Processes of Religious and Spiritual Influence in Adolescence: A Systematic Review of 30 Years of Research

This is a systematic review of 30 years (1988‐2017) of empirical research on processes of religious/spiritual influence in adolescence. We followed a multi‐step process that resulted in 241 studies organized according to eight research questions and the corresponding methods and analyses typically used to address them. We coded these studies based on the dimensions of religiosity/spirituality and the youth outcomes involved. In some cases (quantitative studies of mediation and moderation, as well as qualitative studies) we also coded a third process variable. Results of the coding process revealed a number of interesting patterns. First, religiosity/spirituality is generally adaptive for adolescents, protecting them from negative outcomes (e.g., risk behaviors and mental illness), and promoting positive youth development and flourishing. Nevertheless, in some contexts, religiosity/spirituality may be at least partially maladaptive. Second, there is some evidence, from experimental and longitudinal studies, that relations between religiosity/spirituality and adaptive outcomes are causal. Third, there are numerous complex and dynamic processes by which religiosity/spirituality relate to youth outcomes. In terms of mediation studies, the most salient mediating processes seem to involve religiosity/spirituality dimensions, peers, values/attitudes, and social control/norms. Fourth, religiosity/spirituality is multidimensional, involving various interwoven facets at the individual and ecological levels. Private or personal aspects of religiosity/spirituality (e.g., religious/spiritual importance) tend to be more salient predictors of outcomes than public aspects of religiosity/spirituality (e.g., religious worship service attendance). The results of this systematic review point to promising directions for future research. First, more research is needed studying a broader range of dimensions of religiosity/spirituality, processes of influence, and outcomes. In terms of religiosity/spirituality, much of the prior work has focused on overall religiosity/spirituality, and religious/spiritual behaviors (e.g., worship service attendance). In terms of outcomes, the emphasis has been on religiosity/spirituality protecting against maladaptive outcomes (e.g., substance use). Second, more research is needed examining the role of culture, and using more rigorous methods (e.g., experience sampling, experimental design, longitudinal design, or mixed methods). This systematic review provides a detailed analysis of what is known regarding processes of religious/spiritual influence in the lives of adolescents, and hopefully better positions researchers to move the field forward.     

Coupling Processes and Experiences of Never Married Heterosexual Black Men and Women: A Phenomenological Study

Over the past decades, the decline in Black marriages and the upsurge of never‐married Blacks have stimulated much theoretical focus, but researchers conducted few studies on never‐married heterosexual Black adults' coupling unions. Guided by an integrated framework of Africana womanism and symbolic interactionism, this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study used comprehensive individual interviews to explore the experiences of 26 never‐married heterosexual Black men and women between the ages 25 and 35 about their attempts to cultivate and maintain intimate romantic relationships as well as their desire for marriage. Findings revealed mixed emotions from participants' lived experiences in developing and sustaining romantic relationships. Clinical implications highlighted the need to effectively attend to Black romantic relationships and experiences in their sociohistorical and sociocultural contexts.     

The Retirement Life Course in America at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century

As the baby boom cohorts expand the number of U.S. retirees, population estimates of the employment, withdrawal and reentry behaviors of older Americans’ remain scarce. How long do people work? How frequently is retirement reversed? How many years are people retired? What is the modal age of retirement? And, how do the patterns for women compare to those for men? Using the 1992–2004 Health and Retirement Study, we estimate multistate working life tables to update information on the age-graded regularities of the retirement life course of men and women in the United States. We find that at age 50 men can expect to spend half of their remaining lives working for pay, while women can expect to spend just one-third. Half of all men and women have left the labor force by ages 63 and 61, respectively. Although the majority of retirement exits are final, variation in the nature and duration of the retirement process is substantial, as about a third of men’s and women’s exits are reversed. By quantifying these patterns for men and women, we provide a sound empirical basis for evaluating policy designed to address the financial pressures population aging places on public and private pension systems.     

Identifying the norms of professional practice: Reviewing PRSA's Silver Anvil award-winning campaigns

This study uses content analysis of 420 Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil award-winning campaigns to assess how well the ROPES process of campaign management has been institutionalized into the public relations industry. By analyzing 42 years of award-winning campaigns, the research found notable trends in relation to the research practices, goal and objective planning, strategy design and implementation, campaign evaluation, and on-going efforts to cultivate relationships with stakeholders. These trends are discussed in relation to the continued struggles of public relations educators to professionalize the industry and move away from stereotypes as publicity seekers and special event planners.     

Health Staff Responses to Domestic and Family Violence: The Case for Training to Build Confidence and Skills

ABSTRACT

Domestic and family violence (DFV) is a serious, worldwide public health concern and the literature suggests that women who have experienced violence identify health care providers as the professionals they would most trust with disclosure of abuse. Social work is well positioned to respond to women presenting in hospitals after experiencing DFV and in advocating for systems and policy initiatives to support health staff in becoming adequately trained and supported to detect and respond appropriately. This paper reports on research that surveyed health staff in two hospitals in Queensland, Australia, to identify what DFV training they had received, whether this training increased their knowledge, skills and confidence to address DFV and what services they would access to support women presenting with DFV. The results showed that the respondents were an experienced staff group who had worked in the health sector for 10–20 years but despite having access to State-based training, the majority of them had not completed any in-house training and only 12% had received face-to-face training, and when they did undertake training, it was usually only a two-hour session. Seventy-five per cent of respondents would refer to their hospital-based social worker and 40% would make referrals to other support services, primarily social work.

IMPLICATIONS

• Hospitals need to prioritise, commit to, and resource appropriate and regular training to better equip health staff to identify and respond to DFV.

• Training needs to build the knowledge and skills of staff members to address their confidence to intervene and offer support.

• Social work can provide an important role in advocating and developing training and procedures to sustain health staff members’ capacity to respond appropriately to DFV.

     

The relationship between transformational leadership behaviors,psychological, and training outcomes in elite military recruits

Two studies examined the effects of a differentiated model of transformational leadership on follower outcomes. In Study 1, 484 UK Royal Marine recruits completed questionnaires about their trainers' leadership behaviors and their own attitudes towards training. Training outcome was measured as successful completion of training or non-completion. Discriminant function analyses identified that fostering acceptance of group goals, inspirational motivation, appropriate role model, individual consideration, and contingent reward significantly discriminated between pass and failure. A separate discriminant function analyses revealed that the attitudinal variables of self-confidence, resilience, and satisfaction also successfully discriminated between pass and failure. Study 2 used a true experimental design to examine the effectiveness of a transformational leadership intervention. Participants were 85 experimental and 67 control recruits who completed questionnaires at weeks 5 and 15 of recruit training. Results revealed that 3 of the 5 key leadership behaviors, and all of the 3 recruit attitudinal variables measured, were significantly enhanced by the intervention.     

Repeated confidence intervals and prediction intervals using stochastic curtailment

Jennlson and Turnbull (1984,1989) proposed procedures for repeated confidence intervals for parameters of interest In a clinical trial monitored with group sequential methods. These methods are extended for use with stochastic curtailment procedures for two samples in the estimation of differences of means, differences of proportions, odds ratios, and hazard ratios. Methods are described for constructing 1) confidence intervals for these estimates at repeated times In the course of a trial, and 2) prediction intervals for predicted estimates at the end of a trial. Specific examples from several clinical trials are presented.