Divorce in the United States is so widespread that it touches the lives of most citizens in some way. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ratings of self-esteem and depression of women who participated in a divorce support group. Self-esteem and depression were measured prior to participation in the group and again upon completion. The two instruments utilized in the study were the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1985) and The Beck Depression Inventory (1961). Forty-one women, recently separated or divorced, participated in the study which was conducted in Tucson, Arizona during 1993-1994. The results indicated that the divorce support group may have significantly decreased the women's level of depression. The women's level of self-esteem did increase after participating in the divorce support groups; however, the increase was not significant.

Grounded theory methodology was used to describe the health promoting and health damaging adaptive responses of homeless women to the way homelessness affects their health attainment and healing. Elizabeth Pesznecker's Adaptational Model of Poverty (Modified) was used to depict the interrelationships among the environment factors and individual/group factors, mediating factors, and their effect on homeless women's adaptive responses and health behaviors. The model postulates that one develops health promoting or health damaging responses due to the stress of poverty. The study in conjunction with the model suggests to nursing ways to assist homeless women with their struggle in obtaining health care and adapting to the demands of the health care system. The research represents initial work in an area with limited previous knowledge in the discovery of the process used by homeless women in adapting, when they were trying to access the health care system while in the state of homelessness.

Many experts support the need for anticipatory socialization to help new parents develop realistic expectations for the transition to parenthood. The purpose of this study was to develop a handbook to help new parents with the emotional and relational changes concurrent with the transition. Using the historical research method, the handbook was developed. Vignettes were added to illustrate the didactic material. The handbook was evaluated by new parents and professionals involved with new parent education regarding the handbook's value, clarity, length, language level, philosophy, and suggested time for distribution. Also solicited were suggestions for additions and deletions and additional comments. The conclusion was reached that the handbook seemed useful for helping new parents validate feelings and understand changes concom-itant with the transition to parenthood. Some changes in length and language will be made prior to publication. Ideas were presented for additional research and literature for the transition to parenthood.

The first article, The Physician as Educator (1904), discusses the misconception parents and educators hold regarding child-rearing practices. Both believe they must continually try to mold a child according to their perceived ideal. Alfred Adler discusses the futility of such a notion and emphasizes that parents and educators can only develop or hamper children's natural tendencies, or better yet, direct them toward cultural goals. Adler feels that only the educator or physician, who has overcome his/her own shortcomings will be capable of developing the child's potential and reveal the healing power in the patient. The second article, The Sexual Problem in Child Rearing (1905), points to the importance of using children's sexual awakening for educational purposes. He warns of the dangers of sexual precocity and perversity caused by faulty upbringing, but states that sexual perversity can be cured through love.

The purpose of this study was to (1) determine the number of Spousal Rapes reported to law enforcement agencies of the Tucson Metropolitan Area during 1990, (2) measure expert perceptions regarding the occurrence of Spousal Rape in the Tucson Metropolitan Area during 1990, (3) compare official reports and expert perceptions regarding the occurrence of Spousal Rape, and (4) determine what experts believe to cause under-reporting, if found. The population for this study consisted of 30 experts working with victims of spousal rape. These experts were from 4 categories: human service workers, therapists, attorneys, and researchers. Thirteen spousal rape reports were received by law enforcement agencies in the Tucson Metropolitan Area. Experts believed that spousal rape occurrence was 10-2500 times higher than the number reported. Most reasons for under-reported that were shared by experts pertained to low public awareness regarding the causes for spousal rape. Also presented are conclusions, recommendations, and implications.

The purpose of this study was to examine, from an Adlerian perspective, how religious conversion enables some individuals to make life-style changes. Data was collected from the autobiography of Thomas Merton, and interviews of two men and two women over the age of fifty having had religious conversions at least ten years in the past. The interview consisted of a life-style analysis, a measure of social interest, an analysis of conversion memories, a contextual report of the conversion, and a comparison of before and after the conversions in terms of five life tasks--work, love, community, spirituality and self-regulation. This research indicated that no one life-style type was predisposed to conversion. Change in life-style after religious conversion appeared to correlate with increased social interest rather than with change in dominant goal of behavior. Thus, changing life-style does not appear to require the difficult task of changing the dominant goal of behavior.

This naturalistic research describes adjustment to parenthood in an ethnically diverse group of out-of-school adolescent mothers enrolled in an educational program. The process of adjustment was investigated, as well as what factors impede or enhance adjustment for these mothers. Ethnic differences were considered along with the role of the educational program. Implications for program planning are discussed. Data collection consisted of interviews, observations, a Life Events Checklist, and a review of program files. Difficult home lives and the frequency of stressful events prior to pregnancy led to a relatively easy adjustment to parenthood for these mothers. Adjustment was enhanced by support; most frequently provided by the program, partners, and families. Partners and families also were the most frequent cause of difficulties that impeded adjustment. The major differences between ethnic groups were in family structure and support systems. The educational program served as a major source of relational support for these mothers.

This study examined gender role and female body image. It was hypothesized that results would support a statistically significant difference between the androgynous gender role group and other gender role groups on measures of body image. Androgynous female undergraduates (n = 52) of a large southwestern university, as classified by the Short Form of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, were compared with masculine (n = 57), feminine (n = 53), and undifferentiated (n = 56) female undergraduates on body image scores of the Body Esteem Scale. Androgynous females scored significantly higher than masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated females on the Sexual Attractiveness subscale and significantly higher than the undifferentiated females on the Weight Concern and Physical Condition subscales. Additional results supported a significant correlation between height-to-weight ratio and Weight Concern subscale scores and a low but statistically significant correlation between height-to-weight ratio and Physical Condition subscale scores.

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore the relationships in the perceived quality of the parental relationship, coping strategies, received support, and well-being in adolescents from separated/divorced and married parents. Two hundred and forty-four matched adolescents from separated/divorced and married households were drawn from an initial sample of 1044 students who were tested at five colleges and three high schools of a large metropolitan and rural area. Regression analyses supported the hypothesis that a perceived poor parental relationship, and not family status, was associated with low life satisfaction and sense of future, and high anxiety in adolescents of divorced and intact households. Path analytic techniques revealed that coping strategies and received support did not mediate the association between a perceived poor parental relationship and low levels of well-being in adolescents from divorced and intact households. However, in both groups, problem-focused coping mediated by nondirect support was associated with more life satisfaction and sense of future, and less anxiety than the direct effects of problem-focused coping alone. In addition, emotion-focused coping mediated by direct guidance was associated with higher levels of well-being than the direct effects of emotion-focused coping alone. In contrast, problem-focused coping in conjunction with direct guidance was associated with the lowest levels of adolescent well-being. The findings contribute to the field of adolescent stress and coping by suggesting that coping strategies may influence the type of support received by adolescents. The study extends current research findings by considering the combined effects of coping and received support in relation to measures of well-being. Finally the study contributes to the field of nursing by demonstrating that personal and social mediators may enhance the health oriented aspects of well-being.

This study explored the relationship of physical mobility; social integration with children, siblings, other relatives, and close friends; and social satisfaction with friend and family relations to the well-being of unmarried Canadians age 75 and older. This study also explored the relationship between each of four social integration measures and physical mobility in potentiating well-being. To take into account any possible effects of demographics the following were included in a multiple regression analysis with the major study variables; age, gender, marital status and living arrangements. A correlational cross-sectional design, using a subsample of 754 unmarried persons living in the community was selected from an archived data set, Statistics Canada's 1985 General Social Survey. No significant interactions were identified between social integration and physical mobility. The results lend support to the importance of physical mobility and the quality of relationships to the older person's well-being. Physical mobility, satisfaction with friendships, being older, and satisfaction with family relations were identified as constituting the best set of variables most strongly related to well-being. Together they accounted for 40% of the variance (p $<$.01). Physical mobility was more strongly related to the well-being of men age 75 to 79 than that of any other gender-age group. Practice and research implications are discussed.