Career Adaptability of Trauma Survivors: The Moderating Role of Posttraumatic Growth

Impaired functioning in occupational domains is a diagnostic characteristic of posttraumatic stress disorder, and yet the interactions between trauma and career remain understudied. This study examined the relationships between trauma symptoms, posttraumatic growth, and career adaptability in college students who identified as trauma survivors (N = 215). Results indicated that (a) trauma symptoms and posttraumatic growth were both significantly predictive of career adaptability and (b) posttraumatic growth moderated the relationship between trauma and career adaptability. The impact of demographic factors and implications for career counselors and counselor educators are also discussed.     

Research Knowledge Assessment: A Study of MSW Students’ Acquisition and Retention of Research Knowledge

ABSTRACT

In response to the need for meaningful data about student learning in research courses, we developed and implemented the Research Knowledge Assessment instrument to measure MSW student acquisition, application, and retention of research knowledge over a 3-year period across the research curriculum. Initial findings indicated that students entered the foundation research methods course with little research knowledge, gained some knowledge during the course but not at an acceptable level, and lost 22% of the gain by the beginning of the concentration research course. The greatest knowledge acquisition was in sampling and the least in theory and question development. Knowledge acquisition was associated with not having a BSW and not having adjunct faculty as a research instructor.     

Fishing Households,Social Support,and Depression after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on mental health in the aftermath of disasters by examining depressive symptoms among residents of the U.S. Gulf Coast region 6 years after the onset of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS). Using data from the Survey of Trauma, Resilience, and Opportunity in Neighborhoods in the Gulf (STRONG), we test how social support and ties to the fishing industry are related to the likelihood of a positive depression screen. The results show that, among most residents of the Gulf Coast region, social support holds an inverse relationship with the likelihood of a positive depression screen. However, among fishing households, greater social support is associated with a higher probability of screening positive for depression. By showing that fishing households with greater social support are more susceptible to depressive symptoms in this setting, our results uncover a potentially important mechanism that contributes to the unique vulnerability of fishers, which in turn holds implications for differential impacts across social groups in environmental disaster contexts.     

Event-related clinical distress in college students: Responses to the 2016 U.S. Presidential election

Abstract

Objectives: College students have cited the 2016?U.S. presidential election as a significant source of stress. The current study examined the prevalence and demographic correlates of clinically significant election-related avoidance and intrusion symptoms among college students 2–3?months after the election. Participants: College students attending a large public university (N?=?769; M_age?=?19.19; 48.2% female; 58.4% White) were surveyed in January and February 2017. Methods: Participants completed a validated measure of clinically significant event-related distress symptoms (eg, intrusive thoughts, avoidance) and demographic questions. Results: One out of four students met criteria for clinically significant symptoms related to the election. Regression analyses suggested that sex, political party, religion, and perceived impact of the election on relationships were more useful predictors of stress symptoms than race or social class. Conclusions: The high level of event-related distress is concerning because elevated symptoms of event-related stress are predictive of future distress and subsequent PTSD diagnoses.     

Child abuse, early maladaptive schemas, and risky sexual behavior in college women

Previous research suggests that individuals abused as children are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior during adulthood. The present study examined early maladaptive schemas as mediators of the child abuse-risky sexual behavior relationship among 653 college women. Self-report surveys assessed three forms of child abuse: Sexual, physical, and emotional, and assessed early maladaptive schemas within two domains: Disconnection/rejection and Other-Directedness. Disconnection/rejection schemas fully mediated the relation between child emotional abuse and number of sexual partners and partially mediated the relationship for sexual and physical abuse. However, when frequency of specific risky sexual acts (e.g., sex without contraception) was examined in the previous six months, only abandonment was a partial mediator. Implications for intervention and future research are discussed.     

A Practitioner’s Guide to Sampling in the Age of Evidence-Based Practice: Translation of Research into Practice

Evidence-based practice must include the translation of research into practice, and the social work practitioner is the essential link in that translation. As part of the EBP process, researchers must present findings in a way that is accessible to practitioners and practitioners must view the study as relevant and representative of their clients’ needs. This article provides practitioners with tools to interpret research, specifically the sampling process. Our goal is to support practitioners in bridging the gap between research and practice. We discuss how sampling fits with the translation of research and describe sampling procedures. We conclude with a unique three-step approach for reviewing research that is designed to assist practitioners to translate research into practice.     

Overrating or Dismissing the Value of Evidence-Based Practice: Consequences for Clinical Practice

Current implementation of the evidence based practice (EBP) model in social work has focused on empirical evidence from efficacy studies, with far less attention to practitioner judgment and client values. Among many clinical social workers the opposite is often true: clinical judgment supersedes the use of scientifically tested techniques. Clinicians may reject EBP as coming out of narrowly focused, possibly irrelevant research, and adherents of EBP run the risk of discounting psychotherapy techniques derived from practice experience or the vast diversity of client situations—both positions threaten our effectiveness. Reasserting clinical judgment and the centrality of clients’ experience into EBP, while enhancing traditional psychotherapy with strong treatment-effectiveness evidence, will improve clinical social work practice, especially in addressing the wide array of human problems and suffering that clients present, especially in the context of globalization and cultural diversity.     

Advance Care Planning by Unmarried Women of Different Sexual Orientations: The Importance of Social Support

We examined social support as a facilitator of advance care planning in unmarried women of different sexual orientations. Survey participants consisted of 215 women, 90 who reported a preference for partnering with women (WPW) and 125 for partnering with men (WPM). Our findings indicate that the association between social support and advance care planning was mixed. Specifically, social support had no significant impact on executing a will for either WPW or WPM. Among WPW, naming a health-care proxy was associated with reporting a partner who provided social support. For WPM, having a partner for social support was not associated with naming a health-care proxy. These insights help in the understanding of women's advance care planning.     

“I Help the Ones that Want Help”: Emotion Work and the Victim Advocate Role

Using data gathered from participant observation and 32 individual in-depth interviews, this study examines how victim advocates achieve emotion management in their work with battered women. This research reveals that victim advocates often experience difficulty coping with occupational stress via daily “deep acting” strategies as they work to change their understandings of battered women and the advocate role from the “inside out.” The data reveal that the core of their ability to cope requires victim advocates to redefine their perceived role from “savior” to “options giver” to more accurately define their role interactions with battered women.     

Social Work Students' Research-Related Anxiety and Self-Efficacy: Research Instructors' Perceptions and Teaching Innovations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine social work research instructors' perceptions of research-related anxiety and research confidence among social work students, and teaching strategies to identify and manage anxiety. A national web-based survey of 186 BSW and MSW social work research instructors was conducted. Many BSW (70%) and MSW (61%) research instructors reported that they used specific activities or approaches to assess or impact upon student anxiety. Qualitative analysis results suggested a teaching model for social work research instructors designed to reduce students' research-related anxiety, including by enhancing their research confidence. Strategies that instructors can use include creating a supportive class climate, providing activities that are emotion-, cognitive-, and action-focused as well as the use of strategic timing. These findings can be used to guide social work research instructors' facilitation of students' attainment of research competencies and help further students' research–practice integration.