Esther Sales

Acculturation, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms Among Korean Immigrants in the United States

Abstract A sample of 157 Korean immigrants responded to measures of acculturation level, stress from acculturation, and depressive symptoms. The authors hypothesized that adaptive acculturation would depend on assimilation regarding social interactions and the host cultures language as well as on retention of a core identity, including values and traditions of the culture of origin. Consistent with the mediation hypothesis, acculturation, based on a factor representing language use and social relationships, was related to lower acculturative stress and, in turn, lower depression. However, there was no direct support for the integrative, or bicultural, strategy of acculturation. Stress did not mediate the effect of a 2nd acculturation factor, identity and tradition-based acculturation. Rather, this measure of acculturation was directly related to higher depression (i.e., immigrants reporting abandonment of Korean identity, traditions, and values scored higher for depression).

Family burden and quality of life.

Providing care to family members dealing with chronic illness may result in feelings of burden or strain for caregivers that can diminish their quality of life. This article examines objective and subjective dimensions of family burden, and the extent to which illness characteristics and contextual variables have been found to contribute to caregiver stress for different chronic illnesses. After discussing some of the problems in the conceptualization and measurement of caregiving burden, it suggests several important directions for future research, including further clarification of generic versus specific factors affecting caregiver burden, greater understanding of contextual variables, the impact of other roles, and examining changes in caregiving demands over the illness course.

Impact of Maternal Mental Health Status on Child Mental Health Treatment Outcome

This study examined the effect of maternal depression and anxiety on child treatment outcome. Psychiatric assessments were conducted on 180 mother–child pairs when the child entered treatment in a community mental health center and six months later. Children whose mothers were depressed or anxious were significantly more impaired than children of mentally healthy mothers at both time points. Both groups of children improved at approximately the same rate. The findings suggest that early mental health screening of children and their mothers may be important preventive practices. Addressing the mental health needs of mothers and children simultaneously may be an effective method of reducing their mental health problems.

SECONDARY ANALYSIS IN SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH EDUCATION: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE PROMISE

This article reviews the emergence of secondary analysis of data (SA) as a methodology for examining questions of relevance for social work and its implications for student education. Given the rapid expansion of available data archives from agencies, governmental and research sources, and technological advances in accessibility and ease of use, secondary analysis now holds considerable promise for social work. The authors examine the current treatment of SA in social work research texts and review its strengths and weaknesses. They conclude with a discussion of enhanced educational training as a base for expanding the use of SA in social work research.

Forgiveness as a Mediator Between Post Divorce Cognitive Processes and Coparenting Quality

Abstract This study investigated the mediating role of forgiveness between the predictor variables of causal attributions and offense severity judgments and the outcome variable, quality coparenting post divorce. A mailed survey sent to a sample of 585 separated/divorced parents with minor aged children who had attended a brief educational seminar resulted in a final sample of 135 respondents. The significant negative relationship between cause attributed to the former partner (r = -.28, p < .01) and quality coparenting became nonsignificant (Beta = -.06, p = .50) when forgiveness was introduced. The results also indicated that greater forgiveness was negatively related to cause attributed to the former partner (r = -.34, p < .001) and less severe offense judgments (r = -.22, p < .01). A strong positive relationship was found between forgiveness and quality coparenting (r = .53, p < .001). The results have implications for practice, advocacy, and education. Forgiveness represents one potentially useful focus of intervention for making a transition towards a quality coparenting relationship.

Considering the social context in gender research : the impact of college students' life stage

Although a large body of research has investigated the possibility of motivational or attitudinal differences in women and men that would explain observable differences in levels of achievement, much of this research has failed to produce the expected results. It is proposed that the failure of researchers to consider the personal and contextual characteristics of their college student samples may have contributed to this lack of results. Some of the relevant variables include those provided by the (lack of) context of the typical laboratory experiment. Other context cues emerge from an analysis of the life stage of the typical research study participant. Predictions about achievement differences across the early adult years are outlined. This same life stage analysis is also briefly applied to other areas of gender research.

Gender Differences in Perceptions of Coparenting Quality Among Expartners

Abstract Gender differences in perceptions of former partners regarding their breakup, as they relate to the quality of their coparenting relationship, were examined in a survey of 135 respondents (54 males, 81 females). No differences were found between men and women in perceived co-parenting quality or in 9 of 10 measures of past and present perceptions (women were more satisfied with their child custody arrangements). However, gender moderated the impact of two affective perceptions on quality coparenting (high support, low conflict). Women, but not men, who were higher in forgiveness, or perceived more remorsefulness in their expartner, had significantly higher scores on quality coparenting. These differences suggest gender-informed intervention strategies for facilitating coparenting quality among former partners.

The Role of Shame in Women's Recovery from Alcoholism

Abstract This study compares the recovery experience of female members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) who reported a history of childhood sexual abuse (68%) with those who did not report experiencing childhood sexual abuse. A sample of 53 women was obtained from AA. A significant relationship was found between shame and two measures of difficulties in recovery-problems in social adjustment and relapse. Though the hypothesis that experiences of child sexual abuse predicted difficulty in recovery was not supported, these data suggest that shame may be an important variable in both the etiology and treatment of alcoholism in women.

Teacher support as a buffer between interparental conflict and child social skills

This study, conducted in 2004, investigated the direct effect of interparental conflict (IPC) about child‐raising issues on the social skills of middle‐class US children who attended a suburban preschool and the buffering effect of teacher support (n = 170). Findings indicated that greater IPC was associated with poorer child social skills. The prediction that teacher support buffers the association between such conflict and social skills was not supported. However, using a 3 × 3 two‐way between subject ANOVA, the results showed that children with low‐conflict versus high‐conflict parents had significantly higher social skills scores, as predicted by the emotional security theory. Exploratory analyses found that conflict and teacher support significantly affected children’s social skills when controlling for child gender. Girls’ social skills scores exceeded boys’ scores at every level of conflict and teacher support.