Women and Aging: A Futurist Perspective

Many of the inequities characteristic of the female position tend to crystallize in older age. Under the assumed continuation of trends involving family life, reproductive freedom, sexuality and labor force participation, aging women of the future may find improvement with respect to personal status and socioemotional rewards. However, incipient counter trends, made strong by religious conservatism, must be noted. Should such counter trends gain in strength, the lot of aging women of the future may be but a version of the status quo ante .     

Cognition and Suicide: A Methodological Review

This article reviews the literature related to studies measuring various cognitive properties in suicidal patients. It provides a structural framework with which to classify the studies, and employs the categories of suicidal logic, cognitive style, social cognition, and cognitive control. The methodological issues discussed include: sample characteristics, operational definitions of suicidal behaviors, use of appropriate control groups, and the temporal nature of assessment. Improvements in experimental design are suggested for use in future research.     

Bereavement Group for Parents Who Suffered a Suicidal Loss of a Child

ABSTRACT: This paper describes a supportive group therapy experience for parents who sought relief from the painful grief experienced after the suicide of their child. Parents who felt overwhelmed by feelings of shame, guilt, self-doubt, confusion and isolation found some relief in the universality of their grief and felt accepted and understood. Within three months, they were able to take this experience into their larger social network and felt more integrated.     

The yellow brick road and the emerald city: benefit finding, positive reappraisal coping and posttraumatic growth in women with early-stage breast cancer.

Predictors and outcomes of benefit finding, positive reappraisal coping, and posttraumatic growth were examined using interviews and questionnaires from a longitudinal study of women with early-stage breast cancer followed from primary medical treatment completion to 3 (n=92) and 12 months (n=60) later. Most women (83%) reported at least 1 benefit of their breast cancer experience. Benefit finding (i.e., identification of benefits, number of benefits), positive reappraisal coping, and posttraumatic growth had distinct significant predictors. Positive reappraisal coping at study entry predicted positive mood and perceived health at 3 and 12 months and posttraumatic growth at 12 months, whereas benefit finding did not predict any outcome. Findings suggest that benefit finding, positive reappraisal coping, and posttraumatic growth are related, but distinct, constructs.