Offers brief descriptions of 14 recently published books for young adult readers that deal with difficult topics but that also shed light and offer hope. Organizes them into: collections of stories and poems; stories that deal with memoirs, memories and dreams; and stories of friends and family. (SR)

Interviews with 46 adults with deafness or hearing impairments found that three discursive positions were evident in relation to deafness (disability, logistic complexity, and community/culture). Life stories produced in the interviews entailed variations on the theme of fragmentation: the losing, missing, and finding of viable life circumstances.…

Found that the correlation between psychopathology and course grades in a sample of college students (n=326), was not significant. However, psychopathology was significantly related to students' motivation and use of learning strategies that were, in turn, related to academic performance. Structural equation modeling provided evidence that…

Interviews 164 late middle-aged and elderly Israelis with respect to their emotional and behavioral reactions to Scud missile attacks in Israel during the Gulf War. Discusses findings in light of the uniquely subjective, interpretive context of stress phenomena, and the need to identify those variables that explain individual differences among…

Describes the physical losses suffered by various Head Start facilities in the Midwest during the 1993 floods and how program staff helped Head Start children and their families cope with the negative effects of the flood. (HTH)

Discusses children's perceptions of death in several stages of children's development. Lists typical stages of grief experienced by children and adults, and describes typical and abnormal expressions of grief. Explains four basic concepts about death that teachers can discuss with children. Lists 10 general tips and 11 specific strategies for…

Examines coping strategies adopted by eight Manitoba principals in light of current environmental (fiscal) restraints. Identified both general coping strategies (proactive planning, decentralized decision making, and alternative resource generation) and unique approaches (routinization of problems, negotiated order, and support groups). Confronted…

Compares blacks' and whites' coping patterns in racially and generally stressful situations and determines whether race differences in coping interact with type of stress. Findings show blacks engaged in more problem-focused and emotion-focused coping. Whites and blacks elicited more confrontive coping in racially stressful situations, but less…

Studies respondents with spinal cord injuries. Shows their causal attributions for the event are distinguishable from their perceptions of availability, the latter frequently focusing on mutable aspects of their own behavior. Discusses research results. Implications for the study of self-blame and perceived availability are discussed. (KW)

Examines relationships among caregivers' internal resourcefulness, demands of caregiving situations, and caregivers' self-reported coping behaviors relative to changes in dysphoric affect. Primary caregivers of the frail elderly (n=143) completed several measures approximately 4 months apart. Decreased dysphoric affect among caregivers was linked…

Describes a program that bonds high-risk students to school as a basis of developing positive behavior and an ethic of social responsibility and service. The bonding is seen as essential to the process of building social and academic skills in at-risk youth. (Author)

Explores some of the junctures at which the study of social stress might benefit from life course perspectives and, conversely, those at which life course research might profitably employ the vantage points of stress research. (SNR)

Pupils with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) fear the unknown and changes to their routine. Their fears may be unexpected, such as what is for breakfast. "Social stories" can alleviate such fears by giving a detailed account of each day's activities. A case study shows how a social story in diary form helped a boy with ASD cope with an outdoor…

Students (N=40) whose loved one had died by suicide in the past two years, were assessed as to whether writing projects lessen their grief. All participants competed pre- and posttest measures of grief. Determined that writing about grief associated with suicide of a loved one appeared to reduce suicidal grief but did not extend to general grief…

In this article, the mother of 12-year-old son with autism shares two stories that highlight how her son keeps her humble and how asking for help mutually benefits the giver and receiver. It discusses the need to tell people your needs and to invite them to participate in your life. (CR)