A study examined the ways in which adult educators increase learner load. The primary objective of the study, which was conceived within the context of Howard McClusky's concept of margin, i.e., the ratio between the burdens on adult bears and the strengths he/she has to bear them, was to identify the specific instructor characteristics that…

This report reviews sociological research pertaining to marriage and family relations among blacks. Mate selection, economics in marriage, sexual relations, and the importance of children are among the topics examined. Observations and hypotheses about black social status are applied to research findings on family life in general, and contrasts…

Demographic data suggest that alcohol abuse among the elderly will increase in proportion to the population growth of that group. Four factors which may cause the elderly to be a highly susceptible group for alcohol problems are: (1) retirement and its boredom, role changes, and financial problems; (2) increased concern with death and losses of…

This workbook, designed for parents who are concerned about the possibility of drug abusing children, supports the idea of a strong family and active, involved parenting. Strategies are suggested to improve the parent-child relationship, including a self-test to help parents consider their own attitudes and behavior, as well as suggestions for…

This paper discusses the concept of stress by drawing from social-psychological, occupational, family, and medical perspectives. A model of stress based on an integration of these perspectives is developed and then applied to the family relationship over time. The components of the model consist of: (1) a stressor stimulus, any situation that may…

Very little research has been undertaken to assess what factors are related to the utilization of coping strategies to deal with the losses associated with aging. Volunteers (N=40) 65 years of age or older were interviewed to determine if people at different levels of ego development differ in the number and type of coping strategies employed in…

Representing the accumulated expertise of the Spanish Speaking/Surnamed (SS/S) multi-disciplined service provider network, this position paper is designed to focus national, state, and local attention to the Latino/Chicano child abuse and neglect (ca/n) problems and on the bilingual/bicultural resources needed to improve the degree and type of…

The booklet examines the effects of parental and family stress on gifted children. Four areas of family turmoil are covered: (1) separation and divorce, (2) death and dying, (3) violence, and (4) serious family illness. Problems are addressed in terms of considerations for preschool, school-aged, and high school gifted students. The first section,…

This study examined the greatest stressors in teaching situations that affect teachers, and how these events vary for groups of elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers. The list of possibly stressful situations was taken from the Teaching Events Stress Inventory (TESI), developed by Cichon and Koff in 1978. Data were collected from…

To examine the effects of hearing impairment on the family, questionnaires were completed by 358 mothers and 184 fathers of hearing impaired children enrolled in special education. Questionnaires measured three areas: (1) family stress; (2) communication with the hearing-impaired child; and (3) relationships with professionals and others outside…

Research has shown that perceived stress with a supervisor affects the way in which intellectual abilities, experience, and task knowledge contribute to leadership performance. Stress with subordinates, as well as superiors, may affect the utilization of intelligence and experience in leadership tasks. Questionnaires measuring intelligence,…

Parental separation or divorce is a life transition experienced by a significant number of adolescents every year. To examine the relationship between differences in current adjustment and a number of demographic, personal, and situational factors, 65 college students, aged 17-23 who had experienced parental separation or divorce between the ages…

This study evaluated the efficacy of the undergraduate service program "Controlling Stress & Tension" at the University of Maryland in terms of improving the health status of participants across biomedical stress reactivity and psychometric variables. Six hundred fifty-three participants were compared to 264 control subjects for pre-…

This paper focuses on burnout in the helping professions and outlines steps that can be taken during counselor training to eliminate or reduce burnout. A discussion of the way in which the internal system of the counselor trainee can provoke burnout concentrates on issues of needs, expectations, and professional philosophy. Three burnout…

The systematic investigation of children's development along cognitive, affective, and moral dimensions has illuminated the nature of maturation and the problems associated with this process. To study the relationship between child development and parent behavior, a method was designed for the systematic observation of parental behavior.…