A cross sectional study of separated and divorced families used self-report measures to explore the relationship between the psychological adjustment of mothers (n = 20) and their adolescents (n = 20), aged 13 to 18 years. The mothers' psychological adjustment was assessed in terms of reliable and valid measures of depression, sense of competence, self-esteem, and personal control. The adolescents' psychological adjustment was based on reliable and valid measures of sense of competence and self-esteem, and a measure of personal control. The mothers' perceived social competence was found to be significantly and positively related to the adolescents' perceived self-esteem (r (20) = .57, p = .00) and scholastic competence (r (20) = .40, p = .04), based on a one-way Pearson correlational analysis. The mothers' depression also was significantly and positively related to the adolescents' behavioural competence (r (20) = .38, p = .05) and approached significance in relationship to the adolescents' perceived poor levels of social acceptance (r (20) = -.33, p = .08). The study findings suggest significant relationships between the mothers' perceptions of their social competence and the adolescents' perceptions of their self-esteem and scholastic competence, and between the mothers' depression and the adolescents' behavioural competence after separation and divorce. The discussion of these findings raise a number of issues pertinent to separated and divorced families with adolescents. The results of this study may sensitize nurses to these factors when working with separated and divorced families with adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between conjugal support, family coping behaviours and the well-being of the elderly couple. A multistage sample of 135 couples, 65 years and over, was drawn from users of the health and social system, as well as from non-service users, in a large metropolitan area. Data were collected through home visits. A series of questionnaires to measure conjugal support, family coping behaviours, three indicators of well-being (self-assessed health, life satisfaction and marital satisfaction), and selected control variables were presented in interview format separately to each marital partner by two interviewers. Data analysis was performed on individual and couple data. Results revealed significant positive correlations between availability and reciprocity of conjugal support and well-being of both marital partners and a negative association between conflict within the conjugal relationship and well-being of husbands and wives. Only two cognitive family coping strategies, reframing and avoidance of passive appraisal, were positively related to the well-being of both partners. External family coping strategies related to seeking help outside the elderly dyad were not associated with well-being. Paired t-tests revealed that husbands tended to perceive more support from their spouse and to be more satisfied with their marital life than wives. Wives more than husbands perceived the couple to use more external social support and spiritual support. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that congruency of perception between husbands and wives had an effect on the well-being of the wives only. A path model in which conjugal support has direct and indirect effects on well-being through cognitive family coping strategies is proposed.

The role of rehabilitation in maximizing seniors' independence is becoming more important as Canada's population ages and as health care shifts to the community. It is necessary for rehabilitation professionals to understand the factors that contribute to seniors' independence in order to accurately focus services and to justify directions taken in the process of health care reform. The overall objective of this study was to determine the degree to which inner-city seniors are living independently today and to identify factors contributing to independent living. A cross-sectional study was conducted with subjects selected by a random telephone selection method. One hundred and sixty-one community-dwelling persons, aged 65 and over who live in Montreal's downtown core were interviewed over the phone to obtain information on sociodemographics, health and disability. Nearly 30% of participants reported their degree of independent living as only moderate or low on the three independent living outcomes. The vast majority reflect a positive portrait of physical function and integration. However, this group represents the tip of the iceberg because they are significantly healthier than non-participants. Several demographic, health and disability factors were identified as contributing to independent living in this group of community-dwelling seniors. These findings are important for rehabilitation professionals as many of the factors are modifiable from both societal and health points of view.

<p> This mixed-methods study examined the impact of forming a family council on family owners' knowledge, commitment, and stewardship within a single family business. Data were gathered from six of the eight owners using survey and dialogue methods. The study provided evidence that family council interventions can indeed provide opportunities for family members to address unresolved family tensions and empower owners to work together productively. The intervention (a) helped members establish a strong foundation for future operation of the family council, (b) engendered greater family member engagement and stewardship, (c) created conditions for acknowledging and discussing family strengths and tensions, and (d) motivated members to take initiative moving forward. Longitudinal mixed-methods research using larger samples of multiple companies and larger ownership groups with varied levels of participation are recommended to extend these findings.</p>

<p>This study explored biographicity as the process through which individuals repeatedly shape and reshape their lives to meet their own needs and desires in response to conditions of life in late modernity, a time of rapid social and economic change. The study highlighted the particular issues faced by marginalized populations, and especially urban young adults, who were the focus of the study. </p><p> Using biographical research methodology, the study sought to understand the complex interplay between individuals and the constraints and/or supports of social structures and contexts. Seventeen adults, aged 23 to 32, participated. The participants attended high-poverty urban schools where historically fewer than 50% of students receive a high school diploma. Each was the first in the family to attend college. Participants told their life stories in extended, unstructured interviews, producing their own <i>narrated life</i>. Interpretation of this interview <i>data</i> was an iterative, abductive process that explored the life stories through structural descriptions of the narratives, process structures of the life course, and thematic horizons that emerged from the life stories as told. </p><p> Three thematic horizons (expectations/imagining a different future, suffering, and belonging) formed the foundation for the exploration of patterns of meaning that concluded that certain consistent elements were essential to participants&rsquo; exercise of biographicity. These elements led to a configuration that allows scholars and practitioners to understand biographicity as a complex, organic process that cannot be reduced to simple characteristics or a linear set of variables. The study concluded that learning and biographicity are inseparably linked, forming an <i>enactive ecology of learning</i> in which individuals engage in processes that allow them to interact with their environment across the learning domains of cognition, emotion, and social interaction as well as participatory sensemaking and autonomy/heteronomy. In addition, experiences of recognition are essential to the exercise of biographicity. Biographicity was found to be a continual process of learning from one&rsquo;s life experiences and enacting a desired future as a form of lifelong learning. Finally, these particular participants provided insights that contribute to recommendations for theory, research, and practice that reflect their own experiences of biographicity. </p>

<p> The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine home-school partnerships practices between the high school community and English Language Learner (ELL) parents. More specifically, this study examined the experiences and benefits, if any, of ELL parents who participated in 1 or more of the following four ELL parent engagement practices implemented at 1 high school in Southern California during the 2009-2012 school years: 1. ELAC Parent education meetings; 2. ELL Parent Handbook; 3. ELL Parent Orientation Day; 4. ELL Guidance Counselor. </p><p> The convergent parallel mixed methods design allowed for qualitative data of parent interviews and quantitative data of student performance scores to be used in parallel, analyzed separately, and then summarized separately, looking for contradictions or relationships between the 2 data sets. A total of 7 parents participated in the interview process. The parent interview responses were coded to highlight key words and statements, forming them into emerging themes in regard to the 4 implemented parent engagement practices. The quantitative data of student performance scores on the California English Language Development Test (CELDT), Math California Standards Test (CST), and English language arts CST were compared among the students whose parents participated in 1 or more of the engagement practices to the total population of identified ELL students at this one school site during the 2009-2012 school years. The quantitative data also compared ELL student performance scores from the year prior to the implementation of the parent engagement practices. </p><p> The findings of this study support the following conclusions. Existing ELL parent engagement practices are viewed by ELL parents as valuable; however, new means need to be explored to benefit a larger number of parents. ELL parents benefit from and place higher value on practices that provide opportunities for 2-way communication. ELL parents value sharing their personal experiences with other ELL parents in support of student learning. Specifically designed ELL parent engagement practices prompted parents to communicate with their children. Lastly, parent participation in 1 or more of the 4 implemented practices may have contributed to greater student success.</p>

Early disability research in the social sciences focused on the individual, or the person with the disability. Only recently has disability research accepted that every family member is affected. The disabled does not suffer the disability alone; the entire family— as well as friends and relatives—suffer ramifications. Parental roles are altered, and grief, anger and guilt often blur the parameters of acceptable parental care. By using disabled family dynamic research in dialog with The Glass Menagerie, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, and Time for Ben, I argue that the disabled family dynamic is present, accurately portrayed, and significant to these three plays. Not only is the disabled family dynamic accurately portrayed in the plays, each of these plays precedes disability research in the issues that it presents. By examining the characters and issues presented in the plays through a disability research lens, I argue that these playwrights realistically portray the ramifications of the disabled family dynamic.

<p> The purpose of this paper is to evaluate external factors in relation to their effect on adolescent smoking. The author measured smoking rates against variables of family and peer influence, community and school programs, and celebrity role models and the media. Three hypotheses were developed: (1) the less adult supervision there is after school, the higher chance adolescents have of smoking; (2) adolescents with lower levels of school support are more likely to smoke; (3) adolescents with entertainer role models have a higher chance of smoking. The ANOVA test was used to evaluate data from the California Health Interview Survey 2012. The results from this study produced slight but not statistically significant relationships except for celebrity role models and adolescent smoking rates. Studies such as these need to continue in order to decrease the percentage of teens that use tobacco and prevent them from continuing to smoke into adulthood.</p>

<p> When an individual commits a crime and is sentenced to time in prison, the sentence has a profound impact on the individual's family. The purpose of this project was to write a grant proposal to ask for funds to develop a program for families of incarcerated men and women who access services from "Friends Outside," and lack community support during the period of time that the prisoner is incarcerated. The current research regarding the issue of support for families affected by incarceration is sparse. Traditionally programs have placed focus on the inmate rather than the families. The goal of the proposed program is to serve families with an incarcerated family member, according to risk factors, level of current support and need. The program will offer therapy groups, education, referrals to community resources and individual counseling on an as needed basis. The Public Welfare Foundation was selected as a potential funder for the proposed program. Submission and/or funding of this grant is not a requirement for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> It is unclear whether parental autonomy support is related to positive outcomes for adolescents in collectivist and hierarchical societies, where values of deference to authority and putting the community's needs above oneself are encouraged. The current study examined the relations of specific autonomy supportive behaviors to adolescent outcomes in Ghana, a country described as collectivist and hierarchical, and compared findings to the US which has been described as individualist and egalitarian. In addition, it examined whether adolescents' self-construals influenced the relation of specific types of autonomy support with outcomes. A mixed-methods design was used. Participants in the quantitative portion of the study were 401 seventh and eighth graders from Ghana (<i>N</i> = 156) and the US (<i>N</i> = 245). Participants in the qualitative portion were 8 Ghanaian parents. Factor analyses indicated two distinct types of autonomy support: perspective-taking and allowance of decision-making. Perspective-taking was found to be a valid measure of parents' autonomy support in both countries, however allowance of decision-making was valid only in the US and not in Ghana. Additionally, in the US, perspective-taking was a unique predictor (over allowance of decision-making) of positive outcomes. Results also suggested that adolescents' self-construal significantly moderated the relationship between autonomy support and outcomes such that the more independent adolescents' self-construal, the stronger the relation of decision-making to autonomous motivation and other measures of well-being. Results are discussed in terms of how parents can provide autonomy support in ways congruent with the cultural context in which they live.</p>