Collected self-report data on 6 different types of social support and 3 distress symptoms from 37 pretest clients who participated in 6 counseling center therapy groups (26 completed posttests). Significant improvement in symptoms was noted during the 8-week interventions, and was related to the availability of social support, largely from sources…

Reviews research on family processes that affect the socioemotional functioning of children in poor families and families in economic decline. (PCB)

This article discusses the benefits of support groups and networks for parents of premature and high-risk infants. Options for starting and maintaining groups are discussed, and a resource section lists self-help organizations, training materials, and reference works. (Author/PB)

Examines the relationship between stress and diabetes with data provided by a recent nationwide survey of older adults. Two main findings emerged. First, stressors arising in social roles that are highly important to older adults are more strongly related to diabetes than events associated with less important roles. Second, social support buffers…

The friendship choices of 335 elementary school students were examined 6 times during a school year. Race, sex, and popularity status (both as individual characteristics and structural factors of triads) were found to affect transition from stable transitive friendship triplets to unstable intransitive ones. Contains 18 references. (SV)

Interviews with 75 leaders in 5 rural Missouri communities identified "sense of fit" and community evaluation as dimensions of leaders' community attachment that were related to each other but were associated differently with leader characteristics such as education. Leaders' local attachments appeared to inhibit linkages to outside…

Among 31 completers of a workplace literacy program and 37 dropouts, those who belonged to in-class cliques were more likely to remain in class than the more socially isolated. Dropouts networked in the workplace with others of similar educational levels; finishers networked with workers of higher educational levels. (SK)

Based on interviews with widows and wives, examined effects of marital status on older women's help to kin and friends. Although married women provided more help to kin than did widows, most differences could be explained in terms of greater material resources marriage provided. Widows spent more time and gave more practical help to friends than…

Assessed continuity and change at multiple levels of adolescent friendship networks over the school year. Continuity and change were characterized for individuals' friendships, friendship groups, network type, and the school network as a whole, covering both subjective and consensus-based networks. Found moderate stability and continuity at all…

Describes a nurses' training program in Germany that adapted self-instructional learning material for use by networked universities for distance education. Topics include testing, evaluation, and revision of the learning modules; adaptation in distance education; and empirical evidence for the process of adaptation. (LRW)

School reform efforts will fail unless the focus shifts from individual development to social capital development. A social capital structure that unites home, community, and school into a comprehensive web goes beyond units of human capital. (SK)

Inner-city students (N=506) in grades 4 through 7 were assessed by teachers and students for aggression, popularity, academic competence, "Olympian" characteristics, and affiliation. Findings indicated that members of the same peer social group were similar on multiple behavioral dimensions. High social-network centrality was associated with…

Exploring cognitive school leadership elements, this study uses a set of 1200 U.S. principals and employs an earlier validated set of five leadership cognitions drawn from psychologists in educational administration. Regression analysis suggests these cognitions exist independently of many social and personal qualities typifying principals and are…

Unproductive, toxic schools have fragmented staffs, eroding goals, and negative, hopeless atmospheres. Schools with strong, positive cultures feature service-oriented staffs, a collegial ambience, celebratory rituals, supportive social networks, and humor. In crafting school culture, school leaders (principals, teachers, and parents) act as…

Discusses types of Internet services and service providers. Urges rural social service agencies to evaluate use of the Internet as a means to alleviate professional isolation, become part of a larger community, and extend computing resources to clients. Lists 44 rural gopher sites, 37 freenets, 14 listservs, and 13 rural health links. (SAS)