Different Patterns Of Adjustment Research Articles

Family caregiving research: Reflecting on the past to inform the future

Objective Family caregiving research has evolved since its inception in the late 1970s. The objective of this brief report was to summarize the research areas and findings to date with the goal of highlighting directions for future research. Design Narrative review. Setting Not applicable Participants Published scientific articles in neurological populations including spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and stroke. Interventions Not applicable Outcome Measures Not applicable Results Caregiving research began with a description of the impact of providing care on caregiver health and wellbeing. Intervention research followed to support caregivers in their role and improve caregiving outcomes. Recent reviews conclude a “one size fits all” intervention will not be sufficient to support caregivers. New research suggests caregivers have different patterns of adjustment to the caregiving role highlighting heterogeneity in the caregiving population. Research is also advancing to support patients and families as they transition across care environments by enhancing the timing of intervention delivery. Health care systems do not routinely adopt evidence-based caregiver interventions. As a result, recent research has begun to identify factors that influence the adoption of evidence-based caregiver interventions by health care systems. Ultimately, family centered care that addresses the needs of not only the patient but also the caregiver may be the best way to meet the needs of a heterogeneous group of caregivers across the care continuum. Conclusions Family caregivers make an important contribution to the health and wellbeing of individuals with spinal and other neurological conditions. Ultimately, system changes, like family centered care, may be best suited to meet the complex needs of this heterogeneous group of caregivers.

Profiles and predictors of resilient functioning in youths with pediatric cancer history

Objective To identify and predict resilient functioning over time among youths with pediatric cancer experience (YPCE). Design YPCE aged 8–17 years (N = 231) were followed prospectively for 3 years. Their psychosocial adjustment was assessed using self-report and parent-report at 1 year (T2) and 3 years (T3) post-baseline. Methods Latent profile analysis identified subgroups of YPCE with different patterns of adjustment over time. Self-reported factors from baseline and T2 were examined as predictors of subgroup membership. Findings Three subgroups of youths were found. Two exhibited average (52.5% of the sample) to better-than-average (41.3%) functioning. One subgroup (6.2%) exhibited subclinical but at-risk range of adjustment. Low optimism and low connectedness to parents and school predicted membership in this group. Conclusions Most YPCE exhibit resilient functioning across time. However, approximately 6% report persistent maladjustment. Implications Most YPCE are well-adjusted, but those with low optimism and poor connection to parents or school may require monitoring for psychosocial difficulties.

A dimensional approach to understanding the relationship between self-reported hearing loss and depression over 12 years: the Three-City study

Objectives: To examine the relationship between hearing loss and depression in older adults longitudinally. This paper uses a dimensional approach to conceptualising depression, with the aim of further enhancing understanding of this relationship.Method: 8344 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and above enrolled in the Three-City prospective cohort study were included. Relationships between baseline self-reported hearing loss (HL) with the trajectory of different dimensions of depression symptoms over 12 years were examined using linear mixed models. Depression dimensions were determined using the four-factor structure of the Centre for Epidemiology Studies-Depression Scale (CESD): depressed affect, positive affect, somatic symptoms and interpersonal problems.Results: HL was associated with somatic symptoms of depression both at baseline (b = .07, p = .04) and over 12 years (b = .01, p = .04). HL was associated with poorer depressed affect and interpersonal problems at baseline (b = .05, p = .001, b = .35, p < .001; respectively), but not over follow-up. HL was associated with poorer positive affect symptoms over time (b = −.01, p = .01).Conclusion: HL had varied relationships with different dimensions of depression symptoms, and there were different patterns of adjustment for the dimensions. HL was primarily associated with somatic symptoms, suggesting that shared disease processes might partly underlie the relationship between HL and depression. Targeted assessment and treatment of somatic and positive affect symptoms in older adults with HL might facilitate better wellbeing in this population.

Living Well in Times of Threat: The Importance of Adjustment Processes to Explain Functional Adaptation to Uncertain Security in Expatriates Deployed in the Sudan.

The present study investigated expatriate humanitarian aid workers' perceptions and responses to uncertain security while deployed in the Sudan. Interviews conducted in Khartoum (n = 7) and Darfur (n = 17) focused on risk perception, concern for personal security, and strategies used to function well in an insecure environment. Despite a high perceived general risk, as well as broad knowledge and experience with security incidents, participants often expressed low concern. General adjustment processes were drawn on to explain this finding, while different constellations of processes resulted in different patterns of adjustment. Functional adjustment, resulting in adequate risk perception, protective behavior, protection, and low concern, was characterized by a constellation of complementary activation of accommodation and assimilation processes.

The effect of cross-cultural training on expatriates’ adjustment

PurposeOne of the most important issues multinational corporations (MNCs) face in their global operations is expatriate failure. It is estimated that between 10 and 80 percent of expatriates sent on overseas assignments return home early. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of cross-cultural training (CCT) on different facets of expatriate managers’ adjustment in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 212 western expatriate managers working in Nigeria was surveyed. Respondents were selected from four cities where they had been working for at least one year.FindingsThe main finding of this study was that expatriates’ adjustment could be predicted from different types of CCT. The findings of this research confirm the view expressed by researchers over the last two decades that both conventional and specific experimental CCT have positive effect on the facets of cross-cultural adjustment.Research limitations/implicationsGiven that the authors did not collect their data over time, the cross-sectional nature of the design limits them from making definitive causal statements. In the future, more resources and efforts could be applied to safeguard larger samples of respondents, thus potentially resulting in better statistical power. A longitudinal approach could be used; such an approach may have generated a richer data source, where different patterns of adjustment could have been identified and compared over time. Data for the study were collected through questionnaire, thus any observed relations might be due in part to common method effects. Since the data were collected from four cities, there may be some concern as to the generalizability of the findings to expatriates working in other cities in Nigeria.Practical implicationsMNCs should pay more attention to CCT and management development. Ineffective CCT and management development have an adverse impact on MNCs’ effectiveness. Developing CCT programs could add value to corporations and employees especially employees who are destined for foreign assignments. In addition, developing CCT for expatriates’ spouses and children would facilitate adjustment process and may reduce failure rate.Originality/valueOnce corroborated by further studies, this exploratory research may contribute to the understanding of the adjustment of western expatriates in Nigeria. Few, if any, prior studies, have examined CCT and expatriate adjustment in Nigeria.

Multidimensionality and Subjectivity of Culture Shock: A Contingent Approach

This study examines the trajectory of cross-cultural adjustment based on the multidimensional and subjective aspects of culture shock. We focus on six intrapersonal diversity factors that affect international adjustment in order to build a taxonomy of expatriates. On the basis of a sample of 584 observations, we show that these different groups of expatriates follow different patterns of adjustment. In some specific cases a U-curve is observed.

Age and Gender Differences in Relationship and Psychological Adjustment to Parenthood in Couples Conceiving Through In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)

AbstractFifteen per cent of Australian couples now experience fertility problems and many turn to assisted reproductive technology such as in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) to conceive their child. This study investigated gender differences in relationship satisfaction during the transition to parenthood, and the effects of gender and age on relationship and psychological adjustment at six–nine months postpartum, in a sample of IVF conceiving couples initially recruited from a private fertility treatment clinic in Sydney. The results revealed different patterns of adjustment for mothers and fathers, whereby mothers showed a significant decline in relationship satisfaction from pregnancy to early parenthood while fathers did not. However, fathers exhibited more consistent relationship concern than mothers in both pregnancy and parenthood, and also reported greater parenting stress related to interaction with their child. There were negligible differences between older and younger parents, suggesting comparable adjustment across age groups. While the outcomes of this research do not indicate problematic adjustment, for those professionals who might be working with families conceiving through IVF they do highlight some specific adjustment issues for mothers and fathers during the postpartum period.

Making Sense of Family Violence

Children who are exposed to interparental violence are at risk for a host of adjustment problems, but little is known about the processes that explain why children from violent families develop different patterns of adjustment. In this paper, we examine the role that children's perceptions and interpretations of aggression may play in shaping the impact of interparental violence on their short- and long-term functioning. Appraisals of interparental conflict have been linked to children's emotional and behavioral responses to conflict as well as their adjustment more broadly and offer a mechanism for understanding diverse outcomes in children who witness violence in the home. We explore how the appraisal process may differ in violent versus conflictual but nonviolent interactions, consider contextual factors that may influence this process, and outline directions for research investigating how children perceive and make sense of violence in intimate relationships.

Fiscal Policy and Exchange Rates

This paper examines the dynamics of the nominal exchange rate and fiscal deficits in a continuous time optimizing general equilibrium model with OLG. It is shown that alternative financing modes of budget deficits imply different patterns of adjustment along the transitional path towards the steady-state equilibrium. In particular, the respect of public solvency without money financing is not sufficient to avoid the depreciation of the exchange rate in the long-run after a fiscal expansion. In addition, money and tax financing generate opposite intergenerational reallocation of wealth.

Fiscal Policy and Exchange Rates

This paper examines the dynamics of the nominal exchange rate and fiscal deficits in a continuous time optimizing general equilibrium model with finite horizon. It is shown that alternative financing modes of budget deficits imply different patterns of adjustment along the transitional path towards the steady state equilibrium. In particular, the respect of public solvency without money financing is not suffcient to avoid the depreciation of the exchange rate in the long-run after a fiscal expansion.

The Impact of the National Minimum Wage in Small Firms

AbstractThe introduction of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) had potentially significant implications for small firms. Orthodox economic theory predicts adverse consequences, though institutional analysis points to potential efficiency as well as fairness effects. Using longitudinal data on 55 firms, this paper examines the impact of the NMW in small firms in clothing manufacture and hotel and catering. Different patterns of adjustment were observed, explained by both size and sector characteristics. Overall, the impact of the NMW was mediated by the informality of employment relations in the small firm.

Profiles in Problem Solving: Psychological Well-Being and Distress Among Persons with Diabetes Mellitus

Although social problem-solving abilities have been consistently associated with indicators of behavioral health, this work has been largely confined to tests of specific theoretical issues. Research has yet to demonstrate how the separate elements of the social problem-solving model relate to different patterns of adjustment, particularly among persons who live with chronic disease. We studied the occurrence of different profiles of social problem-solving abilities observed among persons living with diabetes mellitus. We then examined differences between clusters on measures of life satisfaction and depression. Results indicate that distinct profiles in problem-solving abilities do occur and these groupings can be distinguished by their different patterns of adjustment. Implications for theoretical models of problem solving and clinical assessment and interventions for persons with diabetes are discussed.

Dimensions, Determinants, and Differences in the Expatriate Adjustment Process

We comprehensively test the Black, Mendenhall, and Oddou (1991) model of the dimensions and determinants of adjustment to international assignments. We also expand the model to examine two individual factors (i.e., previous assignments and language fluency) and three positional factors (i.e., hierarchical level, functional area, and assignment vector) as moderators of adjustment determinants. Surveys were completed by 452 expatriates from 29 different countries assigned to 45 host countries by large multinational firms. The multi-dimensionality of adjustment was investigated and confirmed. Support for the expanded Black et al. (1991) model was found. Several significant moderating effects emerged, showing different patterns of adjustment for those with different amounts of previous expatriate experience and levels of host country language fluency. Hierarchical level and assignment vector were also important moderators, but the effects for functional area were generally weak.

Infants in group care: Patterns of despair and detachment

Ninety nine infants were observed at entry into child care and at 3-month intervals during the first 6 months. We examined changes in relations among indices of adjustment and caregiver behaviors and which entry variables predict patterns of 6-month adjustment. Toy play shows no systematic relation with infant affective behavior at entry, yet 6 months later it is associated with positive affect and reduced social involvement. Caregiver interaction also changes; after 6 months expressive children receive more and different forms of attention than do nonexpressive children. Bowlby's (1969) account of institutionalized infants was used to identify different patterns of adjustment. Despair-like infants were distressed, immobilized, and self-soothing at entry. Infants who were detachment-like (i.e., object centered, happy, and socially unengaged after 6 months) received less attention from caregivers at entry. Some 6-month patterns have their roots in temperament dispositions, with differential outcomes determined largely by caregiver responsiveness.

The Oldest Old: Patterns of Adjustment and Dependence

The aim of the present study was to investigate how dependence was experienced by 129 non-institutionalized 85-year-old persons, who previously had been categorized into seven different patterns of adjustment. The participants' subjective experiences of dependence were expressed in in-depth interviews and additionally, mobility, self-maintenance and need of help in daily living was conventionally assessed. When the results from these two methods were compared, it was found that subjectively experienced dependence did not generally correspond with the scorings on dependence. The in-depth interviews revealed that subjects with poorer adjustment could be most affected by minor impairments, while physical impairments were of a subordinate importance to those who were better adjusted. For appropriate caring interventions, it is therefore suggested that conventionally assessed dependence needs to be supplemented with documented subjective experiences of dependence.

What no bedtime story means: Narrative skills at home and school

AbstractAbstract “Ways of taking” from books are a part of culture and as such are more varied than current dichotomies between oral and literate traditions and relational and analytic cognitive styles would suggest. Patterns of language use related to books are studied in three literate communities in the Southeastern United States, focusing on such “literacy events” as bedtime story reading. One community, Maintown, represents mainstream, middle-class school-oriented culture; Roadville is a white mill community of Appalachian origin; the third, Trackton, is a black mill community of recent rural origin. The three communities differ strikingly in their patterns of language use and in the paths of language socialization of their children. Trackton and Roadville are as different from each other as either is from Maintown, and the differences in preschoolers' language use are reflected in three different patterns of adjustment to school. This comparative study shows the inadequacy of the prevalent dichotomy between oral and literate traditions, and points also to the inadequacy of unilinear models of child language development and dichotomies between types of cognitive styles. Study of the development of language use in relation to written materials in home and community requires a broad framework of sociocultural analysis. (Crosscultural analysis, ethnography of communication, language development, literacy, narratives.)

The Long‐Term Effects of Parental Divorce in Childhood on Adult Adjustment

Relationships between experiencing a parental divorce or separation prior to age 16 and a variety of measures of adult adjustment and psychological functioning are examined using data from two national cross‐sectional surveys conducted nearly 20 years apart. Although few differences between adults from parentally‐divorced and intact family backgrounds persist when controls for contemporary life circumstances and other social background factors were included, two modest trends are still evident. First, although associations between psychological distress and early experience with parental divorce have weakened somewhat over the past two decades, coming from a non‐intact family of origin still has some significance for adult psychological well‐being. Second, men and women from non‐intact families of origin display different patterns of adjustment to and valuation of the major life roles of spouse and parent. Nevertheless, because such relationships are not very powerful, it is concluded that contrary to much of the literature and popular thought, these early experiences have, at most, a modest effect on adult adjustment.

SIX REACTIONS TO SCHOOL TRANSFER

Summary. TWO samples representing rural (N = 390) and city (N =454) children were tested before and after transferring to secondary school in an attempt to determine the nature of individual reactions to school transfer. Measures used included ability, achievement, attitude to school, and personality. Cluster analysis applied independently to these two samples identified six subgroups showing different patterns of adjustment. Two of these reactions were considered particularly important. One, labelled disenchanted, characterised able children showing poor adjustment and academic deterioration. The other, described as worried, associated low ability with high anxiety, and poor self‐concept. Since the six reactions were replicated across both samples it is suggested that they comprise widely occurring reactions to school transfer.