Vered Shenaar-Golan

The Subjective Well-Being of Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities: The Role of Hope as Predictor and Fosterer of Well-Being

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to identify factors that can improve the subjective well-being (SWB) of parents of children with a developmental disability, expand the knowledge relating to the role of hope in their lives, and improve the extent to which parent appraisals of the influence of the disability (on the couples relationship, family functioning, and personal development) moderate this association. The results revealed that parental SWB was below the societal average; however, it differed significantly across levels of parent appraisals of their childs disability. Findings from this study point to the importance of hope to improve parental SWB.

What are Social Work Students’ Perceptions of the Community Practice Method?

ABSTRACT Summary. A unique aspect of the social work profession is the combination of intervention on the personal, community, and societal levels and their interaction. The purpose of this research is to determine students’ perceptions of community practice. Qualitative research was conducted among Israeli social work students before gaining any practical experience in community practice. Findings. The results demonstrated a change in students’ perceptions of the importance of community practice to the profession, and the factors that contributed to this change. Applications. Recommendations that may contribute to changing students’ perceptions of community practice are offered to educators.

Overcoming multidimensional marginality: the significance of higher education for traditionally reared single mothers living in the outer periphery

ABSTRACT The current study gives voice to a group of remarkable returning college students whose lives are defined by multidimensional marginality. These students are single mothers who grew up in traditional families in the outer periphery of Northern Israel, where they still lived at the time of this study. Drawing on the women’s life stories gathered from in-depth interviews, the purpose of the study was twofold: to examine their multidimensional marginality in the context of the complexity of social situations they are required to face and to understand the impact of higher education upon that marginality and upon their lives. The findings demonstrate, quite powerfully, the impact of the participants’ student status on their discourse with their previously excluding family of origin, and the significance of their status for their personal growth process and for their relationship with their children. The process of matriculating into a higher education degree programme, and their continued progress in the programme, enabled these women to become proactive in moving from the margins towards a more central position of affecting and becoming a role model for their children, their families of origin and their communities.

Effect of the Parent–Adolescent Relationship on Adolescent Boys’ Body Image and Subjective Well-Being:

Adolescent boys must cope with physical changes that hamper their ability to form a positive body image. Sociocultural messages influence the concepts of body image, personal appearance, and weight, encouraging men to develop lean and muscular bodies. The current study examined adolescent boys’ body image and its relationship to their subjective well-being (SWB) and the effect of the parent–adolescent relationship on body image and SWB. Participating in the research were 107 adolescent boys in Israel, aged 13 to 18 years. Four questionnaires were utilized: demographic, body mass index, Body Investment Scale, and Personal Well-Being Index. The findings indicate a significant, medium positive correlation between SWB and body image. After controlling for the variable of parent–adolescent relationship, the correlation weakened, indicating that the parent–adolescent relationship has no effect on adolescent boys’ SWB and body image. Body image was reported to be a predictor of SWB.

Curiosity and the Cat: Teaching Strategies That Foster Curiosity

This article addresses the development of a pedagogic model for teaching social work with groups. The model was developed against a backdrop of the reported decreasing status of social work with groups within the profession. The place of curiosity as a motivating factor in teaching social work with groups is explored and the role of the educator in fostering such interest is addressed.

Art Intervention in Group Settings: A Course Model for Social Work Students

ABSTRACT This article presents evaluation of a course developed for training social work students in using art intervention activities in a group setting. The course components included didactic learning, experiential learning, personal and interpersonal observation, and reflection. The goal of the course was to enhance students’ skills as providers of a safe space using art intervention with diverse populations, in their future professional settings. Analysis of the qualitative evidence indicated that the combination of art intervention in a group setting empowered and accelerated interpersonal abilities of social work students and increased their self-efficacy as group facilitators.

Sensory language (SDM) to foster empathy in social work students

ABSTRACT Assessment and management of emotional situations are generally discussed in academic studies in the field of social work through verbal interventions, while the art of developing awareness to nonverbal feelings has yet to see widespread use. Sensory experience based on nonverbal communication and body language can highlight complex feelings and problems that the social worker confronts. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of an intervention of sensory body language using a modified Sherborne Developmental Movement (SDM) model, in a course for social work students. The course’s multidimensional process involved cognitive and affective components of understanding and identifying thoughts, feelings, and emotional states of others. The intervention combined art activity and focusing to foster empathy among social work students in the group setting. Twenty social work students attending college in the north of Israel participated in the course, writing reflective diaries throughout the course, which were collected and analyzed. The findings suggest that sensory language and movement through the group experience enhanced social work students’ empathy and their awareness of its importance for practice. Learning to be empathic through nonverbal communication also challenged perceived barriers to empathy such as cultural and language differences.

Influence of maternal negative emotion reactivity and cognitive reappraisal on child anxiety disorder

Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychopathologies in childhood. Two underlying contributors to child anxiety disorders (ADs) are negative emotional hyper‐reactivity and deficits in reappraisal, a cognitive strategy of emotion regulation. Given that emotion regulation develops in the context of parent–child interaction, the aim of this study was to fill a research gap regarding the association between maternal negative emotional reactivity (NER) and reappraisal and child anxiety by examining (a) whether mothers of children with ADs display abnormalities in emotional reactivity and reappraisal compared to mothers of children without ADs; (b) whether maternal NER and reappraisal are associated with child anxiety; and (c) whether maternal reactivity and reappraisal significantly explain the variance in the level of child anxiety beyond the level of maternal anxiety.

Patterns of emotion regulation and emotion-related behaviors among parents of children with and without ADHD

Parent emotion regulation is a crucial factor in child adjustment. This study examined the patterns and correlation of emotion regulation and emotion-related behaviors for parents of children with and without ADHD. The study emphasized specific parental emotion regulation strategies used in parent-child interactions. Of the 177 participating parents 55.4% had at least one child with ADHD. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires measuring their emotion regulation and emotion-related behaviors (supportive vs. unsupportive) with regard to a specific child, noting whether the child had ADHD. Results indicated that parents of children with ADHD used more emotion regulation strategies than parents of children without ADHD. No differences were found in emotion-related behaviors. Patterns of relations between reappraisal and suppression emotion regulation and supportive and non-supportive emotion-related behaviors revealed that parent reappraisal was an effective emotion regulation strategy for both subgroups, whereas suppression was ineffective only for parents of children without ADHD. These findings shed light on the relation of parent reappraisal and suppression strategies to emotion-related behaviors for different parenting experiences and emphasize the importance of addressing parent specific emotion regulation in parenting intervention programs.