Cheryl Cooke

The Role of Culture in Parents’ Socialization of Children’s Emotional Development

Parents’ emotion coaching of children and modeling of effective emotional responses are associated with children’s positive emotional development. However, much of the research in this area has been with European American families. This study examined parents’ self-reports about their emotion regulation patterns and coaching their children about emotions, across three racial and ethnic groups (African American, European American, and Multiracial), to determine how well these parental behaviors predicted their children’s self-reports of depressive and anxiety symptoms 18 to 24 months later (N = 99). For the African American families, a higher level of coaching about anger and sadness by mothers was linked with lower depressive symptoms in their children. A higher level of anger coaching by fathers within the Multiracial group was also associated with lower anxiety and depressive symptoms. This study supports the importance of cultural values, within racial and ethnic groups, in parenting approaches associated with children’s mental health outcomes.

Understanding Incarcerated Populations

Approximately 1.3 to 1.8 million people are incarcerated in the United States at any given time. When providing emergency or elective surgical intervention, perioperative nurses may encounter incarcerated individuals, including many who require treatment for traumatic injury. Nurses, therefore, need to educate themselves about this patient population and understand the specific clinical and educational needs of this group. This article explores key concepts involved in caring for incarcerated individuals, including their characteristics and assumptions others make about them. The article concludes with a discussion of educational and policy implications.

Sowing the seeds of change: social justice as praxis in undergraduate nursing education.

In undergraduate nursing curricula, the rhetoric of social justice has held more prominence than its operationalization. Although undergraduate education is a prime vehicle for fostering social change, articles that describe social justice as praxis in baccalaureate nursing curricula are relatively uncommon. Addressing this gap, we explain how four RN-to-BSN courses use social justice as a framework for instruction. The first two courses generate emancipatory knowledge and advocacy ideas among students by underscoring how privilege and oppression operate in society, as well as in the production of health inequities. The final two courses demonstrate how partnerships with communities can enhance student knowledge regarding structural barriers to health and health care and lead to actions that target those issues. Despite challenges that exist when implementing curricula on amending health inequities, nurse educators are urged to press onward in planting the seeds of social justice in their classrooms; suggestions are made for accomplishing this goal.

Perceived Discrimination and Children's Mental Health Symptoms

Perceived discrimination has been shown to be strongly associated with mental health outcomes, such as depression, anxiety, chronic stress, post traumatic stress disorder, and low self-esteem. This study (N = 88) examined the effects of perceived discrimination and its association with child mental health symptoms. African American children had a significantly stronger association between social stress and a sense of exclusion/rejection than Multiracial or European American children. Nurses need to assess and counsel families of color about their experiences with perceived discriminatory acts.

Nearly Invisible: The Psychosocial and Health Needs of Women with Male Partners in Prison

Very little research has been conducted investigating the health status and social needs of women with incarcerated male partners, despite the large number of men from underserved communities who are currently incarcerated. Research with women who have incarcerated male partners has primarily focused on communicable disease risk and family interactions. Women with incarcerated partners are often mothering children who are at risk for early and repeated incarceration, behavioral problems, and poverty. Gaining a better understanding of the health and social needs, and the resources use of these women and their children may lead to developing policies and programs that help them better manage their health, as well as aid in strengthening their family relationships.