Objective: This prospective study characterizes trajectories of symptoms and impairment in pediatric patients with abdominal pain not associated with identifiable organic disease. Method: The Children's Somatization Inventory and the Functional Disability Inventory were administered four times over 5 years to 132 patients (6-18 years old) seen in…

Background: Parents of children with intellectual disabilities are at increased risk for stress and other mental health problems. The purpose of the present review is to consider the evidence base for psychological intervention to remediate stress in these parents. Methods: A selective review of interventions designed to reduce stress in parents…

Many caregivers are encountering the issue of communicating with children and adolescents about current world events, specifically war and terrorism. As health care providers, it is important to raise awareness of how children may understand, interpret, and respond to related fears and concerns. Although honesty and reassurance are clearly the…

Anticipatory guidance is a traditional nursing intervention. The purpose of this study was to identify factors to serve as targets for anticipatory guidance prior to high school graduation to reduce tobacco initiation among young adults after graduation. A sample of 203 randomly selected freshmen and sophomore students at a major midwestern…

This study examined the relation of background and race-related factors to the use of approach and avoidance strategies to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences among a sample of African American adolescents of relative affluence (n=71). Results showed that gender, family structure, socioeconomic status (SES), perceived control over…

The mismatch between employed parents' work schedules and their children's school schedules creates the structural underpinning for an as-yet-unstudied stressor, namely, parental after-school stress, or the degree of parents' concern about their children's welfare after school. We estimate the relationship between parental after-school stress and…

The Stepfamily Enrichment Program is a multi-couple group intervention intended to help stepfamilies successfully negotiate the early stages of family formation. Theory, research, and clinical findings were integrated in this intervention designed specifically for remarried couples. Emphasis is placed on strengthening and improving family…

An ecologically framed model is presented describing processes accounting for early adolescents' exposure to community violence in high-risk neighborhoods as a function of risk factors in four ecological domains assessed in the prior year. The model was tested for hypothesized pathways along which the combined domains of risk might operate. The…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development of a theory of maternal postpartum role collapse. The influences of traditional role theory and symbolic interactionism are presented. The development of the maternal postpartum role collapse theory emerged from the study of postpartum depression among African-American women (Amankwaa, 2000).…

With the prevalence of kinship care increasing, it is critical to understand the role of caregiver strain among this population. This study focused on the strain experienced by relative caregivers as compared to parents who were caring for children with serious emotional disturbance (SED). Descriptive and multiple regression analyses demonstrated…

This study explored potential predictors of psychological distress and moderators of the relation between parenting stress and psychological distress in mothers of children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs). Ninety-seven mothers of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders completed measures assessing children's functional…

This study examined the impact of the 1998 Canadian ice storm on the physical and psychological health of older adults (age greater than 55 years) living with a chronic physical illness, namely osteoarthritis and/or osteoporosis. Although disasters are relatively rare, they are a useful means of examining the impact of a single stressor on a group…

Purpose: One objective of the present study was to explore how stressful kindergarten principals, as leaders and managers of their schools, found their work to be, and if such job-related stress was associated with negative emotions and job (dis)satisfaction. Another objective was to assess whether or not social support from one's supervisor could…

Objective: The purpose of this research project was to examine the relationship between parenting stress and a child's ability to functionally communicate within families who participated in an early intervention developmental disability program. Method: Using a two-group, cross-sectional survey design, this study explored the above relationship…

Children of Chinese culture are raised differently from children of other cultural groups. There is research evidence which contends that, regardless of where they live, the child-rearing practices within Chinese immigrant families are still influenced by Chinese traditional culture. Some studies also point out that Chinese immigrant parents…