Social support and self-esteem in adolescence

This study assessed contingencies in the effect of social support from parents and friends on adolescent self-esteem. Questionnaires were administered to 76 Israeli adolescents regarding self-esteem, stressful life events, and perceived level of support from mother, father, and friends. Maternal support had a strong effect on self-esteem. Aid from friends was influential primarily when that of mothers was absent. Paternal support had little effect, once other support sources were controlled. Despite the negative influence of stress on self-esteem, support and stress had no interactive effects. These findings, consistent with attachment theory and social provision theories, were contrary to cross-pressure or separate world models of peer/parent influence.He received his doctorate in Educational Psychology from University of California at Los Angeles. His current research interests involve stress, coping, and social support in childhood and adolescence, as well as factors bearing on interethnic relations in the Israeli classroom.where she is working on her doctorate in social psychology from Bar Ilan. Her research addresses resilience in early and middle adulthood.Received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She studies ego development and identity across the life span, the transition to parenthood, and stress and coping.     

The social context of teenage childbearing: Effects on the infant's care-giving environment

The effects of maternal age and the social context on the home environment, and maternal behaviors of adolescent and older mothers, as well as the stability of the care-giving environment, were studied. Fifty low-middle socioeconomic status (SES), primiparous, Caucasian mothers and their fullterm healthy infants were included. At four months, support systems and life stress were assessed, as well as the home environment and maternal behaviors. At two years, a similar home visit was conducted in a subsample. Adolescent mothers had less education, lower SES, and a different child care support system. They also differed in the home environment and maternal behaviors at four months. Some of these differences disappeared when maternal education and SES, or child care support and life stress, were controlled. Moderate correlations were observed between four months and two years home environment and maternal verbalizations. Thus, a combination of maternal age and other social factors mediate the negative characteristics of the adolescent mother's care-giving environment, which is relatively stable during the infancy period.Received Ph. D. from Harvard University. Main research interests are sociocultural aspects of development, teenage pregnancy, and infant temperament.Received Ph. D. from University of California, Los Angeles. Main research interests are determinants of neonatal and infant development and statistical systems.Received Ph. D. from Brown University. Main research interests are mother-child interaction, and language acquisition in the hearing impaired.Received M. D. from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. Main research interests are both animal and human studies during the perinatal period.     

Child Welfare Practice Model Implementation Projects: Lessons Learned

Child welfare agencies implement practice models to guide their processes and practices, clarify expectations, and enhance service delivery to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families. Changing child welfare practices is a tremendous undertaking requiring assimilation of new concepts, policies, skills, and behaviors. The integration of a new practice model can be facilitated through tailored training and technical assistance (T/TA) grounded in implementation science. Based on qualitative analysis from a cross-site evaluation of Child Welfare Implementation Centers, this article provides an overview and lessons learned from 14 practice model implementation projects and the use of T/TA to support them.     

Citizenship and Surveys: Group Conflict and Nationality-of-Interviewer Effects in Arab Public Opinion Data

Political Behavior - More research than ever before uses public opinion data to investigate society and politics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Ethnic identities are widely theorized...     

The Hole in the Centre: A Comment on Lowe and Pemberton,The Official History of the British Civil Service,Volume II: 1982–1997

This article looks at Prime Ministers’ attempts to reform their operation in Number Ten and their relationship with the Cabinet Office in response to frustrations they encounter trying to drive their policy agenda from the centre. Prime Ministers have developed new institutions to bolster their meagre resources in Number Ten. There is particular focus on the experience of John Major in trying to push his Citizen's Charter. It notes how resistant departments were to many of the changes. Finally the article discusses recent changes in Boris Johnson's Number Ten that marked the brief tenure of Dominic Cummings and his clear centralising mission.     

Current perceptions of marital rape: some good and not-so-good news

The current study extends previous research on marital rape and acceptance of general rape myths by comparing the perceptions of undergraduate college students (n = 85) to those of college alumni/ae (n = 44) who graduated from the same university three decades earlier. Participants read a hypothetical rape scenario that depicted the perpetrator as either the victim's husband or neighbor and completed three measures of different aspects of rape myth acceptance. Results indicated that although participants reported fairly low levels of support for different aspects of rape myths, certain rape myths were more strongly endorsed than were others. Furthermore, rape myth acceptance was stronger for marital rape than for acquaintance rape and for undergraduates than for college alumni/ae. Practical and theoretical implications of this study are discussed.     

Collateral Damage: Family Members of Registered Sex Offenders

The purpose of this study was to better understand the impact of sex offender registration and notification laws on the family members of registered sex offenders (RSO). An online survey was utilized to collect data from 584 family members across the U.S. Employment problems experienced by the RSO, and subsequent financial hardships, emerged as the most pressing issue identified by family members. The likelihood of housing disruption was correlated with residential restriction laws; larger buffer distances led to increased frequencies of housing crisis. Family members living with an RSO were more likely to experience threats and harassment by neighbors. Children of RSOs reportedly experienced adverse consequences including stigmatization and differential treatment by teachers and classmates. More than half had experienced ridicule, teasing, depression, anxiety, fear, or anger. Unintended consequences can impact family members’ ability to support RSOs in their efforts to avoid recidivism and successfully reintegrate. Implications for criminal justice policy and practice are discussed.     

Self- and Peer-Identified Victims in Late Childhood: Differences in Perceptions of the School Ecology

Patterns of adjustment for youth victimized by peers vary depending on whether youth are identified as victims through self-reports, peer-reports, or both. In order to provide more targeted strategies that may help mitigate negative consequences associated with specific victimization groups, more information is needed about how these youth perceive their school ecology (bullying and academic ecology), their feelings of school belonging, and their valuing of school. Based on the convergence of self- and peer-reports of victimization, we identified four victim groups from a sample of students in 5th grade classrooms (N?=?1360; 52.8% girls, 53.1% White, 34.6% Black or Hispanic, 12.2% Native American, Asian, or other) using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA): convergent victims (high self- and peer-reports), self-identified victims (high self-, low peer-reports), peer-identified victims (low self-, high peer-reports), and nonvictims (low self- and peer-reports). Convergent victims’ perceptions were similar to nonvictims with key differences being convergent victims’ greater willingness to protect peers being bullied but lower feelings of school belonging compared to nonvictims. Peer-identified and self-identified victims perceived differences in the bullying and academic ecology including peer-identified victims’ greater willingness to protect peers and expectations for more peers to encourage bulling against them compared to self-identified victims. However, both peer- and self-identified victims perceived greater emotional risk of participating in class and had lower feelings of school belonging compared to nonvictims. Implications for supporting youth with divergent self- and peer-reported victimization status as they transition to middle school are discussed.     

Performance and Management in the Public Sector: Testing a Model of Relative Risk Aversion

Research has demonstrated that management influences the performance of public organizations, but almost no research has explored how the success or failure of a public organization influences the decisions of those who manage it. Arguing that many decisions by public managers are analogous to risky choice, the authors use a well‐validated model of relative risk aversion to understand how such choices are influenced by managers’ perceptions of organizational performance. They theorize that managers will be less likely to encourage innovation or give discretion to employees when they are just reaching their goals relative to other performance conditions. Analyses of responses to the 2011 and 2013 Federal Employee Viewpoint Surveys provide considerable support for these assertions. The findings have significant implications for our understanding of the relationship between management and performance in public organizations.