strategies and related university services. A majority felt stressed (48.9%) or very stressed (24.7%). There were significant differences in coping strategies…

This study qualitatively examined the perspectives of clinical social workers on non-offending mothers of sexually abused children. The study examined whether clinicians still used collusion to explain mothers' behavior, despite research refuting collusion. Findings revealed that, although workers did not use collusion, they still constructed…

Complicated issues arise when a group leader resumes practice after suffering a disability. The author, a nurse psychotherapist/researcher with a doctoral degree, director of nursing research at a veterans' hospital, and a psychodynamic practitioner in private practice, suffered a major stroke. The author felt extremely vulnerable and struggled as…

The purpose of the study was to determine the degree of stress perceived by students at two community colleges in southern Illinois. The Perceived Stress Scale was used to gather data from 212 students enrolled in regularly scheduled psychology classes. Of the students, 75% were in a moderate stress category; 12% in a high stress category, and 13%…

Objective: Despite beliefs about weight gain in college, few researchers have evaluated this phenomenon. Participants: Participants were 18- to 31-year-old students at a midwestern university. The dependent variable was body mass index (BMI) change. Methods: The authors extracted predictor variables from a Health Risk Appraisal. These included…

To further explore central developmental themes of emerging adulthood, the authors conducted a study that combines qualitative and quantitative data about the types of personal growth and decline reported by a sample of emerging adults, who also described the life events and other experiences that brought about these personal changes. After…

War may be the most profound psychosocial stressor on child and adolescent development, for it has the potential to inflict loss, disruption of stability, deleterious health effects and family/community system disorganization. This article reviews the literature regarding the effects of war on children and explores the role and function of the…

While adolescents tend to under-use professional mental health services for depression, they informally seek health-related information from parents and peers. In this study, we interviewed 15 adolescents to examine how the views and behaviours of others influence teens' decisions about seeking care for depression. Using a grounded theory…

This study examined young children's affective distress and behavioral responses to parental marital conflict. Forty-eight 4-year-olds and their parents participated in the study. Mothers and fathers independently completed measures of marital conflict, children's reactions to marital conflict, and child behavior problems, while the children…

Stress is an inevitable part of living, but too much stress can have damaging consequences. Ways in which children can respond positively to stress are covered in this curriculum guide. It was developed to help teachers teach students, grades K-5, ways to cope with stress. Its curriculum objectives include helping students understand stress and…

The causal attributions of 142 parents (80 mothers and 62 fathers) of Turkish children with mental retardation and autism for their child's disabilities were investigated in this study, which also examined the relationship of these attributions with stress. Parents were given a questionnaire designed to tap potential parental causal attributions…

The potential application of the appraisal theory of emotions developed by I. Roseman and others (1990) to transactional models of stress-produced emotions in the work place was tested. Data were gathered from 231 graduate students in counseling who were asked to rate their appraisals of taking a new job and subsequent emotional reactions, as well…