Unemployment among women with multiple sclerosis: the role of coping and perceived stress and support in the workplace

Unemployment is high among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Certain disease variables and demographics have been found to distinguish employed and unemployed individuals. However, these variables only account for 14–20% of the variance. Other factors, such as coping, perceived stress and social support, in the workforce have been proposed, but not yet fully examined. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the role of known factors associated with unemployment in MS, as well as coping and perceived work stress and social support. Sixty-eight women with MS were asked about their employment status and reasons for leaving. They completed a comprehensive assessment including measures of cognition, disease symptoms, psychological functioning, coping and stress. Consistent with previous findings, certain disease and demographic variables were associated with being unemployed. In particular, women who left work due to their MS were found to be older, had a longer disease duration and progressive course, reported greater disability and fatigue, and performed worse on a cognitive measure. However, we also found that coping style distinguished those who were employed from those who left work due to their MS. In particular, those who left work reported utilizing maladaptive coping mechanisms such as behavioral disengagement and substance use. With regard to perceived work stress and support, individuals who were employed reported that job security and fellow co-workers were more of an uplift than a hassle in their lives, suggesting some benefit in employment. These findings suggest that further consideration be given to role of coping and perception of the benefit of employment among individuals with MS when making recommendations regarding work decisions.     

Employment and Family as Determinants of Anticipated Life Satisfaction: Contrasting Young Adults’ and Elderly People’s Viewpoints

The objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between life satisfaction, personal employment, spouse employment, and family responsibilities as perceived by lay people and, in particular, to study the extent to which the additive threshold model evidenced by Macri and Mullet (2002) in a Greek sample of respondents can be generalized to other samples. One hundred young French adults and 100 elderly French people were presented with several vignettes depicting family conditions in terms of the three variables. Their task was to rate each vignette in terms of anticipated life satisfaction. The rule, which best accounted for anticipated satisfaction with life judgments was the hypothesized additive threshold rule. It may be expressed as anticipated satisfaction = proximity to optimal personal employment level + proximity to spouse optimal employment level + proximity to optimal family size, as long as acceptable personal and spouse employment levels are considered. This rule was common to young and elderly participants and largely independent of educational level.     

Maternal Depressive Symptomatology and Parenting Behavior: Exploration of Possible Mediators

Possible mediators of the relation between maternal depressive symptomatology and parenting behavior were examined for 96 children with ADHD and their mothers drawn from the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA) as part of an add-on investigation conducted by two of the six MTA sites. General cognitions (i.e., maternal locus of control and self-esteem) and parenting-specific factors (i.e., maternal parenting efficacy and parenting stress) were examined as possible mediators. Findings provide initial support that maternal parenting stress, as well as maternal locus of control and self-esteem mediate the relation between maternal depressive symptomatology and parenting behavior. This provides support for the argument that some families of children with ADHD may benefit from an expanded version of parent management training that includes sessions directly targeting affective and cognitive factors in parents, similar to treatment programs used to treat childhood conduct problems.     

The influence of maternal anxiety and depression symptoms on fNIRS brain responses to emotional faces in 5- and 7-month-old infants

Greater relative right (versus left) frontal cortical activation to emotional faces as measured with alpha power in the electroencephalogram (EEG), has been considered a promising neural marker of increased vulnerability to psychopathology and emotional disorders. We set out to explore multichannel fNIRS as a tool to investigate infants’ frontal asymmetry responses (hypothesizing greater right versus left frontal cortex activation) to emotional faces as influenced by maternal anxiety and depression symptoms during the postnatal period. We also explored activation differences in fronto-temporal regions associated with facial emotion processing. Ninety-one typically developing 5- and 7-month-old infants were shown photographs of women portraying happy, fearful and angry expressions. Hemodynamic brain responses were analyzed over two frontopolar and seven bilateral cortical regions subdivided into frontal, temporal and parietal areas, defined by age-appropriate MRI templates. Infants of mothers reporting higher negative affect had greater oxyhemoglobin (oxyHb) activation across all emotions over the left inferior frontal gyrus, a region implicated in emotional communication. Follow-up analyses indicated that associations were driven by maternal depression, but not anxiety symptoms. Overall, we found no support for greater right versus left frontal cortex activation in association with maternal negative affect. Findings point to the potential utility of fNIRS as a method for identifying altered neural substrates associated with exposure to maternal depression in infancy.     

Role of maternal affect and regulatory strategies in toddlers’ emotion and behavior regulation

Using a moment-to-moment multilevel approach, we examined the relative effectiveness of (a) toddlers’ lagged (i.e., previous-interval) regulatory strategies and toddlers’ lagged expression of negative emotion, as moderated by maternal affect, and (b) maternal lagged regulatory strategies, on toddlers’ current-interval (1) expression of negative emotion, and, (2) ability to delay gratification during a wait task. Two-level random coefficient models, with twelve repeated-measurement occasions (10 s-intervals) of observed behaviors (N = 1571) nested within 134 mother-toddler dyads from low-income families (67 girls; M_age = 25.77 months, SD_age = 1.60) were examined. Cross-level interactions revealed that maternal positive affect buffered severity of toddlers’ expression of negative emotion between lagged and current-intervals, while maternal negative affect disrupted toddlers’ effective utilization of lagged regulatory strategies on current-interval expression of negative emotion. However, regardless of maternal affect, toddlers who displayed higher expression of negative emotion and utilized more regulatory strategies in lagged-intervals displayed greater delay of gratification in current-intervals. Also, as mothers displayed greater minimization of toddlers' emotional distress, higher physical restraint, and used fewer distractions, toddlers displayed more intense expression of negative emotion in subsequent intervals. Similarly, as mothers used higher physical restraint and fewer distractions, toddlers were less able to wait in subsequent intervals. Results illustrate the disruptive roles of maternal negative affect and unsupportive regulatory strategies on toddlers' emotion and behavior regulation. Together, these findings point to targeting maternal positive affect in combination with supportive regulatory strategies to promote toddlers’ transition from external- to internal-regulation.     

Examining the Emotional Experience of Mothers Completing an Evidence-Based Parenting Intervention: A Grounded Theory Analysis

Parenting interventions are a well-established treatment for addressing child behavior problems that have also been shown to improve parent psychosocial health. Yet, little is known about how caregiver emotional experiences change over time during treatment. In response, the purpose of this study was to explore the emotional experiences of mothers following their participation in an evidence-based parenting intervention. Researchers conducted a secondary analysis of existing qualitative data. The study sample included semi-structured interview data from 17 mothers who previously completed the GenerationPMTO parenting intervention. Data analysis followed the grounded theory approach and included a sequential process of open, axial, and selective coding using the constant comparative method. Findings indicate mothers progressed through three distinct, yet interrelated stages of emotional experience: Before PMTO, their experiences were characterized by parenting through crisis (Stage 1); during PMTO, they transitioned to crisis stabilization (Stage 2); and following PMTO, they described experiences of emerging recovery and resilience (Stage 3). Maternal emotional experiences in each stage occurred across three contextual realms: (a) the individual (intrapersonal) level, (b) the parent–child relationship level, and the broader systemic level. Results highlight the dynamic and evolving nature of maternal emotional experience throughout various stages of the intervention process and suggest how these experiences may be associated with promoting effective parenting practices and positive child outcomes.     

Job‐seeking,adaptation and re‐employment experiences of the unemployed: a 3‐year follow‐up

The aim was to find predictors of employment status (Employed, Active Job‐Seeker, Not a Job‐Seeker) with a 3‐year longitudinal design. Also predictors of the quality of re‐employment were studied. Initially unemployed Finnish men and women were followed‐up. Of the original sample (n=559), 318 (56.9%) responded to the questionnaire. Baseline health and participation in labour market interventions were not predictive of employment status. Passive baseline job‐seeking and female gender were predictive of being a passive job‐seeker 3 years later. Good vocational education was central for high‐quality re‐employment. Long duration of unemployment and high baseline level of psychological distress were predictive of a perceived need for adjustment in the new job. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

母亲教养方式及其相关因素同幼儿好奇心关系的研究

研究以217名幼儿园儿童及其母亲为研究对象,以《母亲教养方式问卷》和自编《3—6岁儿童好奇心教师评定问卷》为工具,探讨了母亲教养方式及其相关因素与幼儿好奇心之间的关系。结果表明,不一致的母亲教养方式对幼儿好奇心有不利影响,放任的母亲教养方式下幼儿探索持久性较差;母亲受教育程度和生育年龄对幼儿好奇心的间接效应存在,但不显著。