A study of occupational stress and personal-strain levels among new and experienced male and female college faculty found no differences in stress or strain between male and female faculty or between new and experienced faculty. Role overload and avoidant coping were significant predictors of strain, with hardiness and responsibility for…

Efforts are needed in teacher and school development to reshape the professional culture of teaching. Knowledge of the change process is critical for both creating and sustaining radical reform. When teachers become moral-change agents, they can cultivate powerful cultures required to work with communities in making a difference in learning for…

Compared stress levels in families of children with Down syndrome (DS), Williams syndrome (WS), or Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS). Found that DS families experienced less Pessimism than others and less Parent and Family Problems than SMS families. Strongest predictors of Parent and Family Problems were maladaptive behavior in SMS, younger age in DS,…

Investigated psychosocial variables among adolescents who worked in family-owned businesses and in nonfamilial contexts, focusing on work stressors, parental support, academic achievement, work-school connections, substance use, and coping. Survey data indicated that working in a family business related to students' reporting greater perceived…

Tested model relating girls' pubertal timing to mothers' history of psychopathology, mediated by family discord and father absence/stepfather presence. Found that mothers' history of mood disorders predicted earlier daughters' puberty, with the relation fully mediated by dyadic stress and biological father absence. Stepfather presence best…

Examines parenting stressors and their implications for mothers and fathers. Results, based on a national sample of 1,601 adults, indicate that parents with children younger than age 18 living in the household, reported higher levels of psychological distress than did other adults. Mothers reported the highest distress levels. (RJM)

Using data from a 1992 national survey, a study examined the sources of stress for African-American faculty teaching in predominantly White colleges and universities. Results show stress to be most commonly related to time constraints and promotion concerns; they also reveal important gender differences. (Author/MSE)

Examines recent research on developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) and social-emotional and cognitive development and what has been learned about DAP in early childhood classrooms. Finds that, in general, child-initiated environments are associated with higher levels of cognitive functioning, which, coupled with findings on stress and…

African Americans constitute only 5.2% of all public community-college presidents and 8% of private two-year college presidents, while minority students constitute over 25% of community college enrollments nationwide. White males sitting on college oversight boards are viewed as an obstacle for African-American presidential candidates, and…

Investigates expectations that highly able children will be as emotionally well balanced as other children but will have special problems arising from others' reactions to their exceptionality and from inappropriate education. Finds that "gifted" children have different emotional profiles than others of the same measured ability not…

A survey of 300 learning disability teachers in middle and high schools found teachers were experiencing high levels of emotional exhaustion, specifically those who team teach with a general educator. Role conflict, role ambiguity, perceived workload, and lack of principal support contributed to the teachers' feelings of emotional exhaustion.…

Examined the impact of a series of common stressful life events (SLEs) on change in depressive symptoms among the elderly of the Hong Kong Chinese Society. Using multiple regression models, it was found that sense of control acted as a mediator in the linkage between the number of SLEs and depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that sense of…

Examined how parents grieve loss of a baby through miscarriage or stillbirth. Interviewed 26 couples 2 weeks after a perinatal loss. Ethnographic content analysis revealed 12 themes closely related to resources, meaning of the stressful event, and coping strategies, all of which are elements, of Hill's ABC-X stress model. (JBJ)

In a national telephone survey of youths 10-16 years (n=2,000), over one-third reported having been the victims of assault. Victimized respondents displayed significantly more psychological and behavioral symptomology than nonvictims, even after controlling for other possible sources of distress. Findings suggest substantial mental health…

Principal component analysis of responses of 173 teacher education students showed that students recognized 5 major functions for open-book examinations. They thought that open-book examinations reduced examination stress and enabled them to monitor their progress toward graduation more effectively. (SLD)