A survey of 1,050 individuals in 10 Nebraska towns explored the influence of transitions to marriage and parenthood on the joining and leaving rates of three types of voluntary associations: church-related groups, job-related organizations, and youth groups. The effects of life cycle transitions on joining and leaving rates differed by gender and…

Summarizes that the goal for this issue is to help move the study of women's groups beyond survival and recovery issues to the thriving that can and does occur for women through their participation in women's groups. This collection of articles helps build on a growing body of literature attempting to study women's groups as a phenomena in their…

Addresses the question of whether membership in a Greek organization contributes to the drinking behaviors of college students. Research findings are divided into these major categories: drinking frequency; motivation; predicting Greek membership; culture of Greek life; perception bias; and consequences of drinking. Conclusions suggest that…

This study explores how children's drawings, as rated on the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS), are related to their emotional and behavioral health. Participating students (ages 8-16, N=53), attending a therapeutic day school for students with emotional and behavioral disorders, drew a picture of a person picking an apple from a tree…

This study investigated the relations between social self-perceptions, time use, and later involvement in prosocial or problem behaviors during early, middle, and later adolescence. The authors used an idiographic approach to identify four different patterns of social self-perceptions (confident, anxious, unconcerned, desperate) and then examined…

The national standards of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) provide for defining the role of the school counselor, evaluating the content of counseling programs, and effectively meeting the needs of students. This study surveyed 495 school counselors in all levels including Kindergarten through 12th grade in Texas public schools to…

This qualitative research study identifies protective factors that foster resilience in disconnected youths (ages 16-18) who are participants in Project ReConnect, an alternative education program in New York City. Observations, participant observations, interviews, and focus groups were utilized to collect data from ten participants. Findings…

This study explored three aspects of peer group membership in adolescence: peer group affiliation, the importance of group membership, and a sense of peer group belonging. Each is considered in relationship to adolescents' behavior problems as measured by the Achenbach Youth Self-Report. Participants included an ethnically and socioeconomically…

Decline in church attendance in England is well documented, though explanations vary. One explanation is that worship services themselves may be unattractive; even when Christian belief (of some kind) continues, there is no perceived need to express this through worship. Religious experiences of former attenders are not easily accessible; here the…

The purpose of this research was to examine and extend portions of the sociocultural model of bulimia nervosa (Stice, E. (1994). Review of the evidence for a sociocultural model of bulimia nervosa and an exploration of the mechanisms of action. "Clinical Psychology Review," 14, 633-661; Stice, E., & Agras, W. S. (1998). Predicting onset and…

Although some evidence suggests that providing treatment via service coordination teams is related to improved outcomes among youth in a system of care, the aspects of team structure that contribute to treatment effectiveness are not well understood. This study draws on team membership and attendance data to identify and describe the structure of…

The ways in which personal narratives, particularly of familiar stories, are used to ratify group membership are examined. Focus is primarily on co-narrated stories, in which more than one group member participates in the re-telling of a familiar story. A typical instance in which family members collaboratively construct a story is offered as an…

Mutual support groups in schools can be developed as part of strategies to provide assistance for parents or other family members, students, or school staff. These groups can also be used to provide support for newcomers and others in periods of transition. This technical aid packet describes the process as used with parents, but the procedures…

A study examined the relationship between participation and performance in groups to determine whether increased communicative activity brought about through participation in groups resulted in the acquisition of specific types of organizational knowledge and increased motivation which positively affected performance. Subjects for the study were…

To address the lack of research focusing on naturally occurring groups within an organizational context, a study examined the selection process and criteria that individuals use when allowed to self-select members for task groups. Subjects, 248 students enrolled in a basic communication course at a midwestern university, self-selected themselves…