Mindfulness has all but become a mainstay in modern education. Yet despite the incredible enthusiasm and increased application in schools, there remains significant divergence between advocates and critics. Advocates assert that mindfulness practice promotes individual and societal health and well-being. Meanwhile, critics question the intention…

This article draws on an evaluation of the "Poverty proofing the school day" initiative. It outlines an argument arrived at through abductive reasoning to explain the generic and widespread instances of the stigmatisation of disadvantaged pupils that have been uncovered. The process of abductive reasoning necessitated broadening the…

Purpose: In this article, we describe how four recent models of psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability (CID) could be fruitfully conceptualized and compared by resorting to the general framework of Lewin's field theory--a theory frequently regarded as a precursor and the primary impetus to the development of the field of…

From a biopsychosocial perspective on human development, this essay review introduces a model linking social changes at the macro level with individual development at the micro level. German unification and the globalization of economy that followed are taken as a case in point for social changes that have affected the lives of many. It is argued…

Purpose: This article provides an overview of emerging adulthood, recentering, and resilience of youth with disabilities. Emerging adulthood is a developmental period during which individuals experience delays in attainment of adult roles and social expectations. Recentering is a process that emerging adults experience as they make distinct shifts…

Recently there has been growing empirical and theoretical attention to the role of meaning in grief, along with increased recognition of the need for more sophisticated definitions of meaning. The present article highlights philosophical issues inherent in the study of meaning and grief, reviews the place of meaning in current theories of grief,…

This article explores the process of consultation to professional networks, teams, groups and individuals concerned with the mental health of children and young people in the care system, and those adopted. Frequently there are significant elements of early trauma suffered by the young people and disruption in the professional organisation. The…

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the direction and magnitude of gender differences in self-reported posttraumatic growth. Results from 70 studies (N = 16,076) revealed a small to moderate gender difference (g = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.21 -0.32), with women reporting more posttraumatic growth than men. Moderator analyses were then conducted to…

We explored the meanings that undergraduate students make of their education and how these meanings relate to students' perceived stress, styles of coping with stress, and optimism. Participants completed a meaning of education questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale, the COPE (a measure of coping styles), and the Life Orientation Test-Revised.…

Positive changes (posttraumatic growth [PTG]) and negative changes (posttraumatic depreciation [PTD]) were assessed using the PTGI-42 with persons reporting changes from a stressful event. PTG and PTD were uncorrelated, and PTG was much greater than PTD. PTG was positively related to disruption of core beliefs and recent deliberate rumination and…

Each year, academically gifted students leave home to live in a special school, one of 11 state-supported residential high schools for students gifted or talented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematic (STEM) academic domains. These schools attempt to take full advantage of the 24-hour day by engaging students in a rigorous learning…

This paper picks up from Bynner's recent critique of the current formulation of emerging adulthood as presented in his recent exchange with Arnett in the "Journal of Youth Studies" (2005, volume 8(4) and 2006, volume 9(1)). It pays particular attention to the exclusion processes in education and the workplace that prevent young people in…

This article had four goals. First, the authors identified a set of general challenges and questions that a life-span theory of development should address. Second, they presented a comprehensive account of their Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development. They integrated the model of optimization in primary and secondary control and the…

This qualitative study of nine women examined the changes in their everyday lives as they cared for their terminally-ill husbands and after their husbands died. It also studied how the women coped with these changes, and how their coping contributed to their identity change from wife to widow. Symbolic interaction was utilized to study the changes…

This article focuses on the common and unique contributions of three major life-span theories in addressing improvement/maintenance and reorientation, which represent central processes of coping with major life change and loss. For this purpose, we review and compare the dual-process model of assimilative and accommodative coping, the model of…