Children's use of inanimate transitional objects when coping with daily hassles was examined in this study. Mothers of 50 children, aged 2- to 3-years, rated their children on frequency of hassles, intensity of reaction to daily hassles, coping effectiveness, and frequency of object use. No significant differences were found between those children with an inanimate transitional object and those without such an object (<u>p</u>>.05). Among those children with objects, a significant object effect on frequency of hassles (<u>p</u><.05) and a significant object effect on coping effectiveness (<u>p</u><.05) were found. Post hoc analyses indicated that children using soft objects (X̅=31.87) were rated as having more hassles than children using their thumb (X̅=18.88), and children using soft objects (X̅=l.34) were rated as coping less effectively than children using their thumb (X̅=.75). Among those children with inanimate transitional objects, significant positive relationships were found between: frequency of hassle, intensity of reaction to hassles, coping effectiveness, and frequency of object use. The results indicated that children who use their thumb as an inanimate transitional object had fewer hassles and cope more effectively than children who use a soft object. The results also suggest that increased object use was related to an increased number of hassles, as well as more intense reactions to hassles and less effective coping. Based on these findings, future research suggestions were made. / M.S.

The purpose of this study is to determine the problems of adjustment of the mentally retarded child as compared with the problems of adjustment of the normal child.

The problem in this study is to show the possible relationship between improved physical skills and the total adjustment of boys at the junior high school level. A limited number of boys selected from the seventh and eighth grades who were without adequate physical skills were given special assistance for improving such skills, and a record was kept of the procedure and possible results of this instructional program.

The present study assessed 351 undergraduate subjects on dimensions of parental alcohol abuse, childhood family environment, childhood social support, current coping style, current negative life experiences, current psychological symptomatology, and current indices of drug and alcohol abuse. Results indicated that, while paternal alcohol abuse, in and of itself, was not related to any of the outcome measures, maternal alcoholism was correlated with one measure of alcohol abuse and three measures of drug abuse, and was independently predictive of a portion of the variance of one alcohol abuse measure among subjects. Early environmental factors (family environment and low levels of social support), as well as current coping style and current negative life experiences, were found to be related to psychological symptomatology and to indices of drug and alcohol abuse. coping style was also found to be related to early family environment and to childhood social support, suggesting that coping style may have its developmental roots in early environmental factors. An interaction between paternal alcohol abuse and disengagement coping style was shown to be predictive of a portion of the variance of subjects' alcohol abuse. Interactions between maternal alcoholism and low level of social support were predictive of a portion of the variance of subjects' drug abuse. / Master of Science

An explanatory model of stress and coping for dual-career women and men is presented and tested using distress, a global measure of somatic symptomatology, as the stress measure outcome. Results indicate that the men and women sampled are psychologically vested in both professional and family roles. Additionally, the women, all of whom are employed full time, report no significant associations between having younger children and role strain, parental stress, or distress. Men who have a flexible work schedule indicate significantly lower marital, parental, and professional stress, as well as lower distress. Use of cognitive restructuring coping strategies led to significantly lower distress for both genders; use of role reduction strategies was linked to higher distress levels for men. Additional findings reveal more differences than similarities by gender. / Ph. D.

Mental health research recognized that a subgroup of the general population at risk for emotional disturbance is that of single parent women. A volunteer sample of 248 women was accessed from women's support groups for this study. The purpose of this research was to assess the extent to which the single parent woman experiences distress, and the relationship between this distress level and the coping resources the single parent woman possesses. The level of social support, both in family and work environments, was also assessed in its relationship to distress. The cognitive, coping strengths of women were measured by the use of the three Cognitive Trait Scales (Pearlin and Schooler, (1978). Three Family Environment Scales and three Work Environment Scales (Moos, 1986) measured the degree of support the single parent woman maintains. All nine of these scales were used as independent measures. The Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis, 1975) was the dependent measure and assessed the degree of somatic distress phenomena experienced by the respondent. Research questions asked (1) whether there were differences in the degree of distress experienced by single parent women based on their demographic factors; (2) what was the relationship between cognitive strengths/coping resources and the level of distress in the single mother; (3) what was the relationship of family and work support systems to the experience of distress in the single parent woman? To answer the first question, ANOVA correlation comparisons were made by demographic distinctions; the latter two questions were analyzed by multiple regression techniques. The Cognitive Traits Scales yielded the most significant results in this study. The demographic factors of number of children under 18, number of adults in the household, income, and number of losses experienced by the parent yielded modest but significant contributions to the model. / Ed. D.

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Ho, Man Yee. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-111). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledge --- p.iii / List of Tables --- p.vi / List of Figures --- p.vii / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Historical Overview of Resilience Research --- p.3 / Definitions and Theoretical Models of Resilience --- p.4 / Definitions and Operationalization of Risk --- p.11 / Definitions and Operationalization of Adjustment Outcomes --- p.19 / Definitions and Operationalization of Protective Factors or Mechanisms --- p.23 / "Comparisons of Resilient, Maladaptive, Competent and Incompetent Adolescents" --- p.30 / Objectives of this Study and Hypotheses --- p.33 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Method --- p.36 / Participants --- p.36 / Procedure --- p.37 / Measures --- p.37 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Results --- p.42 / Overview --- p.42 / Bivariate Correlations among the Variables --- p.45 / Multiple Regression Analyses of Overall Violence Exposure --- p.48 / Multiple Regression Analyses of Community Violence Exposure --- p.52 / Multiple Regression Analyses of School Violence Exposure --- p.57 / Multiple Regression Analyses of Domestic Violence Exposure --- p.61 / Exploratory Analysis of Gender Effect on Adjustment Outcomes --- p.66 / "Multiple analyses of variance of Resilient, Maladaptive, Competent and Incompetent Adolescents" --- p.79 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Discussion --- p.84 / Overall Exposure to Violence and Adjustment Outcomes --- p.84 / Specific Forms and Settings of Violence Exposure and Adjustment Outcomes --- p.86 / Personality and Adjustment Outcomes --- p.90 / Protective / Vulnerability Factor --- p.92 / Personality Profile of Resilient Adolescents --- p.95 / Limitations and Directions for Future Research --- p.97 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Conclusions --- p.99 / References --- p.100 / Appendix --- p.112

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effect that information gathering and culture shock have on the relationship between individual characteristics and international adjustment. Participants for this study consisted of 95 international students within the California State University system.