A study of job search intensity among 451 unemployed women in Israel found that the youngest (below 22) spent the most time seeking employment; young (age 22-35) and midlife (age 36-49) women rejected job offers more frequently. The oldest group (50-62) were least likely to reject offers and experienced more health problems following unemployment.…

Studied relationships among stressors, active and passive coping strategies, and psychological distress in 412 Chinese teachers in Hong Kong. A mediational model (stress-coping) with coping strategies mediating effects of stressors on psychological distress represented an adequate fit to the data. (Author/MAK)

Major causes of "sudden-death syndrome" for superintendents include mismatched priorities, unseen problems, interference from special-interest groups, and misdirected disagreements. Beleaguered superintendents should be positive and proactive, act and speak as one person, understand agreements, seek help, listen, rewrite personnel…

"Resilience" is the capacity for moving ahead under adverse circumstances. School superintendents are advised to stay upbeat and mindful of "both-and" opportunities; stay focused on what they care about; remain flexible and tolerant of ambiguity; be proactive, not reactive; and apply resilience-conserving strategies during…

Tests Frank's model of oppressive situations and asymmetric role-taking in a survey of 66 battered women and 80 nonbattered women. Battered women's social situations were characterized by powerlessness, social isolation, and economic dependency. Develops the value of this theoretical approach with its emphasis on enhancing women's power base and…

Explains how young children's understanding of death develops and how they react emotionally to death. Offers practical suggestions for discussing death with children and helping them cope with the death of someone they know. Includes a list of books for teachers and children on the subject. (MDM)

Two studies examined coping strategies associated with resilience in a nonclinical sample of young adult child sexual abuse survivors. Survivors were likely to engage in positive illusions or such cognitive strategies as disclosing and discussing the abuse, minimization, positive reframing, and refusing to dwell on the experience. Results support…

Association between maternal ratings of child temperament and 8 maternal personality and demographic factors was examined in 3 age-stratified samples with children ranging from 3 to 10 years old. Found that mothers' anxiety was related to negative temperament ratings in all three samples, as were lower levels of maternal adaptation in analyses of…

Asthma has grown to epidemic proportions among school-age children, and nearly 10 million U.S. adults suffer from it. This paper describes asthma and its triggers and explains how to take measures to manage asthma symptoms within the school (e.g., dusting regularly and keeping medications available). A sidebar presents tips on controlling asthma…

The construct, family resilience, is defined differently by practitioners and researchers. This study tries to clarify the concept of family resilience. The foundation is family stress and coping theory, particularly the stress models that emphasize adaptation processes in families exposed to major adversities. (JDM)

Describes how the author helps his students understand the power of books and the impossibility of predicting what book will profoundly affect a person, by asking two questions: "What book made the biggest difference in your life?" and "What was that difference?" Describes the profound impact on the author's life of John…

A study of 371 involuntarily laid-off workers found that openness to experience and neuroticism were important predictors of their psychological state in career transition. Low neuroticism, high extraversion, and high openness were related to higher self-efficacy in transition. The importance of the role of personality traits in the transition…

Managers in English social services agencies (n=10) identified themes related to their use of humor in social care settings: asserting invulnerability; coping with reality; controlling anxiety; working with ambiguity, paradox, and incongruity; resisting the dominant order; and making sense of organizational absurdities. Implications for business…

This study assessed the role of religion in the coping of 45 parents of children with autism. All parents completed a questionnaire and 21 parents were interviewed. Positive religious coping was associated with better religious outcome and greater stress-related growth, whereas negative religious coping was associated with greater depressive…

Interviewed elite skiers who had recovered from serious injuries about stress associated with injury and the role of social support in recovery. Skiers needed various types of emotional, informational, and tangible support from the occurrence of injury through the return to full activity. Treatment team members, ski team members and home support…