December 2009

Events

• Call for papers - 1st Global Conference: Childhood 548

  The period of life prior to adulthood is one of dramatic change and development of physical, intellectual, psychological, and many other types of characteristics. The nature of childhood and its significance as a separate phase of life, however, is viewed quite differently in different cultures and in different historical eras. This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference will look at all aspects of the experience of childhood as well as the social and cultural perceptions of children and childhood. It will be held July 3 – 5, 2010 in Oxford, United Kingdom. Abstracts should be submitted by Friday 15th, January 2010.

• 11th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference

  The conference will be held July 7 – 9, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. It will focus on the six major themes that shape the Australian Institute of Family Studies current Research Plan – Economic wellbeing of families, Families and work, Social inclusion, Violence, abuse and neglect, Family transitions and family law, and Children, young people and their families. Abstract submissions close 5 February 2010.

News

• Millions of Britons unable to cope with modern life, says study

  Millions of people are unhappy, lonely and unable to cope with profound changes in the workplace, relationships and family life, according to a major study. It portrays Britain as a psychologically fragile society in which increased wealth has been accompanied by soaring levels of individual isolation and stress. Although welfare services have made big strides in addressing material poverty, they have failed to get a grip on the growing problems of mental illness and distress caused by the rise of individualism and family breakdown, it says.

• APA survey raises concern about parent perceptions of children’s stress

  Stress related to school pressure and family finances has a greater impact on young people than parents believe, according to a new national survey released by the American Psychological Association (APA). Building on past research indicating that stress is a top health concern for U.S. teens between 9th and 12th grade, psychologists say that if they don’t learn healthy ways to manage that stress now, it could have serious long-term health implications.

Publications

• Developmental trajectories of externalizing and internalizing behaviors: Factors underlying resilience in physically abused children

  Using a multisite community sample of 585 children, this study examined how protective and vulnerability factors alter trajectories of teacher-reported externalizing and internalizing behavior from kindergarten through Grade 8 for children who were and were not physically abused during the first 5 years of life. The findings provide a great deal of support for an additive or main effect perspective on vulnerability and protective factors and some support for an interactive perspective. It appears that some protective and vulnerability factors do not have stronger effects for physically abused children, but instead are equally beneficial or harmful to children regardless of their abuse status.

• Recovery: A Philosophy of Hope and Resilience

  "Recovery: A Philosophy of Hope and Resilience" describes recovery as the process of personal transformation that is a different experience for each person. This issue of SAMHSA News highlights recovery-related programs at the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and also four new white papers on related research, lessons learned, and case studies. Suicide awareness updates include information about a US national study that examines thoughts and behaviors.

• Growing up Resilient: Ways to build resilience in children and youth

  Growing Up Resilient explains what health care providers mean when they talk about resilience. It explores what risk and protective factors can affect resilience in young people. And it gives tips on how to build resilience in children and youth. The authors have divided the factors that affect resilience into three broad categories: those that relate to the individual, the family and the environment or community within which the young person lives. Each chapter is introduced by the story of a real person from around the world who, as a child or adolescent, lived through extremely difficult circumstances.

• Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care as a Preventive Intervention to Promote Resiliency Among Youth in the Child Welfare System

  Demographic trends indicate that a growing segment of families is exposed to adversity such as poverty, drug use problems, caregiver transitions, and domestic violence. Although these risk processes and the accompanying poor outcomes for children have been well-studied, little is known about why some children develop resilience in the face of such adversity, particularly when it is severe enough to invoke child welfare involvement. This paper describes a program of research involving families in the child welfare system. Using a resiliency framework, evidence from four randomized clinical trials that included components of the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care program is presented. Future directions and next steps are proposed.

• The role of family policies in the promotion of child wellbeing: Lessons from the OECD report Doing Better for Children

  An important contribution of OECD’s Doing Better for Children report has been to compare countries public spending on children by type as they age. The levels of spending on families in OECD countries and the way in which it is spent varies widely even though the goals of promoting the health, education and general well-being of children are OECD-wide. This seminar presentation draw directly from the Doing Better for Children report and explore how policy structures and social spending on families in OECD countries associate with a range of child outcomes. Key questions include: How do spending patterns on family policies compare across OECD countries? How do policy-amenable child well-being measures compare across OECD countries? Does the timing of social spending matter for child well-being outcomes? Does the type of spending matter? The seminar will finish with recommendations for tailoring social spending patterns to improve child well-being outcomes in OECD member countries.

• Building character

  This report investigates how parenting style influences the development of character in the early years. Using a typology that measures four different parenting styles – tough love, laissez-faire, authoritarian and disengaged – the authors found that ‘tough love’ children are more than twice as likely to display strong character capability in the early years than those with ‘disengaged’ parents. Conversely, children with ‘disengaged’ parents are more than three times as likely to display weak character capability in the early years than children with ‘tough love’ parents.

• The State of Children’s Development in BC: Reflecting Change

  This presentation follows the Early Development Instrument (EDI) Interior Regional Workshop that was held November 5, 2009 in Kelowna, British Columbia. It explores the following questions: Why is Early Child Development Important? What Influences Early Child Development? Which Environments Matter? What Does the EDI Measure? How have EDI scores changed over time? Results show that children who are vulnerable in kindergarten are less likely to be job ready.

• Increasing Psychological Well-Being and Resilience by Psychotherapeutic Methods

  A specific psychotherapeutic strategy for increasing psychological well-being and resilience, well-being therapy, has been developed and validated in a number of randomized controlled trials. The findings indicate that flourishing and resilience can be promoted by specific interventions leading to a positive evaluation of one’s self, a sense of continued growth and development, the belief that life is purposeful and meaningful, the possession of quality relations with others, the capacity to manage effectively one’s life, and a sense of self-determination. A decreased vulnerability to depression and anxiety has been demonstrated after well-being therapy in high-risk populations. There are important implications for the state/trait dichotomy in psychological well-being and for the concept of recovery in mood and anxiety disorders.

• Effects on Resilience of Women Family Caregivers of Adults with Serious Mental Illness: The Role of Positive Cognitions

  This study examined the effects of risk and protective factors on resilience in 60 women family members of adults with serious mental illness. Both the risk factors constituting caregiver burden (strain, stigma, client dependence, and family disruption) and protective factors, including eight positive cognitions were found to predict two indicators of resilience: resourcefulness and sense of coherence. The effects of caregiver burden on resourcefulness and sense of coherence were mediated by positive cognitions, lending support to resilience theory and suggesting the need to develop interventions to encourage positive thinking among women caregivers of adults with mental illness.

Terms of Use | 2007-2008 All rights reserved © INFO-TBI. Graphic design : François Ménard | Design : WebConforme