Resilience in Families Caring for a Family Member Diagnosed with Dementia

The aim of this study was to identify and explore factors associated with family resilience in families caring for a demented family member. A mixed-methods approach was utilized to collect data from a convenience sample of spouses acting as primary caregivers of patients and living in the Cape Metropolitan area of the Western Cape, South Africa. The sample was comprised of families in which a spouse (n = 44) was caring for a partner with dementia. The quantitative data analysis was conducted using analyses of variance, Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients, and a best-subsets multiple regression analysis. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. It was found that social support, positive communication patterns, acceptance, optimism, family hardiness, family connectedness, and the effective management of symptoms facilitated the resilience process in these families. In addition to expanding the current literature regarding family resilience, the findings of this study could be used to develop interventions tailored to the needs of these families caring for dementia patients to create a family environment that enhances adjustment and adaptation.     

The role of outdoor recreation in family enrichment

The family is the fundamental unit in society and perhaps the oldest and most important of all human institutions. Several studies have indicated a positive correlation between strong, successful families and family participation in outdoor recreational activities. This paper addresses the role of structured outdoor recreation programming in family enrichment. Findings from two studies based in the United States are presented: one on the effect of a one-day family outdoor adventure program on parental and child perceptions of family functioning and the other from a qualitative inquiry into the meaning of family residential camping experiences. The first study collected both quantitative and qualitative data from 24 families who participated in an 8-hour outdoor adventure program. The second study utilized structured interviews with 11 families participating in a residential camp experience. Findings from both studies demonstrate that structured outdoor family recreation programming has a strong positive relationship with family strength. Furthermore, findings indicate that the type of outdoor adventure activities being used in the treatment of dysfunctional and maladaptive families is also effective in providing family enrichment experiences.     

The role of outdoor recreation in family enrichment

Abstract

The family is the fundamental unit in society and perhaps the oldest and most important of all human institutions. Several studies have indicated a positive correlation between strong, successful families and family participation in outdoor recreational activities. This paper addresses the role of structured outdoor recreation programming in family enrichment. Findings from two studies based in the United States are presented: one on the effect of a one-day family outdoor adventure program on parental and child perceptions of family functioning and the other from a qualitative inquiry into the meaning of family residential camping experiences. The first study collected both quantitative and qualitative data from 24 families who participated in an 8-hour outdoor adventure program. The second study utilized structured interviews with 11 families participating in a residential camp experience. Findings from both studies demonstrate that structured outdoor family recreation programming has a strong positive relationship with family strength. Furthermore, findings indicate that the type of outdoor adventure activities being used in the treatment of dysfunctional and maladaptive families is also effective in providing family enrichment experiences.     

Influences of Family Involvement in Kindergarten Transition Activities on Children’s Early School Adjustment

Transition to kindergarten can be a pivotal experience for children because of its potential long-term impact on school performance. As the importance of relationships among contextual factors surrounding a child has been recognized, many schools have made efforts to establish strong ties with families in order to make kindergarten transition experiences as seamless as possible. Our current understanding of the role of family involvement in kindergarten transitions and the specific outcomes, however, is still somewhat limited. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, this study investigated the impact of family involvement in kindergarten transition activities on children’s transition to kindergarten and their early school adjustment. Although quantitative results revealed that family involvement is not a significant predictor of children’s early school adjustment, qualitative evidence suggests that families believe their involvement in kindergarten transition has a positive influence. In addition, qualitative results provide information concerning barriers, which interfered with family involvement in the transition process. Based on these findings suggestions for schools and families of young children are provided.     

Transitions and critical events in the family life cycle: Implications for providing support to families of children with disabilities

Recognizing that parental adaptation to having a child with a disability is a life-long process that occurs within the context of the family's developmental life cycle, psychologists are becoming increasingly interested in life-cycle transitions and critical events of families with a child who is disabled. Professionals are just now beginning to examine systematically the potential for periodic changes in adaptation throughout a family's life cycle and ways in which professionals can support family members. This article reviews the literature regarding transitions and critical events that present challenges to families and the sources of support that families use during such times. Implications for providing support to families are discussed.     

“We Keep the Education Goin’ at Home All the Time”: Family Literacy in Low-Income African American Families of Preschoolers

Researchers have examined the impact of family on child literacy among low-income African American families and preschoolers considered to be at risk for not being ready for kindergarten. Quantitative studies identify family-parental variables associated with poorer literacy outcomes, whereas qualitative studies detail family practices that promote child literacy development. Addressing the limitations of social address variables in quantitative research, and the paucity of research on preschoolers in qualitative research, this study examines the home-based literacy practices of 20 low-income, African American families with preschoolers in Head Start transitioning to kindergarten. Using qualitative interviews informed by a resilience framework, we found that home-based literacy activities were carried out within teams of diverse kin who worked together to promote children's school readiness. Family literacy teams expanded the literacy resources available to preschoolers, providing a rich literacy environment for children's development. These findings contribute to our substantive understanding of literacy practices within low-income African American families, resilience theory, and culturally relevant home-school collaborations.     

Family strategies to support and develop resilience in early childhood

Early childhood is an important time for the development of resilience. A recently completed study has followed three cohorts of resilient children and young people living in disadvantaged areas in Victoria, Australia, through different transitions in their educational careers. This paper focuses on the early childhood cohort, where we have followed children from kindergarten/preschool into primary school. Using data gathered primarily through interviews with parents (mothers in each case), this paper presents a qualitative naturalistic sub-study that used deductive thematic analysis to explore the different strategies used by families to support their child’s resilience. Our findings highlight that resilience was a salient concept for all of the mothers in the study and each mother articulated a range of strategies they used within the family to try and support their child’s development and resilience. These strategies were constrained by the settings in which the families lived.     

How African American Mothers from Urban,Low-Income Backgrounds Support Their Children’s Kindergarten Transition: Qualitative Findings

The transition to kindergarten is a critical milestone in children’s lives, with implications for academic and future life success. The demographic family/parental variables of residence, social class, and race have been associated with children’s adjustment to kindergarten. In particular, children growing up in families from urban, low-income African American backgrounds are at heighted risk for negative academic, cognitive, and socio-emotional outcomes as they transition to kindergarten. Relatively little inductive research exists on the kindergarten transition of this population and how families from urban, low-income African backgrounds positively support their children’s kindergarten adjustment. However, researchers using qualitative methods are increasingly examining the first-hand experiences of families from urban, low-income African American backgrounds to better understand family beliefs and practices that promote children’s successful kindergarten transition. Contributing to this gap in the literature, we utilized qualitative interviews informed by resilience theory to explore how 20 mothers from urban, low-income African American backgrounds facilitated their Head Start preschoolers’ transition to kindergarten. We found that, despite possessing parental/family risk factors associated with ineffective kindergarten transitions, mothers monitored and assessed their children’s academic and socio-emotional school readiness abilities, promoting readiness competencies while addressing readiness weaknesses. One of the ways that mothers supported children’s transition readiness was through one-on-one conversations with preschoolers. Our findings provide recommendations for effective home–school collaborations that support children’s successful kindergarten transition. Collaborating with engaged and motivated parents, Head Start can assist families and children prior to kindergarten and continue to serve as a link between families and children and elementary schools.     

Mothers' experiences of facilitated peer support groups and individual child health nursing support: a comparative evaluation

The “Early Bird Program” is a support group facilitated by child and family health nurses and offered to families of infants aged 0–8 weeks in South East Sydney, Australia. This paper describes the experiences of 20 women who participated in the Early Bird groups and 20 women who chose to use individual consultations with the child and family health nurse. The qualitative evaluation used focus groups and interviews with the 40 women, and data were analysed using content analysis. Key findings show the Early Bird Program mothers received support and knowledge from both the nurses and each other, while the women who utilised the individual consultations with the nurses sought out and received specific services and information that focused on the baby. The group approach appears to promote group relationships and to empower mothers as a group by de-emphasising the power and expertise of the professional.     

Evaluating a schools' service for children with a facial disfigurement: the views of teaching and support staff

In this article Lindsay O'Dell and Jess Prior present the findings of a small survey, organised as a collaborative project to evaluate a schools’ service, set up in 1998 by the charity Changing Faces 1 to assist pupils with facial disfigurements. Twenty schools responded, each of which had a pupil in their school, aged between 3–16 years, with a facial disfigurement. Qualitative and quantitative questions addressed schools’ expectations of the service, ratings of visits from Changing Faces, helpful/unhelpful aspects of the service and suggestions for improvements, as well as information about the child and school. The data was analysed using both quantitative data and a qualitative thematic analysis. Findings point to reasons for initial contact, and effectiveness of any intervention. Whilst many families and schools seek support in times of crisis, sometimes contact is made to try and prevent future difficulties. Professionals working in education may have much to learn from cases where the child, school and family are all coping well. Future research plans include extending this pilot survey to include the views of a wider range of schools as well as those of the children and families involved.     

Effective Life Management in Parents of Children with Disabilities: A Cross-National Extension

This study is part of an on-going research program exploring life management in families of children with a variety of disability characteristics and age ranges. Scorgie, Wilgosh, and McDonald (1996) used a qualitative, interview methodology to identify effective strategies, qualities, and transformational outcomes for parents of children with disabilities who had been identified, by service agencies, as having effective life management strategies. A larger group of parents, from similarly identified, effectively managing families, was surveyed (Scorgie, Wilgosh, & McDonald, 1997), using the Life Management Survey (LMS) developed from the nine themes found in the qualitative study, supporting the original findings. A replication of the LMS survey study (Wilgosh, Scorgie, & Fleming, 2000) confirmed the previous findings with parents who were not preselected as effective life managers. In fact, the consistency across the three Canadian studies supported examination of family life management cross-nationally. The present study shows that Catholic Italian parents of children with disabilities have patterns of effective life management strategies, parent qualities, and parent transformational outcomes which characterize them and are similar to those of the Canadian parents. However, in the Italian study, some differences were found related to type of disability, emphasizing the need for qualified professional support, guidance and counselling, focused on the unique needs of each family, as related to the child's disability needs.     

Ethnic enclaves—Cul-de-sacs or conduits: Differential aspirations in Greek American,Caucasian American,Latino, and Asian American neighborhoods in New York City

This chapter describes eight studies that were conducted with culturally distinct groups living in ethnic enclaves in New York City. Four o fthe studies (involving 1, 447 students) analyzed the effects of SES, family structure variables, family processes, math self-concept, and prior ability on children's math achievement (interconnections within the Walberg productivity model). Four qualitative studies were also conducted with high achieving children and their parents (158 interviews) to secure in-depth information about how th four ethnic groups used different family processes to bolster achievement. The results of these studies show that cultural/ethnic differences had greater effects on math achievement than SES. The children's reading achievement was found to be the most important predictor for math achievement in all the ethnic/gender groups. Excessive pressure and parental help were found to have negative effects on math achievement. However, parental support and the provision of extensive intellectual resources were found to strengthen reading achievement. These processes indirectly affect math achievement. Finally, the qualitative and quantitative data from these eigth studies show that most ethnic/gender groups facilitated their children's achievement (serve as conduits). The Greek Americans, however, attempted to channel their girls into traditional family roles, and Latino families, because of their limited economic resources, were found to marginalize their boys' school experience (cul-de-sacs).     

Cultural capital,family background and education: choosing university subjects in China

This article employs Bourdieu’s conceptual tools to unpack family influences on students’ subject and university choices in China. This empirical study employed mixed research approaches, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, to examine students’ choices of subjects and universities in a sample of secondary school students from the age of 16 to 18 in China. This study reveals that while there are few class differences in subject choice, students’ choices of a selected university is significantly associated with higher family income level. The data show that the probability of entering a top university for students from high-income families is greater than that of students from low-income families.     

Gifted Chinese girls get the best mix of family processes to bolster their math achievement

This chapter describes three studies with samples of 5th- and 6th-grade students (781 gifted and 895 nongifted) enrolled in elementary schools in Taipei, Taiwan. Two of the studies analyzed the effects of SES, family structure variables, family processes, math self-concept, and prior ability on children's math achievement; the third concerned a qualitative study of 95 gifted children and their parents. The results of these studies show tha SES variables influence family processes in a number of important ways. Better educated families administer less pressure and more support, and both processes contribute to children's achievement. Another important findings is that Chinese traditions moderate the parents use of specific family processes. Girls enrolled in typical classes perceive less parental pressure, less support, less help, and less intellectual resources. In a sense, these girls are academically neglected, but this does not hurt their math achievement because they do not perceive as much dysfunctional pressure and help from their parents. Gifted girls get the best mix of parental influences and academic opportunities.     

Home environment and second‐language acquisition: the importance of family capital

Framed within Coleman’s theory of family capital, this article examines how different home variables such as family physical, human and social capital affect immigrant children’s second‐language acquisition in the homes of four Chinese immigrant families in Canada. Specifically, the study analyzes the relationships between family physical capital and family investment in second language learning, between parental human capital and levels of parental involvement, and between family social capital and access to familial and community resources. The analysis demonstrates that parental educational backgrounds, their occupational choices and chances, and their adaptation and integration into Canadian society had a significant impact on the families’ accumulation and activation of family capital to support their children’s second‐language learning.     

Factors Influencing American Indian and Alaska Native Postsecondary Persistence: AI/AN Millennium Falcon Persistence Model

The purpose of this review of literature is to identify variables (Hart 1998), relevant to AI/AN postsecondary persistence, and to examine the relationship between findings and postsecondary persistence theories at 2 and 4-year institutions. An exhaustive review with selective citation was used to locate relevant documents. Due to the limited amount of articles found for this review, I included both qualitative and quantitative articles. The factors were organized into four emerging themes including; family support, institutional support, tribal community support and academic performance. Due to the lack of research conducted using measures important to AI/AN persistence, the understanding of factors influencing AI/AN student postsecondary persistence is still somewhat limited.     

Family Contribution to the Vocational Lives of Vocationally Competent Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

This paper reports the results of a qualitative research study of vocationally competent young adults with mild intellectual disabilities. The purpose of the study was to examine the contributions which families made to the success of these young adults in competitive employment. The participants were clients of a competitive employment and training program who were purposively sampled using the criterion of having maintained competitive employment for 6 months and ranged in age from 19 to 30 years. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the participants and some of their family members. Content analysis was used to generate categories and themes. The significant finding was how families contribute to the individuals' efforts to maintain competitive employment. Analysis of the themes indicated that certain family characteristics led to more successful employment outcomes. These characteristics were moral support, practical assistance, role models of appropriate work ethic, protection from difficulties and exploitation, and family cohesion. An interesting finding was that the families responded to these young people as if they were in an earlier developmental stage except in the area of employment. Implications for families and vocational education practitioners are suggested.     

The Experience of Parenting an Adolescent with Autism

This study used qualitative research methodology to investigate the experiences of parents of adolescents with autism. Eight parents, representing six separate family units, were interviewed. The primary objectives were to understand the experiences in the lives of the parents interviewed and identify needs of adolescents with autism and their families. Six consistent themes emerged from the interview data: (a) behavioural concerns, (b) social and communication concerns, (c) family‐related concerns, (d) education and related services, (e) relationships with professionals, and (f) independence and future concerns. The findings were discussed in relationship to previous research findings and service provision.     

夫妻权力分配模式对青少年发展的影响研究

以核心家庭为研究对象,分析丈夫主导、妻子主导和夫妻平权三种夫妻权力分配模式对青少年发展的影响。研究发现夫妻平权模式更加普遍,家庭事务决策方面“男主外、女主内”的二元模式仍清晰存在。不同家庭特征下夫妻权力模式存在差异:当子女性别为女且为京户,妻子受教育程度不低于丈夫时,妻子在家庭权力分配中具有更高地位;反之,则丈夫具有更高权力地位。学业方面,丈夫主导型家庭更易出现学业成绩领先的青少年,但也容易出现学业落后的情况;妻子主导型家庭中成长的青少年表现出中下等学业成绩的概率较大。在社会适应和人格方面,平权家庭中青少年较妻权家庭往往伴随更高的社会适应水平,在谨慎性、开放性人格维度上显著高于夫权家庭。     

White suburban schools' responses to low-income black children: Sources of successes and problems

This paper reports the results of a study of low-income black children who moved with their families into middle-income, white suburbs. Three hypotheses are tested: (1) Educational standards will be higher in the suburban schools than in the children's city schools. (2) Suburban schools and teachers will respond to these students with increased educational assistance mixed with some racial discrimination. (3) Students' grades and school satisfaction will not decline with the move to the suburban schools. Two kinds of research design are used: children's postmove suburban experiences are compared with retrospective reports of their premove experiences and also compared with experiences of a control group. Interviews with mothers and children permit quantitative and qualitative analyses. The findings support all three hypotheses and suggest new perspectives on the kinds of advantages and problems arising from residential integration.