Childhood Emotional Abuse and Maladaptive Coping in Adults Seeking Treatment for Substance Use Disorder

Little is understood about distinct traumatic exposures and their relationship to later coping strategies. Adults receiving treatment for substance use were assessed for experiential avoidance and a range of traumatic exposures. Only childhood emotional abuse significantly predicted experiential avoidance.     

Refusal Self‐Efficacy Among SMART Recovery Members by Affiliation Length and Meeting Frequency

Using the Brief Situational Confidence Questionnaire, the authors examined the refusal self‐efficacy of 105 Self‐Management and Recovery Training (SMART Recovery) members according to their affiliation length and meeting frequency. Results demonstrated that longer affiliation with SMART Recovery and higher meeting frequency significantly enhanced substance refusal self‐efficacy.     

Effects of Attachment on Coping Efficacy,Career Decision Self‐Efficacy,and Life Satisfaction

This study examined attachment, self‐efficacy variables, and life satisfaction of 583 undergraduate students. The type of analysis used was structural equation modeling. Findings indicated that students with greater avoidant and anxious attachment patterns reported lower levels of career decision self‐efficacy and coping efficacy, which then had a positive relationship with life satisfaction. Implications for theory, research, and practice were provided.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Religious Coping and Spirituality Among Three Types of Collegiate Substance Abuse

Religion and spirituality are protective factors against collegiate substance abuse; however, considering the variance among different types of drug abuse is important. We investigated religious coping and spirituality in relation to hazardous drinking, marijuana use, and psychostimulant use. Results indicated that positive religious coping and several dimensions of spirituality protect against hazardous drinking and marijuana use. Furthermore, differences in religious coping and spirituality may not exist between groups of psychostimulant users.     

Relations Among Children's Coping Strategies and Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Coping Efficacy

The current study tests a model that depicts the relationships among coping strategies (active, distraction, avoidance, and support seeking) and anxiety symptoms. SEM is used to test if the relationship between these variables is mediated by coping efficacy. A large sample of Canadian children (N = 506) aged 8 to 11 years (boys = 249, girls = 245, unknown gender = 12) participated in the study. Results showed that coping efficacy is a partial mediator of the relations between active coping strategies and anxiety symptoms, however support was not found for it to be an effective mediator for other coping strategies. This study contributes to the understanding of childhood anxiety by highlighting the importance of the relationship between anxiety and the methods children use to cope with stress and how perceptions of their coping abilities influence this relationship.     

Barriers and Supports to Substance Abuse Service Use Among Homeless Adults

Although there is a great need for substance abuse services among the homeless, many homeless individuals do not use those services. This study examined barriers and supports related to service use. Participants recognized a need for treatment and significant barriers to accessing care.     

The Effects of Social Support on Self‐Esteem,Self‐Efficacy,and Job Search Efficacy in the Unemployed

This study attempted to determine the effects of family and social support on the self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, and job search self‐efficacy of the unemployed. A total of 117 surveys were collected in Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon measuring self‐esteem, general self‐efficacy, and job search self‐efficacy and social support. Pearson correlation coefficients demonstrated moderately strong positive relationships between social support and self‐esteem, general self‐efficacy, and job search self‐efficacy. Social and family support had a stronger influence on the self‐perceptions of men than women.     

The Effectiveness of Substance Abuse Treatment in Reducing Violent Behavior

The use of alcohol and other drugs has long been associated with violence. Yet relatively little is known about the effect of treatment on specific violent behaviors. This study examines violent behaviors in the National TreatmentImprovement Evaluation Study (NTIES), and assesses the extent to which treatment appears to reduce violence for each measured behavior. It also examines these reductions by gender, treatment modality, and whether the client wasa victim of violence in addition to being a perpetrator. The results indicate large reductions in violence among clients actively violent during the pretreatment period, with virtually no increase in violence among clients not actively violent during that same period, irrespective of gender, modality, or victimization status. On their face, the results strongly suggest that substance abuse treatment is effective in reducing violent behavior. Alternative explanations areproposed and assessed, followed by implications for policy, practice, and future research.     

Religious Orientation and Ethnic Identity as Predictors of Religious Coping Among Bereaved Individuals

Religious orientation and ethnic identity inform the religious coping process, but research on this topic is scarce. The authors collected data on these constructs from a sample (N = 319) of bereaved adults. A canonical correlation analysis showed that individuals who engage in traditional spiritual practices and strive to achieve ordinary and transcendental spiritual goals are more likely to engage in positive religious coping (Wilks's Λ = .36, R_c² = .62, p < .001). Also, a multiple regression analysis revealed that individuals with higher levels of ethnic identity development are more likely to engage in positive religious coping (β = .12, t < .05). Finally, a discriminant analysis indicated that ethnic identity and a conservative religious orientation discriminated between Whites and ethnic minority individuals, Wilks's Λ = .71, χ²(4, N = 204) = 70.10, p < .001, R_c² = .26. The authors encourage counselors to strengthen their multicultural and spiritual competencies to provide effective services to a culturally and religiously diverse clientele.     

Influence of Proactive Personality on Career Self‐Efficacy

This study examined the relationship between proactive personality and career decision‐making self‐efficacy. In Study 1, the authors validated the Proactive Personality Scale–Korean Short Form, using the Rasch model with 315 participants, and found that fit statistics, point‐measure correlations, and item difficulty estimates satisfy the construct validity criterion. In Study 2, the authors administered the Proactive Personality Scale, Career Decision‐Making Self‐Efficacy Scale, and Career Search Self‐Efficacy Scale to 296 freshman and sophomore college students. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that proactive personality scores explain additional variance in both career decision‐making self‐efficacy and career search self‐efficacy scores. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Negative Intergroup Contact and Radical Right‐Wing Voting: The Moderating Roles of Personal and Collective Self‐Efficacy

This study examines whether negative contact with immigrants promotes voting for radical right‐wing parties, to what extent this relationship can be explained by feelings of outgroup threat, and whether this relationship depends on perceived personal and collective self‐efficacy. Hypotheses were tested among 630 native Dutch respondents, mainly living in multicultural neighborhoods. The results show that negative contact with immigrants is associated with feelings of personal (egocentric) and group (sociotropic) threat, and both these feelings, in turn, are associated with radical right‐wing voting. However, negative intergroup contact is less strongly related to egocentric threat when individuals feel able to personally address negative situations with other people (personal self‐efficacy). Furthermore, the findings suggest that negative intergroup contact is less strongly related to sociotropic threat when individuals believe that people in their neighborhood are able to collectively address some negative situations (collective self‐efficacy).     

Grief and Recovery: The Prevalence of Grief and Loss in Substance Abuse Treatment

Grief from various losses can underlie the process of recovery from substance abuse disorders. This study identified losses that clients encountered prior to abusing substances, losses that occurred as a result of addiction, and losses that occurred upon entering treatment.     

Differential Prediction of Resilience Among Individuals With and Without a History of Abuse

The authors evaluated the differential relationship between mutuality, hope, and spirituality for predicting resilience among 253 young adult participants (47 men, 206 women; M = 22, SD = 5.7) with a history of abuse (n = 64) and without (n = 189). Backward stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed statistically significant models in populations with a history of abuse (p < .01, R ² = .43) and those without (p < .01, R ² = .36), with no statistical difference in the variance between models (z = 0.51, p = .30). Implications for counselors are provided.     

Influence of Generational Status and Financial Stress on Academic and Career Self‐Efficacy

The importance of a college degree is underscored by higher unemployment rates of individuals who have not completed college (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014 ). Academic and career self‐efficacy influence students' completion of college, and 1st‐generation college students and those under financial strain may experience decreased self‐efficacy (Wohlgemuth et al., 2007 ). Participants in this study (N = 383) were college students at a 4‐year university. Results from a 2 × 3 multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant function analysis revealed significant differences in academic and career self‐efficacy based on financial stress, but not generational status.     

Predicting Substance Abuse Relapse: The Role of Social Interest and Social Bonding

Substance abuse relapse has been linked to a number of internal and external vulnerability factors. The authors explored the internal construct of Adlerian social interest (Adler, 1956 ) and the external construct of Hirschi's ( 1969 ) social bonding to provide a holistic risk profile of relapse.     

Masculine Ideology,Sexual Communication,and Sexual Self‐Efficacy Among Parenting Adolescent Couples

This study examined the relationship between traditional masculine role norms (status, toughness, anti‐femininity) and psychosocial mechanisms of sexual risk (sexual communication, sexual self‐efficacy) among young, low‐income, and minority parenting couples. Between 2007 and 2011, 296 pregnant adolescent females and their male partners were recruited from urban obstetrics clinics in Connecticut. Data regarding participants' beliefs in masculine role norms, frequency of general sex communication and sexual risk communication, and sexual self‐efficacy were collected via computer‐assisted self‐interviews. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were used to test for actor effects (whether a person's masculine role norms at baseline influence the person's own psychosocial variables at 6‐month follow‐up) and partner effects (whether a partner's masculine role norms at baseline influence an actor's psychosocial variables at 6‐month follow‐up). Results revealed that higher actor status norms were significantly associated with more sexual self‐efficacy, higher actor toughness norms were associated with less sexual self‐efficacy, and higher actor anti‐femininity norms were significantly associated with less general sex communication, sexual risk communication, and sexual self‐efficacy. No partner effects were found. These results indicate a need for redefining masculine role norms through family centered approaches in pregnant or parenting adolescent couples to increase sexual communication and sexual self‐efficacy. Further research is needed to understand partner effects in the context of a relationship and on subsequent sexual risk behavior.     

The Effect of Internal Locus of Control on Career Adaptability: The Mediating Role of Career Decision‐Making Self‐Efficacy and Occupational Engagement

This study examined the mediating roles of career decision‐making self‐efficacy (a domain‐specific motivational variable) and occupational engagement (a behavioral variable) on the relationship between internal locus of control (a general motivational variable) and career adaptability among college students in South Korea (N = 310). The findings extend past research on career adaptability by identifying a relationship among the variables.     

Religious Values and the Development of Trait Hope and Self‐Esteem in Adolescents

Many studies have noted significant relationships between religious sentiment and psychological adjustment, but few have been able to comment on the direction of influence. We assessed the relationships between religious values, self‐esteem, and trait hope when participants were in grades 11 and 12. The variables showed moderate levels of rank‐order stability. Structural equation modeling revealed that religious values in grade 11 did not predict improvements in self‐esteem in grade 12, but they did predict improvements in hope. In contrast, hope did not lead to increase in religious values. These results held after controlling for personality (Big Five factors and Eysenck's psychoticism factor). Results are discussed with reference to the beneficial effects of religious values in adolescence.