Normative stress in families results whenever components are added to or subtracted from a family system. Due to the process of family boundary maintenance, there is little similarity in family structures across time. Family structures constantly change to facilitate the accomplishment of functions while maintaining family boundaries. (Author)

A teacher educator who returned to middle school teaching for a year discusses the stresses and strains of classroom teaching and compares teaching today with his original public school experience 27 years before. (SJL)

While mental and physical handicaps directly affect many children, a more subtle secondary condition often occurs within the families of handicapped children--parentalplegia. Suggests ways to remediate these effects through the use of educational and affective strategies, and suggests a holistic approach to working with the handicapped. (Author)

Counselors must deal with loss in their own lives before helping provide strategies for students and clients. In addition to coping with death, clients may grieve over the loss of home, job, personal relationships, and body appendages. Counselors must be ready to offer services, alternatives, and understanding. (JAC)

A model of psychological treatment increasing internality and regaining control over stressful environments was tested among college students. The two experiments assessed: (1) the locus of control regarding recent events and individual characteristics; and (2) the locus of control and manifest anxiety at pretreatment and posttreatment. Results…

The majority of families with developmentally disabled children reported that the physical demands this handicap imposed on them were the most troublesome. The kinds of services they requested were those that would educate the handicapped person to be more independent. (Author)

This study tested a conceptual framework of child physical abuse based on three major determinants of abuse: exposure to aggression, exposure to stressors, and access to resources. The study of 81 physically abusive and 148 nonabusive mothers found that being abused by one's own mother and exposure to domestic violence as an adult were the best…

Examined the prevalence of depressive symptoms in an African American female college student sample (n=78) using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI2) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). MMPI-2 was a more conservative scale than BDI in identifying depressive symptom levels. Discusses stress inoculation methods to assist…

Examined the relationships between parental stress and the security of attachment relationships. Subjects were 33 mothers of children who were attending a preschool program for high-risk families. Found a negative relationship between the Child Domain section of the Parenting Stress Index and Attachment Q-set scores. Results highlighted the need…

Examined cortisol and behavioral reactions of 36-month olds in an unfamiliar playgroup. Found that, when compared to at-home levels, cortisol levels were lower when children were receiving adult support and higher for one-third of children when interacting with peers alone, and that children showing adrenocortical arousal before the challenging…

This study examined the impact on 44 families of children who had suffered severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) within the past month. It found that families experienced significantly more injury-related stress and higher levels of psychological symptoms than 52 families of children with moderate TBI and 69 families of children with orthopedic…

Investigated the influence of racial and gender discrimination and difficulties on adolescent adjustment. Found that discrimination and hassles contribute to a general stress context which in turn influences emotional and behavioral problems in adjustment, while racial and gender identity positively affect self-esteem and thus adjustment. Revealed…

A study of acculturative stress in children who served as language brokers surveyed 36 bilingual Latino fifth graders from a Southern California elementary school. The least acculturated children reported higher frequencies of language brokering and greater discomfort in doing so. High levels of acculturative stress were associated with increased…

Compares six indicators of adults' lives for those who become parents and those remaining childless. Becoming a parent was found to be both detrimental and rewarding. With the exception of social integration, which is greater for all groups of new parents, compared with childless counterparts, the effects of parental status vary markedly by gender…

Studied role of adolescents' awareness in relationship between marital conflict and adolescent distress. Found marital conflict was related to parental hostility toward adolescents and adolescents' awareness of conflict; parental hostility and adolescents' awareness of marital conflict were related to adolescent-perceived parental hostility. Found…