This pilot study investigates the role of anxiety for early childhood pre-service social studies teachers as they learn methods to teach curriculum on slavery and associated issues such as racism or White privilege. The findings indicate that a variety of aspects cause pre-service teachers to experience anxiety around the thought of having to…

The study examined the effects of social support and family functioning on illness and adjustment in 70 children and adolescents with sickle cell disease. Four sources of information were used: patient interview and standardized tests; parent interview and standardized tests; teacher interview; and medical records. Results revealed several…

Popular opinion suggests that teaching is a stressful profession. A dissenting view is supported in this investigation of women teachers in five Canadian provinces. Self-report attitudinal questionnaires containing 26 items were mailed to a sample of 940 elementary and secondary school principals in eight Western and Eastern Canadian provinces.…

Although research on the role of social support in psychological well-being has increased, little attention has been given to behavioral methods for measuring these supportive mechanisms. To study the support exchanged in marital dyads, a behavioral observation system was designed and used to detect changes in the marital relationship of one…

Children experience stress just as adults do. Various responses to stress can damage the body's health in at least two different ways. First, they may do direct damage to the tissues--especially those of the circulatory system. Second, and more often important to the health of children, they may suppress the body's natural defenses against…

The Children's Perception of Support Inventory (CPSI) which assesses the extent to which children perceive their families and peer networks as understanding, responsive, and supportive is described. This measure was constructed (1) to differentiate children on family and peer-support scales and to demonstrate the relationship between the…

Children who live with chronic illness are confronted with challenges that frequently force them to cope in myriad ways. The ways in which children face chronic illness are summarized in this literature review. Also covered, are how the effects of family can influence coping strategies and how family members, especially parents, cope with their…

Incidence of parental divorce remains at record levels. Studies estimate that 45% of all children born since 1970 will spent an average of six childhood years in a single-parent home as a result of divorce. This study examined the relationship between visitation practices of non-custodial parents and the children's coping resources (self-esteem…

This longitudinal study examined the effect of being placed in foster care versus remaining at home upon the psychological functioning of 64 black, sexually abused girls aged 5 to 16 years. Only subjects molested by persons well known to them were included in this study. The children were initially evaluated using a multi-method assessment…

When children are raised in an environment where alcoholism is prominent, certain dysfunctional responses are learned as a way to cope with the challenge of that environment. This study was conducted to examine the learning styles of adult children of alcoholics. Subjects were college freshmen and self-identified adult children of alcoholics…

Studies of parents of children treated for cancer have rarely included adequate samples of fathers or couples. Further, bereaved parents have been over-represented as compared to parents of cancer survivors. This study investigated the personal and interpersonal effects of having a child treated for cancer on 124 parents. Twenty-seven married…

Noting that the physical and mental growth of children are influenced by many environmental and familial factors, this paper explores improving the well being of children. The first part of the paper discusses child rearing, emphasizing three fundamental themes: creating an environment where children are born healthy and wanted; helping children…

This study tracked parental stress among 115 mothers of infants and toddlers with disabilities to evaluate patterns of stability and change in parental adaptation during the early childhood period. Parents were given the Parenting Stress Index three times: upon entry into an early intervention program, 1 year later, and when the child reached age…

This presentation describes research on families with mentally retarded children, focusing on trends since 1983, the year that family research issues were reconceptualized in a paper titled "A Model of Stress, Coping, and Family Ecology" by Keith Crnic and others. The trend analysis concentrates on four issues: (1) the magnitude of the impact of…

Parenthood is a normal event in which the birth of a baby temporarily upsets the internal structure of the family system as boundaries, roles, and tasks are reorganized to accommodate the new member. In understanding how interactions between and within spousal and parental relationships affect parental adjustment, concepts of development need to…