Elaine M. Johannes

Resilience Building Among Adolescents From National Guard Families Applying a Developmental Contextual Model

A better understanding of resilience building in military-connected children is needed to serve the needs of military families and sustain the security of the United States. This study explored the development of resilience in 30 adolescents from National Guard families that had been deployed. Using thematic analysis, we found that military-connected adolescents are affected by events in settings far beyond their control—political and civil upheavals in foreign lands, military cultural values, societal perception of the military and of wars, and communities’ responses to military families. When comfort was not offered by familiar social and school networks, these adolescents had only their families to which they could turn. The extent to which adolescents can depend on parents for comfort was influenced by the quality of the parental relationship. Even when parents were available, adolescents were inclined to uphold the military value of personal courage and withdraw to self-soothe.

Measuring Social Capital Change Using Ripple Mapping.

This article provides a detailed description of how to implement a ripple mapping activity to assess youth program effects on community capital and concludes with examples from Maine and Kansas. The maps lead to group reflection on project outcomes and further research and evaluation questions for group members. The results from five Maine communities showed that youth in schools and community clubs promoted intentional, mutually beneficial relationships with community groups and businesses and increased shared action on community projects. Likewise, youth in five small Kansas towns implemented and evaluated health promotion projects and found through mapping that youth built social capital in addition to awareness, knowledge, and skills in community health promotion. Ripple mapping helped to demonstrate that actions of youth-adult partnerships in both states improved the built, human, and social capital in small towns.

KNACK Online: An Evidence-based Web Site Developed to Address Adolescent Obesity

Department of Human Nutrition, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas School of Family Studies and Human Services, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas Corresponding author: Tandalayo Kidd, PhD, RD, LPN, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Kansas State University, Department of Human Nutrition, 203 Justin Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506-1407; Phone: (785) 532-0154; Fax: (785) 532-1678; E-mail: martan@ksu.edu doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2007.05.006