Emerging adult (EA; aged 18-29) military-connected students experience major developmental changes, often coupled with the transition into the civilian sector and higher education. This conglomeration may exacerbate anxiety, stress, and negative coping mechanisms, including substance use. Substance use rates are highest among EAs, across the…

Most research and theory on identity integration focuses on adolescents and young adults under age 30, and relatively little is known about how identity adjusts to major life events later in life. The purpose of the present study was to operationalize and investigate "identity disruption," or a loss of temporal identity integration…

The first months after becoming a new parent are a unique and important period in human development. Despite substantial research on the many social and biological changes that occur during the first months of parenthood, little is known about changes in mothers' attachment. The present study examines developmental stability and change in…

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the phenomenon of the conflicting roles, such as parent, spouse, employee, caregiver, and community member/volunteer, associated with the lives of nontraditional college students and to reveal how these conflicting role obligations influence these students' persistence toward the attainment of…

The passage of time is fundamentally experienced through people's interaction with their social worlds. Life-course scholars acknowledge the multiple aspects of time-based experience but have given little attention to age identity in a dynamic context. Drawing from a stress-process model, we expected that turbulence within people's family…

Studies show that people who volunteer are happier and healthier, perhaps due to enhanced social support, less self-focus, and fewer goal conflicts. Volunteering seems most beneficial for people whose social activities provide cognitive support for coping with major developmental challenges. (SK)

For most reentry women students, development entails a shift from identifying themselves in terms of their psychological surroundings to authoring and authorizing their own identity. Reentry women need both self-direction and supports that promote development. (SK)

Sought to describe and categorize specific processes by which friends serve to influence emerging life structures of early adulthood. Five categories were developed from open-ended interviews of 34 young adults between 20 and 28 years of age. These categories describe friends in the roles of models, active agents for change, reactors, interactors,…

This document begins by noting that during the first half of this century, the relationship of mothers and daughters existed under a cloud of suspicion, and that only recently has this relationship been deemed worthy of reflection and study. It surveys the research and theoretical literature on the mother-daughter relationship, delineates the…

Research review suggests that differences in the quality and quantity of social relations are related to well-being and aging well. Some differences are socioeconomic, cultural, racial, and ethnic. The perception versus actuality of social relationships also has an effect on well-being. (SK)

A social worker recounts the experiences of a long term support group of 12 (later 10) parents of children with neurological impairments. Originally begun as a time-limited parent group of children attending a therapeutic nursery program, the parent group has continued to meet into the children's adolescence. The group was initially led by two…

This annotated bibliography on aging and related issues is written for gerontology researchers to document current work in the field (1962 to 1982). The report covers five topic areas as they relate to the elderly: social networks, health, social services, rural living, and social support and health/stress. In addition, a short bibliography of…

Literature on preadolescent friendships is reviewed to examine the relationship between preadolescent friendship and social support in adulthood. Present research is suggestive of the importance of preadolescent friendships in adult social relatedness, but it is not sufficient to validate the period as critical to social support in adulthood. (SLD)

Explores how families who care for their elderly relatives view their situations, in semistructured interviews with 10 Indian and 10 White caretakers of ill elderly relatives in the rural northwest. Results implied that cultural background influences the meaning of caretaking and that both affect the coping strategies selected. (JAC)

This study examined older adults' quality of interpersonal relationships and self-concept through semi-structured interviews with 39 70-year-old people in Malmo, Sweden. The gathered data is described on individual and group levels. Findings indicate that the elderly in this group have frequent contacts with their children and siblings. They…