Psychological Adaptation of Chinese Sojourners in Canada

Psychological adaptation during acculturation was studied among 68 Chinese sojourners (students and visiting scholars from China and Hong Kong), 28 Chinese immigrant and Chinese-Canadian students, 30 Chinese students and scholars in China, and 33 non-Chinese Canadian students. Each participant completed questionnaires pertaining to various aspects of their lives and personalities, including: health beliefs and behaviours; problems and ways of coping; social contact and acculturation attitudes; psychological and physical health; and subjective adaptation. The Chinese sojourners reported lower English fluency, lower ease of making friendships, more adaptation and communication problems, and lower subjective adaptation than non-Chinese Canadian, or Chinese-Canadian students. The Chinese sojourners experienced less desired and actual contact, more contact incongruity, more separation and less assimilation than Chinese-Canadian students. The Chinese sojourners reacted to their problems with less wishful thinking and self-blame, and more tension reduction, and the seeking of informational support than non-Chinese Canadian students. There were significant differences between groups in health concept and health causation, and believed and utilized health ways. Health causation, and believed and utilised health ways were the most important factors influencing the Chinese sojourners' health status. The Chinese sojourners experienced more problems, but tended to use fewer health ways after-arrival than pre-departure. The Chinese also experienced poorer health, especially poorer psychological health after-arrival than pre-departure. The longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of the Chinese sojourners' Cawte scores supported the U-curve hypothesis.     

The Well-being of Salvadoran Refugees

Recently arrived and settled Salvadoran refugees and Anglo-Canadians in London, Ontario were compared with respect to psychological distress, quality of life, and life satisfaction. A matched sample of 60 participants in each group completed a demographic questionnaire, the Brief Symptom Inventory, a shortened version of the Quality of Life Questionnaire, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale in either English or Spanish. Significant group differences were obtained on measures of quality of life and life satisfaction, but not of psychological distress. The results are discussed in relation to findings with other refugee groups.     

流动儿童城市适应标准的研究

本研究采用自编的半结构访谈提纲对21名流动儿童进行了深度访谈,以探讨流动儿童城市适应的标准。研究结果表明,流动儿童城市适应标准总体来说可分为两个层面,一是心理适应,二是社会文化适应。心理适应包括心境和个性两个维度,社会文化适应包括人际关系、适应环境、外显行为、内隐观念、语言、学习6个维度。本研究亦对城市适应标准的框架、理论以及相应的测量工具进行了讨论。     

Duty to Re-Contact: A Study of Families at Risk for Fragile X

DNA testing for Fragile X syndrome is now routinely available through a large number of diagnostic laboratories. We have surveyed individuals from British Columbia Fragile X families identified prior to the availability of DNA testing for FMR1 to determine if they are subsequently receiving information about DNA testing. Of the 78 individuals first seen before the cloning of the FMR1 gene, 39 (50%) had not been seen in the clinic to discuss DNA testing. We initiated a contact program with these 39 patients to determine their interest in DNA testing. Contact was made with 28 individuals, 20 of whom stated interest in testing either for themselves or for a relative. Patient opinions about DNA testing were assessed through questionnaires. In those individuals who stated an interest in DNA testing, the most common reason for wishing testing was to provide information to children or grandchildren. The most common disadvantages of testing indicated by this group were that they had finished their families and that they felt the test would not have a direct impact. The most common reasons individuals were not interested in DNA testing were that there were no family members appropriate to test and that the respondent had completed his or her family. DNA testing has been performed for 13 of the 28 (46%) contacted individuals and/or at least one relative. In view of the high level of interest for testing in families who had not been seen since the cloning of the FMR1 gene, we feel that FMR1 screening programs should include actively contacting previously seen individuals.     

人际关系适应特征的情境评价方法研究

本研究运用情境评价法对人际关系适应特征进行了实验研究 ,结果表明 :1以 Schutz提出的人际关系六因素为评价标准 ,采用情境评价法比问卷形式能更有效地揭示人际适应特征 ;2在情境评价中 ,以合作为主的情境设置比以竞争为主的情境设置更利于反映出人际适应特征 ;3情境评价采用定向、组织、交流和问题解决等阶段的过程设计符合情境评价的实际进程 ,有助于分阶段展开被试的行为特征 ,提高情境评价的可控性和准确性。     

Aspects of Social Support Associated with Adaptation in Middle-Class,Single-Mother Families

Abstract

This study’s research question is: What aspects of social support are associated with adaptation in single-mother families? In a mixed-methods design, 47 participants were recruited through snowball sampling in Cape Town, South Africa. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and questionnaires were completed. Qualitative analysis indicated two main sources, paid and unpaid support. The quantitative analysis confirmed the following adaptation resources: harnessing family and friend support; having friends as a support; socializing with friends; receiving emotional support, practical help, and advice from friends. Significant differences were found between the family and friends groups for socializing and obtaining financial aid as a support.     

Adaptation of the Preventive Intervention Program for Depression for Use with Predominantly Low-Income Latino Families

This paper describes the process for and safety/feasibility of adapting the Beardslee Preventive Intervention Program for Depression for use with predominantly low income, Latino families. Utilizing a Stage I model for protocol development, the adaptation involved literature review, focus groups, pilot testing of the adapted manual, and open trial of the adapted intervention with 9 families experiencing maternal depression. Adaptations included conducting the intervention in either Spanish or English, expanding the intervention to include the contextual experience of Latino families in the United States with special attention to cultural metaphors, and using a strength-based, family-centered approach. The families completed preintervention measures for maternal depression, child behavioral difficulties, global functioning, life stresses, and an interview that included questions about acculturative stressors, resiliency, and family awareness of parental depression. The postintervention interview focused on satisfaction, distress, benefits of the adapted intervention, and therapeutic alliance. The results revealed that the adaptation was nonstressful, perceived as helpful by family members, had effects that seem to be similar to the original intervention, and the preventionists could maintain fidelity to the revised manual. The therapeutic alliance with the preventionists was experienced as quite positive by the mothers. A case example illustrates how the intervention was adapted.     

A Qualitative Multiple Case Study of the Division of Labor across the Transition to Parenthood in South-Brazilian Families

Sex Roles - Family roles tend to become more traditional across the transition to parenthood, which may affect satisfaction with the division of labor and the well-being and relationships of new...     

Educational Cultural Brokers and the School Adaptation of Refugee Children and Families: Challenges and Opportunities

Canadian schools are utilizing services previously provided by settlement and community-based agencies to ensure the successful school adaptation of refugee children and families. This study examined the role of educational cultural brokers during the adaptation. Research queries addressed include strategies that cultural brokers use to facilitate the adaptation of refugee children in school settings, and opportunities and barriers to cultural brokering that exist in educational settings. A qualitative case study of eight educational cultural brokers was employed, using focus groups, critical incidents, document review, and semistructured interviews. Results suggest brokers engage in micro- and macrolevel activities through six brokering roles, with each role encompassing challenges and opportunities at the school, agency, and community level. This paper discusses aspects of these roles that have relevance for practice and policy for both cultural brokers and other providers of school-based services to refugee families.     

Time-Limited Brief Therapy with Families: A One-Year Follow-Up Study

Families from a previously reported study of time-limited brief treatment were followed up one year after termination. Results based on questionnaires completed by the parents provide no evidence for deterioration after termination for families that had received six-session time-limited therapy, twelve-session time-limited therapy, or treatment without time limits. At one year, there were no significant differences in outcome between time-limited and unlimited approaches, between six-session and twelve-session treatment, or between treated families and a waiting list control group (most of whom had entered therapy by this time). As in the original study, the results do not support claims of increased therapeutic effectiveness for time and session limits. However, time limits did succeed in shortening treatment without significantly reducing its effectiveness or the durability of outcome.     

Psychosocial Adaptation to Chronic Illness and Disability: A Preliminary Study of its Factorial Structure

This study examined the factorial structure of psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability in a sample of 313 individuals who sustained spinal cord injury (SCI). Three models were examined. The first model tested the hypothesis that psychosocial adaptation is composed of a single, global factor, in which positive (adaptive) and negative (nonadaptive) reactions define two opposing poles of the same dimension. The second model tested the validity of two distinguishable factors, representing adaptive and nonadaptive dimensions. The third model examined the relationship between the 2-factor model and a third dimension, that of denial. The data from the instruments measuring psychosocial adaptation to trauma and disability (the Reactions to Impairment and Disability Inventory and the Purdue Posttraumatic Stress Disorder-Revised) were submitted to a series of confirmatory factor analyses, and the results from the goodness of fit tests and fit indices provided strong support to the validity of the latter two models. The findings indicated that the structure of adaptation to SCI can be best conceptualized as representing two, moderately linked but clearly distinguishable, factors and that the construct of denial of disability further elucidates our understanding of the structure of adaptation to loss of body integrity.

A Study of Husbands and Wives from Dual-Career and Traditional-Career Families

Husbands and wives of dual-career families were compared with husbands and wives of traditional-career families on the variables of inner-directedness, self-actualizing values, existentiality, self-regard, and self-acceptance. Also, comparisons between the two sets of couples were made on shared and unshared interests. Our findings indicate that the husbands and wives in our sample of dual-career families do not differ in major ways from our sample of husbands and wives of traditional-career families; however, in every instance of difference, the direction of difference supports the view that husbands and wives of dual-career families are more inner-directed and flexible in applying personal values than husbands and wives of traditional-career families.     

决策渐进调整过程的个案研究

许多以全面理性为基础的决策理论都倾向于把决策者对事物的认识作为决策的前提,认为一项好的决策只有在充分认识了事物的情况下才是可能的.许多心理学的研究发现,这种假设并不符合实际的情况.本研究以"行动理性"为出发点,运用个案分析技术,深入剖析了某电子原件厂历时半年的生产经营决策过程,揭示了决策在执行的过程中逐步调整和发展的特征.研究发现,作为决策的前提的认识,实际上是在该决策的执行过程中不断发展和完善的.决策者是在决策执行结果的评价基础之上,逐步深入地认识决策的关键问题,包括(1)决策所要解决的问题,(2)决策方案会产生什么样的结果,(3)决策执行方法是否适当,(4)决策应采取什么样的程序和方法,(5)决策的形势和条件如何.正是这些"后见",使决策者能够逐步调整决策,实现决策的"渐进发展".这种行动决策的思想,把决策者的认识、决策和决策执行三者的关系看做一种循环发展的过程.     

Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Assessment Instruments Used in Psychological Research With Children and Families

With the increased globalization of psychology and related fields, having reliable and valid measures that can be used in a number of languages and cultures is critical. Few guidelines or standards have been established in psychology for the translation and cultural adaptation of instruments. Usually little is reported in research publications about the translation and adaptation process thus making it difficult for journal readers and reviewers to adequately evaluate the equivalency and quality of an instrument. In this study, issues related to the translation and adaptation of assessment instruments for use in other cultures and/or languages are addressed. Existing literature on translation is reviewed and examples from the clinical child and family psychology field are given to illustrate relevant issues. Suggestions are made for avoiding common translation errors.     

Transactional and Contextual Invalidation between the Parents of Disturbed Families: A Comparative Study

This study was based on a standard task — the discussion of the question, “How, out of all the millions of people in the world, did the two of you get together?”— administered to the parents in “disturbed” and “non-disturbed” families. The family disturbance in the 46 families was classified according to its presence or absence, its degree, and its kind. The diagnoses were: schizophrenias (S), delinquency (D), under-achievement and/or enuresis, or psychosomatic complaints (U), ulcerative colitis (UC), and non-disturbed (N). Seven scales were used to score the parents' verbal exchanges. Three scales that measure transactional and contextual validation and invalidation significantly differentiated the groups. Mutual validation was maximal in the N couples and minimal in the D and S couples. Invalidation between the D and S couples appeared to arise from their unsuccessful metacommunications.     

社区部分“问题家庭”家庭环境质量测评及相关研究

为探讨社区问题家庭的家庭环境质量,本研究以问卷的形式对上海某社区20户问题家庭进行了调查.结果显示,1、这些家庭存在大量的心理问题,与常模均值相比较,亲密度、情感表达均偏低,成功性、文化性和组织性均显著偏低,而矛盾性则显著偏高.说明问题家庭没有为其成员创造一个轻松、自由、快乐的生活空阃,更没有对成员构成强大的支持系统,这一切将会造成其成员心理适应能力的不断受损;2、本研究还发现了家庭环境对家庭成员的个性发展和心理健康可能存在长久影响.     

Adaptation to context

Argument theorists often stress the idea of adaptation to context as an alternative to seeing argument as linked propositions. But adaptation is not a clear idea. It is in fact a complicated puzzle. Though many aspects of this puzzle are obscure, one clear conclusion is that the question-answer pair is not a good way to conceptualize adaptation to situation.     

Teaching Families to Collaborate

Abstract

Families, being an essential component of a student's educational program, must feel valued and involved in any planning or discussion relating to children or siblings with disabilities. A collaborative, cooperative, and caring environment must be established in order for parents and professionals to work together. Sensitivity and understanding of ethnic and cultural values and differences is an important element in any interaction between families, caregivers, and other professionals. This article examines the roles, perceptions, and expectations of parents, families, and professionals relating to program planning for persons with disabilities. Guidelines and checklists are provided for families and service providers in order to improve participation and collaboration in conferences and program planning meetings.