Studied the influences African Americans perceived to be affecting their family relationships through an ethnographic case study focusing on 14 participants, ranging in age from 17 to 72 years, from 4 families. Participants perceived a number of social factors to be major influences on their family life, and they recognized an equal number of…

Describes a research-based self-care health education program for recently widowed people. Program aims to provide a foundation of knowledge, motivation, and encouragement to initiate positive behavioral changes, and to establish a support network. Preliminary analysis suggests the program is achieving many of the intended outcomes. (Author/JDM)

Reflects on the author's own personal background as a reader, including how television led her to more books and sparked her interest in a literary career. Discusses why, in a technological society, people care about literature. Argues that the Internet has its valuable uses, and that literature and technology can be good friends. (SR)

Describes the nature of positive life experiences of 13 people coping exceptionally well while living with advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's, disease and the resulting significant physical disabilities. Emerging themes were the use of cognitive reappraisal, reframing, and intellectual stimulation as coping mechanisms;…

Thirty-five women experiencing various stages of HIV were interviewed. Five components were found to be important in their psychological and spiritual growth: reckoning with death, life affirmation, creation of meaning, self-affirmation, and redefining relationships. Discusses implications for social work practice and future research. (Author/MKA)

To assess the contribution of situational factors to alcohol use during a naturally occurring high-stress time, 73 undergraduate students were studied. Contrary to the prediction of a simple tension-reduction model, results showed that students preferred to address heightened anxiety by studying to pass exams. Programmatic implications are…

The Adaptation Nursing Model suggests that nursing students' level of adaptation to stress is influenced by their hardiness and use of social resources. Faculty can use the information to facilitate students' coping. (SK)

Reviews issues facing adult children and their aging parents: dependency, loneliness, communication, developmental decline, living arrangements, and mental health concerns. (SK)

A study of 164 employed women with children found that women with secure or avoidant attachment styles were more likely to cope with hypothetical role conflicts using structural role redefinition. Ambivalently attached women used reactive role behavior. No relationship was found among coping styles, attachment styles, and work environment. (SK)

A research review identified the experience of stress and coping abilities of health professions students and first-year professionals. Effective workplace interventions for dealing with burnout and curriculum modifications to improve students' coping mechanisms were developed. (Contains 33 references.) (SK)

Studied social coping among gifted high school students using a revised Social Coping Questionnaire (M. Swiatek, 1995). Results for 212 gifted students show that females were more likely than males to deny giftedness and maintain high activity levels, while males were more likely to use humor for coping. Results also indicate that problem-focused…

Investigated refugee children's experiences adjusting to life in England. Interviews and surveys involving refugee and non-refugee children ranging from early to mid-adolescence provided data on: children, war, and persecution; flight to safety; early days in Britain; starting school; the importance of English; coping with the past; and providing…

A high-school Spanish teacher recalls her first hectic year. She would have quit, without assistance with everyday classroom realities from an official mentor (a vice principal), a biology teacher, and a second-grade teacher (her mother). These mentors eventually became her best friends. (MLH)

Looks at current theories in the field of resiliency from the viewpoint of experiences working with a child determined to be at psychosocial risk. Provides suggestions on how practitioners can create intervention programs that sustain and promote adaptive functioning in at-risk children, and are based on principles of connectedness, continuity,…

A California high school principal advises beginning principals to understand and respect their position; obtain a mentor; listen carefully; be humble; do something safe, dramatic, and visible early; find out about predecessors and possible "land mines"; ask for decision-making advice; exercise educational leadership; be positive; and…