This paper explores whether taking a course in health has an effect on college students' lives. Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania) redesigned a health class and taught it to all incoming freshmen during their first semester. Student journal entries, written at the end of each class, provided feedback to instructors; instructors read and responded…

This study explored experiences of 10 Ontario parents of adolescents with mental retardation concerning integrated versus contained elementary and secondary school placements, especially attitudes about curriculum, social acceptance, support services, educators, and advocacy. All students were currently in a contained placement but had experience…

This report is a summary of a December, 1994 research briefing presented by the Board on Children and Families of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, and the Family and Child Well-Being Research Network of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This…

Despite U.S. world leadership in research in child healthcare and development, in all the statistical indicators of children's well-being the United States lags well behind most advanced industrialized societies. This book discusses U.S. public policy issues concerning the healthcare and development of children under age three. Studies are cited…

This study examined issues related to both support and stress in the social networks of mothers of adolescent parents. Specifically, it examined who provides support or causes stress for grandmothers, as well as what types of support and stress, and investigated how the characteristics of the grandmothers' social networks affect their…

Families cope with economic and social changes by (consciously or unconsciously) choosing behaviors that make up an overall economic "survival strategy." Hypothesized elements of the household survival strategy are formal and informal work, use of household resources, and use of community services. Government policies on rural and…

This policy history describes how, during the 20-year period of 1974 to 1994, Arkansas child welfare authorities struggled between removing children from their parents' custody and helping preserve families so children could remain with parents, without compromising their safety or well-being. The report notes that as the state has adapted its…

Social support has been found to be positively related to well being in elderly individuals. To examine the effects of social integration (social resources, social interaction, and perceived adequacy of resources), and health, age, marital status, and socioeconomic status (SES) on mental health among urban elderly individuals, 1,727 persons from…

Since possible predictor variables of marital adjustment are too numerous for a complete analysis in any one study, determination of the relative importance of such predictors is needed for theory development. In order to examine the importance of socioeconomic rewards, family development characteristics, and religiosity as predictors of marital…

A recent issue of importance in the vast literature on well-being and age concerns the factorial invariance of the construct across age groups. Current wisdom suggests that while differences in loadings exist among age groups, the construction of summary measures introduces little bias. To investigate age and ethnic variation in the meaning of…

Evidence concerning the contributions of social networks to the subjective well-being of older persons is inconsistent, reflecting the conceptual complexity of social networks and supports. In order to investigate the relative importance of different types of social ties and supports, the distinction between objective and subjective dimensions of…

The "Bottled Pain" project, a drug abuse prevention program in 24 Lutheran congregations in southern Minnesota, is based on a social ecology paradigm designed to prevent drug abuse through the development of socially supportive relationshps and through using the environment as a natural strength within the community. According to the…

This study examined the relationship between ego-oriented or task-oriented motivation on one hand and subjective well-being and perceived ability on the other. Undergraduate (N=124) and graduate (N=212) students at Purdue University responded to a questionnaire by listing up to 10 personal projects and rating the 2 most important ones with respect…

This document consists of the fourth section of a book written to educate and inform those in the helping professions on how to deal with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The three chapters in section 4 are devoted to special issues for counselors, issues that directly affect the caregiver. They examine professional challenges to…

This study examined the influence of the affective nature of television news on satisfaction with an individual's own life as well as on an individual's outlook regarding good fortune and misfortune. Subjects, 30 male and 30 female undergraduates at Indiana University, viewed a variety of news stories and completed two questionnaires, one rating…