The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the role of familial protective factors in moderating the relationship between risk and resilience in Sudanese refugee youth exposed to political violence. Interviews, direct observations, and physical artifacts were the sources of data. Eight Lost Boys participated in the study, providing narratives of their experiences of the Sudanese civil wars. They also answered questions posed about the role of familial protective factors in moderating the relationship between risk and resilience. The interviews were recorded on audiotape and then transcribed. Data consisted of the transcripts and field notes of processes and observations. The field notes also included the Contact Summary Form, and when a physical artifact was obtained, an Art Work Analysis Form. The transcripts and field notes were later analyzed and coded. Eventually themes emerged. The results of the study indicate that familial protective factors play a role in moderating the relationship between risk and resilience in Sudanese refugee youth exposed to political violence. However, not all familial protective factors play a role nor those that do play a role do so equally. Some factors were more important than others as indicated by their frequency of being mentioned by the participants. Also, familial protective factors do not play a sole or primary role in moderating the relationship between risk and resilience. It appeared that initially familial protective factors were the sole protective mechanism. However, once the youth were separated from their families of origin and, given their extreme circumstances and need for protection and support, they quickly sought and developed other sources of support. Given the presence of their peers and little else as potential sources of support it seems natural that the peer group evolved as a surrogate family over a period of time. Eventually, the participants come to rely on their peers/surrogate family as their primary source of support. Finally, implications and recommendations for policy, practice, and future research were noted.

Much of the research that exists on Black marriage is usually from a deficit perspective and focuses on the decline of marriages among Black Americans. Even so, many Black families are marriage based and it is unfortunate that little research exists that focuses on understanding these families from a strength-based approach. It is important that we learn what constitutes the characteristics of strong Black marriages and families and learn how Black U.S. families differ from and are similar to Euro U.S. families. This study looked at the hows, whys, and processes of enduring and sustaining marriages in Black families. Black couples were interviewed to examine strengths and characteristics that contribute to happy, strong, long-term marriage for Black Americans. A purposive sample of Black married (or remarried) couples were interviewed to identify factors and characteristics that contribute to a strong, long-term marriage. Participants in this study were 12 heterosexual Black couples (24 participants) that were married for at least 20 years. The average length of marriage for the couples was 33 years. Participants ages ranged from 45 years to 75 years old. The findings revealed six salient themes discussed by participants. The first four themes were relational and marital in scope. They were: (a) the influence of children on marriage, (b) the influence of faith on marriage, (c) the sources of strength for marriage, and (d) the characteristics for a strong marriage. The final two themes were more societal in scope. They were: (e) the impact of Black community on marriage, and (f) the impact of racism on marriage. These findings highlight the strengths of strong, enduring Black marriages and families. This qualitative study provided insights and understandings from the participants points of view, including findings that concentrated on experiences, processes, meaning and understandings of Black persons and families.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the status and the effect of organizational factors on the level of technology adoption within the context of the Indian garment industry. Specifically, this study focuses on the effect of firm size, export orientation, top managements commitment, cost of capital, technical skills, and competitive advantage. An online survey using a structured questionnaire was prepared through an online research service. A multiple regression analysis (MRA) was used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that firm size positively influences and export orientation negatively influences the technology adoption level of a firm. The effect of competitive advantage was moderately significant. On the other hand, the results indicated that the top management commitment, cost of capital, and technical skills did not have significant effects on the technology adoption level.

This study examined the effects of resistant starch in a high fat diet (28% of energy) on body weight, abdominal fat, cecal weight and pH, serum gut peptide YY (PYY) and gene expression for PYY and proglucagon in male Sprague Dawley rats. Three groups of rats (8wk) were fed one of the following diets for ten wks: energy control (EC; 3.7 kcal/g), resistant starch (RS; 3.7 kcal/g) and fiber control (FC; 2.9 kcal/g). Results were classified as significant when p<0.05. The consumption of RS resulted in significant increases in cecal weight (full and empty), serum PYY, gene expression for PYY and proglucagon in cecum and significant decrease in pH in cecal contents compared to the other groups. However, the disemboweled body weight and abdominal fat for RS were not lower compared to the EC. In our previous studies, we observed that RS in a low fat diet (18% of energy), produced similar gut signaling, as in the current study, but reduced disemboweled body weight and abdominal fat compared to EC. The reason for the unexpected results needs further study. Since high fat diets have been shown to alter brain response to other satiety signals (leptin), a high fat diet might affect neuronal responses to PYY and GLP-1 signaling from the gut caused by dietary RS.

The purpose of the study was to assess predictors of family resiliency following a disaster and the relationships among them in an exploratory manner. Predictors that were assessed in the study were resource loss, prior traumatic events, cumulative stress and selected demographic characteristics. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) by combining Census data with storm damage estimates and purposive sampling, 50 participants affected by Hurricane Katrina from a single suburban community in Southern Louisiana in early spring 2006 were recruited and interviewed. In late spring and summer, data collection was continued in Southwestern Louisiana and 32 rural respondents affected by Hurricane Rita were interviewed. These participants were recruited through rural and farm associations and with the aid of Cooperative Extension Service agents. The typical respondent affected by Hurricane Katrina in the study was a married, employed Caucasian female around 48 years old. The typical respondent affected by Hurricane Rita was a married, employed Caucasian female around 56 years old. Because there was no existing instrument that measures family resiliency, a multi-dimensional assessment was developed by reviewing existing instruments that measure similar constructs. Resource loss was measured by the Loss of Resource (LOR) inventory (Sattler, 2002). Prior traumatic event and cumulative stress were assessed by an instrument that was modeled after the assessment that was used in the baseline interview that was developed by Harvard Medical Schools Hurricane Advisory Group (2006). Following a frequency and reliability analysis, hypotheses were tested using correlation and regression analysis. For the Hurricane Katrina sample, higher amounts of resource loss and being female significantly predicted less family resiliency. For the Hurricane Rita sample, lower income significantly predicted less family resiliency. Results suggest that resource loss, gender, and income are important factors to consider when locating families that are more likely to be vulnerable following a disaster.

The current study examined the possible relationship between preschooler's school readiness and their attachment representations. More specifically, the study examined preschooler's performances on standardized tests and their perceptions of close relationships. The possible connection between school readiness and attachment representations was through children's experiences of stress during standardized testing situations (Fleege, Charlesworth, Burts, & Hart, 1992) and children's stress invoking the use of their internal working models (Bowlby, 1969/1982). The children were administered the Brigance CIBS-R (Glascoe, 1999), a standardized test that was most often used in the local schools to assess school readiness. The children were also videotaped while participating in the Narrative Story Stem Technique (NSST, Bretherton, Ridgeway, & Cassidy, 1990) to observe the children's perceptions of close relationships through story completions. The results showed that the children who demonstrated a higher number of attachment representations in comparison to the other children also obtained the higher scores on the subscale of the Brigance CIBS-R. The children who demonstrated a lower number of attachment representations in comparison to the other children also obtained the lowest scores on the subscale of the Brigance CIBS-R. Using a Spearman's rank correlation coefficient within a particular group of the children, it was discovered that an identifiable relationship existed between the rank order of the children's performances on a subscale of the Brigance CIBS-R and the rank order of the number of their attachment representations. The results indicate that children who seem to have impoverished attachment representations may also experience more stress in a standardized testing situation and may consequently perform lower on standardized tests that are used to assess school readiness.

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between early adolescent decision making and behavioral adjustment with special interest in the interaction between parent-child relationship quality and decision making on behavioral adjustment. Associations were examined using data provided by 218 early adolescents. Girls comprised half the sample and the mean age was just over 11 years old. Main effects were consistent with previous research. Early adolescent decision making was associated with greater behavior problems and depressed mood. Parent-child relationship quality was defined as conflict and acceptance. Greater conflict was associated with poor behavioral adjustment while greater acceptance was associated with more positive behavioral adjustment. Multiple regression analysis was used to test possible interactions between early adolescent decision making and conflict and acceptance on each behavioral adjustment variable (behavior problems, depressed mood, and school performance). Consistent with previous research, neither conflict nor acceptance moderated the associations between early adolescent decision making and behavioral adjustment.

This study describes the development of the Sociomoral Atmosphere Rating Template (SMART), an instrument designed to rate the sociomoral atmosphere in early childhood classrooms, and an investigation of the instrument's reliability and validity. Results indicate that individuals can be trained to reliably use the SMART and that the measure is internally consistent. In addition to its face validity, results indicate that the SMART has convergent validity when compared to the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale - Revised (Harms, Clifford, & Cryer, 1998) and the Teacher Interaction Scale (Arnett, 1989). Comparisons at the subscale level suggest discriminant validity. Implications and plans for further research are provided.

Breakfast consumption has been associated with an improved nutrient intake and diet quality in children and adolescents. Ready to eat cereal (RTEC) breakfast contributes to macro and micronutrient intake, because it is usually fortified with vitamins and minerals, and is low in fat and high in fiber content. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of RTEC consumption on nutrient intake and weight status in Hispanic-American (HA) children and adolescents using data from 1999 to 2002 The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Participants were categorized by breakfast skippers, RTEC breakfast, and other breakfast consumers. Hispanic-American children and adolescents consumed more other types of breakfast than an RTEC breakfast. Skipping breakfast was more common in HA adolescents than in children. Hispanic-American children and adolescents who consumed an RTEC breakfast had on average a lower intake of total fat and cholesterol than those who consumed other breakfast. Children between 1 to 5 years of age who consumed an RTEC breakfast had a higher mean energy intake from protein and a higher fiber intake than HA children who skipped breakfast. Hispanic-American in all age groups who consumed an RTEC breakfast had a better intake of vitamin B6, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, iron and zinc than those who consumed other breakfast and those who skipped breakfast. Children and adolescents met on average two thirds of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for Vitamin C and K, but did not average of the two thirds of the RDA for vitamin E and fiber for any age regardless of the breakfast consumption pattern. Moreover, Adolescents who consumed an RTEC breakfast had a higher adequacy ratio (MAR) for shortfall nutrient intake than those who consumed others breakfast. Children between 6 to 12 years of age who skipped breakfast had a significantly higher mean of waist circumference than those who ate other breakfast; but this study found no significant association between the consumption of breakfast and skipped breakfast with the risk of overweight or being overweight in HA children and adolescent.

Prompt strategies have been used in the literature to increase the compliance of preschool-aged children to teacher directives (Wilder & Atwell, 2006; Wolery & Gast, 1984). The purpose of this study was to train teachers to use guidance/prompt strategies to increase child compliance with teacher directives related to play and social skills. This study builds on the current literature base by using prompting, specifically the least-to-most assistive prompt hierarchy (LtM) (first described by Horner & Keilitz, 1975), with the additional requirement of teacher-child proximity and teacher-child eye level prior to beginning the prompt sequence. These two additional requirements are consistent with recommended practice in early childhood education (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). The participants consisted of 3 preschool teachers in an inclusive early childhood classroom. Teacher prompts and childrenâs completion of teacher directives were measured during free choice center time. Results were consistent with previous research (Wilder & Atwell, 2006; Wolery & Gast, 1984) in that compliance to teacher directives increased in preschool children with the implementation of the least-to-most assistive prompt hierarchy.