Research finds that the availability of specific coping resources can alleviate the more harmful effects of stress among adolescents. Although studies have investigated the relationship between coping resources and various outcomes among general samples of youth, no research has focused on adolescents who report high personal standards in…

This chapter is an introduction to how the learning process changes the brain, with special attention to the facilitative role of the adult educator/mentor.

Background: Research on parental well-being has focused largely on Down syndrome and autism; however, fragile X syndrome is likely to pose different challenges for parents compared with these other diagnostic conditions. Moreover, there is considerable variability among youth with fragile X syndrome; for example, 25% to 33% of affected youth meet…

This study examines relational health, parental attachment, and psychological distress in college men and women from the perspective of the relational-cultural model (Jordan, Kaplan, Miller, Stiver, & Surrey, 1991; Miller, 1984). Peer, mentor, and community relationships, as well as secure parental attachment and year in school, were hypothesized…

This article addresses the process by which children and adolescents cope with severe acute stress of parental loss from causes other than divorce or death. Participants were 60 children and adolescents from a residential treatment facility. Most had experienced neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse, and their parents had their parential…

Collegiate student athletes are faced with the same developmental challenges and stressors as their nonathlete peers, but they are also expected to deal with the challenges of athletic involvement (e.g., time demands, physical demands, travel schedules). Such additional demands may put athletes at greater risk for experiencing physical and…

This study examined how activity and engagement qualities were related to stress. Experience sampling using e-mail pagers collected simultaneous ratings of stress and qualities of activity for 30 college women during 14 days. Surveys included narrative questions about activity types, feelings, and experience and Likert-type scales rating activity…

This study was designed to investigate the fears of children and adolescents in Alabama in the aftermath of 9/11 and after the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003. The American Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-AM; Burnham, 1995, 2005) was utilized to measure the fears of youth in Grades 2-12. (Contains 4 tables.)

This study examined the additive and interactive effects of children's trait vicarious emotional responsiveness and maternal negative emotion expression on children's use of coping strategies. Ninety-five children (mean age = 5.87 years) and their mothers and teachers participated in the study. The mothers reported on their own negative emotion…

Using data provided by a panel of non-Hispanic white respondents, this study explored whether aggressive response to severe role stress during early adulthood depends on gender and on an adolescent history of aggression. Logistic regression analysis yielded these findings: Men who reported aggression during early adolescence were significantly…

In this study, the authors compared 90 pairs of mothers and fathers with respect to aspects of negative emotionality experienced in the early parenting role. Mothers and fathers of 90 healthy 3-month-old infants completed questionnaires pertaining to parenting stress and separation anxiety. Mothers reported significantly higher levels of negative…

The stress response systems of the human child are highly sensitive to social challenges. Because stress hormones can have negative developmental and health consequences, this presents an evolutionary paradox: Why would natural selection have favored mechanisms that elevate stress hormone levels in response to psychosocial stimuli? Two…

Objective: To describe the development and validation of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), a 17-item instrument designed to measure intrusion, avoidance, and arousal symptoms associated with indirect exposure to traumatic events via one's professional relationships with traumatized clients. Method: A sample of 287 licensed social…

Women with multiple roles face many challenges when taking distance education courses in professional programs to achieve credentials or maintain competence. Among these challenges is finding the supports necessary for success as a distance student. As part of a larger study on advantages and stressors identified by such women in distance…

Purpose: Caregiver bereavement adjustment literature suggests opposite models of impact of role strain on bereavement adjustment after care-recipient death--a Complicated Grief Model and a Relief Model. This study tests these competing models for husband and adult-daughter caregivers of breast cancer hospice patients. Design and Methods: This…