Cultural specificity of support sources,correlates and contexts: Three studies of African-American and Caucasian youth

Levels and correlates of parental support, peer support, partner support, and/or spiritual support among African American and Caucasian youth were examined in three contexts: adolescent pregnancy (Study 1), first year of college (Study 2), and adolescence and young adulthood (ages 15–29; Study 3). Partially consistent with a cultural specificity perspective, in different contexts different support sources were higher in level and/or more strongly related to adjustment for one ethnic group than the other. Among pregnant adolescents, levels of spiritual support were higher for African Americans than Caucasians; additionally, peer support was positively related to well-being only for African Americans whereas partner support was positively related to well-being only for Caucasians. Among college freshmen, family support was more strongly related to institutional and goal commitment for African Americans than Caucasians; conversely, peer support was more strongly related to institutional and goal commitment among Caucasians. Among 15 to 29-year-olds, levels of parental support and spiritual support were higher among African Americans than Caucasians; additionally, spiritual support was positively related to self-esteem for African Americans but not for Caucasians. Implications and limitations of the research are discussed. The third study was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant RO1 MH40963. We thank Monica Greene, Shea Lyda, Wendy Stevenson, and the many undergraduate students who contributed to the three research projects. We also acknowledge the very thoughtful and helpful comments of the anonymous reviewers and the editor, Edison Trickett.     

Organizational social context and psychopathology of youth in residential care: The intervening role of youth–caregiver relationship quality

Drawing on an ecological approach with multiple informants, this study investigated the mediating role of youth–caregiver relationship quality in associations between different features of residential care settings' organizational social context and youth's psychopathology. Participants were 378 youth aged between 12 and 25 years old, and 54 caregivers aged between 24 and 57 years old, from 29 generalist residential youth care settings in Portugal. Given the hierarchical structure of data, analyses were performed using multilevel modeling. Results revealed that organizational social contexts characterized by higher levels of engagement, stress, and centralization, as perceived by the caregivers, were associated with lower levels of youth's externalizing problems (e.g., aggressive behavior and delinquency), reported by the caregivers, via better youth–caregiver relationship quality, perceived by the youth in care. These findings highlight the relevance of creating an organizational social context in residential care settings that supports caregivers in establishing high-quality relationships with the youth in care, thereby promoting their mental health. This study contributes to the clarification of conflicting findings in previous studies of this field, by offering further empirical investigation of these issues.     

Differential patterns of post-shelter placement as a function of problem type and severity

Changes in placement restrictiveness, as a function of problem type and severity, were examined in a sample of 154 children departing a shelter for runaway and homeless youth. Six problem types were identified using a principal components analysis of youth-reported personal and family problems. Four of the six factors obtained represented youth problem types interpreted as reflecting antisocial/conduct problems, victimization by abuse, risk of suicide, and rebellious youth behaviors. The two remaining problem types were interpreted as a chaotic/aggressive family type and a mixed pattern of youth aggression and parental skill deficiency. An analysis of the problem types indicated that youth at higher risk for suicide, and those who came from more dysfunctional families, departed to living environments that were more restrictive than their placements at entry.     

‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’: opportunity structures for four un/underemployed young people living in English coastal towns

Long-term unemployed young people are a ‘social concern’ in many countries. The focus for research is usually cities, but may also include rural areas. The qualitative study described in this paper focuses instead on four young people living in coastal towns in South East England. The study suggests that their experiences in education and employment markets are shaped, negatively, by their particular location and the ongoing opportunity structures. The paper outlines their views and discusses the three main themes that emerged from the analysis: opportunity structures, supported resilience and the impact of living in a coastal town. Implications for targeted youth guidance are considered, alongside a consideration of the reflexive role of the researcher in such work.     

Contributions of the relational context to career adaptability among urban adolescents

The combined and unique contributions of four relational factors to four dimensions of career adaptability were examined for a sample of 322 urban high school students. When all variables were considered simultaneously, canonical analysis revealed that support from family, teachers, and close friends, and peer beliefs about school contributed significantly to the explanation of the four dimensions of career adaptability, school identification, perceptions of educational barriers, career outcome expectations, and career planning. When controlling for the other relational variables, family support contributed unique variance to the explanation of perceptions of educational barriers and career outcome expectations. Teacher support contributed uniquely to school identification and perceived peer beliefs contributed uniquely to perceptions of educational barriers and school identification.     

Spirituality as a Resiliency Quality in Xhosa-speaking Families in South Africa

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore spirituality as a characteristic of family resilience in Xhosa-speaking families in South Africa. A parent, and in some cases an adolescent, represented each of the 51 families that participated. Participants were expected to respond to three open-ended questions regarding their family and identify factors or strengths that had recently helped their family. The results indicate that spirituality is an important coping resource. The core theme of spirituality consists of six related categories that facilitated the successful adaptation of the participating families after a crisis. These categories are Gifts from God; Guidance; God's Works; God's Plan; Prayer; and Faith.