Background: Value change is critical for individuals' psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability. Although current value change theories facilitate our understanding of this process, limited interventions have been developed based on these theoretical frameworks. Objective: The purpose of the study is to examine the issues with…

The disconnect between educational theory and practice is problematic for our field. The purpose of this commentary was to explore how that disconnect is being addressed in current research on teachers' social-emotional characteristics and their relation to student outcomes. Three questions framed the analysis underlying this review: What do we…

University support to students' transition to university life can be divided into three dimensions, namely: academic adjustment, social adjustment and psychological adjustment. Previous researches show that there are relationships among those adjustments. However, less is known about gender differences in these relationships. The purpose of this…

This paper provides a review of studies published between 1998 and 2006 that have evaluated the relationship between non-maternal childcare and children's social-behavioral adjustment. Recent studies have focused on how the factors of non-maternal childcare quantity, quality, type and timing interact with factors of family background and child…

This study examined social and psychological adjustment of immigrant and Canadian-born Chinese children in Canada. Participants included a sample of elementary school children (N = 356, M age = 11 years). Data on social functioning, peer relationships, school-related social competence, perceived self-worth, and loneliness were collected from peer…

This article reports on an empirical study of the psychosocial adaptation of international students in Ireland. Using measures of social support, loneliness, stress, psychological well-being, and sociocultural adaptation, data were obtained from international students and a comparison sample of Irish students. The study found that, although…

This study explores the link between peer problems in school and contextual variations in negative mood and state self-esteem over a 5-day period. Fifth-grade children completed measures of mood and state self-esteem while they were at home in the morning and while they were at school each day, allowing for an examination of whether psychological…

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that children's hostile attributions and behavioral strategies in response to peer provocation and rebuff situations will depend on the relationship with the target peer (i.e., friend, enemy, neutral). The sample consisted of 144 fourth graders (75 boys and 69 girls; mean age=10.47 years,…

This prospective study examined the relations between organized activity involvement, loneliness, and friendship quality across the transition to college. In all, 85 adolescents (54 females and 31 males) completed measures during the summer before their first year of college (Time 1) and 10 months later (Time 2). More intense involvement in…

This study assessed the importance of teacher preference of individual students, relative to peer rejection and student aggression, as an independent predictor of children's emotional adjustment and grades. First, a longitudinal, cross-lagged path analysis was conducted to determine the patterns of influence among teacher preference, peer…

Children's vulnerability to jealousy surrounding their best friends was explored in 2 studies. Study 1 involved 94 adolescents who reported on their friendship jealousy on a newly created measure. Results indicated that the jealousy measure had sound psychometric properties and produced individual differences that were robust over time and free…

This study investigated the interaction between religiosity (defined as church attendance) and spirituality (defined as personal beliefs in God or a higher power) on psychosocial adjustment. Four groups were created capturing 4 different religious/spiritual orientations. Differences were assessed between the groups on a wide range of psychosocial…

This study examines the factors contributing to middle-aged widows' adaptation to their husbands' death due to physical illness, 1 to 5 years after the initial loss. Ninety-three widows and 93 married women, who served as controls, filled out questionnaires assessing their experience of stress and strain, their Sense of Coherence level, the social…

This study examines interpersonal competence configurations in relation to students' concurrent behavior problems and social risks for later adjustment difficulties. Participants are 648 (345 girls, 303 boys) fourth-grade students (65% White, 6.9% African American, 19.5% Hispanic, 4.6% Asian, and 4.0% Other) from the suburbs of a major Midwestern…

This article identifies the different problems immigrants and refugees face in the United States, especially socioeconomic and psychosocial concerns that often relate to the experience of migration. Traditional familial roles and responsibilities are frequently challenged, exacerbated by sociocultural differences and inadequate understandings…