The fundamental paradox in the grief literature: a critical reflection

A key theme in the bereavement literature is the recognition that every grief experience is unique and dependent on many variables, such as the circumstances of the death, characteristics of the bereaved individual, their relationship with the deceased, the provision and availability of support, and a myriad of sociocultural factors. Concurrently, there are corresponding efforts to define "normal" grief and delineate it from "complicated" grief experiences. The discord between these two potentially opposing statements remains a paradox evident within the three major tensions within the thanatological literature--the dominance of grief theories, the medicalization of grief, and the efficacy of grief interventions. Three recommendations for moving beyond the paradox are discussed--the provision of improved grief education for service providers, the bereaved, and the wider community; the conduct of research that emphasizes the context of grief and is relevant to service provision; and the examination of current grief interventions.     

领导人该做到什么

领导人不一定非得擅长公众讲演、拥有卓越的战略头脑, 并具有与追随者打成一片的能力 人们通常认为,好的领导人必须富有激情。他们必须擅 长公众讲演,拥有卓越的战略头脑,并具有与追随者 打成一片的能力。但《你必须知道的一件事》一书的 作者马库斯·白金汉(Marcus Buckingham)却坚持认为,事实 并非如此。领导人不一定非得表现出这些素质,但领导人必须 有能力让追随者明白:自己的服务对象是谁,他们凭借什么击 败竞争对手,如何衡量他们的绩效,以及哪些行动会帮助他们 实现自己的目标。     

Desire for Marriage and Children: A Comparison of Feminist and Non-feminist Women

Research indicates that liberal gender ideologies and feminist beliefs are related to a lower desire for marriage and children, but the importance of feminist self-identification has not been assessed. In Study 1, self-identified feminist and non-feminist women were asked to rate their own and the typical woman’s desire for marriage and children. Non-feminists desired marriage and children more than did feminists. Both groups believed that the typical woman desired these more than they did. In Study 2, feminist and non-feminist women provided information about feminist beliefs as well as their own and the typical feminist’s desire for marriage and children. Consistent with the results from Study 1, non-feminists desired marriage and children more than did feminists. Feminist identity was also found to predict decreased desire for marriage above and beyond feminist beliefs. Our results indicated that stereotypes of feminists, in this context, are somewhat accurate.     

An Investigation Of A Brief Life Satisfaction Scale With Elementary School Children

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Brief Multidmensional Student Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS: Seligson et al., 2003) with elementary school children. The participants included 518 elementary school students in grades three through five in a Southeastern US state. The students completed the following measures: the BMSLSS, the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS: Huebner, 1991a), the Children’s Social Desirability Questionnaire (CSDQ: Crandall et al., 1965), and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Children’s Version (PANAS-C: Laurent et al., 1999). The results revealed acceptable internal consistency reliability, construct validity and concurrent validity for the BMSLSS. Overall, the use of the BMSLSS for research purposes was supported on a preliminary basis for this age group for research purposes. The study also investigated the usefulness of weighted importance ratings in the prediction of global life satisfaction judgments. Children’s ratings of the importance of the specific domains, whether viewed separately or combined with ratings of levels of life satisfaction, did not enhance the prediction of global life satisfaction. The usefulness of such a brief measure for the assessment of positive indicators of well-being in large-scale national and international studies is highlighted. Recommendations for future research are delineated.     

Native American Stepfamilies: Children’s Expectations Concerning Their Residential Stepparents’ Behavior

Abstract

This study examined how a Native American stepchild’s expectations for their stepparents’ behavior associated with the stepfamily quality. The responses of Native Americans and multiracial Native Americans were compared to the general population in order to identify cultural differences that affect stepfamily quality. Data came from the Stepfamily Experience Project (STEP). Findings suggest that Native Americans differed from other races concerning stepfamily quality, stress from the stepfamily forming, a child’s expectation for a stepparent’s control behaviors, and a child’s relationship with their biological parent. For practical use, clinicians should consider Native American stepchildren’s expectations regarding their stepparent’s behaviors in order to better assess stepfamily quality and provide more effective services.     

A mixed-method exploration of functioning in Safe Schools/Healthy Students partnerships

This paper presents a mixed-method approach to measuring the functioning of Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative partnerships. The SS/HS national evaluation team developed a survey to collect partners’ perceptions of functioning within SS/HS partnerships. Average partnership functioning scores were used to rank each site from lowest to highest. Sites with the most favorable perceptions of partnership functioning were defined as having average scores in the top 10% (n = 10) and sites with the least favorable perceptions of partnership functioning were defined as having average scores in the bottom 10% (n = 10). Qualitative data for these 20 sites were inductively open coded for emergent themes and analyzed for patterns using grounded theory approach. Six themes emerged that distinguished sites reporting the most favorable and least favorable perceptions of partnership functioning: partner engagement, facilitators, barriers, shared decision making, partnership structure, and sustainability. Sites reporting the most favorable perceptions of partnership functioning effectively utilized collaboration processes that facilitate coalition building, such as shared decision making, effective communication, and developing a clearly defined structure. Qualitative themes from this analysis provide evidence of validity for the partnership functioning scale used and illustrate distinguishing features between sites with the most favorable and least favorable perceptions of partnership functioning.     

Validating difference and counting the cost of exclusion in the lives of people who identify as on the autistic spectrum

This current issues piece will explore how autobiographies written by people with autism can help identify sensory processing differences that might be viewed as possible attributes in an enabling society, but for which ableist perceptions are often negative. In concrete terms, these constructions may be preventing people from entering employment and making an economic contribution. The first autobiography written by someone who identified as being on the autism spectrum was by David Eastham in 1985. Since then, over 50 such books have been published. The emergence of such autobiographies challenges assumptions about what it is to be on the autism spectrum. It was often assumed people with autism were incapable of such social communication, as autobiographies assume abilities such as self-awareness, imagination and the ability and desire to communicate. These were all traits that were thought to be absent in someone diagnosed with autism. Consequently, the presence of these autobiographies destabilises and questions the dichotomy that was set up between what constitutes ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ behaviour.     

The KIND Program for Adolescent Family and Dating Violence

Adolescent relational violence has significant and pervasive impacts for young people's current and future relationships. It is known that there is a cross-over between adolescent family violence and other offending behaviour, meaning there is a need for youth justice systems to recognise and respond to these forms of violence. This paper outlines a pilot intervention, the KIND Program, run in Youth Justice South Australia, and aimed at intervening with adolescent family and dating violence. KIND aims to provide tailored systemic intervention to young people and their support network, reducing violence while increasing connection and strength within relationships. The pilot of KIND ran for seven months in 2017, and had eight families participating in the program. Participation in, feedback from, and impact of the program suggest that participation was worthwhile and useful for young people and their families. The KIND Program would benefit from a more extensive pilot period to explore the outcomes of this form of intervention.     

Lability of prenatal stress during the COVID-19 pandemic links to negative affect in infancy

The association between prenatal stress and children's socioemotional development is well established. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a particularly stressful period, which may impact the gestational environment. However, most studies to-date have examined prenatal stress at a single time point, potentially masking the natural variation in stress that occurs over time, especially during a time as uncertain as the pandemic. This study leveraged dense ecological momentary assessments from a prenatal randomized control trial to examine patterns of prenatal stress over a 14-week period (up to four assessments/day) in a U.S. sample of 72 mothers and infants. We first examined whether varied features of stress exposure (lability, mean, and baseline stress) differed depending on whether mothers reported on their stress before or during the pandemic. We next examined which features of stress were associated with 3-month-old infants' negative affect. We did not find differences in stress patterns before and during the pandemic. However, greater stress lability, accounting for baseline and mean stress, was associated with higher infant negative affect. These findings suggest that pathways from prenatal stress exposure to infant socioemotional development are complex, and close attention to stress patterns over time will be important for explicating these pathways.